Naomi to Mara
It’s often said that of all the men
in the Bible who suffered, Job was the greatest; but of all the women of the
Bible who suffered, Naomi was the greatest. Naomi’s story begins this way: “In
the days when the judges ruled, there were a famine in the land” (v. 1). If you
know a little about the Book of Judges, you’ll know something about the hard
times in which Naomi lived. The Book of Judges concludes as follows: “In those
days there was no king in Israel, all the people did what was right in their
own eyes” (21: 25). Naomi lived in the era of spiritual darkness. To make
things worse, there was a severe famine in her hometown, Bethlehem, so her
entire family was forced to leave their homeland. Then, shortly after, Naomi’s
husband died. And within 10 years her two married sons died without any
children. That also means her two daughters-in-law seem to be barren. Now Naomi
is left without either her two sons or her husband. After this, she comes back
home. When she arrives in Bethlehem, the whole town is excited by her arrival.
They say, “Is this really Naomi?” But Naomi replies, “Don’t call me Naomi
(“pleasant”). Call me Mara (“bitter”), because the Almighty has made my life
very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.” After
all these trials and hardships Naomi becomes a bitter woman. And God seems
silent and distant. She even believes that the hand of God was against her.
Hesed
But the truth is no story in the
Bible demonstrates the meaning of hesed (“God’s
steadfast love”) more powerfully and beautifully than the Book of Ruth. Though
it’s hard to find the word “God” in this book, the Book of Ruth is full of the
power and presence of God who is at work behind the scenes so diligently and
strategically. When Naomi came back home without any hope, God was already at
work and preparing something good for her: “They [Naomi and Ruth] came to
Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley
harvest” (1:22). It is a good time to show up. Not only that, guess who it
was that was already in Bethlehem, already prepared by God! The Bible says, “There
was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of
Elimelech. His name was Boaz” (2:1). This man Boaz was a truly great and godly
man. He was Naomi’s kinsman-redeemer. A kinsman-redeemer is a male relative who
has the responsibility to help a relative in need or danger. Naomi desperately
needed a near-relative to take her and her daughter-in-law into his care, and
buy them out of their situation of need. Boaz made a great sacrifice. Not only
did he help their financially, but also he became one of them. He restored and
preserved their family by getting married to Ruth.
There is a story about the SEALs’ covert operation, freeing hostages from a building in some dark part of the world. They flew in by helicopter, made their way to the compound and stormed into the room where the hostages had been imprisoned for months. The room was filthy and dark. The hostages were curled up in a corner, terrified. SEALs entered the room, they heard the gasps of the hostages. They stood at the door and called to the prisoners, telling them they were Americans. The SEALs asked the hostages to follow them, but the hostages wouldn’t. They sat there on the floor and hid their eyes in fear. They were not of healthy mind and didn’t believe their rescuers were really Americans. The SEALs stood there, not knowing what to do. One of the SEALs got an idea. He put down his weapon, took off his helmet, and curled up tightly next to the other hostages, getting so close his body was touching some of theirs. He softened the look on his face and put his arms around them. He was trying to show them he was one of them. None of the prison guards would have done this. He stayed there for a little while until some of the hostages started to look at him, finally meeting his eyes. The Navy SEAL whispered that they were Americans and were there to rescue them. “Will you follow us?” he said. The hero stood to his feet and one of the hostages did the same, then another, until all of them were willing to go.[1] That’s what our Lord Jesus is to us. He is our “Kinsman-Redeemer,” who became one of us. He redeemed us and bought us from out of our hopeless situation by his own blood on the cross, taking us under his care, and bringing us under his protective love forever. God didn’t deliver Naomi from her distress right away. Instead, God first participated in her suffering, accompanied her, sustained her, then brought about her good in His perfect time.
Ubuntu
God is at work. God is working on
his restoration and reconciliation project in our lives. God will do it. Then, what would be our part in this project? There
are two things we can learn from Naomi and Ruth. First, horizontally, we can
practice Ubuntu. The word Ubuntu is a
Zulu proverb, saying, “I am because we are. I am because you are. My humanity
is tied to yours.” When we are hard pressed, or when we are in conflict, we can
easily become selfish, blame others, or fall into self-pity. But in times of
sorrow and suffering Naomi and Ruth practiced Ubuntu. They saw each other with compassionate eyes. They put
themselves in each other’s shoes. Naomi said to Ruth in the best interest of Ruth, “Go back to your mother’s house. May
the Lord deal kindly with you. May the Lord grant you a new home and a new
husband.” (1:8-9). Ruth answered with
selfless love, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following
you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall
be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die--there will I be
buried. May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death
parts me from you!" (vv. 15-17). Naomi and Ruth came from such different
worlds. They had more differences than similarities. Naomi was Jewish; Ruth was
Moabite (gentile). Naomi was elderly; Ruth was a young woman. Naomi was a mother-in-law;
Ruth was a daughter-in-law. But they were keenly aware that they were given to
each other by God, and that they needed each other. They practice Ubuntu: I am because you are.
In his book Blue Like Jazz, Don Miller shares his story with us when he was in Reed College. Each year at Reed they have a festival. They shut down the campus so students can party. Don and some of the Christian students decided this was a good place to come out of the closet. They decided to build a confession booth in the middle of campus during the festival. But it was not to accept confessions from students in the campus, but to confess to them. So Don humbled himself and confessed his sins to those who visited out of curiosity. He confessed that, as a follower of Christ, he had not been very loving; he had been bitter and judgmental, and for that he was sorry. He apologized for the Crusades, he apologized for televangelists, he apologized for neglecting the poor and the lonely. He told them that in his selfishness, he had misrepresented Jesus on this campus. He asked them to forgive him, and told them that Jesus loves them. One of the visitors said, “This is cool what you are doing. I am going to tell my friends about this.” That night Don talked to about thirty people. After this, Don said, “I was being changed through the process. I went in with doubts and came out believing so strongly in Jesus I was ready to die and be with Him. I think that night was the beginning of change for a lot of us.”[2] I don’t know about you, but for me, some of my personal and communal relationships are broken and estranged mainly because I have been trying to defend my position or justify myself rather than to acknowledge their humanity. I failed to acknowledge my humanity is tied to theirs. Now I begin to see that.
Trust
On the foundation of Hesed, horizontally we can practice Ubuntu. And vertically, trust is the key. We are to trust God.
Naomi didn’t see it coming, but she trusted in God. Naomi struggled greatly,
but she trusted and remained in God. When Naomi hit the bottom in her life, she
turned back to God, crying out to God. God seems silent and indifferent to her
pain, but in fact, he has done everything that is needed to bless her
eternally. God sends Ruth and Boaz into her life, and through them God gives to
her a little baby, Obed, grandfather of King David.
The Bible says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Co 10:13) The story of Naomi was written to help us to trust God even when the clouds are so thick that we cannot see the sun. Her story reminds us that the sun is always shining above the thick clouds.
Let me close with the story of Henri Nouwen. He always loved a flying trapeze. One day he had a chance to talk with the circus team leader, Rodleigh. He said, “People might think that I am the great star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump.” “How does it work?” Nouwen asked. Rodleigh said, “The secret is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything… A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.”
On this Mother’s Day, we are grateful. But some of us are mourning the loss of the loved ones, the loss of the relationship. But let us remember this: God’s “hesed” (steadfast love) for us endures forever! God is at work today. God is always at work behind the scenes for our good. In his perfect time God will turn our “bitter” trials into a “pleasant” outcome as we trust him. Sisters and brothers in Christ, let us trust, trust, trust. Trust God the Catcher!
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