Strength In Relationships

STRENGTH IN RELATIONSHIPS

Text: Ruth 1:1 – 18

“The Promise Keepers note the following in their Point-Man training: 10 percent of all people will change when they hear the truth, 10 percent will never change, and 80 percent will only change in the context of a relationship. (Raymond McHenry. McHenry’s Quips, Quotes & Other Notes. [* "How to Double Your Attendance," Elmer Towns, Church Growth Institute, 1995]. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers1998, p. 23). Those statistics might sound harsh but they also sound hopeful. Can relationships really make a difference? The statistics in this quote say “yes”.

What does the Bible say? How does the Bible illustrate how there is strength in relationships? We can turn to the book of Ruth for the answer.

1) The book of Ruth can help us to see how there is strength in relationships.

2) Naomi is the mother-in-law of both Ruth and Orpah. Sadly, all three of these ladies had become widowed. Naomi had some in-laws that were considered to be out-laws. Ruth and Orpah were Moabites and Naomi was a Hebrew.

3) Ruth makes us look at how people on different sides of the fence can make a difference. Ruth and Naomi were people who came from different sides of the tracks. Moabites and Hebrews would not usually have anything to do with each other.

4) But, Ruth decides to stand by Naomi when Orpah decides to go back to her old country and old way of life.

5) Ruth is an unlikely disciple whose decision to stay by Naomi’s side made a difference.

What does that say about Orpah? Did Orpah do the right thing going back to her home land? Or, did Orpah abandon someone in need? It would seem that Orpah took the easy way out. Orpah went back to her home land and probably re-joined her family and her old friends. Would she have been part of the 80% that would change in relationship?

Ruth took a different course. Ruth stayed with her mother-in-law and went home with her. The relationship that Ruth and Naomi shared gave each of them strength. Ruth and Naomi became living proof that people can change in relationship. There was no question that they would be a part of that 80% group!

RELATIONSHIPS CAN GIVE HOPE

Having to endure a hardship by one’s self can be draining. SCENARIO: Imagine being stranded, alone, out of gas and miles away from possible assistance. It is possible to get help, but the chances are that unless a “Good Samaritan stranger” stops to help, the driver will be on his or her own until they reach the place and the people who can help them. Someone can be all alone and still have hope. Being in a relationship with another or others strengthens hope!

Helping another with his/her problem or problem(s) might even help us with our own problems. Consider this … There is the story of a fellow on his way to a job interview. He had been out of work for many months. On his way to what seemed like a promising interview, he encounters a woman on the side of the road who has just had a flat tire. DILEMMA: If he stops to help out, he is going to be late to his interview. As a Christian, he feels compelled to stop to help so he stops and helps the woman change her tire. Stopping might mean that her would be late. In the meantime, he goes on to the interview. Little did he know that he had helped out the very person who was interviewing him for his job. This fact was not evident until it came time for him to go to the office of the personnel director. (Bruce Larson. The Presence. New York: Harper and Row, 1988, p. 42). Being in a relationship with another or others strengthens hope!

Imagine how difficult Naomi’s journey would have been without Ruth.

1) Hardship for widows: As it has been pointed out, “In the patriarchal society of Israel-of-old any woman who was not attached to a male was at the mercy of economical and social forces that could very easily engulf her”.

2) Levirate Marriage: That is why the Levirate marriage ideal (the idea that a widow would marry a brother-in-law) was important (Deut. 25:5 -10). (Walter Bruggemann. Chares B. Cousar. Beverly R. Gaventa. & James D. Newsome. Texts For Preaching- Yaer B. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993, p. 567).

3) Unyielding Loyalty: Ruth helped Naomi and promised to be in relationship with her, her people and even her God.

Ruth’s relationship with Naomi led to Ruth’s introduction to Boaz , a cousin, who later became Ruth’s husband.

1) The Hero: Someone (John Ahn) makes the point that Ruth is the real hero when Boaz is normally viewed as the hero in this story. Why is Ruth the hero? Ruth is the hero because she is an “… outsider who moves to give life through her willingness to die.” (David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor eds. Feasting On The Word. Year B: Volume 4. John Ahn. “The Exegetical Perspective”. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, p. 247). Why is this point so important concerning relationships?