Ruth 1:15-18 “Complete Commitment”
Yes, I was talking with my dog Nikos again. He is such an insightful puppy. I asked who he thought the greatest woman mentioned in the Bible is. Do you know whom he said? “Ruth” (said with a barking inflection)!
Of course, the conversation went on with my asking who is his favorite organist musician in the whole wide world. You know what he said? Ruth! He has very discerning ears in spite of their floppiness!
Lastly I asked my dog who was his favorite baseball player of all time. Well, you know what he said. . . .”Fernando Valenzuela.” I was sure he was going to say “Ruth,” but no.
We come to the story of Ruth this day in our ongoing sermon series on women in the Bible. This is a story of complete commitment on the part of Ruth to her mother-in-law Naomi. Ruth’s husband is dead. Naomi’s husband is dead. In fact all the men of the family are dead. Naomi tells her daughter-in-law Ruth to go back to her home town as a widow with the hope of remarriage, Naomi is intent on going back to Israel, to her people, where she will try to eek out a living in some fashion, hoping for some mercy. Ruth refuses to go back to her hometown and decides instead to stay with her mother-in-law.
Ruth eventually finds herself gleaning fields to provide a bit of wheat stubble for her and Naomi to pound into meal. She discovers that the field that she is gleaning belongs to Boaz, part of Naomi’s extended family. Boaz finds favor with Ruth and under the instructions of Naomi, Ruth goes to him in the evening. They marry one another in the end—thus a happy ending to an otherwise tragic story. Ruth and Boaz have their first son, Obed, who has a son named Jesse, who has a son named David, who becomes King of Israel and eventually will provide a bloodline to Jesus through Joseph.
This is the story of a woman’s commitment. So, I will talk about commitment today. Being completely honest with all of you, I really dislike asking for a commitment from anybody in this day and age. I do not like to ask for commitment because I am tired of the response I generally get back when I do. Or when someone does say that they will commit to something, then I learn that they were not committed after all. I become disappointed. I will call this a kind of a “commitment fatigue.” I think you all know what I am talking about.
If Ruth is the example of commitment we have in the Bible, then our world today has become basically “ruthless.”
When I was in college, I paid my way by working as a chef in a seafood restaurant. This was the Sea Fare Inn in Whittier, California. It was owned by the Millhouse family—yes, the Richard Millhouse Family. Former President Nixon used to eat there. But, that is beside my point.
One day another one of the chef’s at the restaurant came to me in a quandary. He needed some advice. He told me that he had been dating one girl for about a year and really liked her, and the relationship was going well. However, he had his eyes on this other girl and was wondering if I thought it would be okay for him to date both girls at the same time. I am to this day unsure why he came to me with this conundrum.
Just the same, I told him rather bluntly that he should not be dating either girl. He asked me why I would say that. I told him that he should not be dating at all because he stank like fish—and not because he worked in a fish restaurant! All of the workers stank like fish. But, he really stank because he had no sense of commitment to either girl. He just wanted to have fun and play around with other people’s hearts. He was in fact absolutely “ruthless” in his approach to dating. One or both women would eventually be hurt because of this. He got my message.
I believe that if we first and foremost hold onto our singular commitment to God, then all of our other commitments become stronger. In the story of Ruth, Naomi tells Ruth not just to go back to her hometown, but also to give up God and go back to the worship of pagan gods of her hometown. That is a very hard thing to imagine. It would be like going up to a Christian who has confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior and telling that person to go back to unbelief. I am not sure that would even be possible. If I were in Ruth’s shoes when Naomi says this, I think I would balk at the idea. How can anyone who has committed his or her life to God give that up again and go worship some silly idols? Once one has committed to God, unbelief is not an option.
In Mark 10, we can read the story of the rich man who comes up to Jesus and asks what he needs to do in order to be accepted into the heavenly kingdom. Jesus is really clear. He tells the man to give up all his money and follow Him. What does the man do? He walks away sadly because he is very rich. This is the story of a man who is more committed to his money than to his God. Because he is not committed first and foremost to God, all of his choices in life become corrupted.
This last week my heart was warmed by the story of a Republican candidate in the Florida Primary who stopped campaigning in that crucial election because his child was sick with pneumonia in the hospital. He wanted to go to be with her in this difficult time in his family. He put his family first. I tell you, this was a most godly thing to do. I cannot tell you this candidates name as this might be considered an endorsement, and I am not here to endorse one candidate or another. I will just say that this act was admirable.
It would have been even more admirable if the other candidates would have stopped their campaigning as well out of respect for the circumstances of this contender’s family. Yes, the whole world should stop for a sick child. . . .that is what is supposed to happen. Jesus went out of his way to heal those who were in need, especially calling the children unto him.
I believe that couples and families that are committed to God will be able to live out their commitments to one another. A recent University of Utah Study (Wolfinger) points out what we have all seen already around us. The children of divorced parents fall into an “intergenerational divorce cycle.” That is to say, new couples getting married are twice as likely to divorce if one of the two people have come from a family in which the mother and father have divorced. If both the man and the woman in the new marriage come from broken homes, then they are statistically three times more likely to divorce. As the national average for divorce is already around 50%, this means that couples in which both are from broken homes have perhaps less than a one-in-four chance of staying together.
Some children vow to break that cycle of divorce by simply never getting married. This is a deep-seated fear of commitment caused by the divorce of their parents.
There is also an interesting statistical thing happening here: It should be that as the children of divorced parents are more likely to divorce, the divorce rate should be going up. Right? In fact, it is holding steady. What is happening is that fewer people are electing to get married at all. They just simply do not want to make that commitment.
I recall walking around a pleasant park plaza in Tiajuana, Mexico, with a friend of mine. This was also in college. We went down from LA to do some shopping and sightseeing. As we walked around the plaza, we noticed a beautiful church on one side. One side of the plaza had bridal shops. As we walked by the shops, the shop owners came out and asked in Spanish, one by one, “Quieran casarse?” (“Do you want to get married?”). We shook our heads no and walked on. As we circled the plaza, on the other side coming back towards the church, we noticed a whole bunch of divorce lawyers’ offices. And, yes, they came out of their shops to asked if we wanted a divorce!
Marriage and divorce has become like a business rather than a commitment made in the church before God! It is a sacrament. It is something blessed. It is a good thing!
A couple of weeks ago I learned that the State of Hawaii has changed how they record marriages. It used to be that the couple would bring me a certificate that I had to sign and mail back. I had no problem with that at all. Now, the couple brings a worksheet that I must upload via a State website, inputting all the information myself. I can handle that. However, there is now a $10 electronic portal fee that I must also pay. I don’t charge for doing any sacrament in the church. That would just be wrong. Yet, the State assumes that I charge for the service and want part of the cut apparently.
I will never charge for a sacrament. How can the State charge me? They think that a Godly commitment is a source of revenue? That it should be taxed with a service fee? The idea is abhorrent.
A Godly commitment is the most beautiful thing in the world. It is a gift that this church can give families! It is the gift that Ruth gave her mother-in-law Naomi, that was handed down from generation to generation right through Jesus Christ to us here today.
I am going to close today with a line from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:37, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Anything more than this comes from Satan.” If you make a commitment, then just keep it. To do otherwise is not Godly. Amen.