Ruth and Loss

So we're starting a new series, and this is Ruth and Loss.

And Andy was telling me just before the service started

that he had met the author, Ian Coffey,

at Spring Harvest in France, where he led a week,

and he was very impressed with him,

and that's why he recommended the book.

So it comes with high recommendations.

So could this story be actually what's happening now?

Some 4,000 years later, Naomi, husband and two sons,

refugees in Moab due to a famine in Israel.

Now, the experts don't actually know why there was a famine in Israel.

It could have been drought.

It could have been terrorist activities wiping out the crops,

or it could have been a bit of both.

But there they are.

They left Bethlehem and went into Moab.

And do you know where Moab is?

Well, I can tell you because I looked it up.

It's to the east of the Dead Sea

and was the country that some of Lot's children developed.

And you may remember that Abraham gave Lot the choice of lands

when they separated after an argument,

and Lot chose the fertile lands of Jordan.

So the sons marry local girls, not Jewish girls.

Husband dies.

Sons dies.

No children.

Grandchildren.

So, say, it could be just like what's happening today.

And after about 10 years,

Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem as famine over

and wants to leave her daughter's-in-law in Moab.

But one stays and Ruth goes with Naomi.

Naomi feels at total loss,

and the women of Bethlehem said,

Is this Naomi?

In these words, there was an expression of amazement,

not so much at the fact that Naomi was still alive

and had come back again,

as at her returning in so mournful a condition

as a solitary widow

without either husbands, sons or grandsons.

And that's why she replied,

Call me not Naomi,

which means gracious,

but Mara,

which means the one who has experienced bitterness.

And as an aside,

there is no mention there of how Ruth feels.

And I expect she felt very isolated.

So, let's leave Ruth and Naomi

having just returned to Bethlehem

and in a desperate state for a few minutes,

whilst I tell you a story of Charity,

who lives in Malawi,

one of the poorest countries in the world.

And this is in her own words,

as posted on Facebook.

I enrolled at African Bible College

for my first year in 2010.

Three years later,

I dropped out

because I had not been able to pay school fees in time.

Three minutes later,

I got pregnant out of wedlock.

I went through a lot the next three years that followed.

I hit rock bottom

and I hit it hard.

I was homeless most of the time,

broke to the bone,

no relationship with Christ

because I hated him for letting my life suck.

I was in a physically abusive relationship

before I became a single mother.

I had no hope.

Many told me my future was ruined

and that no man would want to marry me

because I had a child now.

I was called a disgrace,

loose,

and other weird names.

I lost weight.

I went through suicide attempts.

Depression was my friend

and I was just lost.

But God,

he had different plans.

He surrounded me with amazing people

who shared my pain,

who supported me,

who gave everything they could

to get me out of the dark,

dark place I had found myself.

They allowed God to use their time,

their money,

and homes to help me.

I got better,

kept a job for more than a year,

and found hope in Christ again.

In August 2016,

I went back to finish my schooling.

June 3, 2017,

I graduated with a bachelor's degree

in mass communications.

I don't know about you,

but the God I serve

does everything in perfect timing.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am not a college dropout.

I am a graduate.

And I have an update

because my son and daughter-in-law

and their children live in Malawi,

and they're over here at the moment.

And they were one of those

who supported charity

and are continuing to do so.

And she's working now,

selling T-shirts,

but she wants to do something different.

She has plans to set up a retreat

to support women

in abusive relationships

and is trying to get funding.

I'm now going to put some pictures

on the screen of her graduation.

And perhaps you could remember charity

in your prayers.

And there she is

with my son and daughter-in-law,

smiling.

And the next picture.

And there she is with her family,

and you see her little daughter

down at the bottom.

And the next picture.

And there's the daughter,

who I understand is a bit of a handful.

And the final picture.

And there she is again with her family,

looking very happy.

So, say,

perhaps you could remember her

in your prayers.

So,

returning to Naomi and Ruth,

the story continues.

And Ruth marries Boaz,

a relative of Naomi,

and she has a son.

And he was called Obed.

I digress again.

While life for Naomi improved,

having a grandson

and a roof over her head,

and charity is looking forward

with hope

to be able to do God's will

in her life,

there are others

who have tragedy,

who have tragedies,

who can't see a future.

The news is full of such people

as the Greenhall Tower block fire,

terrorist killing,

those caught up in war,

and people in day-to-day lives

who have suffered

individual tragedies,

which they find hard

to overcome.

And I ask the question,

what can we do?

What can we offer them?

I think there are three things.

We can offer them love.

We can offer them our prayers

and our support.

And I make no apology

for reading again

what Archbishop John Sentineau

said on Prayer for the Day

on Radio 4,

just after the tragedy

in Manchester.

And he said,

until earlier this week,

I had not heard

of Ariane Grand,

and I must admit

I hadn't either.

But I suspect

it's a bit more like

in my days

and perhaps some of your days,

when the Beatles

first hit the scene,

there was a lot of enthusiasm

for them.

And so that's what my thing.

And he didn't know

that she was so popular

with children,

but I do know now,

and that her fans call her

the Arianeater.

Her fans went joyfully

and expectantly

with their parents

to see her in concert

in Manchester Arena.

And soon after the bombing,

she responded by saying,

broken from the bottom

of my heart,

I am so sorry.

I don't have words.

Yesterday,

she announced

she will hold

a benefit concert

for the victims

and their families.

Our world is in pain,

groaning and longing

to be liberated

from futility

and hatred.

The deliberate targeting

of innocent children,

adults and their families

with a calculated

and callous equation

of evil

demonstrated that hatred.

A deliberate act

contorted and twisted

within the framework

of a brutalistic ideology

that exists outside

the understanding

of shared humanity.

My hearts and prayers

go out to the family

and friends

of all those

who were murdered

and injured.

One of the fundamental

laws of physics

reminds us

that for every action,

there is an equal

and opposite reaction.

It's a law

that such jihadists,

the purveyors

of these heinous

criminal acts

across cities

and continents,

fail to understand.

Within minutes

of the bombing

in Manchester

and the attack

in London,

that law

was demonstrated

by the emergency services

and countless acts

of love and kindness

by many.

I experienced it myself

at the vigil

in Albert Square.

The opposite reaction

to the actions

of these evil men

a lone bomber,

a coming together

of love.

The love

that we have witnessed

stands in dark opposition

to the evil

that sought

to taunt it.

It's a love

that is heard,

often heard,

and read

at weddings

and funerals,

that great hymn

of love

from 1 Corinthians

13.

The love

which contends

with tragedy,

endures hardship,

is steadfast

in difficulty,

and in the end

wins out.

That strong

and long-lasting love

that carries people

through both

good times

and bad,

the love

that many waters

cannot quench

or blow apart.

The pain,

grief,

righteous anger,

and the consequences

of these evil acts

will endure for years

in the lives

of those

who have lost

loved ones.

But the hatred

that inspired

that criminal act

will lose.

It will not have

the final word.

And as Martin Luther King

Jr.

once remarked,

darkness cannot

drive out darkness.

Only light

can do that.

Hate cannot

drive out hate.

Only love

can do that.

And in the opening

verses of John's

Gospel,

in him was life,

and that life

was the light

of all people.

The light shines

in the darkness,

and the darkness

has not overcome it.

And so,

I contend

it's our responsibility

as members

of the Church

to support

those in need,

those who have

lost hope

and can't see

a future.

It will not

be easy.

And to come back

to Ruth,

if you look

at the beginning

of Matthew's Gospel,

it says,

a record

of the genealogy

of Jesus Christ,

the son of David,

the son of Abraham.

Abraham was

the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father

of Jacob.

It goes on,

then it says,

Salmon,

the father of Boaz,

Boaz,

the father of Obed,

whose mother

was Ruth.

Obed,

the father of Jesse,

and Jesse,

the father of King David,

and David,

the father of Solomon.

And the genealogy

finishes with Jacob,

the father of Joseph,

the husband of Mary,

and who was born,

of whom was born Jesus,

who is called Christ.

So God does work

in mysterious ways.

Finally,

just a little extract

from this book

of her story.

It's called

Jill's Story,

and I think you will

recognize where

it comes from.

Jill Fairway

saw two of her children

die from a rare

metabolic disease.

The disease

doesn't show

until the children

are about three,

and by that time,

their first child,

Katie,

was diagnosed.

They already had

their second child,

Tom,

who also had

the syndrome.

Katie died

aged 11.

Tom survived

until he was 15.

Jill and her husband,

Eddie,

nursed their children

to the end,

and out of their

personal pain

of loss,

something beautiful

was born.

I met with Jill

when she invited me

to speak

at a special service

for the organization

that she and Eddie

had founded,

the Southwest

Children's Hospice.

We met to plan

the event,

and Jill told me

her story of loss.

At one really dark time

in their journey,

with two terminally

ill children,

she had woken Eddie

in the middle of the night

and exclaimed,

we are going to take

all this pain

and do something

good with it,

and they did.

Today,

there are three

children's hospices

serving in the

Southwest of England.

in 1995,

Little Bridge House

was first to open

in Barnstable,

Devon.

This was followed

by Charlton Farm

near Bristol

in 2007,

and Little Harbour

in St. Austal,

which opened in 2011.

Millions of pounds

were raised

by a couple

who didn't like

public speaking,

and scores of families

have been helped

as their dying children

have received love

and care

in their last months

on earth.

Taking pain

and doing something

good with it,

it sounds like

a good way

to deal with loss.

So,

perhaps I can leave you

with that thought,

and the thought

that out of

Naomi's

and Ruth's tragedies

came a great

genealogy,

that from that

came King David,

and it followed up

to Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.