Ruth Part 1

Welcome/Prayer/ Reading

Good Morning Church!!! How is everyone this morning? It is good to be together this morning! As I reflect on the gathering this morning. We are here for a reason. God has drawn each of us for His purposes this morning.

In many ways we come here to grow:

Grow in our relationship with God,

Grow in the knowledge and understanding of the Bible,

Grow in our relationships with each other.

Even when we leave here we are called to Grow God’s Kingdom through relationships we have and ways we serve.

This morning we are going to begin a Journey through the book of Ruth, my hope is that we would Grow as we move through this Biblical story. I believe that the book has many lessons for the church today. Each week the we are going to highlight several lessons from the chapters we explore.

Summer Vacations: Id encourage you to be reading ahead in the book of Ruth and Listen in on facebook or the recording on our website so you can learn from the book of Ruth even if you are camping/on vacation/ or just away.

Before we dive into the scripture would you pray with me?

Notice in Scripture:

As I read I want us to notice some things

Names:

Naomi- pleasantness

Mara- Biterness

Ruth- pity or distress

Orpah- Neck or nape because she turned her neck away from her mother in law.

Places:

-Betelehem means house of food

- Moab was not the most desirable place , moabite s come from Lot’s incest with his oldest daughter, King of Moab hired Baalam,

Connecting with the Context:

In our lives we have seen an increase in prices around travel, gas is over $5, food prices have gone up, some of us are changing some of our habbits, take a moment to think about the most vulnerable in our community are effected by this.

Today there are more than-five million people rightly identified as refugees and internally displaced persons. In other words, their are people who living the story we are about to read. If you havent already turn in your bibles to Ruth Chapter 1 and follow along as I read.

Scripture Reading: Ruth 1- CEB

Walking Through the Text

The Story: The passage opens up with a Problem: There is a famine in the Land

Jews go from the “House of Bread to Moab”

While in Moab Elimilech dies, but his sons marry two Moabite women Orpah and Ruth

I do want to point out here that the word “took” in Hebrew denotes not the most happiest of weddings and some scholars sugguest that the wives were forcibly married.

Although this is already tragic enough the sons die as well and three women are left alone, in Moab.

They are the most vulnerable they could be in this situation: no men, no income, probably no permanent place to stay. very little to sustain themselves.

Then God interrupts the story: Look at verse 6, (Slide) Naomi hears that God had paid attention to his people and was providing food for them, so Naomi decides to return to Judah.

The three women begin the long journey back home.

Here is where I want to pause in the story and talk about the first lesson we can take from this Chapter.

Lesson # 1: God is working and present even in the darkest and most painful moments in life.

Now that might seem simple, but it is a truth we need to constantly tell ourselves and others.

We see in the text that it is a truth that Naomi is missing. Look at verse 20: Naomi says, dont call me Noami or Pleasant, call me Mara or Bitter because God himselfe has come against me and proclaimed me guilty, but has God really come against her?

Not from what I see, I see that God has been with her, she didnt die in the famine, and although she has lost her husband and sons, she has not been completely abandoned. God was present and working even in the darkest and most painful times.

I think everyone struggles with this just like Naomi did. Let me illustrate with this piece of paper.

If I ask you to focus on this piece of paper, what are you going to focus on? The black dot- its the thing that sticks out. Well, the black dot is pain and hurt, but the white is God. Its really hard to focus on the white when the black sticks out. Its the same way with Pain and tragedy. Yet, God is still their amen?

Transition: Lets continue to look at this story together.

The Second Problem arises at the Death of the men of the Family, the women are left alone. This is a problem that God wont fully resolve until the end of the story, but we will see His hand along the way!

Naomi’s Speech to her daughter and Laws.

Somewhere along the Journey Naomi addresses Ruth and Orpah She tells them to go back to their households in Moab.

She blesses them with a formal blessing:

May God show his chesd to you as he has with me and my family

May God provide for you: this is probably referring to physical and social needs.

This is a complete blessing that relases the daughters from any type of obligation to Naomi.

Naomi is hoping that this blessing will send her Daughter in laws away.

Why would she want to send them away?

Shame for breaking the law as she returns.

Self- pity- they are better off without me

She says that she can bare no sons.

no hope for her.

God has come against her.

At this Orpah lives up to her name and turns her neck against Naomi and Leaves.

I want to pause here reflect on the first part of Naomi’s Speech.

Lesson # 2: Even When we are in the midst of our Darkest Moments and We are struggling we can still be a blessing to others.

Even if Naomi is trying to push Orpah and Ruth away, we can learn from her actions here and not necesarily her intentions.

From the very beginning of Israel’s history God has called his people to be a blessing to the rest of the world!

Naomi teaches us this lesson here. Naomi invites us to be a blessing even admist our own pain. But again this is hard to see.

When I was struggling with my own issues with depression, the doctors wanted to place me in group therapy, where we would “work on our problems together” my response was “I dont care about other people’s problems, I want to fix my own”. Despite my snarky comment, Its actually true

One study in 2018 revealed: that helping others to regulate their emotions predicted better emotional and cognitive outcomes for those participants who were giving the help. Moreover, because heightened levels of self-focused attention are common in depression, the more people helped others, the more their helping behavior predicted a reduction in their own depression, thanks to the use of reappraisal in their own daily lives.

The challenge then for us Church is how can we be working to serve others this week?

One thing: I want to say, is that Just because we are serving others doesnt make our problems go away or garuentee that we wont get hurt in serving others.

I think that is one thing we forget about life as a church family, hurt people , hurt people (We all are hurt), Yet, Healed people can also help Heal people!

Lets continue with our scripture text

The Story: Ruth’s Faithfulness to Naomi

Whereas, Orpah leaves Ruth Stays: I want to reread what Ruth says to Noami and Just let those words sink in as we hear them another time (Slide)

Ruth is the faithful one in the story, but she isnt just a faithful daughter in law she is a faithful human, even more so Ruth a Moabite embodies the faithful Israelite: She is fufilling God’s command to care for the vulnerable and the widow. Before, she verbally announces her conversion to follow Yahweh, Her actions reveal conversion.

Ruth’s Hesed for Naomi points us to God’s Hesed for all of Humanity in Jesus Christ. Paul describes Jesus’ deep hesed for Humanity in Phil 2: 6-8

Philippians 2:6–8 NIV

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Paul tells us in the preceding verses to that we need to have this attitude that Jesus and Ruth had toward others.

Lesson # 3: We must also have this faithful love that Ruth had to others and Jesus had for us.

1 John, says, We love because he first loved us.

Church, this is our mission to Go into our world and share God’s love in our community. In the begininnign of the sermon I mentioned that we are here to Grow, but we also Grow as we share the love of God with others.

Ruth’s story inspires us to Go out and show that same faithfulness, commitment and love to someone in our lives.

Question: How many of you have experienced someone who was faithful, commited and loving like Ruth in your life? In other words, How many of you have ever been a Naomi?

My wife has been the Ruth in my life, She has loved me with Jesus-love out of some of the darkest places, she has been committed to me in ways I dont deserve, but in the end, Jess will tell you its not by her love, but God’s love.

Question: How many of you know of a person in your life that is a Naomi, in desperate need of God’s faithful and transformative love in their lives? (Raise your hand)

What if, God has placed you in their lives to show them God’s love?

Now, Im not saying we have to commit ourselves to people in the same way Ruth did, but we are called to love people like Jesus did.

Transition: So what Lessons do we learn from Ruth and What action steps does this story call us to take?

Application:

Where is God working behind the scenes in your life?

Do you see Him or are you focused on the black dot?

How can you actively be a blessing to someone that you encounter this week?

Who is one person we can show faithful love to one person in our lives?

Begin by asking God, Who is my Naomi in my life that needs to see your faithful love?

If we can learn to love like Ruth Love, Like Jesus, We will grow, We will build God’s Kingdom one person at a time!

As I close in prayer I would like to invite the worship team up to lead us for our sending song. Would you pray with me?

Benediction:

Closing Benediction (inspired by 1 Peter 4:8-10)

Go now into the world, inspired by the extravagant love of God. Live generously, with open hands, loving one another as if your lives depended on it. Be good stewards of the gifts you have received, so that God may be glorified in all that you say and do.

And may the abundant love of God surround you, may the extravagant grace of Jesus Christ sustain you, and may the constant presence of the Holy Spirit inspire and encourage you in every good deed and word.

Amen.

~ Christine Longhurst