Service for Sunday 7th June 2020

SERVICE FOR SUNDAY 7TH JUNE 2020

  
INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our worship for the first Sunday in June.  June is Bible month in The Methodist Church and so we will be looking at the Old Testament book of Ruth for the next four weeks.


PRAYER

Lord our God,
eternal and wonderful,
wholly to be trusted:
you give life to all;
you help those who come to you
and give hope to those who call on you.
Set our hearts and minds at peace,
that we may bring our prayers to you
with confidence and joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.



HYMN: STF 693 “Beauty for Brokenness”

https://youtu.be/MO1G-o7Yj-c



OPENING PRAYERS 

Blessèd are you, Lord our God:
in your love you create all things out of nothing
through your eternal Word.
We glorify and adore you.

Blessèd are you, Lord our God:
in your love you redeemed the world
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We glorify and adore you.

Blessèd are you, Lord our God:
in your love you empower your people
through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We glorify and adore you.  Amen.

Holy God,
we confess that we have rebelled against you
and broken your law of love;
we have not loved our neighbours
nor heard the cry of the needy.
Forgive us, we pray,
and free us for joyful obedience;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

In Christ we are set free.
Through Christ we are forgiven.
Amen.  Thanks be to God.


 
READING

Ruth 1: 1-22
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.  The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me.  May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.’

Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her, ‘We will go back with you to your people.’

But Naomi said, ‘Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?  Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me – even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons – would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!’

At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

‘Look,’ said Naomi, ‘your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.’

But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’  When Naomi realised that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, ‘Can this be Naomi?’

‘Don’t call me Naomi,’ she told them. ‘Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.  I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.’

So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.



HYMN: STF 272 “The Servant King”

https://youtu.be/8rh4xEvMVQQ



SERMON

There are some really good stories in the Bible and the story of Ruth is one of them.  When I say story, I’m not for a moment suggesting it isn’t true, but the Book of Ruth is a complete story with a solid beginning, a meaty middle full of drama and romance and a great ending. It is, of course, one of the few books in the Bible to focus on the story of a woman.

Historically the story of Ruth takes pace during the time of the Judges, before Israel had a king.  It takes place during a time of famine, a time of desperation, a time when people were unsure if their loved ones would still be alive in a few weeks or months, and time when it was impossible to plan for the future.

Although set in the time of the Judges, the story of Ruth was probably written down at the end of the Babylonian exile, around 539BC, when the Israelites were returning to their land and to Jerusalem – another time of uncertainty about what the future might hold.

The first few verses set the scene.  A Jewish family leave Bethlehem and go and settle in Moab and the two sons marry Moabite women.  All three women then loose their husbands and so the eldest, Naomi, decides to return to Bethlehem.  Her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah decide to go with her.

It is significant that Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem because “she heard in Moab that the LORD had shown his care for his people by giving them food.”

Some commentaries on Ruth suggest that when Naomi and Elimelech left Bethlehem for Moab they abandoned their faith in God.  Perhaps part of Naomi’s motivation was a desire to return to worship the God of Israel at a time when it was believed there were many gods and goddesses and that they could only be worshipped in their own territory.  The God of Israel was feeding his people when other gods weren’t feeding theirs may well have been a thought that went through Naomi’s mind.  She, of course, didn’t have the understanding that we have of God, that there is just one God who created all and who rules over all.

And so, Naomi set off for Bethlehem and her two daughters-in-law went with her.  Naomi urged them to go back and return to their own mothers so that they could find new husbands and have children.  Sadly, in that culture, at that time, it was the belief that marriage and sons were the only markers of a woman’s value.  Today we know better, that all human beings are of equal worth and value no matter what their gender or sexuality, no matter their race or faith.

One of the two younger women, Orpah, eventually agreed to go back to her mother’s house.  People often criticise Orpah, assuming that Ruth made the more moral choice, but did she?  We assume that only Ruth made the right choice because the Bible follows her story rather than Orpah’s; but it does this because she is an important woman in the history of the Jewish people and Christianity; not necessarily because her choice was any better.  Orpah is loyal, loving and obedient just as Ruth is but whilst Ruth is loyal, loving and obedient to Naomi, Orpah demonstrates the same qualities towards her own mother.

Perhaps Orpah knew her own mother needed her and went back to care for her, just as Ruth decided to stay with Naomi, who she knew needed her and to care for her.

Even though Ruth stayed, Naomi continued trying to persuade Ruth to return to her own mother, but Ruth was adamant.  She clung to Naomi and said, “Do not urge me to go back and desert you.  Where you go, I shall go, and where you stay, I shall stay.  Your people will be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I shall die, and there be buried.  I solemnly declare before the LORD that nothing but death shall part me from you.”

There could be several motivations behind Ruth’s words.  They may have simply been a vow of loyalty between mother and daughter-in-law.  They may have come from a deep affection and love that Ruth had for Naomi.  Or, it may be that Ruth was making a contract with Naomi in exchange for her protection in a foreign land.  My gut feeling is its more likely to be one of the first two alternatives.

Whatever the motivation, the promise Ruth made to Naomi was basically to be a daughter to her for the rest of her life, to take care of her, to look after her, to be faithful to her.

From a Christian perspective the kind of dedication Ruth showed to Naomi should remind us of the kind of dedication we should show to Jesus.  It is the same as the dedication that we make every year as Methodists when we make our annual covenant promise.  When we become disciples of Jesus, whether that is through a conversion experience or through months and years of gradually coming to Christ.  As Christian disciples we should be willing to go where Jesus wants us to, to stay where Jesus wants us to stay; and to be faithful to Jesus and God in all we think, say and do.  To serve God faithfully for the whole of our earthly life.

Some people think that when they make that commitment to Jesus then all their problems should go away.  Some extreme American evangelical preachers even teach that.  Sadly, it doesn’t work that way as, sadly, a few of them claimed to be immune from Coronavirus because of their faith and yet still died as a result of contracting the virus.

Bad things happen to good people.  Bad things happen to followers of Jesus and sometimes when they do we can get angry with God and then we feel guilty about our anger.

In our passage we see that Naomi is angry with God.  When Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem and some of the women say, “Can this be Naomi?”

“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.  I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

No wonder Naomi is feeling bitter.  She has lost not only her husband but both her children. I can’t even begin to imagine the grief she must have been feeling, the pain that still existed in the depths of her heart of those she loved taken from her.  It is clear that she blames God for those deaths, because at that time the Israelites believed that everything that happened, whether good or bad, was caused by God.

Naomi never gives up her faith in God though, she is just bitter at the hand she thinks God has dealt her.

That same attitude and belief is often seen in the Psalms when we sometimes see the Psalmist almost shouting angrily at God, pouring out their pain and grief that in their understanding God has caused the misfortune they are currently suffering from.  This same understanding of God is found in Job.

Neither the Psalmist nor Job ever give up their faith in God; they are just angry at what they think God has done.

These days we know better.  We know that God doesn’t cause bad things to happen to anybody because we know through Jesus that God is love and love never deliberately inflicts pain and misfortune.

Sometimes, though, we are angry with God because we think that God has let something bad happen or has not stopped it happening.  Many people have asked why God has allowed Covid-19 and why he has allowed husbands, wives and children to die from it.  I’m sure we have all seen the tears and heard the cries of anguish on TV or radio.  Some have no doubt be angry with God and shouted their frustration and anger just as the Psalmist did.  Some have felt very bitter, just as Naomi did.

Some Christians feel it is wrong to express our anger and frustration to God, but God loves us and wouldn’t want to deny us the expression of our pain. In don’t believe we should feel guilty when we are angry with God. In Jesus God became one of us and he knows what it feels like to lose people we care about.  Jesus lost his earthly father Joseph when he was a young man and we are told that when his friend Lazarus died Jesus wept.

Jesus wept.  The shortest verse in the Bible and one of the most powerful.  God understands our human reactions to suffering and death because God knows what it is like to experience both.  God is there for us and when we are ready God will bring us the healing we need to help us move on.

We will see, over the next three weeks as our study of Ruth continues, that is exactly what God does for Naomi.

We have seen today in our passage the faithfulness and commitment that Ruth had to Naomi, a faithfulness and commitment that is very similar to that we should give to Jesus as his disciples if we are truly to call ourselves his followers.  Even when we are frustrated and angry with God we should remain faithful to God and keep our faith in God, because we can be sure God will help us if we are open to him and trust in him, because he loves us more than we can ever know or even try to imagine.



 PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

Gracious God,
whose Spirit helps us in our weakness
and guides us in our prayers,
we pray for the Church and for the world
in the name of Jesus Christ.

Renew the life and faith of the Church;
strengthen our witness;
and make us one in Christ.
Grant that we and all who confess that Christ is Lord
may be faithful in your service
and filled with the Spirit,
that the world may be turned to you.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Guide the nations
in the ways of justice, liberty and peace;
and help them to seek
the unity and welfare of all people.
Give to all in authority
wisdom to know and strength to do what is right.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Comfort those in sorrow;
heal the sick in body or in mind,
those at home, in nursing homes or in hospital
and deliver the oppressed.
Grant us compassion for all who suffer,
and help us so to carry one another’s burdens
that we may fulfil the law of Christ.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Receive our thanks and praise
for all who have served you faithfully here on earth,
and especially those who have revealed to us
your grace in Christ.
may we and all your people
share the life and joy of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

 

HYMN: StF 477 “Teach Me to Dance to the Beat of Your Heart” 

https://youtu.be/T1LaArPzHyk



BLESSING

The peace of the earth be with you,
the peace of the heavens too;
the peace of the rivers be with you,
the peace of the oceans too.
Deep peace falling over you.
God's peace, God's peace growing in you.
Amen