Choosing Hardship For The Sake Of Others
by Pastor Steve Peich
Ruth 1:1-6, 8-18
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland.
…Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. May the Lord show loving kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all wept aloud …Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.” But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more. So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. (Ruth 1:1-6, 8-18)
As we wind our way through this period of fasting and prayer, where we are yielding our lives to God’s shaping of them, I find this beautiful story of Naomi and Ruth so inspiring of what needs to be shaped in me. This is a story of two devastated women who went on an amazing journey together. Naomi was a Jewish woman, while Ruth was a Moabite woman.
As we just read, their relationship was borne out of tremendous tragedy. First of all, there was a famine in Israel, Naomi’s homeland. So she and her family go to an area that has a long history of being hostile to Jews, Moab, which is on the eastern side of the Dead Sea.
While there Naomi experiences tremendous loss: the loss of a husband and two adult sons. This meant of course that Ruth (and Orpah), the young Moabite brides, had their share of tragic loss as well.
Moreover, given the social context of that era, these losses particularly made Naomi incredibly vulnerable to other losses. For example, the loss of land, the loss of wealth, loss of security, loss of a future, and perhaps most of all, the loss of hope for an older woman. Have you experienced such difficulties and losses in your life? Do you know the journey of frightening vulnerability and weakness?
Ruth 1:6 tells us that after these devastating events, Naomi hears that things are better back in Israel and so she seeks to return. Perhaps she is thinking that at least she can still survive there. Thriving in Moab at this point was pretty much out of the question.
Understandably, the two daughters-in-law wanted to remain with Naomi, but Naomi knows that their best shot at a new life would be in their home country among their own people and family, not in Israel. Eventually Naomi convinces Orpah to go back home, but Ruth makes this amazing statement to Naomi.
“Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” (vv 16-17)
Notice a couple of quick things. First, for Ruth to make this kind of commitment is an incredible sacrifice. As I alluded to, she had a better a chance for a new husband, having kids, etc. in her own country. She would be safer in Moab than in a country hostile to Moabites, but she instead chooses sacrificial loyalty to Naomi. She chooses a life that is potentially loaded with hardship. Like Jesus, Ruth intentionally steps toward suffering so that Naomi’s life could have a life. Simply put, Ruth put her life at great risk for the sake of another.
Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” and Ruth is doing just that. In fact, some scholars believe the name Ruth means “friend.”
Bottom line, our church, your neighbors, your coworkers need the heart, courage, and compassion of Ruth to flow from you. I don’t care if you are a guy, you still need the heart of Ruth in you. I say that because there are so many folks, male and female, who feel the pain and walk the journey of Naomi.
How does this story of committed love and risk-taking impact your life? Have you known such love and commitment with others? Have you experienced it from God, Himself? Have you ever stepped toward suffering so that others could find life and love amid their own journey of pain and hardship? What is God saying to you today?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me the eyes to see the hardships that are below the surface in others around me. Give me the courage, energy, wisdom, and time to move toward their vulnerability and to serve them as You would. To You be all the glory. Amen
