26 Jun LOVE = REACH Day 15
In the book of Ruth (1:1-4) we see where a famine hits the land and people were literally starving to death. Elimelich moved his family hoping to provide, but more tragedy strikes when he dies and a few years later his two sons die as well. The widows were left alone in Moab to provide for themselves. Tragedy had overtaken them. They needed hope.
This past week in Orlando, FL I have watched people in a place of tragedy, lack, and utter despair. In reality, it doesn’t take a terrorist attack, a gunman to shoot a celebrity after a concert, or a wild animal attack for tragedy to be present. It does, however, make us more aware of its presence. I have been reminded that we can’t control everything that happens in life, but we can control how we (the church) respond to those who are hurting. There are people all around who simply need hope!
Most of you have read or heard the story of Ruth in the Bible. Returning to Bethlehem to work the beggar’s field, Ruth turns the head of a man named Boaz. Boaz owned the field where Ruth was working; Boaz was also Ruth’s near kinsman.
God had established a law of redemption. If a woman lost her husband and had no children, she could redeem her property back through the process of the kinsman-redeemer. A kinsman-redeemer was a next-of-kin who could, through a legal rite at the gate of the city, redeem the lost inheritance back to its original owner.
THE KINSMAN REDEEMER
Boaz called a meeting at the city gate and informed the people that if no one else was going to redeem the property of Elimelech, he would. As it turned out, there was a kinsman who was a closer relative than Boaz, but he was not willing to marry Ruth. This relative deferred to Boaz, who was more than willing to marry her. To legally close the deal, at the gate of the city, Boaz exchanged shoes with the other kinsman (Read Ruth 4:7 NKJV).
The exchanging of shoes meant, “Now I have a right to walk where I haven’t walked before. I have legal authority to step into territory that I couldn’t before!”
Lake Hills Church is in its infancy– coming to the Orlando region in February 2016. However, we have found there is never a lack of tragedy, hurting people, or opportunity to show love. Since our existence we have reached out to the Retirement Homes and began working each week to help the staff with tasks they struggle to do: cleaning closets, decorating for holidays, or setting up for activities. We go in and play games with the residents and often participate in Bible Studies.
We have met with the Vets Helping Vets organizations and we are now launching monthly events for the veterans in our community.
In the aftermath of the Orlando Massacre we responded. We saw tragedy, despair, and hopelessness on the faces of those in our community and we wanted to step in and let people know that there is a Redeemer! We instantly began to make baskets of non-perishable snacks to take to hospitals, first responders, and to those in the LGBT organizations who were offering counseling. We wanted to let them know that we saw tragedy hitting them wave after wave. We noticed them and we wanted to see them redeemed. We have taken on as much as we can to help victims and families: paying for gas for families to get here, hospital visits, praying with victims, and passing out candles at vigils.
The church should offer help when we have the means, we should offer hope always. Christ is our kinsman redeemer. He has given us the right to walk where we didn’t have the right. We should do the same for others. We don’t know what it is like to walk in the shoes of another. We don’t know what happened to get them to the place they are in, but we do know that Jesus loves them and we (the church) can shine light in their dark places.