Great. Greater. Greatest.

When it comes to describing generations, we Americans tend to attach the adjective “Greatest” to the group of men and women who braved the Depression and won World War II.

Think G.I. Joe and Rosie the Riveter. If you are part of this generation, we salute you!

You were a tough and courageous generation, so there’s nothing wrong with calling you “The Greatest.” But how about a label for your children, the Baby Boomers?

Would you say “Great” … or even “Good”? Unfortunately, the adjectives that people so often attach to the Boomers are more along the lines of childish, selfish, noisy, and materialistic. Boomers are great, some will say — great at pitching a fit when the Starbucks barista botches their latte order.

But these insults are way off base. We Boomers — and I count myself as part of this generation — deserve credit for a whole range of positive changes in American life. Environmental protection. Improved race relations. Women’s liberation. Tolerance, openness, and equality — these are all legacies of the Baby Boom generation.

According to Leonard Steinhorn, a professor at American University, our country is far more open, inclusive, and equal than at any time in our history, and he gives Boomers credit for these positive changes. The title of his new book says it all: the Baby Boom is, in his opinion, The Greater Generation.

With regard to women, he writes that “the Baby Boom era has been one of breathtaking change — in a single generation, American women have effected one of the greatest social [transformations] in recorded history.”

Of course, the women of the Baby Boom were not the first generation to experience breathtaking change. Open the pages of the Bible, and you will find women in both the Old Testament and the New who shattered traditional expectations and moved with the power of God into a new and more faithful future. Look at the story of Ruth in the Old Testament, and Mary in the New.

They were the Boomers of their era. And both were part of a Greater Generation.

Christmas is a time of year in which generations come together, just as we saw today when the Fosters, charter members of this church, lit the candles in the middle of the Conversation with Children. Because of this, today is a good day to reflect on the stories of Ruth and Mary. The story of Ruth begins with a family of Israelites facing a time of famine, and making the decision to move away from the little town of Bethlehem. The mother in the family is named Naomi, and she travels with her husband and two sons to the land of Moab, in search of a better life. Naomi’s husband dies there, but her two sons marry Moabite wives — one is named Orpah, and the other is named Ruth. After about ten years, both of the sons die, and so Naomi is left with only her two daughters-in-law.

You might think of Naomi as a member of The Greatest Generation, struggling to make it through the Depression, while her daughters-in-law Orpah and Ruth are Baby Boomers.

Since there is no Women’s Movement in Moab, Naomi realizes that her best bet is to move back to Bethlehem, where she can rejoin her extended family. She begins her journey with Orpah and Ruth, but then senses that these Moabite women will have a better chance at remarriage if they return to their homeland. “Go back each of you to your mother’s house,” urges Naomi. “May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me” (Ruth 1:8). Naomi knows that her relatives in Bethlehem have a negative view of foreigners, with some deeply entrenched prejudices — multiculturalism has not yet arrived in Bethlehem. She sends her daughters-in-law away, because she wants them to be spared this kind of discrimination.

Surprisingly, Ruth clings to Naomi. Orpah returns home, but Ruth refuses to budge. “Where you go, I will go,” says Ruth to Naomi; “where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (v. 16).

What a bold and faith-filled statement this is! This Baby Boomer named Ruth turns away from a culture in which women are considered to be nothing without a husband.. She refuses to be intimidated by a town that is full of racial and ethnic prejudice. She commits herself to moving in a new direction, trusting completely in Naomi and in Naomi’s God — the God of Israel.

Ruth is no mere Baby Boomer. She’s a member of a Greater Generation!

God smiles on Ruth’s decision to follow Naomi to Bethlehem, and in time Ruth meets and marries an Israelite named Boaz. Together, they have a son named Obed, who becomes the father of Jesse, and the grandfather of King David. Ruth contributes to the bloodline that will eventually produce the baby Jesus, a child born into in the house and lineage of David.

Notice that this branch of the family tree begins not with pure Israelite blood, and not with traditional practices in the little town of Bethlehem. Instead, this branch starts with the bold and daring faith of a foreigner, a Moabite woman named Ruth, and with her determination to embrace the God of Israel and make a bold journey to a new and better land. Our Christian faith is far more tolerant, equal, and open than we often understand it to be, and we can give our ancestor Ruth a great deal of credit for this change.

Fast-forward now to the New Testament, to the story of Mary’s visit with Elizabeth. We just viewed a clip of this meeting from the movie “The Nativity Story.” Mary has just received the news that she will become pregnant with Jesus, the son of the Most High, “and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David” (Luke 1:32). Mary knows that she is taking a huge chance by becoming pregnant outside of marriage, but she refuses to say no to this opportunity to be a servant of the Lord.

You can think of Mary, like Ruth, as a Baby Boomer — a member of a generation not afraid of taking risks and making changes. Mary goes with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she finds her older cousin Elizabeth, a card-carrying member of the Greatest Generation, miraculously pregnant with John the Baptist. When Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting, the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy, and Elizabeth cries out, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (v. 42). There is no Generation Gap to be found between Mary and Elizabeth — both come to see that they are on a journey of faith together, one that is leading them into a future that only God can create.

When people are walking this path, there are no Great, Greater, and Greatest Generations. There is only one generation — the one people of the One Lord God. This group is not divided into old and young, black and white, male and female, American and immigrant. It does not make distinctions between liberals and evangelicals, gays and straights, Protestants and Catholics, singers of praise music and hummers of hymns. Instead, this group is made up entirely of people who have discovered the truth of Mary’s song of praise: the mercy of God “is for those who fear him from generation to generation” (v. 50).

God’s mercy is for those who fear him … those who respect him … those who honor him … those who are in awe of him … those who follow him in complete and total trust. Fear in this case has nothing to do with being shocked, startled, squeamish or scared. Instead, it has everything to do with standing in awe before the One Lord God, maker of heaven and earth, the one who loved the world so much that he sent his only-begotten son.

My message to you today, as we gather in families to celebrate Christmas is this: We are one generation — God’s Generation. Together, we should be open, equal, and inclusive of everyone who trusts the One Lord God and believes in his son Jesus Christ. There should be no generational barriers between those who fear the Lord and follow him. In fact, there should be no distinctions at all between those who are willing to abide by this simple formula: Fear God, and follow Jesus. Yes, it’s that simple: Fear and follow.

There was a time, writes Leonard Steinhorn, “when women were told to stay home, blacks and minorities were told to stay separate, [and] gay people were told to hate themselves and stay in the closet.” But in this new time, this time of God’s Generation, the only instruction is to fear the Lord, and follow Jesus.

There was a time when those who marched to a different drum “were pretty much told to stay silent,” says Steinhorn. But in this new era, we welcome every voice that wants to join in praise of the God who sent Jesus to save us. Every voice is welcome, and every voice is needed: Moabite and Israelite, male and female, Red State and Blue State, young and old and middle-aged.

As the one people of God, there’s only one way to be: Open, equal, inclusive. If we take this approach, we’ll bring to life the Scripture lesson behind our pulpit: “a house of prayer for all peoples.”

If we live in this way, at Christmas and throughout the year, we’ll be a Greater Generation. Amen.

Sources:
Steinhorn, Leonard. The Greater Generation: In Defense of the Baby Boom Legacy. (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2006).