19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”
Ruth 1:19-21
Dear God, a friend’s wife asked me to share a scripture at his funeral next weekend. She asked if I have any ideas. While her husband and I talked about faith a lot, we never talked about our favorite scripture passages. She is going to talk with her daughter and get back to me about any ideas they have.
In the meantime, as I sat down this morning, I started wondering if I had any ideas. Any passages that reminded me of him. The first thing that came to mind was Naomi. See, he married his high school sweetheart, and they had a little girl whom he adored. Tragically, his wife died just a short time after the baby was born from a random brain aneurism. All of a sudden, he was alone with a little girl. He had to return home and move in with his parents to help him with his daughter while he figured out what the rest of his life held for him. As it turns out, it was a good life. Education. Marriage. More children. Even financial success, but coupled with extreme generosity, love for others, and devotion to and worship of you. We aren’t all guaranteed anything in life. It won’t always turn out this way. And I’m sure he would just as soon have had his high school sweetheart with him until his dying day. And I don’t believe you caused the deaths of Naomi’s husband and sons any more than you caused his wife’s death. But you used them. You didn’t let the pain be wasted.
So, back to Naomi. I love this specific passage from Ruth 1 that I used above because it says so much. Naomi is devastated and, as she describes it, bitter. Her life is bitter. She is bitter. She is grieving and in pain. But there is still a future ahead of her. Her life isn’t over. You weren’t done with her yet. She brought Ruth and arranged for her to end up with Boaz. Ruth and Boaz had baby Obed. And that’s where the Book of Ruth ends. With Naomi, the book’s real protagonist, cuddling Obed, caring for him as if he were her own. While we don’t always get to see what you are doing to redeem our pain, at least Naomi got to see Obed. Here’s the rest of how the Book of Ruth ends in Ruth 4:16-17, nearly all of which Naomi never knew this side of heaven:
16 Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.
And then what the author of Ruth could not know is that David would be the lineage to Jesus. The blessing didn’t stop with David. It was only the beginning of the story, culminating even in me, a Gentile, sitting here today under grace.
Father, I don’t know what you will continue to do with my friend’s life, even now that he is gone. But I know that he had the privilege of getting to cuddle his metaphorical Obed. He got a good mother for his daughter. He got more children whom he adored–he talked about all three of them constantly when he was with me. He got a wife who absolutely delighted him, and she adored him as well. Yes, he had a successful career, but his life is more marked even more by the love he showed others with that success through generosity of time and resources. His is a life that knocks over a lot of dominos. The “butterfly effect” of his life will carry on for generations. Thank you that you rescued my friend from bitterness. Thank you that all of us have a reason to move forward in the midst of sorrow and pain. Thank you that you take our pain and offer us opportunities in each moment to redeem it. Those of us who are left behind are not done. If I consider my life worth nothing to me, then my only other option is to offer it to you. So I offer this day to you. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
In Memory of Royce Hunter: 1938-2024
Emails to God 