“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 will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.’” (Ruth 1:16-17)
This week, our lectionary readings display the faithfulness and love of Almighty God. He is trustworthy and fulfills all His promises. We gratefully look to Him for the help and strength in these days of political and social chaos. This chaos has been brought about as many people in our world have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ in order to worship cultural and social icons, false gods, to worship even self. Many trust in their own wisdom and knowledge. Everyone is doing what is right in his or her own eyes.
That last sentence describes the time of the judges, the time in which Naomi and Ruth lived. Both Elimilech and Naomi serve as examples of those who turn from the Lord to trust the world. When crises and troubles arose, they trusted in themselves and left the Promised Land. Thus, when everything failed, Naomi sank into hopelessness and despair. And yet, in the midst of the chaos of the period of the Judges and in the depths of the sorrow and despair that Naomi experienced at the loss of her family she seized upon a faint glimmer of hope: her daughter-in-law Ruth. Though Naomi felt that God had punished her and her family for their lack of faith, He had blessed her with Ruth.
Ruth was a Moabitess, not a member of the Chosen people of God. She had a pagan upbringing and lived in a land of idol worshiping pagans. Naomi and her family were a poor witness for their faith in God for they had left the place He wanted them to be. Somehow through this poor witness, Ruth had become a believer in Almighty God. Perhaps it was because she had heard of His compassion, love and mighty power, quite unlike the cruel and capricious gods the pagans worshipped.
Ruth became the great grandmother of King David and a direct ancestor of Jesus the Messiah. More significant for us is the example she set for we who believe. Ruth serves all of us as a perfect example of
Christlike love and unselfish devotion. She felt love and compassion for Naomi in her helpless condition. She put aside her own needs, wants, desires, her whole life, and made a lifelong commitment to serve God and her mother-in-law.
Isn’t this what Jesus did for us? He loved us in our helpless condition of sin. He dedicated His life to honor His Father by perfect obedience and by His commitment to us. We are called to do the same. We are called to dedicate our lives to bring the hope of forgiveness and faith in Jesus to those wandering in the darkness and chaos of this pagan world.