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The ornaments to print out for the Jesse Tree
Understanding the Jesse Tree
Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
Ruth 3:1-4, 10,15-17, 4:10,13 (NRSV)
Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. Boaz said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not be afraid, I will do for you all that you ask, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman. Then he said, “Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley, and put it on her back; then he went into the city. She came to her mother-in-law, who said, “How did things go with you, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife
Life has a way of throwing us curve balls. Just when we think we are OK and all is good, something happens that changes everything, and we never saw it coming. It could be the early death of a spouse, the unexpected news of a friend, the divorce that sprung up on you, a sickness that came from nowhere. Life has a way of taking the best of laid plans and turning them into shattered dreams. Ruth never planned that she would be a young widow, certainly a very difficult state for a woman in the ancient world. However, with the care of Naomi, her mother-in-law, and the work of God, she found support and care to carry her through it. Moreover, a new relationship with Boaz would never have been planned, but God does not leave His people. Only God knows the future and what can be thought to be the end of the road or closing of a door only turns out to be a new future, to have new possibilities and to be different. In God’s mysterious plan for us, our dreams may not be the same as His will, but faithful people know that a new life is possible for those who trust that God is still working. People come into our lives and situations happen that often help to accept what is and look to the future in hope even if it seems impossible. No one could have thought that on that first Christmas night that the world would change from obligations to the Law to the fulfillment of the Law by God in the Incarnation. Even when we do not know of a way, God is still working to make the way.
Many years after the time of Joshua, when God's people were living in their land, there was a woman named Ruth. She was from a different land but married one of God's people. When her husband died, she chose to live with her mother-in-law. They moved to Bethlehem where God used a man named Boaz to help provide for them. Boaz provided food by making sure there was plenty of wheat for Ruth to gather in his fields. Boaz eventually married Ruth and they had a son named Obed. Obed would be the father to Jesse whose family would continue to be a part of God's plan to send a savior.
Discuss times when you have had to face unplanned events and life was turned upside down. How are people who believe in God to respond to these situations? Talk about how to live through these times? Share the emotions, feelings and thoughts that are normal for the average person and how to work through them without falling in to despair. It might be beneficial to explore the difference between being Pollyanna or facing things with an optimistic attitude, and a true faith that God is with us offering the gift of hope even in our trials.