THE POWER OF A MOTHER
10 May 2009
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Ruth 1:1-18
1. In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.
2. The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3. Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.
4. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years,
5. both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
6. When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.
7. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8. Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me.
9. May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband." Then she kissed them and they wept aloud
10. and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people."
11. But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?
12. Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me--even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons--
13. would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD's hand has gone out against me!"
14. At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her.
15. "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."
16. But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
17. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
18. When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
-- in the movie, "Spiderman," there is a great quote that bears repeating -- "with great power comes great responsibility" -- the character in the movie used this quote to shape his life -- to give his new-found superpowers direction so that all his actions were for truth and justice and righteousness -- for good instead of evil
-- sometimes, I think that we tend to overlook the power that we all have in our lives and the great responsibility that goes with that power -- we look at our jobs -- our positions -- our family -- we look at where we live and who we are and we think to ourselves that we don't have any great power -- any great influence -- over another
-- but, truth be told, most of us have greater powers than we could ever imagine -- and we have a responsibility to use that power wisely -- in fact, one of the greatest powers in the world is the power that a mother has to shape the life of her children
-- the first person that any child ever knows is their mother -- and from that point on, their mother becomes a special person -- more than anyone else, it is their mother who begins the process of shaping them and molding them -- from their earliest days, it is their mother who influences them -- who leads them -- who teaches them how to live and how to love
-- the power of a mother is without measure -- we can tell you from our own lives just how important and how powerful a mother is in the life of her children -- if a mother is not there from the beginning -- if she misses the first few months of her child's life -- there is a great likelihood that child will grow up unable to give or receive love -- unable to know right from wrong -- unable to make wise decisions -- the absence of a mother reflects in that child for the rest of their life
-- conversely, the presence of a mother is the determining factor in the ultimate success of a person -- you've all heard the statement, "behind every great man, there is a great woman" -- truth be told, that great woman that shapes the life of every great man is always his mother -- and the same holds true for great women as well -- why do you think Mother's Day is the biggest card-giving day in America? -- why do you think pro football players only hold up signs that say, "Hi, Mom!" instead of "Hi, Dad?"
-- it's because we all know that more than presidents or politicians -- more than actors or singers or American idols -- mothers are the most powerful human force in existence today -- and who we are today is, in large part, a reflection of them
-- just consider the story of basketball great Richard Jefferson, who has played most of his career with the New York Nets
-- when Jefferson was born, his mother, Wanda Johnson, was a single mother with two other kids living in Los Angeles -- a high-school drop-out, she didn't have a job and survived on welfare -- and in that neighborhood, with its high crime rate and rampant joblessness, Wanda knew that she was going to have to do something, or her kids would have no hope or future other than what they had known all their life
-- so, when Jefferson was six years old, Wanda moved her family from Los Angeles to Phoenix because of its lower cost of living and lower incidence of crime and violence -- already a Christian, Wanda became heavily involved in a charismatic church in the area, and began to turn her life around
-- rather than accepting her condition and allowing her kids to follow her path into poverty, Wanda started turning her life around -- she began trusting that God would provide -- that God wanted more for her and her kids than what they currently had
-- she got a job and got off welfare -- she remarried -- and went back to school, earning her GED and then going to college -- eventually completing her PhD in English and serving as a member of the teaching faculty at a community college in Phoenix
-- but, that's not all she did -- at the same time she was clawing her way out of welfare and poverty, she did all she could to serve God -- going on mission trips to Kenya and other countries and becoming a leader in her Phoenix church along with her husband
-- today, Wanda Johnson is a changed person -- a far cry from the single mother of three on welfare living in the slums in Los Angeles
-- but, the most remarkable part of her story is the impact that it had on her children -- the power of a mother's life can result in significant changes in the life of their children -- and as Richard Jefferson watched his mother change her situation -- as he watched her start to believe in herself -- he began to believe in himself, too
-- he quit making excuses -- he started working hard -- and he became one of the best players in high school and college and eventually began playing professional basketball -- if you ask him today, Richard Jefferson is quick to give the credit to his mother's influence in his life -- if not for her, he would not be who he is today -- if not for the power of his mother, he might be just another statistic
-- but because of her example -- because of the power she invested into his life -- he is highly successful and well-respected by all who know him, not only for his playing ability, but also for his behavior and his Godly lifestyle -- and he owes it all to Wanda Johnson
-- that's the thing about a mother's power -- it has the ability to affect lives forever -- even if the mother is doing nothing more than just living her life, her example will influence the next generation
-- we see a clear example of that power here in this passage reflected in the lives of Naomi and Ruth -- let's look at it again in more detail
II. Scripture Lesson (Ruth 1:1-18)
-- verse 1
1. In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.
2. The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
-- here we are introduced to the family of Elimelech and Naomi -- they lived in Bethlehem in Judah during the time of the judges -- this was the time the Bible describes as wicked -- when everyone did as he saw fit -- when obedience to God or living a Godly lifestyle was rare
-- evidently, God had allowed a famine to come into the midst of the Israelites in this time -- perhaps as a judgment against the people -- perhaps just as a way to bring hard times into their lives so they would turn back to Him -- but the famine was affecting the day-to-day life of the people -- there wasn't enough food to go around -- so Elimelech moved his family east to the land of Moab where the famine hadn't reached
-- Elimelech's name literally means, "My God is King" -- and Naomi's means, "pleasant" -- these names indicate that both Elimelech and Naomi were true followers of God -- they lived out their faith in their lives -- this might be another reason why it was so easy for them to leave Israel and go to another land -- they might have been wanting to get away from the wickedness and the idol worship that so permeated the Promised Land
-- verse 3
3. Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.
4. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years,
5. both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
-- shortly after the family arrived in Moab, Elimelech died -- leaving Naomi a widow with two sons to raise -- this was probably harder for Naomi than you might realize -- her son's names indicate that they were sick and weak -- Mahlon means "unhealthy" -- and Kilion means "weak" or "puny" -- in all likelihood, they were unable to work and to help provide for their family as they should
-- this is probably one reason why Naomi arranged marriages for them with Orpah and Ruth, both Moabite women -- it would have been a way to secure wealth for the family through the marriage dowry and position in the Moabite society through their union with Moabite families
-- but, just 10 years later, both Mahlon and Kilion died, leaving Naomi completely alone except for her two widowed daughters-in-law
-- verse 6
6. When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.
7. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8. Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me.
9. May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband." Then she kissed them and they wept aloud
10. and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people."
11. But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?
12. Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me--even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons--
13. would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD's hand has gone out against me!"
14. At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her.
-- when Naomi got word that the famine was over and that Israel once again had food, she made plans to go back to the land of her birth -- Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth got everything ready and started on the road to Israel, but before they got very far, Naomi stopped and told Orpah and Ruth to go back
-- by law and by custom, Orpah and Ruth were bound to Naomi's family, even though their husbands were dead -- in fact, according to the Mosaic law, when a man died, the nearest of his kin was to marry the widow so that any children they produced would be the heirs of her first husband -- it was a way of continuing the family line through what the Bible calls a "kinsman redeemer"
-- as they headed towards Israel, Naomi realized that she had no kin who could redeem her son's lines -- traditionally, the kinsman redeemer would be a brother to the deceased -- but Naomi knew that she was too old to have any other children and that Orpah and Ruth were too old to wait for children to grow up to be adults
-- also, because they were Moabites -- because they were foreigners -- no close kin left in Israel would be willing to marry them -- so, their journey to Israel would be the end of the line -- they would be returning as widows without hope for the future
-- because of this, Naomi urged Orpah and Ruth to go home -- to go back to Moab where they would have a chance to remarry and have a better life
-- Orpah understood and went back to Moab -- but Ruth refused to go
-- verse 15
15. "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."
16. But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
17. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
18. When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
-- here we see, in Ruth's words, one of the great promises in Scripture -- we see Ruth making several statements of faith and promise as a covenant to Naomi -- that she would never leave her but would go with her to the land of Israel, come what may
-- Why would she do that? -- knowing that she had little to no chance of being married again -- knowing that she probably faced a lifetime of poverty and discrimination in a foreign land -- why would she agree to do this?
-- it all comes back to what I talked about a few minutes before -- it all comes down to the power of a mother's love -- even though Naomi was not her mother but was her mother-in-law, Naomi's love and power had affected Ruth's life -- she had seen the faith and attitude of Naomi and had been changed -- her promises reflect repentance -- a change of heart -- they reflect a turning from her people and her ways and her god to Naomi's people, Naomi's ways, Naomi's God
-- Ruth had been born a pagan -- someone outside the faith of the one true God -- she had been born worshiping the gods of Moab -- living in the culture of that land -- but now, through the example of Naomi, she had changed
-- Ruth refuses to go back to Moab because her heart is just not there any longer -- and she binds herself to Naomi with these words:
-- "Where you go, I will go -- Where you stay, I will stay" -- in other words, Ruth was going to identify herself with Naomi -- she was going to live with her no matter what her condition -- in sickness and in health -- in poverty and in wealth -- she wasn't just using Naomi as a passport to the Promised Land, but was pledging to stay with her and support her and live with her forever
-- "Your people will be my people" -- Ruth was saying that she was forsaking her people, their customs and their ways -- she was going to become an Israelite and live as them -- she was going to follow Naomi's example and live like Naomi -- Ruth wasn't going to be like someone who comes to a place and spends all their time telling you how they used to do it at home -- she's going to be part of the family
"Your God will be my God" -- with that promise, Ruth rejected her people's false God -- she proclaimed her faith and trust in the one true God of Israel -- where did she hear about Him? -- from Naomi -- Naomi and her family may have left Israel and gone into the far country of Moab, but they didn't leave God behind
-- Naomi lived out her faith in the land -- even through the death of her husband -- even through the death of her sons -- and her example changed Ruth's life forever -- for Naomi and her family, God was not just something you do for an hour on Sunday -- God was real and part of their lives day in and day out
-- "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried -- nothing but death will separate you from me" -- with these words, Ruth promised to stay with Naomi forever -- this wasn't a passing fad -- this wasn't just something Ruth was doing for now -- this was for ever -- Ruth was going to stay with Naomi and be part of her family for eternity -- she would live in the land and die in the land -- she would be buried there and would look for her salvation and resurrection through the God of Israel
III. Closing
-- so, what is the lesson of Ruth and Naomi for us today as we celebrate Mother's Day? -- it is simply this -- a mother -- or even a mother-in-law -- has the power to change lives forever through her example of Godliness, faithfulness, and righteousness
-- Naomi changed Ruth's life without even trying -- just by being herself and by demonstrating what a Godly woman looked like on a daily basis, Ruth turned from her people and their ways and their false gods and became a woman of faith -- a woman who believed in the one true God of Israel -- a woman who was blessed of God and chosen to be a part of Jesus' family tree
-- I want to leave you with an excerpt from a poem by Mary Rita Schilke Korzan that speaks to the power of a mother in the life of her children -- and I hope it reminds you of your own mother -- and of the power you mothers and mother-in-laws have in the life of those around you
-- it's called, "When You Thought I Wasn't Looking"
-- When you thought I wasn't looking, You hung my first painting on the refrigerator and I wanted to paint another one.
-- When you thought I wasn't looking, You fed a stray cat, And I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
-- When you thought I wasn't looking, You baked a birthday cake just for me, And I knew that little things were special things.
-- When you thought I wasn't looking, You said a prayer, And I believed there is a God I could always talk to.
-- When you thought I wasn't looking, You kissed me good-night And I felt loved.
-- When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes, And I learned that sometimes things hurt-- But it's all right to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking, You smiled And it made me want to look that pretty too.
-- When you thought I wasn't looking, You cared, And I wanted to be everything I could be.
-- When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked... And I wanted to say thanks" For all those things you did When you thought I wasn't looking.
-- mothers, who is looking at you today? -- who's lives are you influencing just be being you? -- Naomi changed Ruth's life forever even though she didn't know Ruth was looking -- and you are changing someone else's life even though you might not know they are looking
-- as we close now, let me remind you of the power you have to change lives for better or worse -- and let me encourage you to always consider what your actions and your words can do to those around you
-- may God bless you today and keep you in His grace as you seek to live out His example for others
-- let us pray
1 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/sports/pro-basketball-nets-jefferson-follows-mother-s-example-succeeds-through-positive.html?pagewanted=1
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