Will the real Ruth's Please Stand Up!!

With the title "Will the Ruth's Please Stand Up!!" I hope to invoke a sense of wonder and curiosity. As I have been studying and preparing for a new series on friendships I have been challenged and convicted that everyone needs a Ruth or two in their life. Through this series, Authentic Relationships: Being a Real Friend, I will be teaching that several different elements should be true of a real friend: Service (Luke 5.17-26), Loyalty (Ruth 1.1-18), Trust (Matt. 1.18-25), Forgiveness (Luke 15.11-32; Gen. 33.1-11), and Love (John 15.9-17; 1 Sam 18.1-9). Obviously these are not the only aspects that need to be true of authentic relationships, but a good start. This week we will be studying Ruth's loyalty to Naomi. I have been overwhelmed by Ruth's devotion to Naomi, and I have just now realized that every aspect of friendships that I will be teaching on can be summed up in Ruth's relationship to her mother-in-law.

Ruth 1.1-18

Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the LORD had visited His people in giving them food. So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband." Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, "No, but we will surely return with you to your people." But Naomi said, "Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me." And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Then she said, "Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law." But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back 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 I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me." When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

Loyalty, i think that would be an understatement when talking about Ruth's dealing with Naomi. For the purpose of this blog I simply want to contrast two people, and ask you the question which of these individuals represent you. I think this is a valid question, because we can only expect friends as wonderful as we are willing to be.

Look at the two daughter-in-law's, Orpah and Ruth. We don't know anything about them except that they were moabite women who married Naomi's sons. However, we see quite a contrast in the way that they deal with Naomi.

Naomi tells both of the women, "Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept."

In a time where women had relatively no importance and could not easily take care of themselves, marriage was very important for them. They needed a husband to provide for them. Naomi is giving these women exactly what the "world" would say is great. They of course, being cordial and polite, refuse and say, "No, but we will surely return with you to your people."

Isn't that what we would do? Wouldn't we offer to go out of our way? Most of us would. Though we would expect the person to respond in the same way as Naomi does:

"Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb,
that they may be your husbands? Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to
have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight
and also bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you
therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than
for you, for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me."

This is where we find a contrast between Orpah and Ruth. They have two completely different responses. Orpah says ok ill go, and Ruth responds by clinging to Ruth.

What a picture of what we need in a friendship. One that will stick by us no matter what the circumstances, no matter what it costs, no matter what we get out of it. We need a friend that will be there, not one who is simply polite and acts like they care. We need friends who follow through!!

That is exactly what Ruth is, a friend who commits. One you can count on.
But what about Orpah? Is she really that terrible of a person? Honestly, i don't think that she is. She is polite, but her intrests seem more to be inwardly focused than Ruth's. Orpah returned to HER gods and HER people. Whereas, Ruth replies: "Do not urge me to leave YOU or turn back 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 I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts YOU and me."

Do you notice the difference... Can you see how Orpah and Ruth's responses differ? Where Orpah was going to do HER stuff, Ruth was giving everything for Naomi. Notice how often that Ruth says you or your... that is a true example of selflessness. She is not focused on herself at all!!

What about you? Who are you like... Orpah or Ruth?

Are you polite just to be polite or are you willing to forfeit everything for your friends?

I think it would be incredible if we could find and become the Ruth’s that we so desperately need.

When the writer of Ecclesiates was trying to find whether there is any meaning in life one of the only answers he could find was, companionship. He wrote,

"Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if
either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who
falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down
together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart." (Ec. 4.9-12)

The writer of Ecclesiastes saw a need for true friends. Ruth met that need for Naomi.
Will you meet that need for your friends? Will you be a Ruth in this selfish world?

So I ask, "Will the real Ruth's Please Stand Up!!"