How are you? How is your week?
A couple months ago, my family and I had the task of doing some renovation work on our home before we moved in. Having zero experience in this area, I felt completely lost and helpless. I didn’t think I had the ability to do the work in the given time I had, and I didn’t think I had the proper skills to do the work efficiently.
…I was right. I didn’t have enough time, and I didn’t have enough skills. I was completely helpless.
Have you ever felt this way? Maybe your boss put way too much work on your plate. Maybe your professors gave you exams and projects all at the same time. Maybe your family is stretching you in ways you never expected. Maybe the circumstances in your life are too much for you to bear alone. Maybe you’ve been trying so hard to walk with the Lord, but you fail over and over again.
Have you ever felt this kind of helplessness? Well, here is a brute fact: It’s true. We are completely helpless. Without Christ, we have nothing. We are hungry and poor in our sin. We cannot do anything to help ourselves.
This past Sunday, we saw that Ruth had nothing. She was a widow, meaning she was one of the most vulnerable in the society. Not only that, she was a foreigner. She did not have any family or tribe to defend and protect her. She was completely helpless.
But through the providence of God, she was helped through the kindness of another: Boaz. He showed mercy to her beyond what the law required. He not only allowed her to freely glean his fields, but he protected her. Also, he invited her to dine with him.
In the same way, we have been helped through the kindness of another: Christ. He shows mercy to us and protects us. Not only that, He invites us into communion with Him. He invites us to dine at His table.
This is only possible through the cross. He has become our help, because He became helpless for us on the cross. He has made us secure, because He became vulnerable for us on the cross. He leaves us satisfied and rich, because He became hungry and poor for us on the cross.
Now, through His help for us, He calls us to be help for the helpless. We now become His hands and feet to help the poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalized. We are now sources of His mercy onto others.
New Life, let’s confess our helplessness because of sin. Let’s cling to the help of our Savior. And let’s be His source of help for others.
My family and I were able to finish the renovation work on our home on time. How was this possible? It was through the help of others: our church. New Life, let’s continue to be sources of God’s help to one another and to the world.
Come out and let’s study His word together this Friday for FNS @7:30pm! If not, see you all on Sunday for Lord’s Day worship.
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
Image source: http://www.nicknotas.com