you this morning to bring God's Word. As many of you have probably figured out at this point, I am
not Joel Smith, and we are not going to be in the Gospel of Mark. So we are going to be back in
in the book of Ruth. We're starting back in Ruth, Ruth chapter 1, verse 6. And as we come to this
passage and I think of the circumstances of this week, I'm reminded of something that can happen
sometimes when someone is getting ordained. As many of you know, I recently went through the
trials of ordination, and part of that involves going forward in front of all the pastors in,
for me, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, and allowing them to ask whatever questions they want.
And I knew going in, and thankfully this didn't happen, but that someone might try to ask me a
question to trip me up. And one of the most famous ones is this. When you get to the church history
section, you'll have an older pastor get up, and he'll raise his hand, and he'll say,
who was the head of the church in the fifth century?
And the hope is that the candidate does not begin ringing through his brain to try to remember who
exactly was in charge in the first century. Because the answer in the fifth century is the same as the
21st. The head of the church is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so he is our shepherd,
whether we have a senior pastor candidate or not. He's always leading and providing and guiding for
his church. Last week we looked at Ruth chapter one, and we asked a big question. Is God still the king
when tragedy strikes? We could ask the question ourselves of this week, is God still the king
when we thought that there wasn't mold in our church? But there was. And is God still the king
when we thought that we had a new senior pastor and we don't? And the answer this week is the same as
last week. Yes. God is still the king. He's still leading and guiding and providing for his people.
And so we're right back in Ruth chapter one. Remember that Ruth is a book about suffering.
That God, as a wise and loving father, wants to tell us what it's like. He wants to prepare us for real
life in this world. And so he does that both for those who are suffering and those who are not.
For those who are suffering, this book is a book, remember, about widows, which is many of us.
And it's a book about those who live in a country where they weren't born, which is also many of us.
And it's also a book for people who live in a world that is broken and bleeding from sin.
And so that's all of us here this morning. Remember that I reminded us that if we're not suffering,
this book is a reminder for us that we will one day if we live long enough in this world.
And if we're not suffering, it's also a reminder for us that there are many around us right now.
We just have to look around the room who are.
And so God has given us his word to provide for us because he hasn't left us alone.
Like a good father, he's coming to speak to us in words that we can understand.
We're going to be in Ruth chapter one, looking at verses six through 18.
Remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us that his word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold.
And it is sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
And so we're going to turn to it now.
We're in Ruth chapter one, starting in verse six through verse 18.
Then she arose, that's Naomi, with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab.
For she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.
So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law,
and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law,
Go, return each of you to her mother's house.
May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
Verse nine.
The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband.
Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
And 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?
Have I yet 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.
If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,
would you therefore wait till they were grown?
Would you therefore refrain from marrying?
No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.
Then they lifted up their voices and wept again.
And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
Verse 15.
And 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 urge me to leave you or to return from following you.
For where you go, I will go.
And where you lodge, I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.
May the Lord do so to me and more also, if anything but death parts me from you.
And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
Please pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Dear Father in heaven,
we thank you that you have a word that brings dead things to life.
And so we ask that you would do that this morning.
That you would use your word to bring us to life.
That you'd show us yourself.
And that you would cast a spotlight on Jesus Christ.
So that we could see him as more beautiful and more glorious than anything else.
We ask all these things in his name.
Amen.
If you were following the commentators and the pundits a couple years ago,
I think it was somewhere in 2016,
there was a columnist who had what she believed was a brilliant idea.
And many others picked up on this idea and started commenting it on themselves,
wondering if it would be a great solution to a problem.
And her suggestion was this.
Why don't we treat our marriages more like car leases?
Why don't we have term marriages?
Why don't we have a 10-year marriage?
And then after the 10 years,
a couple can reconsider whether they want to stay married.
In the minds of this columnist,
this was going to solve many of the problems that people face today.
Because they could decide after 10 years
whether they were still fulfilled.
Whether they were still getting what they want
out of the commitments they made.
And it highlights something that all of us know,
which is that commitment is hard.
And it involves suffering.
And it highlights a temptation that each of us face as well.
That when the going gets hard,
it's easier to go than to stay.
When the going gets hard,
it's easier to go than to stay.
And so,
what is a commitment worth
if it's only for the good times?
What is a commitment worth
if it's only for when you're fulfilled
and not for when you have to sacrifice?
That's a question we're going to see in this passage before us.
Remember that we'd seen last week
that Ruth and Naomi had faced tremendous, tremendous suffering.
What was for Ruth,
excuse me,
for Naomi,
a foreign country.
And so they had heard in verse 6
that the Lord had visited his people
back in their homeland of Israel.
And so they were on their way back,
on the journey back.
And for whatever reason,
Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws
accompany her.
Remember,
she has both Ruth and Orpah.
Judah,
and they're going back with her.
And we see this in verse 7.
So they set out from the place
where she was
with her two daughters-in-law,
and they went on the way
to return to the land of Judah.
And then Naomi reveals something to us
that we hadn't known about her character.
And that is that she would have made
an excellent lawyer.
Because Naomi decides
she is going to present
an irrefutable,
an inescapable,
watertight case
for why Orpah
and Ruth
should go back.
Did you notice
what the most repeated words
were here in this passage?
It's go,
go back,
return.
And it's Naomi
over and over
telling her daughter-in-laws
why they should not
stay with her.
And the argument
actually makes sense.
because there's nothing
they have to gain
by sticking with Naomi.
She blesses them in verse 8.
May the Lord deal kindly with you
as you have dealt with me
in the dead.
And she acknowledges
in verse 9
that just like her,
they are widows as well.
And so their best chance
of remarriage
is going to be
going back to their home country.
That's going to be the place
where they're going to find
what she calls in verse 9,
rest.
And of course they protest
in verse 10,
no, we're going to stay with you.
Maybe some of this
is their emotion still
from the suffering
that they've gone through together.
Maybe some of it's
out of politeness,
but they're not willing
to give up too easily.
And so she just keeps arguing.
She says in verse 11,
I can't give you any sons.
And even if I were
to have a son now,
would you wait all the way
until they grew up?
Would you wait that long
to be fulfilled?
Would you wait that long
to get what you need?
No.
And then in 13,
she lays down the hammer.
For it is exceedingly bitter
to me for your sake
that the hand of the Lord
has gone out against me.
In other words,
if you stay with me,
the Lord's curse
that has fallen on me
is going to fall on you as well.
We'll talk more about Naomi
and her interpretation
of events next week.
But here,
in terms of the daughters-in-law,
we can see that she has delivered
an excellent case.
There is nothing wrong
with Naomi's argument.
And then Orpah realizes that.
In some ways,
Orpah's the sensible character here.
She makes a decision
that she can defend,
that Naomi can defend,
that makes sense for her
to return back to her own country
and her own people.
But it says in verse 14
that Ruth does something
very different.
Did you catch the word
that's used?
It says,
she clung to her.
The word clung here
is the same word
that shows up
in Genesis chapter 2
when the author of Genesis
is telling us
what should happen
between a husband and a wife
if they cling to each other.
And so it's not just telling us
that Ruth
is giving Naomi a hug.
but it's telling us
that no matter what,
in spite of
all the arguments,
she is going
to stick with her.
She is going
to stay
with her mother-in-law
no matter what.
And she's going
to stay with her
not because of anything
she, it seems,
has to gain.
It says,
for where you will go,
I will go,
and where you lodge,
I will lodge.
Your people shall be
my people
and your God
my God.
Where you die,
I will die
and there will I be buried.
May the Lord
do so to me
and more also
if anything else
but death
parts me
from you.
Now,
in the ancient Near East
when you took an oath,
you took an oath
in the name
not of someone else's God
but of your God.
And so here,
Ruth is saying,
I am embracing
not just you
but I am embracing
the true God.
Orpah can go back
to the Baals
and Chemosh,
the false gods
that were found
in Moab
but I'm going to be
with you
and I'm going to
accept your God.
Why does she do it?
What does she know
about the Lord?
It's hidden a little bit
but it's all the way back
in verse 8.
Naomi said to her
two daughters-in-law,
Go return each of you
to her mother's house.
May the Lord deal
kindly
with you
as you have dealt
with the dead
and with me.
And we skip over it
in our English translations
because the word
kindly here
only begins
to express
what's going on here.
This is the word
in Hebrew
that's called
hesed.
It's a description
of the type of love
that God has.
And it's such
an overwhelming
kind of love
that it's hard
even to begin
to give a definition
of it.
I read recently
someone trying
to define
this hesed love
and they gave
ten bullet points
with multiple sentences
to try to explain
what type of love
this is.
And so what do you do
when you come
against an overwhelming
definition?
Well, if you're a teacher,
you know.
You find something
written for children.
And so the best
definition I can give you
of hesed love
comes from
the academic volume
known as
the Jesus Storybook Bible.
And it describes
hesed love
in this way.
It is God's
never stopping,
never giving up,
unbreaking,
always and forever
love.
It is God's
never stopping,
never giving up,
unbreaking,
always and forever
love.
So let's read
verse 8 again.
But Naomi said
to her two daughters-in-law,
Go, return each of you
to her mother's house.
May the Lord
show you
his never stopping,
never giving up,
unbreaking,
always and forever
love,
as you have shown
to the dead
and to me.
So why
does Ruth
here
convert?
Why does she
claim this Lord
as her Lord?
Because she knows
the kind of Lord
he is.
And she knows
the kind of love
that he has
for his people.
She knows
that he has
a never stopping,
never giving up,
unbreaking,
always and forever
love.
But she doesn't
just know that
for herself.
It's because
of that
that she shows
the exact
same love,
the very
same love
to Naomi.
It's because
for whatever reason,
living with this
Israelite family,
married to an
Israelite husband,
somehow,
in some way,
Ruth has learned
about the ways
of the Lord.
And so she
is not willing
to give up
even against
the best
arguments.
She's not
willing to
give up
even against
the best
arguments.
But she
doesn't just
commit to
Naomi.
Excuse me,
she doesn't just
commit to
the Lord.
She commits
to Naomi
as well.
Because she
understands that
a commitment
to follow
this Lord,
this Lord of
never stopping,
never giving up,
unbreaking,
always and forever
love,
means that as
she receives
that love,
she shows
the same
love to
others.
And so the
love that she
understands comes
from the Lord,
she is now
showing to
Naomi.
She's committing.
I began by
asking about
highlighting the
difference between
love that is
focused on
self-fulfillment,
love that leaves
when the going
gets hard,
and love that
is on
self-sacrifice.
And it would
be hard to
find a
better example
in the Bible
than this,
of love that
is self-sacrificing
rather than
seeking
self-fulfillment.
And so as
we're talking
about suffering
together,
as we're trying
to say something
about suffering,
knowing that we
cannot say
everything,
Ruth shows
us that
faith means
commit to
those who
suffer,
even when
we have
nothing to
gain.
Faith means
that we
commit to
those who
suffer,
even when
we have
nothing to
gain.
Now,
walking with
those who
suffer involves
sacrifice.
And walking
with those who
suffer means
that we will
suffer as well.
Walking with
those who
suffer involves
sacrifice and
it means that
we will
suffer as
well.
And yet we
do it.
We're able and
willing to show
never stopping,
never giving up,
unbreaking,
always and forever
love,
because we
serve a God
who has done
that for us.
That's what Ruth
is doing here
for Naomi.
me.
And so a
commitment to
the Lord
is a
commitment,
first of all,
to a Savior
who has
suffered,
but it's also
a commitment
to people
who suffer.
Remember I
said that you're
surrounded by
people in this
room who are
suffering,
even if you're
not.
And so all
you have to
do is look
around and
see people who
need your
commitment and
your love and
your care.
remember that
this is a
book about
widows.
And part of
God's chesed
love throughout
the Old
Testament is
his commitment
to the
widow,
because they
are the
most vulnerable.
And so
there's many
applications that
we could draw
from this
passage.
We could draw
those that are
general and
those that are
broad.
The most
specific would
be, though,
this very
thing, the
care for the
widow that
God cares so
much about.
the care for
the widow that
God cares so
much about.
We could
extend it to
anyone who is
experiencing
tremendous loss
and those who
have suffered,
that God's
family is for
them not just
a pie-in-the-sky
hope, but it's
the kind of hope
that has flesh
and blood.
I've been so
encouraged by
all of you.
it's not a
coincidence that
this past week
as I was
preparing to
teach and try
to understand
this passage
that not once
but twice,
without even
trying to,
accidentally,
I found out
about several
of you who
week in,
week out,
day in,
day out,
have committed
to caring for
those in our
church who are
suffering,
those in our
church who are
experiencing loss.
and I found
this out not
necessarily because
those who
suffer told me,
excuse me,
not because those
who are caring
told me,
but because I
heard about it
from those who
are suffering.
And so,
brothers and
sisters,
I'm so encouraged
by you and the
ways that you
are doing
exactly this.
And so,
let's,
as Paul encourages,
stir that up
more and more
to remember,
as those who
have lost someone
will tell us,
often it feels
like they're
allowed one
week or one
month to
grieve.
And then,
suddenly,
everything's
supposed to be
normal again.
And yet,
you know,
if you've
walked that
path,
that it's
something that
lasts for
years.
It's something
that happens
on anniversaries.
Something that
happens on
holidays.
It's something
that requires
this kind of
love for us
to come alongside
of each other,
to show each
other unbreaking,
never stopping,
never giving up
kind of love.
Now,
don't hear what
I'm not saying.
I'm not saying
we don't have
boundaries.
Ruth committed
to one widow.
She didn't commit
to every widow.
And in fact,
Jesus makes the
same point in Luke.
He says that
Elijah could have,
in the Old Testament,
remember,
Elijah came and
helped a widow.
He could have
gone to so many
widows,
but he chose one.
So,
I'm not saying
don't have
boundaries.
I'm not saying
you're not a
limited human
being with
limited resources,
but I am
saying
come alongside.
Come alongside
of each other.
Let's come
alongside of each
other,
not for a week,
not for a month,
but the rest of
the time we're
here together.
I'll give you
a few practical
suggestions that
folks have shared
with me about
things that are
helpful.
people.
If you know
someone and
their spouse or
someone else
passes away and
dies, mark that
on your calendar
for the next
year.
Put a reminder
on your phone
for every year
when that date
comes around.
Send them a
text.
Don't say,
call me if you
need anything.
Make the call.
Hey, would you
like to come
over and join
us for dinner?
Hey, I'm going
shopping.
Can you come
with me?
I bet when you
showed up this
morning you
weren't hoping
to hear about
going shopping
with someone.
So you hear
from the pulpit.
That is part
of the Christian
life.
Inviting people
to go shopping
with you and
over to your
house for dinner
is part of the
Christian life.
And so as we're
walking through
as a congregation
together talking
about what it is
like to suffer,
we're not just
speaking to those
who are suffering
and have suffered,
but to all of us.
That we would
become wise.
Wise not just to
prepare for the
suffering that we
face and not just
to prepare for the
suffering that we
will face, but to
be wise to know
how to care and
love for each
other.
It was Jim
Franks who said
this morning that
the one another
passages are
especially important.
And what he was
talking about is
the passages where
Paul says,
love one another
as Christ has
loved you.
And so we see
then that there
is an answer to
the self-fulfillment
view of
relationships.
There's an answer
to the ten-year
marriage.
The ten-year
commitment.
And it's the
self-sacrificial
view of
relationships.
There are all
sorts of examples
that I could give
you.
The one that
stands out in my
mind is about a
man that I think
many of you
actually may have
heard of.
His name is
Robertson
McQuilkin.
And in the
late 1970s,
early 1980s,
he realized that
his wife was not
able to remember
quite as much as
she had been able
to remember
before.
And slowly,
little by little,
she wasn't able to
do as much as
she'd been able to
do before.
He was the
president of a
prominent and
flourishing
college and
university.
He had tremendous
success before him
in his past that he
could point to,
and tremendous
success ahead of
him.
And he began to
talk with the
board of trustees
about what it
would look like
for him to step
down and care
for his wife.
In 1990,
Christianity Today
ran an article
about his decision
that year to
step down to
begin becoming
the full caretaker
for his wife.
And in 1996,
they ran a
follow-up article
because there had
been so much
response to the
sacrifices that he
had made.
He was featured
on Family Life
Today in a
four-part series,
and then after
his wife passed
away in 2004,
Christianity Today
came back and
did a final
interview with
him.
Because this was
a man who had
friends all around
him saying,
you don't need
to do this.
She won't know
the difference.
And you have a
successful career
still ahead of you.
You're still in
your 50s.
You still have so
much to do.
And yet Robertson
McQuilkin chose
self-sacrifice
over self-fulfillment.
And in that,
people again and
again, he wrote a
book actually, if
you want to learn
more, I wish I
could tell you more
and more about him
this morning if we
had time.
He wrote a book
called A Promise
Kept, if you're
interested and you
can find all sorts
of things about him
on the internet.
But in the final
interview that
Christianity Today
did with him in
2004, they asked
him this question.
What did caring
for your wife teach
you about the
Christian life?
He said this,
I would love her,
but she could not
love me back.
And that is a
painful thing.
As I was leaning
over her one day,
I thought, Lord,
is that the way it
is between you and
me?
You pouring out
your love and care
so consciously,
and what do you
get back?
A brief salute
in the morning,
we connect,
grumbling when I
don't get what I
want, when you
don't do it the
way I like.
How sad.
Sad for him.
Do you hear what
he said at the
beginning?
I would love her,
but she couldn't
love me back.
And that is a
painful thing.
Brothers and
sisters, it is in
Romans chapter 5,
verse 8, that Paul
tells us that while
we were still
sinners, Christ
died for us.
When there was
nothing that he
could gain, when
he could not be
fulfilled, he
chose for us an
act not of
self-fulfillment,
but of self-sacrifice,
so that he could
show us never
giving up,
never stopping,
unbreaking,
always and forever
love.
And so, because
Christ has
suffered with and
for us,
we can join,
commit to, and
walk with those
who have suffered.
Lord, please pray
with me.
Dear Father in
Heaven, we
thank you that
you are a
suffering Savior,
that you've
suffered for us,
and that you,
even when we have
nothing to give
you, even when
we're dead in our
sins, you come
to us with
never stopping,
never giving up,
unbreaking,
always and forever
love.
we ask that
you would remind
us of that this
morning, that you'd
pour your spirit
into our hearts to
be able to do
what we could not
do without you,
and that is to
walk here, like
Ruth, with Naomi,
with those who
suffer, that we
would be able to
show to others the
same love that you
have shown to us.
We ask all these
things in the name
of your Son.
Amen.