Good morning and welcome to St. Paul's this morning across the live stream.
It's now three months since we stopped gathering on site for our Sunday services.
So if this is the first time you've tuned in, it's great to have you here.
And welcome to all the St. Paul's family out there.
If you don't know who I am, I'm Steve Jeffrey.
I'm the senior pastor of St. Paul's.
And so it's wonderful for me to be able to kick off this brand new series in Ruth with us this morning.
It is the first time in just over 100 years that we have not been able to hold public services
and to not be able to do so for three months, not be able to meet face to face due to this pandemic has been an unusual season.
We are now, however, starting to slowly regather, having been scattered for three months.
We've been, if you like, away scattered.
We're now slowly regathering and coming back again.
This theme, which has been the theme for us over these three months of going away and coming back,
is in fact part of the rhythm of normal life.
What we do so much of it in terms of going away and coming back,
we don't even think that's in fact what we're doing.
We go to school and we come home again.
We go to the playground, to the shops, to restaurants, to work, and then we come back home.
We depart for a holiday and then we come back home.
We have 20-year-olds who move out and then they come back home.
This constant pattern.
In fact, I can't believe I'm actually saying this,
but perhaps this opera, Home and Away, is tuning into something for us in life,
part of the rhythms of life.
Home and away, it's what they do.
Of course, sometimes the going away is forced on us by circumstances
and coming back is not always possible.
For instance, the transition into a care facility,
refugees fleeing a terrible situation in their home,
and even death itself is a going away but not coming back.
This theme, this pattern, if you like, of going away and coming back
runs through many of the stories of the Bible.
In fact, one of the grand narratives of the whole Bible,
which begins with people being scattered from God because of sin,
but ends with people being gathered back to God because of his rescue plan
and salvation plan for them into their eternal home,
is the grand narrative of the Bible.
So many stories of salvation of the Bible carry this theme.
Abraham went down to Egypt because of a famine and later returned home.
The whole family of Israel went down to Egypt because of a famine
and then returned back to the promised land, their home.
Later on in their history, Israel again will go into exile
because of a spiritual famine, and God will bring them back home again.
And of course, what Adrian read out to us,
one of the more famous passages in the New Testament of the prodigal son
who went down away from his home to a foreign land,
got hit with a famine, and then came back home again.
So the whole Bible story is about people leaving paradise with God
and then God bringing them back, saving his people
and returning them back to himself.
And that means that as we open up the very first chapter of the book of Ruth
with this description of people leaving home and coming back again
because of a famine should alert us to something is big in the wind.
Something significant is happening in this book.
It's not just a Old Testament rom-com.
There's something deeper, bigger happening in the book of Ruth.
It's the old pattern of God working some act of salvation
when his people leave their land and his presence,
and then he brings them back.
So if you've got your Bibles there, I'd love it if you could turn to Ruth chapter 1
and also the St. Paul's app.
If you click into there, you'll see an outline for today's message.
I've really got two major points with a few little sub points in there,
but two major points, really simple, going away and coming back.
I considered calling it home and away,
but we'll just go with going away, coming back.
So going away to ruin is my first point.
Israel's ruin, according to verse 1 of chapter 1,
the very first verse of this book is this story of Ruth
takes place during the time of the judges of Israel.
This was a 400-year period after Israel entered the promised land under Joshua
and before there were any kings in Israel.
It's roughly about 1500 BC to 1100 BC.
And so verse 1 is not just a date stamp on the book
so we can locate it historically.
It is, in fact, a theological description
of the times in which these events of the book of Ruth take place.
When I preached through the book of Judges about two years ago,
I said you could summarise the message of the book of Judges
as despicable people doing deplorable things.
That's the summary of this time.
It records a history of murder and assassination
and massacres of immorality and lawlessness and unfaithfulness.
In fact, right towards the end of the book of Judges,
chapter 21, verse 25, it says,
in those days Israel had no king
and so everyone did as they saw fit.
Pretty much a description of modern society, really.
Everyone does as they see fit.
But for Israel, it was a very dark time.
The people would sin.
God would hand them over to their sin.
He would send enemies against them
and the people would cry out for help.
And then God would mercifully raise up a judge,
a rescuer for his people and deliver them,
bring them back to himself.
A repeated pattern of the nation going away from God
and God bringing them back home to himself.
And by the end of the book of Judges,
we have a picture of a nation
that has really just completely lost its way.
What the book of Ruth does for us
is it gives us a glimpse
into the hidden work of God
during the worst of times.
The book of Ruth is a zooming in
on the book of Judges, if you like,
and one family during these dark days.
From the narrative of the nation
in the book of Judges,
we now focus on one family.
We go from a nation in ruin
to a family in ruin.
And to, in fact, a life in ruin.
It was during these dark days and difficult days
that a man moved his family out of Israel.
A move that saw his family come to ruin.
Verse one again.
In those days when the judges ruled,
there was a famine in the land.
And so a man named,
a man from Bethlehem in Judea,
together with his wife and his two sons,
went to live for a while in the country of Moab.
Now the ultimate irony has occurred.
Bethlehem, which means
house of bread is a place of no food.
Verses one to five in chapter one
just moves so fast.
But ultimately they paint a picture of ruin.
First, there is a famine in Judah.
Then there's a decision to relocate for this family
to Moab, a pagan land with its foreign gods.
Then grief upon famine strikes
as Elimelech, the husband to Naomi, dies.
Then in verse four,
Naomi and Elimelech's two sons
take Moabite wives,
one named Orpah, the other named Ruth.
And again, the hand of God falls.
Verse five sums up Naomi's tragedy.
After 10 years of childless marriages,
both Marlon and Kilion also died.
And Naomi was left without her two sons
and her husband.
She's a foreigner, a foreign woman.
In a patriarchal society,
Naomi is bereft.
Along with her husband and sons,
she attempted to escape the famine
in Bethlehem.
I'm sorry, but all that has happened
is for her a descent into emptiness.
A grasp for hope,
a grasp for future,
resulted in emptiness.
The move to Moab has been disastrous.
Naomi has hit rock bottom.
She is empty.
She's bereft.
She's destitute.
She went there in a search of life
and she has become empty.
And the implicit question
in these very first verses
is what future does Naomi have?
Can she possibly recover from this?
Will she remain destitute and empty?
And then we are told in verse six,
Naomi gets a word.
And at first,
it appears to be a word of hope.
But is it hope for Naomi?
It says,
the Lord has come to the aid of his people
by providing food for them.
How was she to feel about that?
The Lord came to the aid of his people
in Bethlehem.
But she wasn't one of them.
She wasn't there.
Was her going away a terrible mistake?
She didn't just leave Bethlehem,
but also the people of God
and her God
and all of her hope as well.
She had brought shame to herself,
to her people,
to her God.
And so,
does she deserve
what our society
would call
getting cancelled?
Up to the end of verse five,
Naomi
is just like
the prodigal son
in Luke 15
that Adrian read out to us.
He thought
life would be better
in a faraway country
away from the rule
and the oversight
and the provision
of his father.
But like Naomi,
he too
hits rock bottom
and he is bereft,
he is empty,
he is hungry,
he is lonely.
What the story
of the prodigal son
is meant
to be
portraying to us
is the theme
of the Bible.
It is a vivid picture
of humanity's ruin
as they walk
away from God.
The Bible
says
we have all,
like sheep
have gone astray,
we have all
wandered away
from God
who has made us,
made all things
and provides
all good things
for us
and the Bible
calls it sin.
It's the attitude
that says
we don't need God
in our life,
we don't want God
in our life
and that attitude
results in actions
and thoughts,
behaviours
that sees us
as individuals,
as societies
living
as we
see
fit
in our
own
eyes.
Living
as we
see fit
in our
own
eyes
without
God
and it
always
feels
free
for a
season
in the
same way
that jumping
out of an
aeroplane
feels free
for a
season
until you
realise
that you
don't have
a
parachute.
In Luke
15 verse
14 we
read of the
prodigal son
in Jesus'
parable,
after he
had spent
everything
there was
a severe
famine in
the whole
country
and he
began
to be
in need.
His bid
for freedom
resulted
in
slavery.
Verse
15,
so he
went and
he hired
himself
out
and the
word
literally
means
he
attached
himself
to a
citizen
of that
country
who sent
him to
his fields
to feed
the pigs.
This
young guy
has to
sell
himself
as a
slave
to work
in a
foreign
pig pen.
Life
hits rock
bottom.
His bid
for the
better life
the free
life ends
up in
slavery
instead.
You see
when you
break your
attachment
with God
you will
end up
attached to
another
and that
attachment
will not
be
sonship
and freedom
it will
be
slavery.
It will
desire
you.
You will
have to
live for
it.
It may
be romance,
it may be
a career,
it may be
reputation,
comfort,
leisure,
culture,
it might be
family.
The attachment
might be
crude,
it might
be
refined.
If we
break loose
from God
we will
be attached
to another
and that
other will
require you
to sacrifice
everything for
it.
In the
end,
whether crude
or refined,
this attachment
will send us
to the
pig pen.
One of the
key
challenges
early in
the book
of Ruth
is trying
to work
out
how we
meant to
feel about
the characters
of this
book.
Because
traditionally
it's taken
as a bit
of an
Old Testament
rob-com
where
just people
of virtue.
And yet
God had
warned
Israel
in
Deuteronomy
32
that he
would send
them
famine
if they
worshipped
idols
as they
did in
the days
of the
judges.
You see
Elimelech
had a
choice to
make.
He had a
road to
choose
which one
he would
go.
He could
stay in
Bethlehem
the empty
bread
basket
of Judah
mourning
the sin
that
surrounded
him
in his
society
and
trusting
God
for the
provision
for his
family.
Alternatively
he could
leave the
promised land
behind
in pursuit
of greener
fields.
theologically
these are
not equal
choices.
This is
not simply
Elimelech
choosing to
move to
another city
because he's
got a job
offer there.
God had
rescued his
people from
slavery in
Egypt.
He brought
them to
the land of
Canaan,
the promised
land.
This was the
land that God
would dwell with
his people in
harmony as they
lived out their
relationship with
him as a
redeemed
people.
However,
these people
rebelled against
him as we see
again and again
in the book of
Judges.
There was no
king in
Elimelech's
life and
therefore,
like so many
of his
countrymen,
he chose to
do what was
best in his
own eyes.
It's the same
choice that each
of us face in
life.
I live for
myself and
do what I
think is best
with my life
or I follow
the created
God and what
he determines
is best
for life.
And the
Bible is
explicit.
when you
choose to
live life
our way,
when we
do that,
eternal
ruin is
the future.
So is
Naomi's
emptiness
God's
judgment on
her life?
love.
The
interesting
thing about
this text
is it
doesn't
tell us.
It's not
made explicit
in this
text in
the way
that it
is in
so many
other places
including the
book of
Judges.
The people
did that
and God
says I'm
going to
judge you.
He doesn't
do that
here.
And yet
Naomi is
in no
doubt about
the source
of her
ruin.
Verse 13
she says
the Lord's
hand has
turned against
me.
Then again
at the end
of the chapter
she says
the same
thing.
In verse
20
the Almighty
has made
my life
very bitter.
I went
away full
but the
Lord has
brought me
back empty.
The Lord
has afflicted
me.
The Almighty
has brought
misfortune
upon me.
she says
it's God
who's done
it.
Now
frankly
I would
take Naomi's
theology
here any
day over
the sentimental
views of
God which
dominate the
books of
many Christian
bookshelves.
Naomi is
sure of
three things
in this
text.
God exists,
God is
sovereign and
God has
inflicted her.
God the
Almighty
reigns in
all the
affairs of
people.
He rules
the nation
and he
rules the
families and
he rules
Naomi's
life.
He gives
rain, he
takes it
away, he
gives life,
he takes
it away.
In him
we live,
we move,
we have
our being.
He is the
all encompassing,
the all
pervading
reality of
life.
And Naomi
was right
and we
should join
her in
this
conviction.
God the
Almighty
reigns in
all the
affairs of
people.
So Naomi
is right
here to
believe in
a sovereign
almighty God
who governs
the affairs
and the
nations and
the families
and gives
each day
its parts
of both
pain and
pleasure.
He does
both.
But what
Naomi needs
is to
open her
eyes a
little bit
more to
the signs
of his
merciful
purposes in
her life.
If she
doesn't,
then her
theology just
becomes
determination
fatalism,
an almighty
being who's
not personal,
not relational
and certainly
not good.
While she
can't see it
straight away,
it's in
fact in
heading home
that we
see God's
merciful purposes
for her being
worked out in
her life.
That's the
second point I
want to get
to.
In
verses 7
to 18
of chapter
1,
the writer
here devotes
a large
chunk of
space to
the journey
home.
Five verses
is all it
took.
Five verses
to describe
the descent
to Moab,
the tragedy
that struck,
but more
than double
that on the
journey back
to Bethlehem.
And most
of these
verses here
are in
fact Naomi's
efforts to
try and
dissuade
her daughter-in-laws
from returning
with her.
And so
what therefore
stands out
in these
verses is
Ruth's
faithfulness
to Naomi.
In fact,
one of God's
mercies to
Naomi.
It's quite
amazing.
Verse 14
says that
Orpah kissed
Naomi goodbye
but Ruth
clung to
her.
And that
is all the
more amazing
after Naomi's
grim description
of what their
future life
with her
would be
like.
Ruth stays
with her
in spite of
an apparent
hopeless future
of widowhood
and childlessness.
Naomi paints
a future
that is
black.
And Ruth
took her
hand
and walked
into it
with her.
What a
blessing.
And the
amazing words
of Ruth
are found
in verse
16.
Have a look
at it
with me.
Don't
urge me
to leave
you or
to turn
back from
you.
Where you
go, I
will go.
Where you
stay, I
will stay.
Your people
will be my
people.
Your God
will be my
God.
Where you
die, I
will die
and there
I'll be
buried.
May the
Lord deal
with me.
Be it
ever so
severely
if even
death
separates you
and me.
Now the
more you
ponder these
words, the
more amazing
they become.
Ruth's
commitment to
her destitute
mother-in-law
is simply
astonishing.
It is a
picture of
commitment
which is
God's
commitment
to Naomi.
It means
for Ruth
here, leaving
her own
family, her
own land.
It means
as far as
she knows, a
life of
widowhood and
childlessness
because Naomi
has no man
to give her.
And if she
marries another
non-relative
Naomi, her
commitment to
Naomi's
family is
cut at
that point.
It ceases.
It's lost.
It means
going to an
unknown land
with a new
people, with a
new custom,
with a new
language.
And it was
in fact a
commitment even
deeper than
marriage.
Where you
die, I
will die
and there
I will be
buried.
May the
Lord deal
with me
be it
ever so
severely
if even
death
separates
you and
me.
In
other words,
Ruth says,
I will
never
return home.
Even
when you
die, my
commitment to
you is not
finished.
the most
amazing
commitment of
all is in
verse 16.
Your God
will be my
God.
Naomi has
just said
in verse
13,
saying,
the Lord's
hand has
turned against
me.
Naomi's
experience of
God in
this moment
was bitterness.
And in
spite of
this, Ruth
forsakes her
religious heritage
and makes the
God of
Israel her
God.
Somehow or
other, Ruth
had come to
trust in
Naomi's God
in spite of
Naomi's
bitter
experiences.
That did
not turn
her away.
Ruth's
faith in
God sees
beyond the
present
setbacks,
the present
bitter
setbacks,
freedom from
the securities
and the
comforts of
the world
and the
courage to
venture to
the unknown
and the
strange.
So what
called Naomi
home?
Even in
Naomi's
bitter talk
about God
punishing her,
there is an
acknowledgement
here of
his sovereign
grace.
In verse
21,
she
acknowledges,
the Lord
has brought
me back.
Her
husband made
the decision
to leave,
but the
Lord has
brought her
back.
And while
in this
moment she
thinks she's
coming back
empty,
I mean she's
roost with
her, she
obviously not
focused on
that very
much,
she thinks
she's coming
back empty
but it is
God who
provides the
delicate touch
of hope at
the end of
verse 22.
And this is an
amazing word of
hope,
they arrived
in Bethlehem
as the
barley harvest
was beginning.
You see,
it wasn't
just
emptiness
that brought
her back,
it was
news that
brought her
back.
It was in
fact good
news that
brought her
back home.
News about
something that
God had
done brought
her back.
The Lord
had visited
his people
and he had
ended the
famine.
It was good
news that
called her
back home.
She wasn't
just coming
back to
Bethlehem,
she was
coming back
to her
God.
You see,
like the
book of
Judges,
the book
of Ruth
is just
pure
gospel,
pure,
good,
news.
It reveals
the God
of mercy
and long
suffering
patients who
continually
works in
and through
and for
his people.
It was a
truth at a
national level
and we will
see in the
coming weeks
that it is
true at a
personal,
family,
individual level
too.
God is at
work in the
worst of
times.
God
and what's
more,
this sovereign
God keeps
doing it
despite his
people constant
resistance to
his purposes.
God
relentlessly
offers his
grace to
people who
neither deserve
it,
they're not
seeking it,
not even
appreciating it,
even after
they've been
saved by it.
So after
ten years
abandoning her
God and
her people
and her
land,
what sort
of welcome
do you think
Naomi should
receive
returning home?
what about
the prodigal
son in
Luke 15?
How would
you respond
to a
child who
has basically
wished you
were dead,
didn't want
anything to
do with you
except the
inheritance?
Nothing with
you again,
ever.
The father
in the
parable of
the prodigal
son in
Luke 15,
it is obvious
that he is
not sitting
in his
living room
with his
feet up
waiting for
his wayward
son to
come crawling
through the
door and
his hands
and knees
groveling
and begging
for restoration.
Verse 20
tells us
that this
man,
this father
ran to
meet his
son,
embraced
him,
kissed
him again
and again
and again,
reinstates
him to
full
membership
of the
family
and calls
for a
celebration
and we
are told
in Luke
15 that
the only
emotion
the father
felt was
compassion.
This father
thinks nothing
of his
personal loss,
nothing of
his financial
loss,
nothing of
the damage
to his
reputation
in the
community,
nothing of
his own
personal
shame.
what an
extraordinary
welcome
and we
are told
in Luke
15 the
reason why
Jesus told
this story
is because
he was
saying,
I am
the father
who welcomes
the son.
when sinners
turn from
their sin
and accept
my fellowship
as the
joy of
their lives,
they have
come home
to God
through me
and God
is glad
and he
celebrates.
It's a
wonderful
picture of
the grace
and the
mercy and
the love
of the
compassion
of God.
The God
of the
Bible
is not
into the
cancel
culture
that we
currently
exist in
where you
make one
mistake
on social
media
and you
are what?
Your
reputation
is ruined.
You will
never live
it down.
A shame
that will be
brought back
up again
and again
and again.
the Bible
tells us
as far
as Psalm
103
tells us
in the
Bible
as far
as the
east
is from
the west
so far
has God
removed
our sin
from us
and Isaiah
tells us
he's forgotten
them
never to be
brought up
again
against us.
The whole
story of the
Bible
is about
the human
race
going away
from God
and his
great plan
of salvation
of bringing
them back
again
and at
the centre
of that
plan
is the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
because
it is
good news
about Jesus
that calls
us back
home to
God.
The good
news that
calls us
back
is about
something
else
that God
has done
in Bethlehem
again
but for
all of
humanity.
And it's
infinitely better
news than
Naomi heard
from Bethlehem
that turned
her around
and back
home.
The core
message of
Christianity
is that
in Jesus
God
comes to
running
runs to
us and
meets us.
The king
of the
universe
in all
his splendor
and glory
came to
the dirt
of Bethlehem.
Came to
the dirt
of Bethlehem,
lived a
life of
obscurity
amongst us,
worked as
a carpenter.
God the
son left
his place
of abundance
and takes
on our
emptiness
so that we
can have
his place
of abundance.
Jesus
left his
place of
blessing
and abundance
of glory
in heaven
entered
himself
for us
not just
in the
dirt of
Bethlehem
but by
shedding
his blood
on a
cross
outside of
Jerusalem.
As Jesus
was dying
on the
cross
he cried
out
in every
other
instance
in the
New
Testament
whenever
he speaks
to his
father he
calls him
father
only on
the cross
he says
my God
why have
you forsaken
me?
He went
into exile
removed
away from
the presence
of the
father
so that
we can
be brought
back in.
He was
cancelled
so that
we can
be forgiven.
He took
our sin
he faced
our bitterness
and in
doing so
he turned
away from
us
so that
we might
be blessed.
He took
our
spiritual
famine
so that
we might
have
his
spiritual
feast.
You see
the good
news here
is that
don't ever
think the
sin of
your past
means there's
no hope
for the
future.
God
knows
exactly
what you
are like
and what
I am
like
deepest
down in
the
recesses
of our
hearts
and yet
he still
welcomes
us.
His love
is
unconditional.
It isn't
based on
what we
are like
it is
based on
what he
is like
and he
calls us
home to
him.
Come home
to the
God
who made
you and
loves you
and is the
only one
who can
fill the
emptiness
the
emptiest
and meet
your deepest
need of
your heart.
God's
providence in
Naomi's
life
is
hard
and
sometimes
God's
providence
in our
life
is
hard.
He
had
dealt
bitterly
with
Naomi
at
least
in the
short
run
in the
short
run
it only
felt like
bitterness
for her
but not
long term.
Some might
say it was
a punish
for the
sin of
going to
Moab
and marrying
foreign
women.
Maybe.
Not
necessarily.
Maybe.
Psalm 34
verse 19
says the
righteous
person may
have many
troubles
but the
Lord delivers
him from
them all.
That is
the Bible
never promises
that believers
will escape
difficulty in
life as
well.
But
suppose
Naomi's
calamity
was in
fact owing
to her
and her
husband's
disobedience.
What if
it was?
That
makes this
story
remarkable.
It
makes it
if you
like
doubly
encouraging
because it
shows
that God
is willing
and able
even to
turn
his
severe
judgments
into
our
joys.
Bitterness
just for a
moment.
And what
this Bible
is saying,
what this
passage is
saying is
come back.
Jesus
is saying
to you
whatever
you've
done,
whatever
you've
become,
come back
home to
your God.
I want to
pray with
you right
now.
And I'm
just going to
pray really
slowly.
And maybe the
prayer that I
pray, you
might want to
echo it in
your heart and
come back to
God now.
Let's do
that.
our
gracious God,
I just
want to
thank you
for your
love and
your
compassion.
I want to
thank you
for giving
us,
giving me
life.
sorry that
I, that
we have
lived it for
ourselves and
not for you.
Thank you
that Jesus
dealt with my
sin at the
cross, that
he was turned
away, that
he was made
destitute so
that we can be
brought back
in.
He was
emptied so
that we could
be filled.
He took my
sin so
that I could
be forgiven.
So please
forgive me
and accept
me because
of him
and help
me to start
living for
you.
Amen.