NAOMI: A GODLY MENTOR

Sermon Notes, May 8, 2016

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

Pastor Garry’s sermon for Mothers’ Day was titled “Naomi: A Godly Mentor.” His scripture reference was the book of Ruth, starting with chapter 1, verses 8 to 18, the story of Naomi’s return to Bethlehem after her husband and sons died.  Her daughters-in-law started the journey with her, but at Naomi’s urging, Orpah went back to her family.  Ruth told Naomi “Where you go I will go.  Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.” 

Naomi and Ruth came from different cultures.  Naomi was from Bethlehem, in Judah; Ruth was from Moab.  They shared deep sorrows—Naomi losing her husband and both her sons, and Ruth losing her husband.  In those days God’s law provided that widows were to be taken care of by their sons.  Naomi’s sons were dead.  There was no extended family to provide for Naomi and Ruth. They faced great hardships. They had great affection for one another, and they were incredibly committed to God.  They depended on each other.  God was at the center of their relationship.  Naomi demonstrated what a relationship with God looked like; through Naomi’s life, Ruth heard, saw and felt the joy and anguish of her relationship with God.  In this relationship we can see the framework of not just what a good mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship looks like, but what a mentor/apprentice relationship looks like.

Naomi: A Godly Mentor.  In the first three chapters of Ruth we see Naomi pour into Ruth, and in many ways we see not only Naomi’s motherly instincts kicking in, but we see the makings of a great mentor.  She warns when the road ahead is about to get rough. (Ruth 1:8-10)  She gives godly advice with the apprentice’s future in mind. When Naomi heard that Ruth had been working in Boaz’s field, she quickly realized he was a distant kinsman and thought of Ruth’s future.  She encouraged Ruth to find out if Boaz would be the Family Redeemer.  She demonstrates how to praise God in all circumstances.  The mentor empowers the apprentice for life without the mentor, and equips the apprentice to mentor others.  Naomi the mentor sees the blessing and leads Ruth the apprentice to it.

Ruth: A Godly Apprentice.  Ruth listens to the mentor, and commits to go with Naomi.  She follows the mentor.  She praises God in all circumstances, and gives back to the mentor.  Ruth took the initiative to take care of Naomi.  She was in a foreign land, but instead of waiting for good fortune to come, she went to work.  She wasn’t afraid to admit her need, or of working hard to get what she needed.  When Ruth went out to the fields, God provided for her.  As Naomi did for her, Ruth pours into others.

In this story, Naomi pointed Ruth to the family redeemer.  A family redeemer is someone who volunteered to take responsibility for the extended family.  God provided that when the husband died, the brother should take responsibility for the widow.  In this case, there were no brothers, and Naomi had no other sons to take care of Ruth.  This means that the nearest relative would be given the opportunity to take responsibility for Ruth.  The family redeemer was Boaz.

If we are to take anything from this story, it’s that we are to point others to the Family Redeemer, Jesus Christ!  We have a family redeemer through Him, who came to earth to save us.  In His death on the cross, HE redeemed us from sin and hopelessness!  In this way, He purchased us as His own.

This is a story about two women who endured great hardships.  Through great hardship God used Naomi to mentor and disciple Ruth into the family of God.  This is a story about two women who were deeply committed to one another.  We are given an example of what a Godly mentor looks like and how a Godly apprentice responds to godly teaching.  We are given an example of how to point someone to the family redeemer through simply loving and guiding them in the right direction.  As Christians, we are the spiritual mothers and fathers to all of those who are around us.  The question is, how are you pointing them in the right direction toward a life in Christ?

We raise our children to walk with Christ.  Some of them have stayed the course, and others have tried to forge their own trail.  But we keep loving them, keep pointing them in the right direction, keep picking them up when they fall down.  The important thing is that we keep Christ at the center of it all.  Keep pointing them to the Family Redeemer.  And look for opportunities to do the same with the new relationships that we build with those around us!