Returning to Bethlehem

[Read Ruth 1:6-22]

Being in relationship requires patience, especially being in a committed relationship—what we’d call a COVENANTAL relationship. A covenantal relationship is a relationship with promises. People have made promises to live together for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and health. We make these promises when we get married, but we also make these promises when we join a church. These promises are packed into the relationship between parent and child. 

Because we’ve promised to stick together through thick and thin, through good and bad, through frustration and difficulty, we are required to exercise large amounts of patience, right? It’s the only way these relationships will hold together. Patience isn’t required when you can simply walk away from a situation. Yet, when you’re stuck in a relationship—you don’t have the opportunity to walk away—then you’re forced to show patience when the going gets tough. 

One of the clearest covenantal relationships is the relationship between God and his people. God has promised that he will be our God and we will be his people. He’s made a commitment to never leave us nor forsake us. When we become part of God’s people—God’s family—we also make a commitment to never leave nor forsake God. That’s what we talked about at the beginning of the service from the Heidelberg Catechism. The question was, “What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion?” Another way to say that could be, “What does it look like when we commit to being part of God’s people and to God being our God?” The answer is, “To be genuinely sorry for sin and more and more to hate and run away from it…Wholehearted joy in God through Christ and a love and delight to live according to the will of God by doing every kind of good work.” You could say this is a commitment that we will never leave nor forsake God. We will keep turning away from sin and loving to follow Him and obey Him. 

Yet, we don’t do it perfectly, do we? We continually find ourselves doing the opposite—holding onto sin and turning away from following Christ. Because we’re in this covenantal relationship with God—because He’s also made promises to us—he repeatedly shows us patience. We see this throughout the book of Judges. Like I mentioned last week, the book of Judges is a depressing story about God’s people repeatedly turning away from him to do what’s right in their own eyes. But God doesn’t walk away from the relationship with them. Yes, he disciplines them—like a good Father—but he doesn’t throw up his hands and say “I’m done with you.” He shows patience because He’s promised to never leave them nor forsake them—even when they repeatedly leave Him and forsake Him. So, we see God swooping in again and again to save his people, knowing full well they will praise Him one day and forget him the next. 

The question comes up over and over again throughout scripture, “Why is God patient when it comes to sin?” Actually, the repeated question is, “Why is God patient with OTHER PEOPLE’S sin?” Most people do not wonder why God is patient with THEIR sin. They’re fine with his patience there. They want to know why God hasn’t judged the OTHER PEOPLE’S sins yet. Well, the Bible answers the question for both. In Romans we read, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4, ESV). God’s patience is meant to lead you to repentance. 

This is important because many people ASSUME that God’s patience means his acceptance. Like I mentioned last week, some people will turn away from God to do what’s right in their own eyes and things will go well for them for a while. Some people ASSUME this means they’re doing the right thing—that God’s alright with it. While they don’t explicitly say this, deep down inside they’re thinking, “If God hasn’t judged me yet, He must be fine with it.” Yet, we’re reminded that God’s patience—his withholding of judgement/discipline—is NOT MEANT for you to keep doing your own thing, to keep heading down the road of sin. It’s meant to remind you of God’s faithfulness, and cause you to turn back to Him. 

We see that in this portion of Ruth. Last week, things looked pretty bleak. We were reminded this story is taking place during the depressing time of the Judges. We watched a family turn their backs on God and do what’s right in their own eyes. We watched as things didn’t work out well. It ended with the bleak picture of Naomi without a husband or sons. The entire introduction to this story screams faithlessness. 

Yet, when things looked darkest, a little light begins to shine on the horizon. We read “Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food.” (Ruth 1:6, ESV). The Lord had visited his people and given them food. Did they deserve it? No. Remember, this famine was a disciplinary act by God, designed to turn them back to himself. Did they do it? No. Yet, God shows patience, and visits His people, showing up with food for them. It’s a reminder that our God is faithful even when we’re not. 

But don’t forget why God shows patience. His patience is meant to lead people to repentance. So, get the picture. The famine was meant to lead people to repentance. His patience is also meant to lead people to repentance. It’s like a one-two punch—a good mixture of discipline and kindness, a firm love for His people. And we see this one-two punch doing it’s work. 

It’s easy to miss some of this when we read it in an English translation, but the word “return” in our English translation could also be translated “repent.” So, when we read that Naomi returned from Moab, we could also read that she “Repented” from Moab. She turned away from her faithless and her faithless acts. But when you turn AWAY from something, you need to turn TOWARD something else. So we read, “So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.” (Ruth 1:7, ESV). The imagery is very clear. She’s turning away from Moab TOWARD Judah. It’s a clear picture of her turning away from her faithlessness, and turning back to her God. She’s recommitting herself to God. She’s saying, “You will be my God and I will be part of your people.” Like I mentioned last week, the imagery is VERY similar to the parable of the prodigal son. 

Yet, Naomi’s repentance is not flashy, so people miss it. They’re waiting for the repentance of the Prodigal Son and the big party and the celebration, but they end up reading, “So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”” (Ruth 1:19–21, ESV). People read this and wonder about Naomi’s repentance. Where’s the joy? Where’s the celebration? How can she change her name from Pleasant to Bitter after she’s repented? Here’s the quick and easy answer: Her husband and children just died. That’s why there’s no joy, no celebration, and the name change. She’s still grieving the loss of her husband and children—and rightly so. 

But notice that she doesn’t change her name because SHE’S bitter, but because of her situation. She says, “Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” (Ruth 1:20, ESV). She wants her name changed to Bitter to describe her situation—not herself. She says the Lord has dealt bitterly with her—her situation is bitter, not pleasant—so she changes her name to reflect her situation not her attitude. I would call this Naomi’s bitter-sweet faith. 

Here’s how I can say that Naomi is showing faith in the midst of her grief. First, she repented and returned to her people and her God. That, in and of itself, is a sign of faith and trust in her God. Second, when she’s describing her bitter situation, she is repeatedly calling God by his personal, covenantal name—Yahweh. In your Bible, you will recognize this in the word LORD in call caps. The fact that she’s using God’s personal, covenantal name is a sign that she’s once again trusting him as her God and committing herself as his people. Third, as she talks with her daughters-in-law, she repeatedly prays God’s blessing over them. She says, “May the LORD deal kindly with you…The LORD grant that you may find rest…” (Ruth 1:8–9, ESV). She knows and trusts that the LORD can—and will—bring blessings.

This is the faith of Job. After Job lost everything—like Naomi—he fell on his face and said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21, ESV). Then it says, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” (Job 1:22, ESV). This is why Naomi can say, “…the Almighty has brought calamity upon me…” (Ruth 1:21, ESV) on the one hand and also “May the LORD deal kindly with you…” (Ruth 1:8, ESV). The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. This is the bitter-sweet faith of someone who has lost everything, and is turning back to God, trusting that He is the only one who can restore them. 

Yet, this is a story of two different repentances. We see Naomi’s repentance and bitter-sweet faith, but we also see another repentance. As Naomi travels with her daughters-in-law, she tells them to return to their homes. She no longer has anything left to offer them. She lays out an irrefutable argument as to why they should no longer follow her—which is extremely ironic if you know the rest of the story. She tells the Orpah and Ruth that she has nothing to offer them because she’s empty. She has no sons to take care of them. And, even if she DID get pregnant immediately upon returning to Judah, and if that pregnancy DID result in a boy, were they REALLY going to wait around until he was old enough to marry? And if they did wait around that long, wouldn’t they be too old to have children of their own by that time? She is basically saying, “It doesn’t make sense for you to stick around with me. It makes much more sense for you to turn around and head back to your families.” Orpah does the reasonable thing and returns. 

Ruth does something else. She repents. And this is the repentance everyone’s been looking for. Ruth looks Naomi in the eye and says, “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, ESV). And I love the next line, “And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.” (Ruth 1:18, ESV). Basically, Naomi saw that Ruth was stubborn and wasn’t going to budge, so she decided not to argue with her anymore. 

There’s been a lot of talk about what Ruth says here, and I don’t have time to dive into it all. I want to focus on one line in particular. Remember what I’ve said throughout this sermon—the core of God’s covenant with his people is the promise, “I will be your God and you will be my people.” It’s repeated innumerable times throughout the Bible. And we see it again in Ruth’s statement. She says, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16). This is Ruth’s conversion. She’s decided to leave her people and her gods and is covenantally committing herself to God and his people. She’s decided to follow Jesus—no turning back, no turning back—and no one—not even Naomi—is going to change her mind. 

And here’s what’s amazing about Ruth’s conversion. You need to take a moment to remove yourself from what you know right now, and put yourself in her shoes. Then ask yourself the question, “What would make Ruth commit to following Him?” The only thing Ruth knows about God is through Naomi and Naomi keeps talking about how her God has dealt bitterly with her. That doesn’t sound attractive. Many would worry about turning people away from God by those statements. 

So, what makes Ruth commit herself to God so vehemently? The answer: We don’t know. We’re never told. Some people assume Naomi’s family must have told her about their God. That doesn’t quite fit with the storyline so far. Other’s want to attribute it to God’s patience or God providing food. That’s possible. Yet, we’re never told……and I think that’s the point. 

Here’s what we’re told throughout the chapter. God is the one who brings blessing and cursing. God is the one who is in control. Why does he do the things He does? We don’t always know. Yet, we know that He IS the one in control? So, why does Ruth commit herself to God? Because God is at work, bringing about a gloriously majestic plan, and he called Ruth to himself. And his call was so powerful in her life, that she wasn’t going anywhere. His call was so powerful on her life that she is willing to leave everything behind. She leaves her family behind. She leaves her friends behind. She leaves her country behind—her homeland. She leaves her gods behind. She leaves EVERYTHING and follows her God. Why? Because he called her. 

This is the powerful, bold, beautiful, glorious story of repentance that everyone loves—that everyone is looking for. So, we tell stories like this over and over and over again. I don’t want to downplay this sort of repentance. It IS powerful and beautiful and glorious. BUT, I also don’t want us to miss Naomi’s repentance. Her repentance doesn’t seem so powerful, doesn’t seem so glorious, doesn’t seem so glorious……but it is in it’s own way. There is beauty and power and glory in seeing someone who has lost everything, grab hold of her God and trust Him—even in the midst of her grief and sorrow. She doesn’t reject God, or turn away from Him. Rather, she says, “This situation is not what I would like. In fact, it kinda stinks. It is bitter. Yet, this is my God and I’m his child. I’ve been walking away from my God for a long time. Now, I’m coming back. I’m sad. I’m defeated. I’m worn out. Where am I going to turn? Obviously, I’m going to turn back to my faithful, patient God.”

And I’m here to tell you, THAT repentance is also beautiful. When Ruth repented and committed herself to God for the first time, the angels in heaven rejoiced and there was a party. The same thing happened when Naomi turned back to her God. This wasn’t her conversion. She recognized that she hadn’t been trusting God as her God and that she hadn’t been part of His people. So, she came back to both of them……and the angels ALSO rejoiced in heaven. 

It doesn’t matter if you are Ruth or Naomi right now. Repentance isn’t always a showy thing and it doesn’t always feel like a celebration. The heart of repentance is turning away from our sin, turning away from trusting in anything else, and grabbing hold of our God in faith. Sometimes we grab hold of him with a joyous stubborn determination, excited about the future. Other times we grab hold of him because everything else has been taken away, we’ve got nowhere else to turn, we finally realize there’s nothing else we can trust. It’s still repentance and it’s still beautiful.

I don’t know where you’re at right now. You may be a Ruth—someone who’s never embraced Christianity and looking in from the outside. You may be Naomi—someone who has walked away and wandered in the desert for a while. You may be wondering, “How can I KNOW that I can actually trust this God? Everything else has let me down. How can I know that He WONT let me down? How can I know I can trust Him and give Him everything?” Here’s the answer: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32, ESV). God has been faithful and will continue to be faithful. God has continued to show patience to his fallen people. God has continued to provide for the needs of His people. He was even willing to give up His own son, Jesus Christ, so that we can be forgiven from our sins and have life. If he’s willing to do that for us, we don’t have to worry if he’ll meet our other needs. So, turn away from anything else that will let you down, and grab hold of our God in faith. He will never leave you nor forsake you.