Naomi

May the Lord Show You Kindness
Ruth 1:1-9
Linden Heights Baptist Church
September 21st, 2014

1 In the days when the judges ruled,[a] there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. 3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. 6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. 8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.’ Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud

MIS: The Covenant love of the crucified messiah displays love in a broken world.

INTRODUCTION

This morning we continue our study of several characters of the Bible. It may be helpful to consider as a starting question of whether or not we have anything to learn. Now I don’t mean by proposing this question that I think there may be people here today who have learned everything. It seems to me that for a person to think they have nothing to learn, they are being pretty obviously stubborn and unwise. But to recognize that we in theory always have room to learn something is different from the recognition that a particular subject speaks to an area in our lives where we might need to change. There are a number of reason why we might find ourselves resistant to change. It may be that we do not think a particular subject affects us. I don’t feel the need to learn how to sew. This doesn’t mean that I know how to sew. It means I don’t plan on doing in sewing. It may be that we are unwilling to learn because we are not confident in the one showing us something. Does this character’s virtue really offer me something in my present context? This happened so long ago after all how can I be sure that this truth crosses time and culture to direct my life today. And then there is the possibility that we are not open to learning because we don’t want to have to be confronted with the fact that we have done something wrong. My mother was correcting my niece. My mother told her that she wanted to teach her how to do something to which my niece replied, “I don’t like being teached.” Don’t we all find ourselves feeling the same way from time to time.

As we look at these different characters in the Bible I hope that we come to these stories with a foundational belief. I hope you accept that these writings in the Bible hold a special place for us to learn from. There might be some areas where I have some insight to teach you, but there are a lot of areas where I have nothing to offer. It is my hope and my prayer that as we think of these characters the truth that we identify is a word from God. As to the question of whether or not we want to be confronted with something that needs changing, I hope that we can at least recognize that should we need correction it is the path of wisdom to seek it. But what about the question of relevancy? Does Naomi the character we are going to look at this morning have anything to teach me? Naomi is a woman who points others to the God of Israel even in the midst of suffering. Do you think you might experience suffering in your life? If so then Naomi has something to offer you that is relevant.

NAOMI

The name of the book of the Bible from which we are looking at this morning’s text is named after a different character Ruth. And Ruth is the central character. But today I want to look one of the other characters in the story. She might be said to be less significant, and at the same time more significant. One of the key underlying storylines in the book of Ruth is the family line of David. Here we will find that an outsider is a grandmother of David. This is an important balance to remember when we read at other times passages that draw such a stark distinction between those inside and those outside of the covenant people of God. Ruth an outsider will become an insider. She becomes an insider because of her mother-in-law the character I want to draw your attention to this morning. It is certainly acceptable I believe to recognize the significance of Ruth. She is meant to be the focus of one’s attention in this story. I said that one might also however seem Naomi as being more significant. If it were not for Naomi’s faithfulness there would be no inclusion of Ruth. But faithful in what way exactly?

Naomi and her husband Elimelek were from Bethlehem. They had to leave Bethlehem we read because there was a famine in the land. They had come upon hard times. They had no way to provide for their two sons and so they moved to Moab. And there in Moab they made a life for themselves. Their two boys Mahlon and Kilion both grew to be adults and were married. But in time tragedy descended upon this family. We are not told the specific cause of the loss of life. We simply learn that the situation has changed. Elimelek has died. And the two sons have died. Now Naomi is a widow and she has no means of support. She lives in a strange land cut off from the support of an extended family. In the Ancient Near Eastern culture shared by both the Moabites and the Israelites, the care for aging parents was a high value. When Naomi’s daughter-in-laws married into the family they would have taken upon themselves this very important obligation. And yet we find Naomi who realizes that there is no way that she can offer these two daughter-in-laws anything. Though her life has become bitter, she does not allow this pain to keep her from seeing the needs of her daughters-in-law.

She tells these two women that they should leave. They should go back to their people. They are still young, and there are more potential opportunities for their security if they go back to their own people. This is not a dismissive word. There should be no question that Naomi’s own prospects would be strengthened by the presence of these two daughters. But she is able to see that her concerns are not the only concerns. Have you experienced this in your life? Have you met people who in the midst of great suffering were able to recognize that their pain was not the only issue at hand? Pain can drive people to even greater self-centeredness. It is not always the case that in the midst of pain one looks to others. But there are those for whom in the midst of having little other options they use the very little that they have to bless others. The story could end there and there would be a model for responding to others in the midst of suffering that we could learn from. And yet the story does not end at this point. Her act of love is received and recognized by Ruth. She will not abandon her mother-in-law. She sees this act of love and she ties her own future to the future of Naomi. And this makes all the difference.

LOVE IN THE CRUCIBLE

If I were to ask a group of young families in their twenties whether or not the world needs the church, I think one might find mixed responses. It seems to me that many of those who really even do not have any personal commitment to life in the church nevertheless find the presence of the church in some way meaningful for them in their communities. However I suspect you might find some who do not feel quite so nostalgic. There are some who would likely see the church as something antiquated that might have some meaning for those who choose to be a part, but as for necessary for the community…the church to many seems unnecessary. Often times I think people out of politeness and deference perhaps to their grandparents may not actually say this, but if you were to in a moment of candor elicit from them an accurate response to the question of how their life would be any different if there were no churches…their might not seem to be any significant impact. For many people because this is their experience they do not connect the needs that they feel around them with the presence of the witness of the gospel. This does not mean that people do not recognize the world is not what they would like it to be. People in my experience are quite ready to say the world needs more love. I read this morning a passage from Matthew. This is perhaps one of Jesus’ most known teachings when asked about the law. A young lawyer asked Jesus what is the greatest commandment? To which Jesus replied, “love God and the second is to love your neighbor.”

So what limits our ability to simply love? Why can’t we just love God and our neighbor and be done with it? Why this need for a church? Sometimes individuals might for a time think they are pretty good with this whole love God and their neighbor thing. In fact they might think that they are superior to others in this regard, but rarely will you find the person that will agree that everyone else is doing a pretty good job as well. But let me just allow as a consideration for a moment what if everyone else were to do as good a job of loving God and their neighbor as you do. Would that be sufficient or could the world still be in need of more love? I ask this as a device. It is a question that is meant to remind us of something. It is meant to remind us that we are the problem both individually and collectively. There are a number of reasons we come short in the demand of love. Sometimes we forget. We become distracted by our own little pressing needs such that we don’t think about the needs of others. Sometimes we find ourselves not knowing exactly what to do. Just because a doctor wants to help a patient get better this does not remove the possibility that their poor judgment makes the patient more ill. And sometimes we may find ourselves very much wanting to help our children and yet hurting them because we allow one consideration to cloud our judgment and keep us from seeing other consequences.

It is important when thinking about Jesus call to love it is in the context of his explaining the law. Sometimes we have the mistaken idea that this thing called the law is some rough approximation of what God really cares about which is that we become loving to one another. In fact of all ironies I think it is quite common that people see the requirements of the law as being somehow in tension with the demand to love. You can follow the demands of the law or you can be loving. The need for the law is to reveal the nature of love. Naomi has cast her hope for the future this hope that Ruth will join her in looking towards to the God of Israel. The God who reveals himself in covenant faithfulness. The law reveals the demands of love. This is what the entire law is about the love of God and the love of one’s neighbor. But you cannot both love God and lie. You cannot both love God and worship idols. You cannot both love your neighbor and covet what is your neighbor’s.

THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD’S LOVE

I think many people have a sense that there is something right and good about loving others. When it comes to loving God this is something people are perhaps less sure of. They do though think that loving people is important and so far as they are willing to entertain the existence of a God who created everything that is then they at least think that perhaps this God would want you to be concerned about others. What people are less inclined to accept is that there is any obligation for which they will be accountable that is made by the demand to love. The way it seems to me the thinking goes is that to love would be good, it helps you to realize the fullness of life, but the idea that one would be accountable punished for not loving seems unlikely for a few reasons. For one it seems that if the entire reason for being loving to others is that God is love then why would there be any condemnation which fundamentally seems with a passing glance to be counter to the nature of love.

Sometimes we can misunderstand the power of a particular instrument. A plasma cutter has power to do certain things. It can cut steel that is quite thick. But then there are some things that a plasma cutter cannot do. The power of the tool is experienced in its right application. The power of the law is not to teach us how to love. The power of the law is to teach us of the inadequacy of our love. I think we live in a time when people are quick to understand the limitations of law. There are many people who recognize that even the most fine tuned application of the demands and obligations of one for another fail to capture everything about human interaction. After all even when you do the right thing if it is done for the wrong reasons becomes something less than the relationship that is meant to be capture by the demands of the law. The power of the law however is not fully recognized when all it does is reveal one’s inability to love adequately. This is only part of the purpose of the law. The law not only reveals our inability to fulfill the demands of love but the law is meant to teach us of the consequences of our inability to love to the demands made by a holy God. The purpose of the law is to make us aware of our guilt that renders us subject to condemnation.

Jesus did not come to simply call us to love better. As you look at Naomi’s life I hope that you will not simply stop with the idea that there is really more that you could do if you would just try harder. No doubt there is more that you could do. But this is not the good news of the gospel. The God of love who Naomi served did not simply leave the people of Israel with a list of instructions for them to follow. The God of Israel sent God the Son to come and to die as a sacrifice for sin.