Ruth 11 Indispensable Relationships: How God bless us through People
The story of Ruth is a book in the Bible. That means it is a story not only about Ruth but beneath it all essentially a story about God and how He works in people’s lives. Even if God is only mentioned a few times in the book of Ruth and much like the book of Esther where God is not mentioned at all but assumed orchestrating everything. If you think about it, you realize that almost every book of the Bible, every story recorded tells us that one of the main ways God works with us is through relationships. It is often said that the devil is hidden in the details but actually, the Bible says when it comes to relationships, God is in the details of the various relationships we have with people.
The book of Ruth illustrates this well. This morning I am going to point out to you from Ruth and other parts of the Bible, eleven kind of relationships God bless us with on our life journey. My hope is that this exercise will help us to pay attention to our relationships and cherish them. That it will help us see the people in our lives us agents and gifts from God and that we will once more prioritize our relationships even when we return to a so called new normal.
Let us take stock…
God gives us Editors
Editors are people that knows us well. They know what our style and character are like and they therefore know what befits us and what does not. When Naomi was at her worst, Ruth reminded her that to reject loyalty and help, is contrary to the God she served. Later Naomi guided Ruth in an editorial way. When King David sinned, Nathan went and told him a story and very effectively showed him that he turned into someone he wasn’t called to be.
Good editors do not rewrite our stories. They help us to find our authentic selves. One thing an editor needs is total transparency. In writing you cannot hide your work from an editor. He needs to see it all. It is difficult to find someone you trust enough to do that which I guess that’s why spouses are usually the ones that play this editorial role in our lives the best.
God gives us Jonathans
One of the deepest friendships we read about in the Bible, is the friendship between David and Jonathan but it is not the only one. Even in the final chapter of Ruth we read of “women of the neighbourhood” coming to share in the joy of a new birth eluding to the fact that Naomi had friends.
With concepts such as “Facebook friends” and celebrity culture where fans consider themselves friends of celebrities that doesn’t even know of their existence, there are quite a few distorted views on what friendship is, running around. Some people shun a friendship as soon as a friend disagree or critique them. That is sad. A friend isn’t someone that always agree with you. A friend is somebody that doesn’t leave your side, even when they disagree with you. Someone who loves you unconditionally. Friendship should always be something you embrace as much as it is something you should offer. May the fact that a lot of us got to see our friends a lot less during this time, make us appreciate and cherish the friends God gave us, all the more. Imagine for a moment how David’s life would have been like without Jonathans friendship. Imagine what yours would have looked like without friends. Be a friend and cherish your friends.
God gives us Butt Kickers
When Moses took everything upon himself and no one dared questioning this competent and God appointed leader of theirs. Jethro shows up and kicks his butt. He askes him why he does things the way he does and he points out that it is going to kill him. In a more subtle way, there is some butt kicking going on in the book of Ruth. Boas is shy and slow, and Ruth shows up in a place where she is not allowed (in chapter 3) to nudge him on. Naomi are stuck in dark thoughts and Ruth stubbornly refuses to leave her, thereby saying to her no, your chosen path of loneliness is wrong.
In our society the media often plays the important role of butt kickers who holds the government accountable. And yet, one would also be cautious here. Godly butt kicking is aimed at actions, not personally. It should be about what is best for the person whose butt is being kicked. It should take care to be truthful and yes also loving and gentle even when it needs to be very straightforward and to the point. Don’t be kicking butts just because you don’t like something and woke up with a foul mood.
God gives us Timothies (successors)
The young Timothy was Paul’s successor. He might not be that well known but him taking further what Paul started, was crucial to God’s plan. Hidden in Boas’s life story is the need for someone to succeed him, a heir. This is why this story has a happy ending. Obed is born and there is now the possibility of someone succeeding and building on the good legacy of Boas. We also see this theme in Kings that are succeeded by their sons, sometimes for the better and often for the worst.
Succession is something you should not leave for when you are on your deathbed. In everything you do, you should from the very start to have an eye out for someone that could possibly succeed you. Teach that person what you know. Invest in that person relationally and instill a love for what you do so that that person will one day do what you do out of passion and not mere obligation.
God gives us Barnabassas
In the book of Acts we read about a Baranabas whose name meant “someone that encourage others”. Some people just have a way to lift your spirits and make you see the bright side of things. It is that person you want to call first when you get bad news. Ruth was a Barnabas to Naomi. She refused to let go of hope. During this Covid time, I thank God for elders that called people, checked in on them and where needed encouraged them. Barnabasses are people that just know how to use words in such a way that they heal.
God gives us Teachers
I know of at least a few parents how appreciate teachers more than ever. The internet that dump huge amounts of knowledge on us whenever we ask, gives many people the illusion that they are all knowing and doesn’t need teachers. There is nothing as ugly as an unteachable spirit. We all have things we know. We all have things we know we don’t know. But few of us realize that there are things we don’t know we don’t know. Literally every person has something to teach us. Ruth was taught by the more experienced Boas how the marital laws and rites worked.
A teacher is not someone who cannot do. A true teacher is someone who does not want to do and know alone. We should honor and respect teachers. We should invite them in our life as gifts from God and give them the attention and time they need to teach us well. Like the ancient proverb goes: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”.
God gives us Back Coverers
The story of Ruth is filled with back covering. Ruth first covers the emotionally weak Naomi’s back. Later on, Naomi returns the favour and gives Ruth valuable guidance. Boas also looks out for Ruth and ensure her safety as she later protects his good name and reputation. I think the place where this role is most prevalent is in parenting. Good parents should cover their children’s back. They should identify threats and warn and prepare. But remember, covering someone’s back should never mean you jump in front of someone and take up their responsibility for them. This is a trap many pastors fall into and the result is immature congregations. It is a trap many parents fall for and they end up having adult kids that stays kids, unable to fend for themselves. Cover the back, not the front.
God gives us Zacchaeus’s (fringe figures)
A mentor of mine always says that if you want to find Jesus, you should befriend the fringes. It makes for a dull life to just be friends with people with the same tastes, political views and socio-economic class as you. Ruth came from a whole different culture but Boaz’s life was enriched endlessly because he embrace her in spite of being much different than what he was used to. Jesus embraced lepers, the sick and the poor. Zacchaeus in the bible is an interesting example. He wasn’t poor but rich, a tax collector. One thing this encounter teaches us, is that people are sidelined for all kinds of reasons, including their own wrongdoings. People used to be pen pals with jail inmates. Do you have a fringe figure in your life? They often open our eyes to privileges and vices we would be blind to otherwise.
God gives us Rhodas and Obeds
When the apostle Peter came out of jail in the book of Acts, he went to a house. Someone by the name of Rhoda opened the door and was so shocked to see him standing there that she left him right outside and told the others. Theory has it that she was a little girl. Obed in the book of Ruth, not being able to do anything impressive other than being born, brings great joy. Children enlighten our existence. You know what they say, no matter how important you are, if a two-year-old hands you a play phone, you answer it.
We need to see the world through children’s eyes. One thing that makes the church a great place is the fact that it is still the place where many different generations gather. Jesus welcomed children even when he was tired, and they didn’t keep to the schedule. I think many grandparents realized just how much children mean to them during this time where they were not allowed to see them. The children’s time in a church service often minister just as much to the adults as they do to the children.
God gives us VIP’s
Yes, I don’t like the term “VIP” because all people should be considered “VIP’s”. But sometimes our relationships with people in power could help us. Naomi’s family connections and Boaz’s power was used in a way that empowered and included Ruth. Good kings were considered friends of the people. So, listen. If you can hold power like Brenda Lock does, go into politics. God gives some people power for a reason. Some have a gift to use power and authority in a way that reflects how Jesus uses his power and authority-as a life-giving empowering currency.
God gives us a place to love
In the book of Ruth, Ruth makes a commitment not only to a person Naomi, not only to a God, Jahwe but to a location. A place called Moab. The world has become a global village. It brought some good things, but it also ripped apart precious neighbourly relationships and local focus. You could be very successful corporately speaking, and still have this nagging feeling that your company keeps you from and robs you of your neighbourhood. Some say that one of the corrections Covid is going to bring about is a reappreciation for our local communities. A restoration of the belief that God has put us where we are for a reason. That we owe an obligation to what is local. I hope they are right.
In the Bible we read how Jerusalem is personified and idealized. In Psalms people in exile express their longing for a return to their place (“By the rivers of Babylon”). God understands the pain of being exiled. Some people are still violently removed or forced to flee by wars but there are other ways we have lost our connection to place, like when we spend long hours in corporate offices away from family and friends. Just this week someone told me how he don’t want to go back and plan to keep on working from home as much as he can. Do we love Whalley? Do we still believe that God put us in this specific place for a reason? Would we even care if we wake up tomorrow morning and our church building was in a different neighbourhood? Maybe church should return to a strong Ruth like commitment to our local community.
Close
How extremely special it must have been to Ruth to look back on her journey into the unknown and see how God gifted her with people who could play the role of editors, VIP’s, encouragers, etc. How wonderful it must have been to see how God used her for similar roles in other’s lives. And how beautiful to think, we are blessed with the same gifts and the same opportunity.
Take stock. Appreciate people who was used by God in your life. Write to them and tell them. And avail yourself to be used selflessly by God in the lives of people that cross your path.
God is a relational being and so are you who are created in his image. We really cannot make it without each other.
Amen
Gabriel J Snyman
May 17th 2020