A sermon preached at
Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 4
November 2018, Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, by Dr. Hope S. Antone. The scripture
readings that day were Ruth 1:1-18 and Mark 12:28-34.
Good morning, sisters and
brothers in Christ! Have
you heard at least a story/joke about mothers-in-law (MIL)? Was the story/joke
good or positive? Was it bad or negative?
There are many bad or sad stories about
MIL. Sometimes, the storyteller even uses “monster-in-law” instead of
mother-in-law. One website of ‘mother-in-law stories’ includes a Korean proverb
that says, “Toilets are like mothers-in-law: the farther away the better.”
Through Google, I tried to find why mother and DIL tend to have such unpleasant
relationships, as the stories or jokes portray. The common response I found is
that there is often some jealousy and competition between the two women for
attention and control (by the mother of her son and by the DIL of her
husband).
But there are also positive stories
about mother-daughter in-law relationships. The story of Naomi and Ruth is one
great example. As the story goes, Naomi and her husband Elimelech are from
Bethlehem in Judah. Due to the drought/famine in their country, they migrated
to Moab with their sons, Mahlon and Chilion. Moab was a hilly country,
generally fertile with a mild summer season and ample rain in spring. Many
Moabites were polytheists (i.e. worshipping many gods) and practiced human
sacrifices. It is said that the Moabite King Mesha sacrificed his own son and
successor to their main god Chemosh.
As migrants/foreigners in such a land,
Elimelech and Naomi must have struggled to raise their sons in their own
monotheistic faith and cultural ways. Then Elimelech died (the story has no
details of why or how). The two sons took Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, as
their wives. After living in Moab for around 10 years, the two sons also died,
leaving Naomi, Orpah and Ruth as widows, with no children. Without a father,
husband or son, these three women lost their usual access to economic security.
Then Naomi heard the news that the
famine was over in her homeland. She decided to return to Judah. Ruth and Orpah
decided to follow her. But shortly after starting on their journey, Naomi told
them to go back as they would be better off in their homeland. Why did Naomi
change her mind? Perhaps Naomi worried about the reception from her people,
especially that she would be taking her two Moabite daughters-in-law. She knew
fully well that Moab was among the most despised foreign nations. After much
crying, Orpah agreed and returned to Moab. But Ruth clung to Naomi and
said:
"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!" (vss. 16-17)
Today, such beautiful words are often
quoted in wedding ceremonies. But as we can see, the context of these words is
not a wedding; not the exchange of vows between the bride and groom. The
context is the painful moment when a MIL tells her DIL, “You shouldn’t come
with me.” The words are Ruth’s oath/pledge of loyalty to Naomi, declaring her
willingness to go with her wherever she would go. The words are a gentle yet
firm assurance to Naomi of companionship, support and love. Even though Naomi
had lost her husband and her sons, and one daughter-in-law has decided to
return to Moab, she still has Ruth, who refuses to abandon her, but instead
commits herself to her welfare, come what may. What a way of love, indeed!
The beauty of this story is that here
is Ruth, a Moabite, whose people and religion were different and despised by
the Jews of ancient time. Although an outsider, especially to the ancient Jews
who were so particular about ethnic and religious purity, Ruth showed her
readiness to embrace Naomi’s land, home, people, and God. This reminds me of a
quote from a poem by Edwin Markham, an American poet (I will change the pronoun
from male singular to plural):
“They drew a circle that shut me out –
Heretic, rebel, a
thing to flout.
But Love and I had
the wit to win:
We drew a circle and
took them in!
Indeed, Ruth’s offer of faithful
presence, loving companionship and continuous support to Naomi did eventually
become an offering for the whole of Israel, and even for the whole world. As
the rest of the book of Ruth attests, she would become part of the genealogy of
David, through whom the Messiah, Christ Jesus, would come.
Today’s gospel reading is a concise
summary of the commandments or the law. Asked by a scribe which commandment is
the first of all, Jesus responded: “You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your
strength. (And) You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This means that
while loving God is foremost, one can only express one’s love for God through
the love of one’s neighbor. By neighbor is meant someone around or near us. In
the story of the Good Samaritan, it is someone in need. In another sense, it is
a brother or sister with whom we share our common humanity. In the story of
Ruth, it is a DIL or MIL, someone who is not related by blood, who may be from
another country/race/ ethnicity, another culture or religion.
Loving the neighbor demonstrates loving
God. As I John 4:20 says, “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers
or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they
have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” Interestingly, Jesus has
clearly said that loving the neighbor is to be in the same way as loving oneself. This shows that he expects us to
love oneself first. Self-love is therefore not bad or wrong as long as it is
not the end-goal of one’s life. Otherwise, if it is the end-goal, then it would
result in selfishness and greed. Rather, self-love is to be the measure of
one’s love of the neighbor, the sister or brother in need; it would be the
basis or model for loving the neighbor. So this is the way of love!
If the flourishing of one’s potential
is the end-goal of one’s life, then we would love the neighbor by helping them
to realize their potential – e.g., through learning new skills, developing
their talents, or harnessing their capacity for a bigger task or
responsibility. If abundant life is the end-goal of one’s life, then we would
love the neighbor by helping them experience or attain that abundant life for
themselves – a life that has freedom, security, health and wholeness, peace
with justice. This is the way of love!
Through the story of Ruth and the
gospel passage, we have seen that the biblical commandment to love God, the
neighbor, and oneself are the most important of the commandments. Jesus showed
that one’s love of God can be demonstrated by loving one’s neighbor; and that
loving one’s neighbor is to be in the
same way as one’s self-love. This is the way of love!
Let us hope that when we are able to
keep the love of self, neighbor and God in balance, we would hear Christ Jesus
say to us as he did to the scribe, “You are not far from the reign of God.” May
it be so.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, November 04, 2018
