Coming Home Empty

Introduction

Most sermons rush to Ruth’s beautiful declaration of loyalty—and rightly so. But before we admire Ruth’s faith, we must confront Naomi’s failures, because her story sounds a lot like ours

Naomi Returns

She stays focused on earthly provision

Ruth 1:6 “Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.”

Her husband and her sons are dead. It is natural that Naomi long for home as she is seemingly lonely in a place where she likely never fit. Still she decided to return home only after she heard that there was provision. Even after all the wrong choices and the obvious consequences for defying the commandments of the Lord Naomi acknowledges God’s power of provision, but not her own disobedience. She remained focused on where she could be fed. All this time and all this tragedy had not taught her that her relationship with God was most important. Her faith was not turned again toward God. Her desire was not for reconciliation with the God that she had rebuffed and refused. She only chose to return home because there was bread.

She and her husband had moved to Moab for food and now she was returning to Bethlehem-Judah for food. They were not focused on their relationship with God when they chose to move to Moab and it was not her relationship with God that was in focus when she chose to return home. She kept her focus the same; earthly provision.

She continues to follow cultural expectations

Ruth 1:7–13 “Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.”

When she made the choice to return home her daughter-in-laws packed up and were ready to make their life with her. It is ambiguous in the text to consider whether they actually travelled with her for a time and then the conversation of these verses happened or whether it was one they had before leaving Moab. None the less at some point Naomi, a child of God, chose to encourage these Moabitess ladies to return to a life of idol worship, child sacrifices, and violence. It would be unimaginable for us to tell people to go back such a life, but here in the text we read that Naomi did exactly that.

When they protested her request to return to their father’s house she cited only cultural facts to them. In their culture if there husband died and there was another unmarried son they would be wed to him. She says, “I’m old, I’m not getting married again, I’m not going to bear any more sons and even if I got married tonight and had sons would you wait for them to be old enough to marry?” She was telling them that there was no way that she could meet the cultural expectations to produce sons for them. She was so full of bitterness and hate she could not possibly think that these young ladies truly desired to be with her without wanting something from her.

She literally sends this ladies back to Moab to die without God. Thankfully, Ruth refuses this insistent demand of Naomi so we can hear about this wonderful story of love, mercy, grace, and reconciliation. Yet, we have to consider that Naomi was so bitter about how her life turned out that she was willing to send these ladies back to a place without God. Her focus was culture, not compassion.

She acts like the victim of a cruel God

Ruth 1:19–21 “So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?”

When they arrive in Bethlehem people immediately begin to recognize her. They call her by name wondering if it was her. We are not sure if she said this to an audience of one, to a crowd of people, or maybe multiple times to multiple people, but what we do know is that it highlights the role she is playing now. Naomi means, “My pleasantness” or “to be pleasant”. Mara means “bitter.” She is making a statement here about how she views herself. She is saying, “I am bitter at God for how my life turned out.” She acts like a victim of a cruel God rather than one that had reaped the consequences of sin against a righteous God.

As we look at Naomi’s intentions and views about her return and her life there are some biblical principles that we can learn from Naomi’s response.

We cannot Expect the Blessings of God while Rejecting a Relationship with Him

Elimelech and Naomi were looking for provision when they left Moab. Naomi was looking for provision when she decided to return to Israel. The choices they made depended upon the blessings they recieved. They had no bread in Bethlehem so they justified disobeying God and rejecting his commands and going to Moab. They expected to receive God’s blessing in Moab since he was not blessing in Bethlehem. They wanted God to set aside their rejection of him; his word, his commands, and his promises, but they still wanted his blessing upon their lives. They wanted to live in Moab; a land of sin, child murder, and violence while also reaping the blessings of the Holy God of Israel. My friends it does not work like that. Even after all that had happened Naomi was not interested in reconciliation with God. She was still seeking the blessing of God without living in relationship with him.

There are so many people who live with the attitude that they should be able to live like they want, do what they want, say what they want, go where they want, and still be able to reap the blessings of a Holy God like they were serving him all along. There are so many who live like Elimelech and Naomi. They justify their sin-filled lives and then still expect his blessing like they had lived a life of faith and holiness.

ILLUSTRATION

Adults are often hypocritical people. We look at our children and we tell them, “As long as you live in my house you will live by my rules.” We have the expectation of children that they will follow our rules. Honestly, our desire for our children should be you should live this way because God told us to do it in the Bible. We should want our children to have morals and character beyond the walls of our home.

It is interesting though that we expect obedience from people that are being provided for by us, but often times there are people who expect to be able to live however they want and still get God’s blessing.

If your kids grew up and decided they did not want to have a relationship with you and left would you still pay their rent, for their food, for their clothes, and make sure that they always had what they needed? When they are children you have that responsibility, but once they are old enough to make their decisions about their relationship with you then you also have the ability to make decisions about how you help them. None of you would agree to continue to bless your children in adulthood if they chose not to have anything to do with you.

Yet, somehow we expect God to bless us even when we are not willing to live in relationship with him. If we love God we will want to please him with our lives. If we love God we will want to please him whether or not we recieved blessings in return. If we love God then we are not in it for the material blessings.

Naomi wanted God’s blessing; not a relationship with God. We don’t even work that way with others; why would we expect God to work that way. God is our creator and owes us nothing; we are his creation and we owe him everything. Let’s live like we need God rather than living like we don’t and still expecting him to help.

We cannot live like the world and expect the abundant life that God offers

Naomi was dedicated to following cultural expectations. If you cannot find food where you live moves somewhere else. Our sons need wives; so what if they are from Moab. I can’t give you more husbands so go get them from your wicked, vile, child-murdering nation that you came from instead of coming with me to worship the one true and living God. Naomi was so focused on fulfilling cultural expectations that she did not give thought to living like God wanted her too. Yet, she was bitter at God for how her life had turned out. Naomi expected to live in Moab and get the abundant life that God offers his followers. She didn’t want to follow God, but still thought she deserved the blessed life of a faithful follower of Jehovah.

Naomi what did you expect when you left the land of promise for the land of sin? Naomi why did you think that blessing would be waiting for you in a land God cursed? Naomi why do you think you should have the abundant life that God offers his followers when you have chosen not to follow God?

Friend, if you live in Moab, you get the rewards of Moab. Moab may have bread for a season, but eventually the bread is not longer worth the prices you have to pay. Moab represents a life lived in sin and lived for the things of the world. Living for the world may get you happiness for a time, but in the end, just like Naomi, it leaves you empty, it leaves you discontent, it leaves you with nothing that is fulfilling in life. The abundant life cannot be found in Moab.

It is true that living for the Lord does not mean you will not have struggles or difficult circumstances. EVERYONE will face struggle. God’s people and the people of the world will face struggle. The difference in the worldly life and the abundant life is who faces those struggles with you. Do you want to face the struggles of life alone or do you want God to walk with you? That is the literal difference between the worldly life and the abundant life. Struggles come to both, but one gets God to walk with them and the other gets to walk alone. Even though Naomi returned with Ruth, Naomi’s outlook was that she came home empty.

Ruth 1:21 “I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?”

When times get hard you can choose to run to Moab or you can choose to run to God and that decision will determine whether you get through the struggle full or empty. Moab will leave you empty and God will keep you full.

Too many people want the abundant life while living the same way the world lives. The abundant life will only come to those that live life God’s way. Every time there is a challenge you get a choice; one will leave you full and one will leave you empty. The challenge comes either way, but the results are completely different.

We cannot play the victim when we lived like the villain

Ruth 1:21 “I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?”

IT’S GOD’s FAULT. Naomi does not own up to anything she did. She did not admit she made poor decisions. She does not say, “We should not have gone to Moab.” She does not say that she has reaped what she sowed. She takes no personal responsibility at all. She just blames God. God took her husband. God took her sons. God brought me home empty. God testified against me. God afflicted me. I didn’t do anything. God was just mean and cruel to me.

Naomi was playing the victim when all along her and Elimelech were the villains of this story. They made wrong choices. They chose Moab. They went against the clear commands of God. They chose to go to a cursed nation. They chose to leave the land of promise. Choice after choice after choice it was all their own doing and yet, somehow, God is the responsible party for all that happened to them. No Naomi you cannot play the victim when you are actually the villain.

So many people live life like this. They make one poor choice after another after another. When things go wrong they point their fingers at people who are in much better shape than they are and blame them. Naomi had no one else to blame. Her husband was dead, her boys were dead, so she turned and blamed the only one that was left. She blamed God.

It is interesting how people find themselves in a mess and they always want to blame other people for their mess. It was his fault. It was her fault. He didn’t treat me right. She didn’t give me a chance. I didn’t do anything wrong; they were just mean to me. This is the language of spiritual immaturity—grown bodies, childish faith. But people that play the victim and blame others for the outcomes of their lives are just throwing a grown up temper tantrum. When you make a choice you cannot blame others for the outcomes.

The truth be told Naomi would not even be able to blame God if she had stayed in Bethlehem and her husband and sons died. He is God and he is sovereign. He never does anything wrong. It is never right to blame God. Even if you are following God, being faithful to his word, staying faithful to his church, and living a holy life you still have no right to blame him for things that go wrong. He has his reasons and his purposes and he is God. It is okay to question God, but never okay to blame him.

Naomi, though, did not even have her faithfulness and dedication to point to. She had made bad decisions with her husband and now she had come home empty. She was blaming God for it all. She was the villain trying to play the victim and you simply cannot live that way. People have to start taking responsibility for their own actions and their own choices.

It is amazing how many people whose lives are lived so far from God’s Word and yet, they try to tell everyone else how to live and how to act and how to be. Their lives are a mess, but it is always someone else’s fault and then they turn around to those that are faithful to the Lord and try to blame them for their lives and point their fingers at faithful people faulting them for what has happened to them when in reality they are living the life they have because of their own poor choices and they have refused to accept they are the villain rather than the victim.

Conclusion

Naomi wanted the blessings of God without a relationship with him.

Naomi wanted the abundant life God offers, but wanted it from the land of Moab.

Naomi wanted to be viewed as the victim even though her choices made her the villain.

I have preached the Scripture we find in Ruth 1 and certainly the reality is that Naomi has a lot of responsibility for how her life turned out. Let us end this sermon, however, with hope. Naomi did not always desire to be called Mara. God did not beat her down and throw her away. He poured out grace onto her life and the story ends a whole lot better in chapter four then what is happening in chapter one.

Let’s be honest. We have all lived like Naomi at one point or another in our lives. Let’s not read Naomi’s story to be hard on her, but let us read it to learn from her story. Let’s decide today that we want a relationship with God and not just the blessings. Let’s decide today that we desire the abundant life enough to live God’s way so we can get it. Let’s decide today that we will no longer play the victim when we are the villain. We will take responsibility when we are wrong and we will turn back to the Lord in repentance.

While some people’s forgiveness is finite and limited the forgiveness, mercy, and grace of God are limitless. Let’s turn to him and live for him and live like him. Let’s leave behind our lives we lived in Moab and live in repentance toward God and in the grace that he pours out upon our lives.

Every one of us is either running to Moab for relief or running to God for restoration. One leaves you fed for a season. The other leaves you full for a lifetime