Whatever You do is Fine!
Ruth 1
© 2007 Eric Bain
NOTE: An audio version of this sermon is available at www.sanctuary-church.com
This morning we are beginning a new - four week series looking at an OT Narrative… called Ruth.
Grab a Bible...
• Open to Ruth
• Don’t be afraid to use the index…
• Ruth is only about 4 pages long…
• It comes after the book of Judges… Just before 1 & 2 Samuel.
While you’re trying to find it. Let me just say…
I love teaching out of OT Narratives because they’re about real life…
o These are real people… experiencing real…
Joy
Love
Passion
o But they’re also experiencing real…
Disappointment
Suffering
Fear
Doubt……. As they make their way on their spiritual journeys.
And what’s cool is that the author’s don’t soften things for us…
In other words, these stories are often very raw.
There’s no candy coating…
It’s just real life… with all it’s ups and downs.
Which is great… because as far as I know… that’s what you and I are experiencing – Real Life!
o Which is sometimes amazing… sometimes wonderful!
o But sometimes disappointing…
o Sometimes it’s great… and exciting!
o But other times it just sucks…
(pause)
Here’s one thing I know…
There’s something about hearing someone else’s story… that is helpful.
o Maybe it’s just that we can relate… so it’s soothing!
o Or, maybe, it’s that we can learn from other people’s lives…
o Or, maybe, it’s just knowing that we’re not alone on the journey…
Whatever it is… I look forward to experiencing the book of Ruth…
• You see, I look forward to seeing how God interacts with the characters in this story… as I reflect on how God interacts with me.
• I look forward to getting to know… my God on a more personal level!
• I look forward to seeing what principles we can draw from this story… and how we can apply them to our lives…
• I look forward to seeing how Ruth… can helpful to us. (PRAY)
RU 1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and 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 Elimelech, his wife’s name 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.
As the book of Ruth opens… it begins with the story of a family. A family of a man named… Elimelech.
And the story tells us that they lived “In the days when the judges ruled.”
o Now, I already mentioned that the Biblical book just before the book of Ruth, is the book of Judges. That’s important!
o You see, the book of Judges describes the BIG picture of what’s happening amongst the People of God at the time… (Wide-angle lens)
o The book of Ruth, on the other hand… is a very focused lens… focusing on just one family.
So if we were to read these two books in order…
What we would first get - in the book of Judges - is a very wide angled view of what is going on amongst the entire community of the People of God.
Then when we got to the book of Ruth… we would sort of back up… but then zoom in. And focus on just one family during the same time period.
The point is… you can’t divorce the book of Ruth from the book of Judges, because the book of Judges provides the backdrop for the story in the book of Ruth.
So… if we had read the book of Judges… what would we have learned?
o Well, we would have learned that this was a time of moral and spiritual disaster for the People of God.
o In fact, the book of Judges ends with this quote, “In those days there was no king in Israel: Every person did… what was right… in their own eyes.”
Every person did… what was right… in their own eyes.
• In other words, they did what felt right to them. Not that it was right… it just felt right.
• You see, there was no greater moral compass that the people were turning to for guidance…
• They had no Leader!
In other words, you might think of it much like today…
• In out Postmodern
• Relativistic society
I mean isn’t our motto…
Whatever you do is fine, as long as it doesn’t hurt… anyone else. (Repeat)
Isn’t that a lot like saying…
Why don’t you just do what is right in your own eyes… as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.
If we took the time to study the book of Judges, we might change that to…
Whatever you do is fine… as long as it doesn’t appear to hurt anyone else.
You see, what we learn from the book of Judges… is that moral and spiritual bankruptcy affects the entire community.
o In other words… when one person is sinful and drifts from God… it affects all of us!
o Sure it may seem like it doesn’t… but it does!
The Hard Word is…
Whatever you do isn’t fine… because your sin affects all of us.
Nonetheless, that’s what takes place in the book of Judges.
o The People of God begin to sin and drift from him…
o As a result, God allows them to suffer the consequences.
o So, in one sense, it was a time of great strife, great upheaval, and suffering…
o But, here’s the deal, every time things got really bad… God would raise up a leader… they were called judges… but we might think of them as heroes!
o And these heroes would declare God’s truth and lead the people of God… back into relationship God. Back into his presence… and his blessing.
So, the book of Judges is really about a process, or a cycle…
• The People of God fall away from God…
• They experience suffering…
o Suffering as a consequence of their sins…
o Suffering from the distance between them and God.
• But then a leader arises… And this leader brings them back into proper relationship with God…
• And it is within this relationship… that they experience blessing!
You see, ultimately it’s the story of humanity… and the coming of Christ.
But they wouldn’t have understood it that way… Rather, they would have understood it to be God… using a process to teach his people about himself.
• Who he is…
• What he’s like…
Nonetheless, this is the social, political and religious backdrop of the time of Ruth (and that’s important).
Another thing that we need to realize, is that… in the culture of the time, you couldn’t separate the individual from the community
o In other words, it wasn’t like being a Christian today…
In which we tend to focus on our individual walk.
But rather, this was about the community of God… and their corporate walk.
o You see, we need to resist the temptation taking our modern… individualistic view of faith… and placing it on top of these people.
o Because, again… You can’t separate the individual from the community
Finally, one last thing… you can’t separate the People of God from the land.
o These are Hebrews… followers of Yahweh…
o And before the book of Judges was the book of Joshua. And in the book of Joshua, we learned that God had given his people the land… the promised land.
o The land where He would take care of them… as long as they followed him.
• You can’t separate the individual from the community…
• And you can’t separate the community… from the land.
And let us not forget…
Every person did what was right… in their own eyes.
RU 1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and 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 Elimelech, his wife’s name 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.
Knowing what you know, I hope you begin to see a more full picture.
o You can’t separate the individual… from the community.
o You can’t separate the community… from the land.
But what do we learn about the land in the introduction to this story?
o There’s a famine in the land…
o To a Hebrew they would recognize that the land is suffering because of the sins of the people…
o Because you can’t separate the land from the people.
o In other words, the land is suffering because the People of God, have drifted from God!
o And what’s the solution to this suffering?
It’s to turn back to God.
To get their relationship right with God.
And to trust that he will see them through this suffering… and bring back a time of blessing!
But what does Elimelech do?
o He takes his family and runs.
o He runs from God!
o And he goes to a distant land… the land of Moab.
o Why?... Because there’s no famine in Moab.
o There’s no consequence in Moab.
o There’s no consequence from there past sin.
o But there’s also no Yahweh… in Moab! (You can’t separate the people from the land)
In other words, you can’t find God… where Elimelech has run.
You see, as we start this story… what it wants us to know is that Elimelch... is doing what is right… in his own eyes.
And it doesn’t appear to be hurting anyone else.
APPLICATION - Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you knew that you really messed up… you sinned! And as a result of your sin you suffer horrible consequences… but then there, in the midst of that suffering, you find that you just want to run?
o Not… back to God… but to somewhere else.
o Somewhere where no one knows you
o Somewhere were there’s no consequence to your sin
o What’s it gonna hurt?
(pause)
…that’s what Elimelech does.
RU 1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and 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 Elimelech, his wife’s name 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.
RU 1:3 Now Elimelech, 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.
Elimelech was a man…
o In his day and society he had all the power… he held all the cards
o His wife and children would do as he did
But rather than turning to God… he runs from God. And while running from God, we learn that Elimelech looses his very life.
o But isn’t that the story of sin in Scripture?
o Sin leads to separation from God
o Separation from God… leads to death!
But catch this… who suffers the most in this story?
o Is it Elimelech? I mean, I guess you could say that… he does die.
o But from the perspective of this story… Who suffers the most?
It’s the weak… the helpless… it’s the woman… Naomi.
In fact, don’t under estimate her suffering… this is a very long season of suffering (not just a point)
o It begins with a famine…
o Then it leads to having to leave her extended family, friends, faith community... to go to a foreign land.
Again, in that time and culture - Naomi wouldn’t have any choice… as a woman, she would have been viewed almost as property.
o Then she gets to Moab, only to loose her husband.
It’s tragedy… but life goes on - at least she still has her sons!
o And then… life even seems to get better. her sons fall in love and determine to get married.
And this is significant because… Continuing family name was something of great importance in that day and culture.
But the truth is, even in this… there is pain. Because these are Moabite women.
• They don’t believe in the same God.
This is definitely something that would be looked down upon by the people back home… and she desperately longs for the day… that they will get to return… home.
But then tragedy strikes again… her two sons die unexpectedly and pre-maturely.
So, Elimelech in trying to take control and prevent his family from suffering the consequence of sin… causes them to suffer all the more…
And who suffers the most?
o The weak… the innocent… the women…
o Our tendency is to focus in on Naomi…
She lost a husband and two children.
And she’s in a distant land.
o But let’s not forget Orpah & Ruth…
You see, this time and culture where once you got married and you started having children.
But there’s no mention of Children or pregnancy. So, in all likelihood these two women lost their husbands almost immediately after being married.
You see, this story is…
…the tragedy of sin and it’s consequences.
…the tragedy of running from God.
…the tragedy - that what we do… really does affect others around us.
Is there an area in your life…where you know you are sinning?
o Are you doing what’s right… in your own eyes…
o There will be a consequence!
Is this a time of your life… where you know that you’re running?
o Not to God… but from God…
Is this a season of suffering?
o Maybe your nothing more than the weak… helpless… innocent caught up in the tragedy of life…
o Is there any hope?
Listen to the story of Ruth…
RU 1:3-5 Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
RU 1:6-7 When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 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.
RU 1:8-11 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband."
Then she kissed them… and they wept aloud and said to her, "We will go back with you… to your people."
RU 1:11-13 But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters... Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me--even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons-- would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has gone out against me!"
RU 1:14 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by… but Ruth clung to her.
RU 1:15 "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods... Go back with her."
RU 1:16-18 But Ruth replied, "Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go… I will go. And where you stay… I will stay. Your people will be my people… and your God… my God. Where you die… I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
RU 1:19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, "Can this be Naomi?"
RU 1:20-21 "Don’t call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."
RU 1:22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
Two questions and a point…
First… Where is God in all of this?
Where is God in all of this tragedy?
o The answer for Naomi comes in a quiet word…. calling from the distance…
Come home… I will supply… I will provide…
o The answer for Ruth, on the other hand, is that God is in that place where she has never been!
But God says…
Follow my voice
Trust in my word
And I will lead you… to a land of blessing
And what does Ruth do?... Se becomes a follower!
“Your people will become my people… Your God… my God!”
You see… We can’t live life without coming to times of tragedy….
o Whether it is the consequence of our running…
o Or simply the unexpected result of this raw thing called life…
But when we find ourselves in times of tragedy…
o God is there…
o In the quiet word…
o Calling from the distance…
Come home. Let me be your shelter… Rest in me… I will provide…
What we need to do when we get to that point is listen… Listen and follow!
The second question I have is… What about Ruth?
Ruth
A woman…
A Moabite woman… Soon to be in a land of Hebrews!
Yet through her relationship with Elimelech’s family… she learns of God.
And when tragedy strikes… she doesn’t run from God… she runs to God.
o In fact, she gives up on everything else… and trusts him. (Christian)
Now, I don’t want us to lighten it, she has got to be thinking…
o How am I going to supply for myself in this foreign land
Where am I going to live
How am I going to eat
What chance of a future is there for me…
o Who is going to want to love me… a Moabite…
Especially when there are plenty of Hebrew women to around.
Women with less baggage… less history…
o What chance is there for me to ever continuing the family name…
The point I want to make, is that there’s no answer.
We don’t know yet…
Life is yet to be lived…
But we definitely get the sense that she is doing it right…
There is hope in this tragedy!
…arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
The Famine is over!
In Chapter 1 we have this great contrast taking place….
Elimelech
A man
Powerful, self-sufficient
Of the community… the People of God…
Yet he “does what is right in his own eyes…” and his life leads to devastation and death.
Ruth
A woman
A nobody
Weak
Not of the community…
Yet she follows the quiet, distant voice of God….
Where will it lead?
(Let’s pray)
© 2007 Eric Bain
