Scripture: I Samuel 1:9-17; 20; Luke 1:47-55

She was tired – very, very tired.  While there had been a time when it seemed as though her future was filled with nothing but promises and possibilities, it all began to change with the economy.

Their two boys were still young when it happened.  As a matter of fact, it was probably because of them they had decided on the move.  The drought had lasted longer than anyone had expected.  The food supply dwindled.  It became harder and harder to import even the most basic necessities.  Then the job market became to collapse.  That was when they decided there was no other real choice than to pack up and move.  Her husband had promised it would only be temporary.  They would move back home as soon as the economy improved.

But that day never came.  One year melted into another.  The two boys became men – men who fell in love and got married.  Then one day her husband died and with him all their dreams of returning home.  While it was hard to continue on without him, their sons were kind men who looked after her and helped take care of her needs.  Then, in a strange twist of fate, both sons became ill and died. 

Suddenly, she found herself alone – alone in a country that despised her own nation and her own people.  The only support she had came from her two daughter-in-laws.  Oddly enough, they were Moabites.

It was then Naomi decided only hope of survival was return to Bethlehem and pray that someone there would take her in.  And if they didn’t, at least she would die at home.  Well, even that was uncertain because there was still the long hard journey home.  There were steep mountain ranges and a vast desert between her and her destination. 

Yes, Naomi knew that the dangers that awaited her.  That may have been why, when her two daughter-in-laws decided to follow, she turned to them saying:  Please, go home.  Go back to where you belong and may God’s blessings go with you.  Much to her surprise, however, Orpah and Ruth respond:  Please don’t make us leave.  We want to go back with you and live with your people.

Now Naomi woman was touched by their kindness and devotion.  But she knew what it was like to live as a stranger in a strange land.  Besides, they were young and still had a chance at a good future.  So, she told them a second time to go back home where they belonged.  This time, the three of them began to cry.  They were so different and, yet, their lives had become so woven together – their love for each other was so deep – it was hard to imagine the future with out each other in it.  Yet they knew what Naomi said was best.  They should all return home because home is where they belonged.

So, finally, Orpah understood what Naomi was trying to say.  So, she kissed her mother-in-law good-bye and went home.  Ruth, on the other hand continued clinging to Naomi and begging for permission to go with her.  Finally, she cries out:  Please don’t ask me to leave you or to turn around.  Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people will be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die – there I will be buried.

And, yes, Ruth knew exactly what she doing.  She understood the reasonable thing to do was to turn around and go home.  But through the years she had learned to love this strange woman with her strange customs and her strange God.  As a result, they had become friends – best friends; friends who could share their deepest secrets and their darkest fears.  That is why Ruth wanted to stand beside Naomi.  She wanted to be there to care for her and to listen when life became overwhelming.  It was because of her deep love for Naomi that she was willing to face an unknown and, perhaps, dangerous future just for the honor of staying beside her.

So, can you imagine how deeply her mother-in-law’s words at the city gate cut into Ruth’s soul?  After all she had sacrificed – after all she had already endured – she heard her cry out:  Do not call me Naomi (which means “blessed”), call me Mara instead, for the Lord has dealt bitterly with me.   Yet, despite the unintended cruelty and unintentional hurt those words may have caused, Ruth’s only reaction was to reach out and love Naomi even more.

Finally, Naomi came to her senses and began to teach Ruth the ways of living in Bethlehem.  As a result of that kindness and thelove that motivated it, when Boaz asked Ruth to marry him, Naomi was not forgotten.  The good fortune of the one did not become the misfortune of the other.  Instead, they shared in each others joys and rejoiced in  each other’s blessings,

And so it is.  To care about the quality and dignity of another person’s life; to respect each other’s choices; to allow for each other’s differences; to believe in each other’s dreams and to forget each other’s mistakes are those qualities that grow in us as we reach out in love to others.  No wonder Jesus said the greatest – and most powerful – of all the commandments was to love – to love God, to love others and to love ourselves.

May the power of that love be with you today, tomorrow, and for always.

To God be the Glory.  Amen