Romans 9: 1-5 (links validated 6/27/23)

Ruth’s parents were devout Christians who raised her in a Christian home and church. Yet as she matured, Ruth abandoned her parents’ faith and church. Her wandering took her to the White House and halls of congress, as well as to some of the most famous and powerful people in the world. She, for example, played a huge role in establishing the United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But Ruth’s wanderings never took her far from Christians who unconditionally “stuck with” her, loved her and prayed for her salvation. Long after some people had given up on Ruth ever becoming a Christian, people like Margaret, Mentey and Hilda mourned her unbelief and faithfully showed her God’s love. As Ruth aged and some of her powers declined, she came to recognize her need for God and God’s church. In her late 70’s she publicly professed her acceptance of God’s grace with her faith in Jesus Christ. After all, Christ is God over all, forever praised, even by those who took a very long time getting around to it.

Frederick Dale Bruner has told the story that he heard via a German theologian. The story is apocryphal if taken literally but when thought of as something those with eyes of faith could see, it has a literal application and meaning. The story says that as the Nazis strengthened their grip on Germany, there came a time when a Nazi-leaning Christian pastor stood up in his Lutheran Church and thundered from the pulpit, “If there is anyone here with Jewish blood in him, leave now.” And for those with eyes to see, the Christ figure on the crucifix in the church’s chancel climbed down from the cross, walked up the center aisle, and exited the building...

In late 2015, at the height of the Syrian refugee crisis, former Defense Secretary Bill Cohen warned that many are failing to pay attention to the human aspect of the refugee crisis. Speaking during a panel discussion at the University of Maine, Mr. Cohen lamented: “Frankly, it’s a little bit depressing to think that we’ve become desensitized to human suffering … We don’t look at the human dimension, the dimensions of the catastrophe of people who have nothing, who are homeless.”...