I'd like to start today with one powerful phrase from the shortest book in the Bible.

It's only seven words. But the Holy Spirit put this in my heart as a theme to carry our family of faith, here at Pathway, through this entire year.

Seven words from the next to last book in the Bible, a tiny book called Jude... who was the half-brother of Jesus. Jude said:

"Keep yourselves in the love of God" (Jude 21).

That word keep literally means to protect yourself from harm or to put yourself in a place of safety. If you want to safe keep your life and heart and psychological health, then lock your heart in the vault of God's boundless love.

There's a companion Bible verse that goes with it, and it's even shorter; only 4 words. Jesus is speaking.

"Abide in my love" (John 15:9).

Jesus invites you to stay, to remain, to dwell, and to rest your weary soul in the sphere of his love.

Every year, at Pathway, we try to focus our energy on a particular theme. For example, last year the theme was Giant Steps. The theme guides our preaching and programs for the whole year.

So, right now it's time to unveil the Pathway theme for 2025.

Here it is. Our theme for 2025 is: Resting in the Love of God

The tagline is: "The greatest dysfunction is feeling unloved. The greatest healing is Resting in the love of God."

And to get into it, I'd like to invite you to open your Bible to a book that is familiar to a lot of people, not everybody. But if you've been at Pathway for many years, you'll know this book...

So I invite you to please open to the Book of Ruth. It is the 8th book in the Bible. Short, only four chapters. And a classic.

The heroes of this book, Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, put on a clinic on what it means to rest in the love of God... and it is glorious, even though it doesn't happen without a lot of kicking and screaming.

"Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons" (Ruth 1:1).

It's not a very exciting beginning... but I promise you there's way more than meets the eye, even here.

The Book of Ruth is short. You could sit down and read it in 15 or 20 minutes.

If you did that what you would find is a love story set in ancient times. And even though the customs of those ancient days seem really strange to us, the love between the main characters shines through.

And I might as well introduce the 3 main characters:

NAOMI. The Mom. She's the main character in the beginning of the story. Sadly she becomes a widow and loses her husband... utterly heartbreaking. As if that's not enough, Naomi also loses both of her sons. So it's a tragedy right from the beginning. But Naomi is the mom.

 

RUTH. The Daughter-in-law. She becomes the main character toward the middle and end of the story. Sadly, she also is a widow... another story of heartbreak and tragedy.

BOAZ. The New Guy. He comes in and shows tremendous generosity to Naomi and Ruth, so a lot of readers see him as the hero of the story. He is given a traditional title called "The Kinsman Redeemer," and that title actually turns out to be a gigantic mistake. Even so when the story ends, Ruth and Boaz get married. They have a son. Everyone lives happily ever after.

It is short and sweet. A simple love story. On the surface, you see a damsel in distress and her "kinsman redeemer" in shining armor. Some see Ruth as an allegory for the love of God or as a moral fable on generosity and grace. There's not much to look at, really, just four short chapters with a message of love.

We need to think again.

There's something here under the surface that once you see it you can't unsee it.

Once you see it you make a discovery:

The gospel of Ruth can set a person free. Its message can birth hope in a troubled world. On a deeper level, Ruth is a spiritual jolt of energy. It will encourage you. It will make you grateful. A journey into Ruth will dramatically deepen your respect for the literary craftsmanship of Scripture.

Most of all...

This humble love story called Ruth is packed with spiritual dynamite... and a lot of us need it to blow up a lot of hard, dark, soul-sucking garbage piles in our souls.

So let me outline 3 ways that what we are talking about is not what you think it is.

The story of Ruth is not what you think it is.

It is not just a simple love story... it is on the surface, but if you really look at it deeply, Ruth is a strategic weapon for human flourishing disguised as a literary masterpiece.

Ruth is not a damsel in distress, she's a world-class, epic hero. The story is not what you think it is.

Ruth did not actually do the ancient practice of gleaning, when you look carefully, she did something else. The story is not what you think it is.

Boaz is not the knight in shining armor. He's a great guy but the whole kinsman redeemer translation and interpretation actually wrecks the story. It's not what you think it is.

Boaz isn't even the hero. Neither is Ruth. Neither is Naomi. That story is not what you think it is. I'll bet you can't even guess who the hero is. And don't say God.

What I'm saying is there's a deeper structure to things than first meets the eye.

And so it is with your life. The story is not what you think it is. Look at this completely counterintuitive, counter-cultural statement from Scripture:

(1 Corinthians 2:9).