Naomi, Ruth, & Orpah by William Blake
I was honored to preach at First Presbyterian Church-Woodruff, SC on Memorial Day Weekend 2016. Our texts were Judges 21:25 and Ruth 1:16.
This is a story of refugees, fleeing famine caused by the political and economic deterioration of their country after a bloody civil war. The nation is Israel and the land they are fleeing is the promised land, the land of milk and honey. They are only a few generations removed from having entered into the richness of God’s promise. But something has gone terribly wrong, and the people have ruined what God placed in their care.
In this time of moral and political deterioration, faced with hunger, the aftermath of senseless war, economic scarcity, sexual violence, a refugee crisis, sickness, and grief, one person chooses solidarity with another to rebuild a life together:
“Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)
This is a story of the courage to live for each other, when everything around us tells us to live only for ourselves.
That’s courage we need too. Praise those, like World Relief-Spartanburg, who choose this brave path today.
The sermon may be heard here.
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