Intro Video
Opening Story
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Prayer
Recap
[[[ PREVIOUSLY ON WANDAVISION ]]]
So far, the story of Ruth has really focused on Naomi. A woman who, along with her husband, left the Lord’s Promised Land when things became difficult. The pursued a life away from the Lord and his plans – they were ineffective, of course, because nothing happens apart from the Lord’s say-so. And in the course of time Naomi lost her husband and both her sons. Left with nothing, she decides to return to the Promised Land, hearing that a good harvest is coming for the first time in years. Of her two daughters-in-law, only one chooses to stay with her through the journey. That, of course is our leading lady, Ruth. Orpah makes the common-sense decision to stay home and leaves the pages of history, never to be heard from again.
Verse-By-Verse
19a:
So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem.
That’s it. The common consensus is that this was likely a 7–10 day trek across dangerous terrain. Mountains, rivers, likely dangerous people. I would imagine this might have been a fairly harrowing experience, and here the author just passes by it. A single sentence. No pomp. No circumstance. No soup for you! Next!
[[[ SOUP NAZI ]]]
But we’re not going to move on so quickly. We’re going to camp out here for a minute. Because I think this is a scenario with which any of us can easily identify. Here’s a story I often share, because it was such a huge upheaval in my life.
My wife lost her mother to cancer during the week after Father’s Day 2007. This was just three weeks before our wedding and I had just started a new job. And when we read that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him, we cannot help but think… what? Or as my 7-year-old is fond of saying: Seriously?
But seriously, though! Where was the good?! I don’t see it. This reminds me of a transitional youth pastor who served here at Surrey CLA a number of years ago. A wonderful man who served as something of a mentor for me. During his brief stay, he had a big impact on my life. Probably more than he realized.
Anyway, this fellow – Steve Annonby – would talk about the “big questions” we have for God. He would say, “You know, when I get to Heaven, have I got some questions for the big man.” He made it sound like Desi Arnez marching up to God and saying, “Lord, you got some ‘splainin’ to do!”
[[[ DESI ARNEZ ]]]
But Steve would continue on in the story. Fast-forwarding to when this person might finally be standing in the presence of the Lord. And God would say, “So, Conrad, I heard you had some questions for me?”
And this is where everything would change. Now, standing in Heaven, before the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, with sin no longer obscuring our vision, and our limited view no longer blinding us to the truth we would become sheepish and timidly say, “Oh, it was nothing. Nevermind. It was a silly question.”
See, in the years since my mother-in-law passed away, my wife has often said that she is glad she isn’t God. Because she knows that if she had to chance to save her mother, even if it spelled doom hundereds, thousands, or even tens-of-thousands of others… she would choose her mom. She knows that it is a selflish choice, and not the “right” one to make. But she also knows she would do it anyway.
Why? Because all we know is now. We don’t know where we’re going. We don’t know where this road leads us. In 1994 the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band released a song called “Bless The Broken Road”. It’s a love song, but I think this lyric speaks to a kind of universal truth.
I think about the years I spent just passin’ through I’d like to have the time I lost and give it back to you But you just smile and take my hand You’ve been there, you understand It’s all part of a grander plan that is coming true
Because here’s the thing; we might ooh and ahh over this lyrics and post it as an inspirational quote on our Instagram accounts, but inside we feel a lot more like this lyric from Queen:
I want it all I want it all I want it all And I want it now
Put that in your pocket. We’ll come back to it.
19b
And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them.
The town was stirred! Stirred. What might that mean? Let’s take a look at other places this word is used. Not the english word “stirred”, but rather the Hebrew word that has been translated as “stirred”. Here we see it translated as “shout of joy” in 1 Samuel 4:5:
When all the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord coming into the camp, their shout of joy was so loud it made the ground shake!
But then the Psalmist uses it to mean “troubles” in Psalms 55:2…
Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles.
BUUUUTTTT, then again, in 1 Kings 1:45 we read it translated as “celebrating and rejoicing”…
They have just returned, and the whole city is celebrating and rejoicing. That’s what all the noise is about.
But it really goes off the rails, when the word is translated in Deuteronomy 7:23 as “complete confusion”…
But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed.
And I think this is the most likely meaning we can apply to the reaction to Naomi’s return. The people recognized this member of their community and they surely realized that Naomi had returned with a strange woman and withOUT her husband, or her sons. This only re-enforces what Naomi already believes to be true.
We’re going to take that a put it in our pockets as well. I promise, we’ll come back to both of these. Let’s continue on…
19c–21
And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”
Naomi lashes out at the women there, who were so stirred up about her lonely return. She declares that she ought not be called “Naomi”, which means “lovely, or pleasant” but rather insists that she be called “Mara”, which means “bitter” because the Lord has dealt so bitterly with her.
Noteworthy here is the use of the Hebrew word “Shaddai” for Lord. And why it is noteworthy? Because most of the time when we see this, it is translated as “Almighty”. In fact, it appears 48 times in the Old Testament. 31 of those are in the book of Job.
The book of Job tells the harrowing story of a man who lost everything. He was utterly bereft of family, friends, money, goods, land, everything was taken from him. And in the midst of this valley, this chasm that he found himself, those few people Job still had in his life all told him to curse the God who would do this to him. Job refused to do this despite the temptation and – some might argue – the justification that was surely at the forefront of him mind.
Job is a story about an Almighty God – an ALL MIGHTY GOD – who sometimes does nothing. Merely having this power does not mean that He is required to weild it in all circumstances where he is ABLE to weild it.
Sometimes nothing is the best course of action.
[[[ CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER ]]]
But nothing is not what Naomi wants. She wants an intervention. She wants this ALL MIGHTY GOD to step in and fix this. And notice, during her whole rant, what do we never hear about? What do we never see? Who is pushed to the side as though she doesn’t even exist?
Ruth! Ruth the committed daughter-in-law who forsook her family and her homeland to accompany Ruth back to Isreal. This woman has not even garnered a mention in Naomi’s assessment of her situation.
Let’s throw that in our pocket as well, and take a look at our final verse for this morning to bring us home.
22
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to make a quick pit stop in Tangent Town. We hear a lot about Ruth’s heritage in this story. She is a Moabite. Not an Israelite. And yet, she plays a critical role in the story of the nation of Israel. This just goes to show, that the promses God made to Abraham and to Moses, and even to David (who is yet to come at the time of this story) were never only for Israel. That was never true. The blessing was never confined to Isreal, but rather it was through Israel that God would bless the whole of creation. And here in the story of Ruth we see her outsider-ness emphasized to drive that point home. The blessing came through Israel, but was not exclusive to Israel.
Now, as we pull those thoughts back out of our pocket, don’t miss what’s happened here – because it’s going to be important. While Naomi pushed Ruth to the side, out of the story during her monologue about how God has dealt so bitterly with her, the Narrator brings Ruth back into focus. And this is where all those thoughts we set aside for later come together. They might be summed up like this:
1.
We want what we want
… no, seriously, we want what WE want. Not what God wants. Remember the story of my wife and her mother. She recognized that she would make the selfish decision, rather than the right one. Sometimes we can see – like my wife did – that we are making a selfish decision. But I suspect that most of the time, we become blinded by our circumstances and our perspective becomes shallow and narrow. We forget that we are a part of the bigger plan of God. God is bringing us to a specific place at a specific time for a specific reason that we may never know. We. May. Never. Know.
This is where we need to find hope in all circumstances. Because our hope is not found in this flesh or on this world, our hope is found in the eternal life with Jesus that awaits us. This is why prayer is so critical. It brings our hearts closer to God. It aligns our desires closer with his desires. It helps to bring peace, comfort, and even understand in those times when things don’t go the way we had hoped.
And I think it’s safe to say that things did not go the way the Naomi had hoped.
2.
Just like Naomi found a group of women who were all stirred up by these women who saw that she was without her husband and childrenm You will find someone who encourages you in whatever choices you make. We don’t read about them encouraging Naomi, supporting Naomi, offering to take Naomi into their house. These weren’t people who were eager to help a long-gone friend. Rather, this smacked of gossip. Naomi was the talk of the town. And this only served to confirm her position that everything was bad. And it was all God’s fault.
No matter what you believe in, you can find people who will validate that belief and tell you it’s good. And this is why you cannot rely on people alone.
You know, I think one of the most dangerous and even incidious threats to Christianity is something called the “Progressive Church”. They identify themselves as Christians, but they deny anything that might rub the popular culture the wrong way.
Don’t like the Bible? It’s just a book written by people and we can mine it for the stuff we like, and ignore the bits we don’t!
Don’t like the exclusivity of Jesus? That’s okay. God is a father loves us by enforcing no rules or consequences! He is happy to ignore his holiness to give you a ticket to a heaven! Live how you want, God will work it out for you behind the scenes.
Don’t like the rules for living a Godly life that are laid out in the Bible? That’s fine! The Bible’s just a random old book that holds no power or authority!
Now, I don’t believe any of that. Not only do I not believe it, I think it is dangerous to teach and that the people who claim to be pastors and teach this will one day have to give account when they stand before God about why they led so many people so far astray from Him. As we read in our Hebrews series, those who are in positions of leadership are held to an even higher standard.
And this is why scripture-reading is so extremely critical. If you have an idea that goes against the Bible, it is not a Godly idea. And re-interpreting the Bible to make it fit around something you WISH it said might help you feel better now, but it will not help you down the road.
3
And that third thought we put in our pockets was that we oftentimes don’t see what is right in front of us.
Naomi was dealt a bad hand. There’s no denying it. There’s no re-framing it to make it look better than it was. It was bad. BUT, Naomi was so foused on this terrible thing that had happened, that she could not see the blessing she had at her side. Ruth stood by her in the face of all human logic. Ruth would end up being the one who would find a home for Naomi. Ruth would end up being the one who would provide for Naomi in a lasting way.
Friends, don’t get blinders on. Don’t get so focused on what you want that you miss what you have. Let me say it again: Don’t get so focused on what you want that you miss what you have.
There is an old story (BOAT, HELICOPTER, SHIP).
Friends, don’t miss the blessing you have because you’re only looking for the blessing you want. And remember, always remember, that God’s plan has an eternal perspective. Naomi’s choice to leave Israel’s Promised Land, would lead to – spoiler alert – Ruth becoming the great grandmother of King David. It is unlikely that Naomi or Ruth saw David ascend to the throne of Israel. We know that they certainly never saw the Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Messiah, the Saviour of the World come from their line.
In the same way, we may never see what God is doing through our lives. But we need to trust Him. We need to have an eternal perspective. As I am fond of saying:
A change in perspective changes everything else.
A change in perspective changes everything else.