Introducing Ruth
post by Matt McCoy
8 minute read
At dinner last night I told my kids, “You’re gonna tell your grandkids what your mother and I were up to during 2020. You’re gonna tell your grandkids what Spring Church did, you’re gonna tell your grandkids what Bellingham did, you’re gonna tell your grandkids what the Global Church did. And when you do, Denise and I hope our great-grandkids hear stories about how we listened to the voice of Jesus, followed where Jesus was walking, and participated in what Jesus was doing.”
History is going to remember where we were standing this year.
Given my profound conviction that we’re living in a year that is a cultural inflection point, you might find our focus for this Sunday’s worship service a bit surprising:
God is active in our everyday lives, even when we can’t hear his voice.
First, let’s focus on the word:
“everyday”
These last few weeks have been anything but “everyday” or “ordinary,” as my admonishment to my children would attest. Yet as I read Ruth, I’m reminded that while these days are “unprecedented” for us, they are not “unprecedented” for God. Days like today have been around for a long, long time. Here’s how the book of Ruth starts, in my own playful translation of the Hebrew text:
During the “unprecedented” time of the Judges (tribal chieftains who ruled Israel), there was a famine in the land…
The book opens with the Hebrew literally saying, “During the time when the Judges were Judging.”
Please don’t read the word “Judges” and think of Judge Judy or SCOTUS, rather think of tribal chiefs who had enough power and charisma to take charge of the nation of Israel. These were erratic tribal rulers who often talked about God, but would do what seemed right in their own eyes (Judges 21:15).
Tribalism is rampant today and the political divisions in our country have become so severe. I continue to regularly read from both The New York Times and Fox News so that I am able to talk to any of my friends, be they in the liberal tribe or the conservative tribe. And it doesn’t take me very long to think of a ruler who leads like a tribal chieftain, who often talks about God but does what seems right in his own eyes:
Also, there was a famine in the land. In the stories of the Bible, things like famine, pestilence, plagues and pandemics often show up. And when they do, the prophets almost always call people to repentance for the sins of that day and the generational sins of the past. I’m going to say that again: Nearly all of the prophets who live during times of great social upheaval caused by these events respond with calling the people to repent for the sins of that day AND THE GENERATIONAL SINS OF THE PAST.
And so, when I look out at our culture going through a pandemic, I am not surprised to see people repenting:
Look, these days we’re living in now are not ‘unprecedented’. They are new to us, for sure, but they are not new for God. I still believe that 2020 is an inflection point in culture and Emma, Jackson and Coleton (my kids) will tell their grandkids about what Denise and I were doing this year. But this is “everyday” for God, and I need the reminder to calm myself, settle down, stop sprinting and get ready for the marathon ahead.
Second, let’s focus on the words:
“even when we can’t hear his voice.”
What do we do when it’s hard to see God? How do we act when we feel like we can’t hear God’s voice?
For Naomi’s family, I think they make a terrible mistake in leaving for Moab. Naomi’s family is living in Bethlehem, which literally means in Hebrew “House of Bread.” So they’re in the House of Bread, they’re a part of God’s chosen people who are fed by God’s own hand, and they are called to be faithful to God by relying on God for what they need. And, instead, they leave for the next best place that has food, and they slowly settle in and make a home in the wrong place. Here’s the introduction to the story of Ruth, and I’ve highlighted the verbs used for settling down. Notice how each successive verb indicates a deeper sense of settling down, putting down roots, and becoming comfortable in a place where they didn’t belong, even risking becoming expatriates.
Immigrated…
Entered…
Settled down…
Made life for themselves…
During the “unprecedented” time of the Judges (clan chieftains who ruled Israel), there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem (lit: The House of Bread) in Judah immigrated to live in the countryside surrounding Moab, with his wife and two sons. And the name of the man was Elimeleck, and his wife’s name was Naomi, and his sons names were Malon and Kilion. They were from house of Ephriam, in Bethlehem in Judah, and they entered into the land of Moab and settled down there. Elimeleck, the husband of Naomi, died. She was left behind, she and her two sons. They married Moabite women, one was named Orpha, and the other was named Ruth, and they made a life for themselves there for about ten years. And then both Malhon and Kilion died, and she was left behind again, without her young men or her husband. And one day she got up, along with her daughters in law, and she came to her senses and turned back towards home, because she heard a rumor while in the fields of Moab that the Lord had heard his people and gave them food again.
Where else have we seen someone leave their home, the place where they were supposed to stay, and go to settle into a far off land? And then that person came to their senses and turned back towards home because of issues surrounding food? I’m reading this story, and I’m thinking of parable of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15). I read this, and I wonder if Jesus had the story of Ruth in mind when he shared that parable.
What do we do when life gets hard and we can’t hear God’s voice? Often, we make big mistakes in our lives. And while we can’t see to the end of our stories to see how God will redeem those mistakes, we can see to the end of Ruth’s story, and the end of the Prodigal Son’s story, to see that God can take any of the mistake we've made (no matter how huge) and use them for good.
In our small group, Heading North, we’re going to focus our time together this summer around how to hear God’s voice. “…Even when we don’t hear it” is such a common feeling for us, so we want to spend some time practicing together how to hear God’s voice. Interested? We’d love to have you join us, CLICK HERE to learn more.
Third, let’s focus on the words:
“God is active.”
One of my favorite aspects of the book of Ruth is the silence of God within the story. God is a very quiet character in the background. There aren’t any visions, angelic proclamations, prophets with a message, or burning bushes.
But just because God is silent doesn’t mean God is not active. Ruth shows us how God works through normal people doing normal things while living a normal life, normally.
And, oh wow, do I need that reminder today. When I look at the turmoil in the world around me, there are days when I feel like God is silent, and I wish God would speak louder. I wish God would act with more boldness. I wish God would do something. Yet when I read Ruth, what happens with those desires for what I want God to do? They become invitations for all of us.
Ruth lived a faithful life, even in hard situations, and even when God seemed to be silent. Ruth, a Moabite, took up the faith of her husband’s family, and demonstrated a commitment to walk in the direction God was walking in, no matter what, in her moving speech to her mother-in-law Naomi. May we learn from Ruth today:
“For wherever you go, I will go. And wherever you stay, I will stay. You people is my people, and your god is my god. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.”
FOR FURTHER READING:
The following sources, while not explicitly quoted anywhere above, have been particularly influential on my reading of the story of Ruth:
-How to Read the Bible Book by Book by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart
-How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart.
-The Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter.
-Ruth: A Translation and Commentary by Robert Alter.
-The Hermenutics of Doctrine by Anthony Thiselton
-Poetics and interpretation of Biblical Narrative by Adele Berlin
-“Reading Scripture as a Coherant Story” by Richard Bauckham in The Art of Reading Scripture edited by Ellen F. Davis and Richard B. Hays.
Any Regent Alumni would read this list and say, “Hey, I’ve got those books on my shelf, too!” Obviously I continue to be indebted to my professors at Regent College, and my gratitude carries on.