Seeing the image and likeness of God

 Read Ruth 1

In the life of God’s people, the Book of Ruth looks at a time after the exodus from Egypt and before the time of kings.  This was the time of the judges.

Government was more tribal. A unified Israel wasn’t really a thing at this point. God’s people were trying to do the best that they could, but mostly they were a loose association more than they were a confederacy or syndicate of tribes.

So the stories of God’s Chosen People vary a little from tribe to tribe, but this one deals with the tribe of Judah.

There had been famine in the land and so a man named Elimelech and his wife Naomi headed to Moab with their two sons, Mahlon and Kilion. The sons took wives, Orpah, and the other Ruth. We see no children of these unions.

Realize that these two women had been pagans. They were part of Moab. Moab came from the line of Lot and his oldest daughter after they had escaped the destruction of Sodom.

Later on, in the time of kings, Moab would revolt against Israel. That means that Israel would later have some leverage over Moab as they had required tribute from them, but that’s after the time of the judges, most likely from the time of David.

The women are central in this story. Why? All the men died.

Naomi’s husband died and then their two sons died.  This family consisted of 3 widows, one Hebrew, and two Moabites.

Things had gotten a little better back in Judah so Naomi decided to return home. She told her daughters that they would be better off remaining in their own country. The chances of them finding a husband among God’s Chosen People were slim.

Orpah chose to remain. Ruth chose to go with Naomi in spite of her mother-in-law’s counsel.  Ruth was determined. And so, early in this short book, we come to words that are still powerful today. Listen to what Ruth said to Naomi.

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.

Those are some defining words.  Where you go I will go. Your God will be my God.

There is a little more to the chapter that we discussed in the first service, but let’s look at these words of the Moabite widow named Ruth.

How does someone make that sort of commitment?  Why make that commitment?  How well did Ruth know this God of Israel and of Naomi?

I think from her last comment in this section, she at least knew he was the one true God. She had a little fear of the Lord working in her.

If I don’t follow my mother-in-law and her God, then I deserve whatever consequence or punishment that God will give me.

This was prompted by:

·       Weekly Bible studies with Naomi

·       Faithful attendance at the Synagogue

·       Naomi had given out over 1000 God Loves You wristbands

Or, we just don’t know.  We don’t know what it was that caused one daughter to seek after this woman and her God and the other to be content to stay in her pagan homeland. We don’t know.

We can speculate all we want, but we just don’t know what influenced Ruth to go with Naomi and to make this bold commitment.

And that lack of information will be the basis of today’s charge and challenge to you.

You don’t always know what impact you make on those around you.

You might not have all of Psalm 100 memorized, but people see you coming into God’s house with thanksgiving and praise.

You may not have reached that point where you can put all of your trust in God without any anxiety, but you are leaning hard into Proverbs 3:5. People notice when you trust God more than most.

You might not know all of the scripture addresses about God being love and his command to us to love one another, but people see you loving your neighbor on a regular basis.

You may have never held a Bible Study in your home, but people know that you go to God’s word for your answers. People see God’s word judging the thoughts and attitudes of your own heart instead of you judging them.

Maybe people see none of these things. Maybe they see some or all, but you are who you are and God sees the heart.

If your heart is genuinely seeking the Lord, I proffer that people will see a genuine likeness of God in you.

I will note that I do not think that it was Naomi’s bubbling attitude and personality that influenced Ruth to go with her.

Naomi was in something of a funk. She was in a poor, poor, pitiful me mindset. God was out to get her. He was punishing her for something. She did not feel like she was living in God’s favor.

And yet, God used her to bring this pagan widow into not only the land of Judah but into the line of David and ultimately into the line of the Christ.

So today, consider all that you do and realize that the Lord can use it for good. We may not know exactly how our actions impact others, but we should keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and let God use us as he will.

We have to trust that God has good plans for us. He wants to prosper us and not harm us.

We don’t always know exactly what those plans are. Sometimes we do, but often we don’t get the whole picture.

Sometimes, it just seems like life is tough for us and we don’t see what impact our lives might have on others.

Sometimes the good that God uses the circumstances and events of our life for, are also for the good of someone else. Something or some mannerism or some practice in Naomi’s life made a difference in the life of Ruth.

We don’t know for sure what it was.

Those times or events or practices may not even be noticed by us, but God is using something in our lives for the good of others. We often only think of ourselves as we consider the good that God does in our lives.

Let’s consider that God uses our lives to do good in the lives of others even when all we can see is how tough our lives are. So, what do we do?

Keep on keeping on.  We keep on doing what God is calling us to do knowing that one day there will be a harvest and our efforts will have counted for something.

We walk by faith not by sight. We trust that what God has called us to do is exactly what needs to be done.

So Naomi did what she thought best. She counseled her two daughters-in-law to remain in their pagan land where they might have a chance of getting another husband. In Naomi’s own understanding, this was the best course of action.

But God…   Yes, it’s one of those but God deals.  God had other plans, which we know from experience to be good plans.

God chose a pagan girl, a widowed pagan girl, to be in the line that led to King David and ultimately to the Christ. That’s a little farther into this short book, but things move quickly in this story.

God is very much at work in our world. He is at work in you. Something working within you is working on someone else.

Yes, like it or not, we are the light of the world and salt of the earth. We don’t always know how our light and salt impact others, but God does.

And once again, we must trust God with all of our hearts. We must draw nearer to him. This is not just for our own good, but for that of others.

If God could use those pagan Romans to be the instrument by which Christ would make his sacrifice, can he not use you—you who believe and profess Jesus is Lord!

If God could use the pagan Pharoah to show his glory in the land of Egypt and for those all around to know what he was doing for his own people, can he not use us to help liberate those enslaved by apathy and ambivalence today.

If God could use a giant, pagan, uncircumcised Philistine warrior to bring the one who sought after God’s own heart into the forefront of men, he can and will and does and is using us. Goliath’s role was short-lived, but he surely put this ruddy shepherd boy center stage before the army of God’s Chosen People and the pagan Philistines.

We will talk more about the times—this story took place over a thousand years before Christ came as God in the flesh.

We will talk more about the faith of a few and the faithlessness of many, and surely you will make connections to our time when so many continue to fall away.

We will talk more about the false god of Moab, knowing that we have many more false gods in our time than in any time past.

So, we will look at some of these as we continue through Ruth, but today, consider how important your choices and actions and your life are to God and to others.

You matter.

Your choices matter.

Your attitude matters.

Your thinking matters.

You can make bad choices or your thinking can be a mess and God can and will still use you, but we should know that we matter to God and our lives are the vehicle by which some will come to know God.

When you are seeking God before all things, don’t be surprised when people see the image and likeness of God within you.

You may be the very vehicle by which someone sees the image of God. You may be the only person who ever truly demonstrated love in the life of a certain person.

You might be the one who is bringing hope—God’s hope—to someone ready to throw in the towel on life.

God may be doing great things through you and you might just be oblivious to it if we only think and pray about ourselves. So keep on trusting. Keep on trying. Keep on praying. Keep on loving. Keep on living for God.

Keep on keeping on. Be open and available for God to work in your life to reach others.

Amen.