PENTECOST 21
October 19-21, 2013
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Ruth 1:1-19A
WE KNOW
THAT IN ALL THINGS GOD WORKS FOR THE GOOD!
1. He Sustains Our Faith in Times of Trial.
2. He Uses These Trials for Eternal Good.
If
you are familiar with the Bible book Ruth you probably know it contains a great
love story. It’s four easy reading chapters if you’ve never read it before and
your heart will be warmed by the love of Boaz and Ruth. What many people forget
is that the love story begins with tragedy, the tragedy of death, multiple
deaths. “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. 2The 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. 3Now
Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4They
married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived
there about ten years, 5both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi
was left without her two sons and her husband.”
Ruth’s
story begins with tragedy. First we find this takes place in the time of the
Judges. That’s not a great point in history for God’s people. Tragically they
kept forsaking God and turning to idols. God used tragedies to bring them back.
This time we hear it’s a famine. It got so bad that Elimelech and Naomi with
their sons Mahlon and Kilion left their house, their land, their extended
family, their friends and neighbors, they left everything and moved to the
foreign country of Moab. That had to hurt. While there Naomi’s husband died.
That hurt. At least she had her sons. They married. I’m sure Naomi’s heart
looked forward to having grandchildren to give her joy. They never came. After
ten years Naomi’s boys both died. That had to hurt even more.
Can
you just try to imagine how Naomi felt? Actually we know how she felt. When she
came back her homeland this is what she said. "Don't call me Naomi,
" she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 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." Here is a woman who was having a hard time
seeing a loving God. Her heart was hurting. She spoke words she would look back
and regret. Brothers and sisters, remember that when you are with a brother or
sister who is hurting. They may say some things that come out of their hurt
that they will regret later. They may get angry with God. They may get angry
with you. You may get angry with God when you have times of trial. This word of
God is here to help you. Let Naomi’s experience here prepare you so that you
don’t turn on God when you face tragedy.
And you will face tragedy. We all do. Many of the
hardest ones are like what Naomi faced. Death. The death of aged parents or
spouses we expect but it still hurts. When people die at an age we don’t expect
them to those deaths get even harder and hurt more. Stillborn children.
Miscarriages. They all hurt. How about the death of a relationship? Whether
that is a marriage that has failed or a friendship, it hurts. You wonder why. Teens
hurt when they break up and get so frustrated with their parents who act like
it’s no big deal. Actually teen and parent are both right. It’s a tragedy for
the teen. But parent know it will pass! Accidents. Natural disasters. Job loss.
Chronic illness. Tragedies and times of trial are a part of living in a sin
messed world.
So is the God who sustains you. The Lord sustains
faith in times of trial. Naomi’s faith was sustained. It might not have sounded
like it when she first returned home but as we’ll find out, that’s not the end
of the story. When you are going through times of trial too, it may seem
overwhelming, like you just can’t handle it or go on. But unbeknownst to you
God is right there with you protecting your faith, keeping you going. He never
leaves you or forsakes you in times of trial. He sticks with you no matter
what. He does that because He has a plan.
That’s the second thing we need to remember in times
of trial. God will use it for eternal good. To allow pain and suffering for no
good reason when you could stop it is spiteful and mean. God is not spiteful and
mean. He is love. Let’s see how God worked in love for the good of Naomi and
Ruth…and many more!
“ 6When 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. 7With
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. 8Then
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. 9 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 10and
said to her, "We will go back with you to your people." 11But
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? 12Return 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-- 13would 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!" 14At this
they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to
her.” Naomi did here what many people
do in times of trial and when they are hurting. She pushed people away. She
tried to push Orpah and Ruth away and even thought it was the loving thing to
do. Orpah agreed.
But
not Ruth.“15"Look,"
said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods.
Go back with her." 16But 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. 17Where
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." 18When
Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.”
Something had happened here, something wonderful with Ruth. This Moabite woman had
grown up worshipping an awful idol name Chemosh. “Worship” of him required
the Moabite people to make human
sacrifices. But now Ruth knows and uses the saving name of God, the LORD! He
has become her God. So Ruth stayed with Naomi. And then?
And then. “19So
the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.” Ah, there we see it. With
just one word God makes everything clear. Bethlehem. That’s what God was doing
the whole time! Bethlehem. That’s the birthplace of Jesus. God was working for
the good the whole time. He used the tragedy of a famine to move Naomi and family
to Moab. He used the deaths to get Naomi to move back. He used the whole
situation to bring Ruth into the family of faith so she would be saved and the
rest of the story is that Ruth meets Boaz. They fall in love. They get married
and have kids. Naomi gets a true and faithful daughter in Ruth and
grandchildren to bounce on her knee. But that’s not the end of it. That first
grandchild, Obed, is the great, great, great, great, (you get the idea) grandpa
of Jesus the Savior. You see the true
God does not require His people to make human sacrifices to Him. No when
sacrifice was needed to pay for sin God sent His one and only Son. He had to be
God and man at the same time and at the right time. This is just one glimpse of
the plan. In all things God was working
for the good the whole time.
So
we see that the Biblical account of Ruth is a great love story. There is the
love between Naomi and Ruth and the love between Boaz and Ruth you can read
about at home. But most importantly it shows the love God has for His people. Hold
on to the God of love in time of trial. He knows what you are going through. He
knows the hurt of tragedies. He knows that in time of tragedy the Devil is
right there trying to lead us to despair, to be angry with God. So in love God
provides what we need. He shows us in Ruth how He always works for the good. He
takes no pleasure in our hurting hearts and He only lets times of trial last
for as long as is necessary. Nothing in your life or my life is happening willy
nilly or out of God’s control. As one of the sisters mentioned in Bible Class
the other day. Nothing takes God by surprise. He sustains our faith in times of
trial and uses each and every one of them for eternal good. What shall we say
in response to this? Say it with me. WE KNOW THAT IN ALL THINGS GOD WORKS FOR
THE GOOD. Say it again when you’re
hurting because it is most certainly true. Amen.
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