Ruth 1:1-17 - October 15, 2023

For the past several weeks, we have been going through the story of the Bible. We have heard of God’s amazing work in the world, and it’s hard not to be impressed by what we read and hear. God Almighty kneels down in the mud and crafts creation, breathing life - spirit - into it. God promises life - a child - out of what was barren. God names and claims the rascal no one else really liked, changing him physically, emotionally, and spiritually. God miraculously speaks from a bush engulfed in flame, but the bush doesn’t burn up. 

Wow, right? 

The problem with these “wow” moments, though, is that it’s easy to feel left out. It’s easy to just watch from the sidelines as all these great people - Abraham, Jacob, Moses - get to have unreal, intimate interactions with God. 

Our lives, by comparison, often appear unremarkable and ordinary. We may question how we can measure up to the illustrious figures of the Bible. It can be intimidating on the one hand and lonely on the other. Of course we feel inadequate when compared to these giants of the faith! Surely, we think, there's no way someone as average as me, or you, or any of us, could snag a starring role in God's story. We might wonder if we even have a part to play, let alone one of any significance.

But then we turn the page and come upon this short story of two widows, Naomi and Ruth. By faith and circumstance, Ruth found herself gathered into that very story of God - and it was a role that proved critical to how everything turned out. 

So, let’s fill in some of the gaps here. I bet most of us aren’t all that familiar with Ruth. 

Today, we hear the first act of the four-act drama that is Ruth’s story. The story is one of love, loyalty, and redemption. 

The book begins with a family from Bethlehem - Elimelech, his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. They flee a famine in their homeland and settle in Moab. Then, tragedy strikes. Elimelech dies, followed thereafter by his sons, leaving Naomi a widow in a foreign land. Distraught and bereaved, she decides she is going to return home to Bethlehem, urging her Moabite daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, to stay in their own land and find new husbands. 

Orpah, doing the logical, safe, practical, and obedient thing, stays. But Ruth? Ruth, on the other hand, is determined to stay with Naomi, declaring her loyalty and love for her mother-in-law. It is here at the end of our reading that Ruth proclaims her famous line, “Where you go, I will go; where you stay, I will stay; your people shall be my people, and your God my God."

So, Naomi and Ruth head back to Bethlehem. But when they arrive, they are very poor since they are both widows. It is then that Ruth meets Boaz while she was, uh, "borrowing" some grain from his field. One thing leads to another, and Ruth and Boaz get married, and they have a son named Obed.

Happy ending, right? You may think, “Well, what’s the big deal?”Ruth’s role was a simple one. All she did was stay, remain faithful, and be present. 

And in that, Ruth models God’s faithfulness. God stays, God remains faithful, God is present. In this story, God does not speak from burning bushes, nor does God divide a sea, or do any other sort of mind-blowing, physics-altering miracle. Instead, God acts through circumstance and through the faithfulness of ordinary human beings. God’s faithful love is embodied in human action.

And I guess now is as good of a time as any to let you know what the big deal actually is. Yes, Ruth was faithful and loyal, and so is God. And God’s faithfulness is seen in how God works through Ruth in the simple, non-miraculous moments of her life. 

God works big in the little things. To prove that point, the last verse of this brief book reads, “Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.”  And I want to add, “Yes, THAT David.” Ruth is the great-grandmother of the most famous King in Israel’s history, and she is one of only four women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew’s account).

Ruth's simple, faithful actions had profound consequences for the entire world.

It is a simple concept. There's nothing grand about it. But what it does is, it shows us that even we contribute to God’s story, and we don’t necessarily even have to change the world to do it. Our faithful actions - no matter how big or how small they may be - God can use them for the sake of the world. 

Which gives a new perspective on those “little” things we do every day. Maybe we consider a little bit more our own roles in God’s story and how the things we think are inconsequential are actually ways God works to bring life, salvation, and love. 

Right now, we are in the midst of our stewardship campaign, and while the focus is on financial gifts, stewardship - especially in light of Ruth - is about everything we do. And we see that in the stories that we have been sharing. Who we are as individuals who make up this community of faith, in big ways and little ways, change the world. God uses our little actions to do great things.

In the people we welcome, in those we support, in the people we reach out to, in those we share time with… when people have a tough time and we surround them with love. When people have gifts to share, and we recognize and thank them for sharing those gifts. When we make room for people who feel like they don’t have another place to fit in… it all matters.

No one probably thinks they are doing anything remarkable, but God works in the little things we do. It’s just a simple thing, but God is present, God works, and God brings welcome, grace, love, and life. 

So, by being faithful now, we recognize that God has always been faithful to us.
By welcoming and inviting now, we trust God is present even in those simple ways.
By sharing who we are now, we trust God to use us and what we share in profound ways.
By being disciples now, we trust in what God will do with our ordinary.

Here is where the story of Ruth leaves us:
It is the promise of God’s faithful love.
It is a love that overflows,
not just into the ordinary, everyday lives of two widows and a farmer,
but also into the lives of all of Israel through David,
and into the life of David’s descendant, Jesus,
and ultimately, God’s love overflows even into our lives now. 

God stays, God remains faithful, God is present. God’s love overflows into our lives and continues to shape the world even through the small things we do. So, let’s live out that love as partners with God, for the sake of the world.