Sermon Notes "5/9/2010 Three Funerals and a Famine"

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Pastor Lonnie’s Mother’s Day sermon was titled “Three Funerals and a Famine,” and the scripture was Ruth 1:1-22. God gave us freedom of choice, and thus we can ignore His will, but He will achieve His purpose anyway. And sometimes our choices have very long-term consequences.

The book of Ruth was written during the period of the Judges. “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes,” much as they do in the world today. Ruth is not only a harvest story, but it is a love story. Israel was reaping the harvest of its disobedience, experiencing the discipline of famine. Ruth was written about the town of Bethlehem (whose name means “house of bread). This story is about a decision—when trouble comes we can endure it, becoming bitter and unhappy; escape it by trying to run away; or enlist it so trouble will work for our good.

Unbelief is trying to run away from our troubles. Elimelech (whose name means “my God is king”) made a wrong decision at the beginning of the famine in Israel when he moved his family to Moab. He didn’t wait (Isa. 40:31); he walked by sight and not by faith. He majored on the physical, and not the spiritual. He honored the enemy and not the Lord. We can’t avoid taking our troubles with us. One bad choice resulted in three deaths: his own, and his two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, leaving his wife Naomi and his two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah as widows.

Deception is trying to hide our mistakes. Naomi saw what God was doing in Bethlehem, and she wanted to go home. She did not want her daughters-in-law to return with her. They were living proof of a bad choice. She was thinking, “If I can just get back to Bethlehem I can get the blessing.” We want the blessing but we’re not blessable. She tried to cover up her sin—she hadn’t faced the hypocrisy of their choice to go to Moab rather than learn the lessons God had for them in Bethlehem. Three times Naomi tells her daughters-in-law to go back to their families. Orpah proved her heart was still at home. She went back; Orpah had given up. However, despite the trials and disappointments, Ruth confessed her faith. She confessed her love for her mother-in-law and her belief in God. God delights in showing mercy: Ruth is mentioned, along with three other women (Tamar, Rahab and Bathsheba) in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1). Naomi was covering up; Orpah had given up; but Ruth was standing up for her faith.

Bitterness is blaming God for our trials. When Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, the people asked, “Is this Naomi?” Her name means pleasant. But instead of making her better, her choices and life had made her bitter. She asked them to change her name to Mara, which means bitter. We can’t control our circumstances, but we can control our responses to them. Naomi was imprisoned by her selfishness and accused God of dealing bitterly with her, and testifying against her. She knew God’s name, but did not trust the power behind the name. But Naomi was not really poor and empty; she had life, she had opportunity, she had her daughter-in-law, and she had Jehovah—God Almighty—El Shaddai. She had everything she needed for a new beginning. And so do we: a victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings.