Love That Crosses Borders

My wife Ellen introduced me to a book series by Jeff High about the life of a young doctor in a town called Watervalley, TN. I am not that fast a reader, but I’ve had a hard time putting down More Things in Heaven and Earth, the first in the four-book series. I think it’s because I can relate to the main character, Dr. Luke Bradford, wrestling with fitting in with the people of the new town that has contracted him to be their community’s doctor. He goes through periods of feeling everyone is looking at him differently, maybe even blaming him for not being able to prevent a patient’s death or the spread of a flu epidemic. But as time goes on, he gets to know many of the townspeople and is genuinely interested in them.

This weekend, we’ll hear about Ruth, the young lady from Moab who accompanied her mother-in-law Naomi back to Bethlehem. But before we hear about her going to Israel, we hear about people from Israel coming to Moab and living there for ten years as they tried to escape a famine. Two different cultures came together in this family’s story, but one Almighty God brought them together in His love. In fact, Ruth from Moab would even find herself on the family tree of Jesus. There never seems to be any questioning on Ruth’s part of her move or loneliness caused by not fitting in.

Perhaps there’s a lesson for us followers of Jesus in our present “Us vs. Them” culture. Namoi never gave up her trust in the Lord and worship of Him alone while in Moab but rather brought Him with her. As a result, the difference He makes was noticed and embraced by Ruth. Instead of refusing to interact with Ruth’s culture, Naomi interacted with her and the Holy Spirit did the rest. He can do the same in our day when we find ourselves with people who seem different than us, people with whom we feel like we don’t fit in. Maybe the Holy Spirit has us in certain situations so we can model the love of Jesus which transcends culture to bring all who would trust in Him into God’s family.