God Gives Us Blessings in Relationships of Commitment

Sermon preached at St. Mark’s Honey Brook, PA

By The Rev. Thomas C. Pumphrey, October 14^th, 2007

Twentieth Sunday in Pentecost (Year C, Proper 23)

Ruth 1:1-19a

Ruth 1:1-19a In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and 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. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your 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 security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. 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? Do I still have 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. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.” Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. So 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 press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”

Who are your friends? Are they people you have known for decades? People from work or friends from school or church? And what makes them “friends?” Are they friends because they are merely friendly to you, or is there a deeper expectation in relationships of true friendship? How do you measure the depth of friendship? What is the value of true friendship?

I find these questions interesting in our current culture. Many people in younger generations move around the country or around the world, and seldom put down “roots” in any community. We fill our lives with entertainment and work in so many different circles of people that depth of friendship is hard to find. Yet we value this depth of friendship. We find great blessing in relationships of commitment, and they draw from us enormous gratitude.

The Women’s book and Bible study this Fall is discussing a book called “Seasons of Friendship” and the Old Testament book of Ruth. The author of “Seasons of Friendship” explores some of these differences in relationships in her book, and uses the changing landscape of the relationship of Naomi and Ruth to look at God’s grace in these relationships. This morning’s Old Testament Reading is the beginning of Ruth, and we hear a story about loss and separation, and a story about the grace of God given in relationships of commitment. God blesses us with relationships of commitment.

Ruth is a fascinating book in the Bible. This book says very little directly about God. Yet, as the church fathers once put it, this story “sticks to the hands,”—it stays with you and carries the strength of God’s grace. As the story goes, Naomi moves with her husband to the foreign land of Moab. There her sons take Moabite wives, something generally considered wrong to do for God’s people, because the Moabites worship other gods. Then Naomi’s husband dies. And her sons die. In those days, this left a woman destitute. In fact, to protect and provide for widows, the tradition was that a male relative of the dead man would marry the widow, so that he could provide for her. But Naomi has no more sons that her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, might marry.

So Orpah and Ruth are also destitute. Naomi seeks to return to her home. She sets her daughters-in-law free to go to Moab, because in Israel, they would be even more cast out as foreigners. Orpah does return, but not Ruth. Ruth chooses to commit herself to Naomi and to God—to go with Naomi to Israel even though her choice would bring her hardship and struggle, far away from the land she knew. Both Ruth and Orpah loved Naomi, but Ruth decided to stay with her and share her hardships together.

Ruth did not dedicate herself to Naomi out of some possible advantage—some quid pro quo relationship where she receives fees for services rendered. Ruth’s decision was a gift. Ruth’s commitment to Naomi was a gift of love to her. Ruth’s commitment recognizes an implicit trust in God’s grace, and God’s providence. Ruth loves Naomi, and so will follow her and suffer with her or thrive with her by God’s grace. As the story goes, God does indeed provide for them—God gives generously to Ruth and Naomi as they rely on his grace in their lives. Naomi finds God’s blessing in her commitment to Ruth. Ruth finds God’s blessing in her commitment to Naomi.

So what about us? Do we have relationships like this? Do we commit ourselves to each other, and look for God’s grace in those relationships?

It used to be that people worked, went to school, played, went to church and lived in the same community. Our lives overlapped such that we formed deep and lasting connections over the course of decades. Families themselves were connected to each other through generations. Now, families live in one place, commute an hour to get to work (one place for the wife, another for the husband), their kids go to school in another community, play sports in a second community, we go to church in a fourth, vacation in a fifth, and after five years, pick up and move to another state or another country where we can start the process all over again. With this kind of separation and fragmentation in our lives, don’t you think people would be hungry for relationships of commitment? Don’t you think God would be hungry for us to embrace these relationships of commitment?

What in Ruth and Naomi’s relationship brought such blessing? What cultivated such commitment in their lives? How can we foster such relationships in Christ here at St. Mark’s? That’s part of our mission statement, isn’t it? Nurturing relationships with God, and also nurturing relationships in Christ with each other. The Christian Community at its heart is about these kind of committed, enduring relationships, knit together by the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ.

If we use Ruth and Naomi as examples, we see that Ruth and Naomi’s relationship was about much more than a casual lunch or dinner party. What would our relationships of commitment look like, if we took Ruth and Naomi as models?

We would share love and affection, certainly—just as Orpah shared love and affection with Naomi. We would share joy together—the sort of joy you see in the passing of the peace or during our refreshments. We would be dedicated to each other and willing to walk roads together that are both a blessing and a challenge. In fact, for Ruth or Naomi, and I think in our own lives, we see how the deepest of friendships are those who share hardship together. Look at the bonds of friendship among military veterans, or families who have fought disease together. What would our relationships in this church be like, if we were committed enough to each other to share the difficult times together? To stay connected even when doing ministry together is demanding or difficult? To stay committed to each other in the midst of disagreement or hurt feelings?

What if we, like Ruth and Naomi, looked for the grace of God in the other person? What if we sought to be instruments of God’s grace in other people’s lives—no matter what their response might be? Naomi later calls herself “Mara” for Mara means “bitter.” What if we sought to be instruments of God’s grace to bitter people? What would our forgiveness and forbearance of others yield in this church? What if we looked for God’s hand at work in the other person’s life, and celebrated with the other person God’s generous blessings?

Like Ruth and Naomi, we would discover the riches of God’s blessings. Like Ruth and Naomi, we would journey together into God’s country, and find blessings where we thought our lives were destitute. Like Ruth and Naomi, we would find joy in our common life in Christ.

The Book of Ruth is not just about the mutual comfort of two destitute women. The story goes on to show how God provided for them in amazing ways. We read about how God brought Ruth and Naomi to the house of Boaz who gave them food. We read about how Ruth and Boaz were married. Then, at the end of the book, and elsewhere in the Old Testament, and in the Gospel according to Matthew, we read how Ruth is listed as an ancestor to King David, and to Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus. Ruth, in her relationship of commitment to Naomi, became a Queen of Israel, and a Queen of the church!

God has places of royalty for us, also, as we embrace relationships of commitment to each other in Christ. We seek, as the Bible puts it, the crown of life that God has in store for us. Embrace these commitments—embrace friendships of depth and endurance. Embrace the blessings God has in store for you in relationships of commitment in Christ.