“Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” Matthew 5:41
On 1997 I had a same-day surgical procedure performed on my right knee at a local hospital about a mile or less from the parsonage home where we were living at the time. However, there were several challenges awaiting me following my surgery. First, I would have to use crutches. Second, my leg was tightly wrapped and fitted with a special brace designed to keep it perfectly straight and immobile. Third, we owned a Safari van which was more difficult to enter and to exit with my leg as it was. Fourth, our home had steps leading both to the front and side doors of the house with only the back door entrance being at floor level. This meant entering the back yard through the double doors of a chain link fence and pulling up to the back door via carefully maneuvering the car between a cluster of pine trees!
But God in His faithfulness provided a dear man who was a member of our church to bring me home in his car which was much easier to get into. Then, he drove his car around to the back of our house, helped me out, and in through the back door and into my den to a chair, I could sit in more easily. Then, he stayed and prayed for Nancy and me. Also, our friend checked back on me during the weeks ahead, and to this day, my wife and I are dear friends of this dear Christian man and his wife who had gone that extra mile for us!
Jesus spoke the words of our Scripture verse for today in His “Sermon on the Mount.” In doing so, Jesus was showing His followers the way His Father wanted His children to conduct themselves under the new covenant of grace which was being ushered in by His life and his death and resurrection to follow.
Historically, the phrase, “all roads lead to Rome” goes back to first-century Palestine. The Romans had amassed a superhighway system of more than fifty-thousand miles of road to and from the lands they had conquered. At each single mile there was a stone mile marker pointing directions including the distance to the next town and how many mile(s) it was to Rome, hence, “all roads lead to Rome.” Now, a Roman citizen or soldier could force one of its subjects to carry his backpack or load for one mile and one mile only at any time that citizen or soldier wanted that subject to do so. This would have had the ear of any Jew, for example, who would have been listening to Jesus’ sermon that day. And Jesus was saying, “Don’t just go one mile, go two!” In other words, desire to do more than is expected or required!
What an influence we have as Christians at home, the office, or at church to make a difference for the Kingdom of God when we choose to go the second mile; to carry someone’s burden in prayer; to help them home from the hospital! Jesus went the second mile when He went to the cross to die for your sin and mine- taking the burden of sin upon Himself. Who is God calling you to be a “Good Samaritan” to today or this week? He sent my friend to me, the one whose knee was in need. Let us do likewise!
“And Ruth said, ‘Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.’” Ruth 1:16, (King James Version)
One of my favorite classes at Snead State Jr. College, Boaz, Alabama, was a literature class I took my second year. I had a wonderful teacher; a lady who loved her class, loved her students, and made class fun and interesting. It was in this class I became interested in the study of Greek Mythology, however, I can honestly tell you that whenever I think back on having had this class, my thoughts first go to our study of the Book of Ruth. And I will never forget our teacher telling us that in her opinion, the Book of Ruth was the most beautifully written book in all of literature. I also appreciated deeply her not only treating this great book of the Old Testament for its literary aspect, but also sharing with us its context set in Biblical history and allowing the Word of God to stand on its on as the Word of God. Also, this was the only course in all my undergraduate studies that included a Biblical subject. The Lord had not confirmed his call to my being a pastor at this time, as I was on a Secondary Education path which I did receive as my undergraduate degree prior to my calling to begin seminary about nine years later.
In the story (the true story) of Ruth, we find a Jewish family from Bethlehem: Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion, traveling to the land of Moab in search of a more favorable climate conducive to rain for famine had beset Bethlehem. While in Moab, Naomi’s two sons married Moabite women. Later, Naomi’s husband and two sons died! Therefore, we now find Naomi and her two daughters-in-law as widows. When we come to Ruth 1:16, Naomi has heard news that the Lord has provided food for His people in Bethlehem (1:6), so she is going back to Bethlehem but insists her two daughters-in-law go back to their gods and their people of Moab. The daughter-in-law Orpah returns to her gods and people whereas Ruth “clings” (1:14) to Naomi and declares she will stay close to her mother-in-law and in essence, leave her people and her gods to go to Bethlehem and serve not only her mother-in-law, but Naomi’s God (Yahweh) and her people, (God’s people).
Perhaps, like Ruth, you need a fresh start; something new that only God can bring; only God can do, for He is the God of new beginnings (See Isaiah 43:19 and Hebrews 10:20).
What a beautiful way for God’s story (His-story) to intersect with your story than by offering to God this prayer (as the Holy Spirit leads you), “Lord Jesus, the desire of my heart is that I not turn back from You in the midst of this challenge, but that I draw near You: where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.” What would we do—where would we be, dear Christian, if we did not follow the One who laid down His life for us? And dear reader, have you put your trust in the saving work of Christ upon the cross and his bodily resurrection from the dead? Are you a new creation (2 Corinthians 5;17)? Cling to Christ, He loves you!
“But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.’” Ruth 1:16
Last sermonette I wrote of attending Snead State Junior College in Boaz, Alabama, during the 1970’s and of the literature class I took in which our instructor taught the literary value of the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. This sermonette I wish to tell you of a creative writing class I also took while attending Snead State. Dr. Stonicher was my teacher. He was tough; he really made you work hard, but I liked him. When I received my final grade of an A-, he encouraged me on my trek of securing my degree in Secondary Education that I would complete just a few years later.
I will never forget one assignment he had given us in class. We were to compose a short story and then read it to the class. Honestly, I cannot remember my story, but I do recall one girl whose story included this sentence, “A car of boys was parked at the corner of the street.” After she read this sentence, Dr. Stonicher stopped her and asked the class what was incorrect regarding that sentence. I lifted my hand and responded, “I believe that sentence is incorrect because an automobile is not made of boys but of other materials.” Dr. Stonicher said, “That’s correct.”
It is most important to know what lies at the heart of making up the Bible as one would be interested in what lies under the hood, etc., when purchasing a car. In the Book of Ruth, God’s redemptive and protective purposes for man is seen in the life of Ruth, Naomi, Boaz (name sound familiar), and their children and grandchildren (See Ruth 4:17). And this foreshadows Jesus Christ the Son of God who came to pay for our sin-debt in full upon the cross via His blood so we could be fully forgiven and pardoned and made right with God! And this is based on God’s LOVE! He loves you! He died for you! Do you have a personal relationship with Him?
Boaz was a good and Godly man who took Ruth, a widow, and married and cared for her the rest of her life. Ruth had hope, and you, my friend in Christ, are a member of the Body of Christ (the church) and as a member of that body, you and I are the bride of Christ (See Ephesians 5:32 and Revelation 19:7).
Take hope my Christian friend, grammar and automobiles may fail, but the one who is in love with Jesus will live with joy and peace now and forever!
Pastor Louie
Sand Mountain Sermonette 57
Acts 1:8
Sparkless Christianity
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
When I was living in Albertville, Alabama, my parents helped me to purchase a used 1973 Nova SS Hatchback which I owned for many years. Later, in 2001, I owned a 1963 Chevrolet Impala-all original. I remember the day I purchased it from someone who attended the church I was pastoring at that time. She told me she had purchased it from another individual who had had it setting up on blocks in their garage for some time. She also told me that after she purchased the Impala and brought it home, it was difficult to crank and to keep running once it was cranked. So, she took it to a man who lived in our city who owned and worked on classic automobiles. She said he had kept the car for a while with little success of solving the problem until one day he asked his son to go down to the local parts place and pick up a box of AC Delco Spark plugs, and the rest was history. Once these factory plugs were installed, the car cranked and ran like days of old; the same plugs I inherited when I purchased the car!
The early Christian believers needed power to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus within the violent and oppressive Roman world of the first century in which they lived. In the Book of Acts, Luke tells us that, before His return to heaven via His Ascension, Jesus told men and women who had assembled in a room in Jerusalem, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” This original word translated ‘power” is the same word from which we get our English word, “dynamite!” It also entails power whose origin is from God and God alone with no trace of human design or effort as its source!
Often, we intend to be witnesses for Christ to a lost and dying world around us, but we never get around to doing that very thing or we just decide that’s the task of the preacher or the overseas missionary. But my friend, the Bible says all Christians are to be witnesses for the Lord and you and I who are “in Christ” can be witnesses of the gospel for the Holy Spirit lives within us effectively overseeing our intellect, emotions, and will as we yield to the Spirit’s control. The Bible says that after ten days of prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit came upon that group of Jesus’ disciples in Jerusalem and by that same power they “[were Jesus’] witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
So, are you a Christian who gets ready for church each Sunday and attends regularly, but you can’t figure out why there is no “spiritual spark” in your life for sharing the gospel with others? Perhaps, you have positioned your life upon blocks in the garage and are not really going anywhere in your relationship with Christ and your witness for His Son to others around you. If this is your case, I have good news for you! Christian, invite the Holy Spirit to revive you with His “dynamite” power of love, passion, and compassion to tell others of Jesus who lived, died, and rose from the dead them! To share Christ is to grow personally in your relationship with Him! Be courageous!