Faithful to the Living and the Dead (Ruth 1:1-18)

The regional assembly in Bakersfield – a few weeks back – began with an unanticipated event which ended up setting the tone for everything that followed.

On the afternoon before the assembly began, some 500 of us gathered in the sanctuary of Mill Creek Christian Church for a memorial service celebrating the life of former regional minister Don Shelton, who died a few weeks prior to the assembly.

By all accounts, his death came too soon.  At 68 years of age, Don was healthy and full of life until the cancer rapidly took control of his body.   He had been actively serving as part of the ministerial staff of Mill Creek Christian, a church he’d been associated with for nearly all his life.

At the service, many people spoke, including Don’s wife Linda, and his daughters Shonna and Stacy.  Stacy and I went to camp together as teenagers, and Don was the director of at least one of the camp sessions we attended.

When I finished seminary and began my full-time ministry, Don was regional minister, and a tremendous help to me.  He made several visits to Morro Bay during the brief time I was there, not only to provide assistance to me, but also to enjoy some of the golf courses in that beautiful part of the state.  Later, Don would work for Homeland Ministries in Indianapolis, before returning to Bakersfield.

The news of his death was difficult to receive for many of us, but certainly for his wife and daughters.  I was amazed at their composure during the memorial service as well as during the assembly, which they attended and participated in.

For those who knew Don, we can’t help but think of him as we hear today’s lectionary scripture reading from the book of Ruth.  A woman by the name of Naomi loses her husband to death, and becomes a widow.  She has two sons, and they marry, but then both of her sons also die.  Now she is left, just her and her two daughters-in-law.

Naomi decides to return to her homeland.  Her daughters-in-law are committed to going with her, but she tells them no; after all, what can she give them?  She has nothing.  They should stay in their homeland.  They may be able to make a life for themselves yet.

After some convincing, one of her daughters-in-law, Orpah, agrees, and parts ways.  But the other – Ruth – will not leave Naomi.  In marrying Naomi’s son, a bond, a connection united Ruth to Naomi, and even though Naomi’s son has died, the connection that was established through him remains.

And that is something significant.  Naomi’s son – Ruth’s husband – has died.  It was through him that a connection, a relationship was established.  Through him, a new family was created.

Naomi’s suggestion to her daughters-in-law, that they leave her, shows that she – Naomi – believes that when her son died, the bonds that existed through him and because of him also died.

But Ruth is faithful to the bond, the connection, even after her husband’s death.

Why would someone be faithful to a bond when the one through whom that bond existed, no longer exists?

The connection between Ruth and Naomi went through this man.  That connection existed because of him.  Logically speaking, once he dies, there is no longer any reason for that connection to exist.

But it does.

Why?  Because the connection is stronger than death.  It is a connection based on love, and love is stronger than death.  Right here, in the story of Ruth and Naomi, is evidence of what Paul would write many years later to the Romans, that nothing can stop love. 

Not even death.

Ruth’s husband is the connection.  It’s “A equals B.”  Her husband equals the connection.  When he dies, the connection should die as well, since they are equal.  But the connection does not die.  Love does not die.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Love is alive.  The connection is alive.  And if Ruth’s husband is the connection, then he, too, must still be alive, in a very real way.

At the regional assembly, it was very clear that Don Shelton was, in a very real way, alive.  His living presence was strongly felt, in worship, in business, in every aspect of the assembly.  After his death, he now lives fully united with God, which means that, in feeling Don’s presence, we felt the presence of God.

And so it is with all those we have known and loved, and lost.  They are united with God.  We feel their presence, alive with us still, and thus we feel the presence of God.

This is why Ruth says to Naomi:  “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you stay, I will stay.  Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.  Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.  Not even death will keep me from this.”

So Naomi and Ruth travel back to Bethlehem, which is where Naomi is originally from.  But two widows, in those days, did not have it easy.  Fortunately the ancient teachings provided for the poor by instructing landowners to leave a portion of their crops so that those who are poor can come along after the harvest and gather what was left over.

So Ruth did just that, gleaning in the field that belonged to a man named Boaz.

Boaz looked favorably upon Ruth and provided her protection as she gleaned in his field.  He was a good man, and – as it turned out – a distant relative of Naomi.  Ruth didn’t know this at first, though, and in gratitude for his kindness she bowed down to Boaz and said, “How is it that I’ve found favor in your eyes, that you notice me?  For I’m just an immigrant.” 

You see, in those days immigrants were not shown the same level of kindness and respect and hospitality that they are shown in modern society … except by those who were faithful to God.  Our God always gives special consideration to widows and immigrants.  And so do those who follow in God’s ways.

Boaz replied:  “Everything that you did for your mother-in-law after your husband’s death has been reported fully to me:  how you left the land of your birth, and came with her to a people you hadn’t known beforehand.”  And Boaz continued to look upon her with favor and treat her with kindness.

When Ruth told Naomi what had happened, Naomi knew that Boaz was a distant relative of hers, and she said: “May he be blessed by the Lord, who hasn’t abandoned his faithfulness with the living or with the dead.”

God does not abandon his faithfulness with the living or with the dead.

Now, there is certainly a lot of mystery here.  I get really uncomfortable with those who speak with great confidence about what life is like after death.  Frankly, I don’t have a clue as to what life after death is like, other than to say that it will involve being fully united with God and with God’s love.  That much I do know.

But beyond that, well, it’s a mystery.  As the song says, when that day comes, God will be waiting with one more surprise.

It’s enough for me to know that God is faithful.  It’s enough for me to know that God is faithful to the living and the dead.  It’s enough for me to know that God’s love endures forever, that nothing, not even death, can separate any of us from God’s love.  It’s enough for me to know that I’ll be fully united with God’s love, and that those who have died in the past are already fully united with God’s love. 

What could be better than that?

In the Bible there is an anonymous letter to the Hebrews, which talks at length about many of the great ancestors of our faith:  Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and other men and women.  All of them, the author points out, lived and died; and now all of them are part of a “great cloud of witnesses” that surrounds us. 

The first Sunday of November is a day that we and many other congregations throughout the world remember and honor those who now dwell in that great cloud that surrounds us.  From ancient times Christians have observed All Saints Day and All Souls Day, a tradition that is carried on today.

So let us remember those we have known and loved and which now live united with God.  Let us honor their memory; let us honor the very best of who they were and what they stood for.  They weren’t perfect, but they were good.  They were beloved children of God, and thus their lives were holy.  They are beloved children of God even now, for God does not abandon his faithfulness with the living or the dead.