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?
2) A Wrecking Ball to the Dividing Wall: It is important because Boaz was a Jew who married a Gentile.
3) The Genealogy Factor: Though some say that the book of Ruth is like a parable, it is important to know that Ruth’s name shows up in the genealogy of Jesus’s ancestors in Matthew 1:5. Ruth’s son Obed was the father of Jesse who became the father of David. There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David. There were twenty-eight more generations until the birth of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 1:17).
RELATIONSHIPS CAN CHANGE PEOPLE
How could things have changed for the better with the relationship that Ruth and Naomi shared?
1) Strength - giving hope: Would there have been any hope if they had gone their separate ways? How long and how strong would their hope have been separately? Would hope have been weakened over the course of time? Would their hope have been tested beyond its limits being deferred to the point of making their hearts sick (Proverbs 13:12)?
2) Naomi’s Outlook: It seems to be clear that we can see Naomi’s outlook anticipating she will be alone. Naomi felt like the hand of the Lord had turned against her (Ruth 1:13). How many times have we known people who have felt the same way?
Being in a relationship with another or other strengthens hope!
1) Divine Presence: One of the main reasons that Jesus came to us as God in human flesh was to demonstrate His love for us as our Immanuel---our God with us in a tangible way (Matthew 1:23)!
2) Our Mission: Our mission is to follow in the foot steps of Jesus serving others and demonstrating God’s love in our service to others.
Can reconciliation happen outside of relationship?
1) Reconciliation is not possible outside of a relationship because brokenness continues when parties remain divided.
2) The lectionary text from the Gospel of Mark (Mark 12:28 - 34) illustrates how love should be a part of our relationship with God as well as our relationship with our neighbor. Love brings us together. Ruth’s love serves as a wonderful illustration of loving both God and our neighbor.
3) The lectionary text from Hebrews 9:11 – 14 illustrates God’s covenant with us through our High Priest Jesus Christ. This covenant extends from our relationship with God to our relationship with others. The covenant that Ruth shares with Naomi seems to be a reflection of this kind of covenant. Why is the idea of a covenant so important? A covenant is described as a binding agreement between the parties that are involved.
4) Loving both God and our neighbor is how we participate a covenant relationship.
5) We cannot escape how loving our neighbor is rooted in God’s love for us! That is why reconciliation cannot happen outside of a relationship.
How does our relationship with Jesus compare to Ruth’s relationship with Naomi?
1) Ruth and Naomi were part of a “prodigal family” who were in a “ far country”. Ruth was a Gentile and Naomi was a Jew.
2) As someone (Dr. J. Vernon McGee) put it Ruth is “a forerunner of the Gentiles being incorporated within the Church”. (Herbert Lockyer. All The Bookds And Chapters Of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1966, p. 67). In Ephesians 2:11- 22 Paul explains how Jesus removed the wall that divided Jews from Gentiles.
3) Are we not all prodigal sons and daughters who have “had our consciences purified from dead works so that we could worship the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14). And if God loves us should we not also love our neighbor?
What lengths do we go to demonstrate our love for God and our neighbor?
1) Ruth went the distance to demonstrate her love.
2) Jesus left all the glory of heaven to come to us as one of us as God in human flesh. Jesus was obedient even to the point of death on a cross to demonstrate His love (Philippians 2:8). Jesus talked about what real love is with a scribe and demonstrated His love for us on the cross as our High Priest paying the price for our sins once and for all.
3) Does our love go the distance?
4) Consider this story. “During World War II a Japanese girl released from a camp on the West Coast went to Chicago to find work. But before she got a job, she was stricken with appendicitis and was hospitalized. She was sick, a stranger, a Japanese [person] during a time of war with Japan, unemployed and facing a dark future. Some young people from a church in Chicago heard about her and went to the hospital offering to help any way they could. Though brought up a Buddhist, that young lady decided that if Christianity made people act like that, she wanted to be a Christian”. (T. T. Crabtree. Ed. The Zondervan 2007 Pastor’s Annual. James E. Carter. “Passing Religious Beliefs To Your Children”. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 2006, p. 203).
5) How is our Christian witness giving strength to others with whom we share relationships? Does our love go the distance to give others strength and hope?
