Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC)

Scriptures:
Ruth 1:1-9, 14-18
Mark 12:28-34

Death is as unpredictable as it is certain. It comes as a stranger in the night, without the courtesy of a warning. Or it hovers around the bed for days, weeks, months, before its task is complete. Its arrival is calamitous for some, a welcome relief for others. It can storm into our lives and turn them upside down with the force of a hurricane, or fall upon us as gently as a light rain. But however it comes, it always leaves something behind—survivors. It may be said that every death leaves behind walking wounded—a person or people who, at least for a time, lead lives marked by loss and grief. The grief may be complicated or uncomplicated—depending on the nature of the death. The loss may be piercing, keening pain, or a gentler feeling of emptiness and absence, but everyone who loses a loved one passes through this valley of the walking wounded—the valley of those who walk in the shadow of death for a time.

How do we cope with the journey of grief through the valley of the shadow? How do we find ways to honor the life of the person we have lost? What is the proper testament to the absolutely unique and irreplaceable person who has left us behind to make something of our lives?

The story of Ruth and Naomi may give us some clues. For Naomi and her two daughters-in-law, the deaths of their husbands constituted a genuine calamity. Imagine a society where the only welfare system, the only social security, the only health care insurance, is your family. Imagine a society where women are completely defenseless without the protection of a male family member. Now, consider what it would mean to be separated from your entire family, as Naomi was, except for her two daughters-in-law. Small surprise, then, that she decided to risk everything to return, on foot, across a treacherous country, to the home she had left behind. Starting out with Ruth and Orpah, they make a small band of the walking-wounded, female survivors of three male deaths that spelled disaster in their world. Naomi’s chances of survival would be even smaller on her own, but inexplicably, and irrationally, she decides partway home to send Ruth and Orpah back to Moah. She has a change of heart. Go back and find husbands among your own kin, she urges them; have a life, raise a family, don’t linger with me in the valley of the shadow any longer. There’s nothing I can do for you anymore.

Orpah sees the wisdom in this, and finally consents to turn back; but Ruth is different. Ruth cannot let go of Naomi; she refuses to leave her to fend for herself and promises to make Naomi her home—where you go, I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Stirring words. Words of loyalty, compassion, and most importantly, love. In Ruth’s and Naomi’s actions and decisions, in their sacrificial love for one another, do we perhaps glimpse something of what it means to truly honor our dead?
Something must have gone right in this little family that had been created by a mixed marriage between an Israelite and a Moabite. During the ten years that Orpah and Ruth were married to Naomi’s sons, affection, care, and consideration had blossomed. The untimely deaths of the two young men revealed the true character of this family—where jealously, competition, or bitterness could have taken over, love and companionship reigned. Only harsh necessity finally intervened to persuade Orpah to leave the band of women, and she did so with reluctance. But for Ruth and Naomi, even the iron fist of necessity bowed to the bond of love between them. Naomi, loving both her daughters-in-law more than her own life, wanted only what was best for them. Ruth, knowing the dangers and uncertainties of life with Naomi, wanted only to stay by Naomi’s side and continue to be family to her. But is it also possible that more than their own affection for one another motivated Ruth and Naomi? What is often missed in commentaries on this story is the continuing presence of the absent men. For isn’t it likely that Ruth’s dedication to Naomi arose in part from her dedication to her deceased husband, who would want more than anything for his mother to be taken care of after his death? And isn’t it likely that Naomi was motivated to send Ruth and Orpah home at least in part out of love for her sons, who as she must have thought, would not wish to see their beloved wives die with her in the wilderness, or live unhappy, unfulfilled lives in a foreign land? As I read between the lines of this story, what I see is three women finding different ways to cope with their grief, three ways to try to walk out of the valley of the shadow of death, while still honoring the memory of their loved ones.

In our gospel lesson for today, Jesus is asked which commandment is most important. As a good Rabbi, he gives the classic answer according to Jewish Law—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.” But then, Jesus departs from the script, and he gives a second commandment which he makes virtually equivalent with the first. “The second is this,” Jesus says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

On this All Saints Day, as we remember with reverence the lives of all who are dear to us who have left this earth during the past year, and as we read aloud the names of Rock Springers who have died, what is the greatest testament that we could give to their lives? Is it not to love the ones that are left behind? Is it not to tend with passion and compassion the lives of those around us, both those who meant much to our loved one and also those that he or she never knew? Is it not to lead lives of love and service, out of respect for the values that we learned from those who have died? Life, as they say, is for the living. When we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow, may we find solace and purpose in loving the living with as fierce a love as we feel for our dead. They are in the hands of God; but who is in our hands?

Ruth 1:1-18
1In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4These took Moabite wives; the name of one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there for about ten years, 5both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons or her husband.
6 Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had had consideration for his people and given them food. 7So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. 8But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.’ Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud.
14Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 So she said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ 16But Ruth 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. ?17Where 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!’ ?18When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

Mark 12:28-34
28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ 29Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you 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.” 31The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ 32Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; 33and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbour as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ 34When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.