Sharing Scripture — June 14, 2025

Texts: Ruth 1:1-5; Ruth 2:5-20; Job 1:67-11; Matthew 4:8-9; Esther 3:1-14; Revelation 12:14-17

In the world of American Football, when a team is trailing by 19 points with 4:12 left in the game and playing on the road before a hostile crowd, usually the losing coach will wave the white flag. That’s the time to pull the starters (both to avoid injuries and give the second-string players some game-time experience) and begin regrouping for their next game. The University of Oregon Ducks vs. the UCLA Bruins game in 1970, however, played out much differently.

With UCLA leading 40-21 and the game well in hand, Bruins fans began confidently filing out of Los Angeles’ Memorial Coliseum. The Ducks, however, led by future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback (QB) Dan Fouts and future NFL all-star running back Bobby Moore (AKA Ahmad Rashad), began their comeback.

With Fouts briefly knocked out of the game, backup QB Tom Blanchard tossed a pass to Moore for a touchdown (TD); score 40-28. When UCLA QB Jim Nader fumbled on the next series, the Ducks went to work. Two plays later Blanchard launched a bomb to Moore for another TD, making the score 40-35 with 2:24 left in the game. Some worried UCLA fans nervously returned to the stadium.

Oregon special-team player Don Frease then recovered Ken Woody’s onside kick, and the Ducks were in business. Blanchard, however, separated his shoulder blocking for Moore and the beat-up Fouts came back in the game. It seemed their comeback fizzled when the UCLA defense sacked Fouts for a 10-yard loss. On 3rd and 14 with a minute left, however, Fouts hit tight end Greg Specht for a TD; score Ducks 41, Bruins 40. When Oregon safety Bill Brauner intercepted a UCLA pass on the next series, the Ducks held on for the win. They built on the momentum from that game to post their first winning season in seven years.

“That was the greatest comeback I’ve ever been around,” Oregon Coach Jerry Frei cried in the locker room. “Tonight’s game has to top anything that has ever happened to me.”

The sports world is rife with examples of “snatching victory from the jaws of defeat” (see Tyrese Haliburton’s heroics in the current NBA playoffs). Scripture also offers several such examples—in fact, that’s the essence of the gospel: we humans, though defeated by sin, can claim victory through Jesus Christ.

The day came when there was no bread in the “house of bread.” A famine in Bethlehem drove Elimelek, Naomi, and their sons Mahlon and Kilion to Moab for survival. When Naomi’s husband and sons died, all seemed lost. The famine ended, and Naomi and daughter-in-law Ruth returned to Bethlehem, where she told her friends, “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter” (Ruth 1:20).

Sometimes, however, when we hit bottom is when God begins to work. Barely eking out their survival by picking left-over heads of grain, Ruth faithfully tended to Naomi. God then began a series of miracles to provide for Ruth and Naomi through the kinsman-redeemer Boaz. This saving relationship between Ruth and Boaz (pre-figuring the saving relationship between us and our Savior, Jesus) not only preserved their lives, but it also continued the ancestral line of Jesus through Ruth and Boaz’ great-grandson, David.

Such biblical examples of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat work both on the personal and national levels. When the evil Haman hatched his genocidal plot to wipe out the whole nation of Israel, God had already put in place their means of salvation through the orphan girl, Esther— “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

Just as God foiled Satan’s plan to wipe out God’s people in Mesopotamia, in Revelation 12:14-17, John the Revelator saw how God planned to save the church in the Middle Ages by leading them away from their persecutors into the safety of the wilderness.

Revelation 13:11-18 foretells a time when Satan will try again to destroy God’s people. It’s when all seems lost that God stands up to deliver those who obey God and trust Jesus (Revelation 14:12).

 

For Reflection

Sharing: Is it ever appropriate for a Christian to surrender to feelings of hopelessness?

1. No—that shows a lack of faith
2. Sometimes, it’s only when we come to that point in life that God can really begin to work
3. Just “let go and let God” and everything will work out for the good of those of us who love God (Romans 8:28)
4. In the Christian life it’s possible to feel both hopeless and hopeful at the same time; When it seems that all is lost, we can know that God is about to do something miraculous
5. It’s hard, though, to accept the fact that it’s God who pours the rain on both the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45)
6. Other:

Applying: What is the best way to help someone who feels that “all is lost”? Prayer? Listening? Stepping in to solve the problem, e.g. paying their bills, or standing up as an advocate for them? What potential pitfalls should we be aware of when we try and provide such tangible help?

~ Chuck Burkeen

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