Ruth 1:1-19 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Sunday, July 13, 2025 “Ruth: A Real-Life Good Samaritan?”
“Go and do likewise.” That’s the way that Jesus ended his famous story, his famous lesson. It was an answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Your neighbor is someone who has needs. Your neighbor is anyone who needs your help. It was not a direct answer to the previous question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” That was the question that prompted the entire exchange that included Jesus’ famous story of the Good Samaritan. Maybe it is better to say that “Good Samaritan” is a famous phrase, because many people use it even if they don’t know the story Jesus told or the fact that the term comes from it. The Good Samaritan was the least likely person to help the man in need, but he was the one who helped him, the only one to help him, and he did so in incredibly generous ways. What an interesting account to pair with another story, this one a true story, not one made up for teaching purposes. The true account carries with it many similar lessons and similar warnings to the story Jesus told. The true story is the story of Naomi and Ruth. Today we heard most of the first chapter of that story. That is to say, we heard most of the first chapter of the Bible’s book of Ruth in the Old Testament. We’ll focus on those verses, but we’ll also mention a few things that come later in the book, which you might consider reading today or later on in the week. The action begins with a famine in the land in which Israel lived in the time of the Judges. That means that Israel did not have a king yet. They had moved into the Promised Land, but they weren’t fully settled in. The judges were people whom God used to protect his people and help them and rule over them at a time when a lot of people were doing all sorts of things that were not in keeping with God’s plan and design. The family we meet belongs to a man named Elimelech. His wife is Naomi, and they have sons Mahlon and Kilion. They are Israelites living in Bethlehem who go to Moab to escape the famine. The Moabites were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, so related to the Israelites. In Moab, things got pretty bad for Naomi. Her husband died, leaving her to care for the two boys alone. The boys married Moabite women, but after about ten years, Naomi’s sons died. Naomi’s family was three widows, not the sort of group that had good prospects in that time and place. So Naomi made a plan to head back to Bethlehem. According to the customs and curtesy of the day, Naomi’s daughters-inlaw accompanied her, something they would have done for a way whether or not they planned to go the entire journey with her. Naomi did not plan for them to come. After they had walked a bit, she thanked both Orpah and Ruth and encouraged them to return home. Orpah eventually did. Ruth did not. Ruth was going to serve and honor and love her mother-in-law in what amounts to a rather shocking way. She would leave her own mother and father, leave her own home and hometown, her own people, and go with Naomi. In fact, she spoke one of the most memorable lines in the entire book when she declared her intentions. She said: “Do not urge me to abandon you or to turn back from following you. Because wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you make your home, I will make my home. 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. May the Lord punish me severely and double it if anything but death separates me from you.” Can you imagine making such a sacrifice? Understand, this was not the days of highways and air travel. This was leaving and perhaps never coming back. This was sacrificing a lot—nearly everything—for someone else. You could make a pretty convincing case that this was a lot like, maybe even more impressive than, the actions of the Good Samaritan in Jesus’ story. He gave up his time and money and efforts to see to it that the man who was hurt got all the help he needed. Ruth gave up her home and family for her mother-in-law, Naomi.