Ruth.1.1-19a; 18th
Sunday after Pentecost; October 13, 2019;
Life in Christ Lutheran Church,
Grand Marais, MN;
In the days when
the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in
Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names
of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah . They went into the country
of Moab
and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left
with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and
the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon
and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her
husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of
Moab , for she had heard in
the fields of Moab
that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. So she set out from
the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way
to return to the land
of Judah . But Naomi said
to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May
the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The
Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!”
Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said
to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Turn
back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that
they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am
too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a
husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were
grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is
exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out
against me.” Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed
her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, “See, your
sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your
sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from
following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die,
and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything
but death parts me from you.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go
with her, she said no more. So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem . And when they
came to Bethlehem ,
the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this
Naomi?” (Ru 1:1-19, ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Two men were traveling in a deep wood. All at once they were confronted with a huge
bear. One of the men, thinking only of
his own safety quickly climbed a tree.
The other, who was unable to climb, was now unable to fight t ferocious
animal by himself flopped on the ground and played dead, because he had heard
that bears won’t touch a dead body.
It must have worked because the bear sniffed
at the man for a moment and then being satisfied that he was indeed dead, left
him be. When the danger was past, the
man in the tree came down, saying, “It almost looked as if that bear whispered
something into your ear!”
“He did,” answered the other. “He said it isn’t wise to keep company with a
person who would desert his friend in a moment of danger.” The story is one of Aesop’s fables.
There’s an old joke about a motorcyclist who
took a girl named Ruth for a ride, hit a bump and so he continued
“Ruthlessly.” Really there’s more of a
pun there than most of us realize. You see,
the name Ruth actually means “friend” or “companion” so the ruthless biker was
also “friendless.” But the name can also
mean “to be satisfied” or “refreshed.”
It’s actually what we find in the book of Ruth that God has given to
us. In that account we see that Ruth is
a true friend, in the very best sense of the word. She refreshed Naomi her mother-in-law even
when Naomi was old.
The story is a particularly wonderful
one. It takes place at a time before Israel had a
king, some 400 years before Jesus was born.
There was a man named Elimelech.
He lived in Bethlehem
with his wife, Naomi and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. When a famine struck the area, they packed up
all they had and moved to Moab (which was on the exact opposite side of the
Dead Sea). Moab was a well-watered highland,
so the drought and famine didn’t affect the people there. While they were there, some ten years, Naomi
lost her husband. We don’t know why he
died there is no reason given. Soon
afterwards it seems, the sons married Moabite women. Their names were Orpah and Ruth. Then tragedy struck again, and the two sons
also died. Again, we aren’t told why,
weather it was a plague or an accident, doesn’t really matter. Naomi and her two daughters-in-law were left
to themselves. Now since she heard that
the famine in Bethlehem
was over, Naomi decided to return home.
At first the two women joined her. But Naomi insisted that they go back to their
parent’s homes, where they could begin their lives again. Both women refused the first time but after a
second pleading Orpah did exactly what was asked. Ruth, however, vowed to stay no matter what.
And here is where we find the words that we most often associate with
Ruth.
“Do
not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I
will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and
your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if
anything but death parts me from you.” (Ruth 1:16-17, ESV)
These words are words of true friendship;
they go far beyond family loyalty and duty.
Ruth lives up to her name by becoming Naomi’s friend, companion and
comfort.
Naomi and Ruth seem to have a remarkable friendship,
almost twin like. Like the bond we sometimes
see in “identical” twins. Some of you
may have been fortunate to have that kind of friendship. For some it is in marriage. Some find it in bonding with a child who has
grown. Still others find this kind of
relationship in old school mates, co-workers, army buddies, neighbors, fishing companions,
or teammates.
These people are people you trust. You enjoy their company and seek out times to
be with them. You enjoy the same kinds
of activities, talk long into the night, relax, work, laugh and cry
together. Most of the time and in most
ways… you are true companions. There is
something wonderful about that kind of partnership, that kind of relationship. They are a glimpse of the kind of
relationship God would have with us.
But there are always times when friends can’t
be in complete agreement. Imagine two
people standing in a rowboat. If both
leaned over the same side of the boat, they’d both end up in deep water. Sometimes friends, too, must disagree and “lean
the opposite way” for the benefit of both.
None of our earthly relationships are trouble free. When we expect that we usually end up
alone.
Many people expect that their relationship
with God will be trouble free, too. You
have maybe been guilty of that, just as I have.
It’s easy to say that we should turn our troubles over to God, when we
really mean that we intend to give them to God so he can fix them and fix them
now. And then we get disgusted with God
when he leans the other way. And our troubles
persist. What we really want from our
“friendship” with God is someone who’s bigger than we are to take care of the
things we can’t handle. And sometimes we
forget that God’s ideas, plans and expectations for our lives may be very
different from our own. It can be very
unpleasant when God leans the other way.
But God is more than just our good
friend. His love and care for us is way
beyond our understanding. He fixes our
problems in ways that we never could understand. Sometimes, because he knows what is best for
us, He even allows problems to persist in our lives because it helps us to
understand that we need him beyond the need to be free from pain or
trouble. Because he is more than only
our friend, He doesn’t always allow us to take the easy road.
It’s a picture of God that we see in Ruth’s
friendship with Naomi. There was no
guarantee that she would be better off with her mother-in-law. In fact, quite the opposite was true. When she said where you die, I too will die
be buried, she may have well expected it to be soon. Such was the fate of widowed women in those
days. Yet, she sacrifices herself not
just for the sake of their friendship, she gives her very self for the old
woman. It seems she loved Naomi more
than she loved herself. Her willing
sacrifice turns out to be their salvation.
For Ruth it all paid off in the end.
She married a wealthy Jewish man, had children and lived a full new
life. But it was no accident. Ruth became the great-grandmother of King
David, and an important link in the line of the promised Savior. She was a part of God’s plan to build a
friendship to you.
God’s love for you is no accident
either. In fact, God guarantees your
future through the Savior who was Ruth’s distant great-great-great-great…
grandson. God builds a relationship, a
friendship with you through His own self sacrifice. We hear Jesus echoed in Ruth’s words… “For where you go I will go, and where you
lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people… Where you die I will die,
and there will I be buried.” That’s
what Jesus did. God, himself in human
flesh, lived where people live, walked were people walked, ate and slept where
people ate slept. And most importantly
died as people die and was buried. That’s
God extraordinary love for you and me that he lived as any man would have
lived, except he lived as a perfect friend, always loving completely, always
giving completely. That giving
completely is most clearly seen on the cross where he dies, like any human
being would die, except not like any human being. It’s there that Jesus shows that His
friendship is so much greater than any friendship we could ever hope to
have. Jesus death on the cross is not
just Jesus giving himself for one friend, or a certain group of people. It’s
not just Jesus taking care of you and me.
It is Jesus bleeding and dying for the sins of all the people of the
whole world. It is a complete and total
giving of himself for everyone. We don’t
have friends like that, we aren’t friends like that. But Jesus is.
He is because His love compels him to be.
Ruth said to Naomi. “May
the Lord do so to me and more also
if anything but death parts me from you.”
It was a promise she made probably slashing a finger across her throat,
as if to say, “I’ll die before I desert you.”
Jesus promises you and I even more than that, with his friendship. And he seals his promise in his own
blood. One way to look at it is
this. Ruth could have died for
Naomi. If she did it would have been a
wonderful self sacrifice. But Ruth still
would have been dead the next time Naomi needed help. Jesus isn’t dead. That’s the most powerful thing about what he
has done for us. He died but didn’t stay
dead. He suffered death for you and me,
but he got up and walked out of the tomb.
That’s exactly why Paul could right these words for us; For I am sure that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro 8:38-39, ESV)
Jesus is our best friend because he dies on
the cross for us. But He’s our greatest
friend because he rose from the dead, and lives with us right now, in every day
of our lives. He does something no human
begin could ever do.
It still doesn’t mean that in whatever you
choose to do he won’t lean the other way.
He doesn’t promise that your life is going to be easy and free from trouble. But what he does promise is that He is your
Ruth, your friend, your companion, your comfort. He is right there right in the middle of your
pain and suffering. And he also promises
one more thing that Ruth couldn’t promise Naomi. He promises that through it all you he will
be your friend, it won’t last forever, and it really will be alright in the
end. And the proof of that promise is
seen in the empty tomb… Jesus empty
tomb… and yours. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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