Rev. Rachel Lewis Cooley
“Relationship and Re-membering”
Eastwood Christian Church, Nashville TN
November 3, 2019
Good morning, everyone.
As I step into the pulpit, for the first time here at Eastwood, I’d like own that this is also my first time preaching in a church period... so I’ll look forward to being in conversation with you about my sermon, should you have responses or constructive feedback to offer. I’d also like to acknowledge with gratitude the support I’ve received from Eastwood and many of you, both in serving as a sponsoring congregation in my ordination process and in my ministerial internship here. I’m grateful for you all, for the staff I have the pleasure of serving with, and,/ especially on this All Saints’ Day, for the cloud of Eastwood witnesses who built this particular pulpit. Though we may not know each of them, they are present with us today and every day, as are the people who lived on and cared for this particular piece of creation before them. I hope we can remain grateful to them and faithful to our continual calling from God for this place and community. With that in mind, will you spend a moment in prayer with me.
Creator God,
We are thankful for the Saints who have gone before us, and for this moment where we are gathered.
And now May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts be pleasing and acceptable to you, oh God, our rock and redeemer.
Amen
Our scripture today comes from the book of Ruth, chapter 1, verses 1-18, found on page 241 in your pew bibles if you’d like to read along.
In the book of Ruth, and in our lives, we’re invited to see God’s love working through the specific actions and gifts of others. This theme runs throughout the story of Ruth and Naomi, which I’d invite you to read in full when you go home today or something this week. The brief, 4 chapter book is one of only a few books in the Hebrew scriptures that focuses on women characters, who are active agents despite and in the midst of a patriarchal society. It’s also beautifully written and its focus on character development makes it possible for us, even though we’re centuries removed, to connect with the story. The women in it persist in their faithfulness to God and to each other despite real hardships, grief, doubt, and uncertainty, and that is what makes their relationship so powerful.
Hear now, from the Book of Ruth: Ruth 1:1-18
1 In 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. 2 The 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. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and 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 considered his people and given them food. 7 So 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. 8 But 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. 9 The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. 10 They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, 13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.” 14 Then 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.” 16 But 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.
17 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!”
18 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
Herein we seek inspiration.
I know that each of you could name people who have made you stop and think, “this must be something like what the love of God is like.” We know God partially through each other, and we know God can work through us because we’ve seen God work through the life of Jesus. The love of God on earth is enacted and embodied by each of us.
Naomi alludes to this theme in the text when she says to her daughters-in-law in verse 8: “May the Lord deal kindly with you, / as you have dealt with the dead and with me.” “Deal kindly”--say it with me -- “Deal Kindly”-- “Deal Kindly” was an expression frequently used in the Hebrew scriptures to describe God’s covenant with Israel, and Naomi here says that both Orpah and Ruth have exemplified that ideal on a human scale. Whenever a character refers to the goodness and faithfulness of God in this book, it comes with an acknowledgment of the human agent of that love, making the love of God and love shown by another, in this story, often one in the same.
Ruth, whose name means “friend,” lives out her embodiment of God’s faithfulness in her relationship with Naomi. She goes above and beyond what was expected of her based on social obligation, especially after Naomi specifically tells her to go back home.
Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah are in dire straights at this point. As widows without children in their society, they were guaranteed protection by no one, and would have had few means to support themselves.
Perhaps Naomi tells Ruth and Orpah to return to their families because she thinks it’s their best chance at survival, and their best chance to marry again and have children, the only thing that would truly guarantee their security. Perhaps she assumes that, with the death of their husbands, their obligation to her as mother-in-law has shifted, and they will not want to stay with her.
Pausing … Naomi has lost so much, after all. Who could blame her for assuming she will lose her daughters-in-law too, or for feeling that “the hand of the Lord [had] turned against [her]?”
Ruth does not shy away from Naomi’s hopelessness, though. She simply insists on their continuing bond herself, showing love as God would, and does. “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God,” she speaks with passion. She will not abandon Naomi to journey and struggle alone, though she does not know what is to come. Ruth is in relationship with Naomi and refuses to deny that bond of love, no matter Naomi’s seeming-hopelessness or defense mechanisms telling her to go home--that she doesn't have to stay. Ruth is there anyway, like God is there always.
Naomi may have felt taken-aback by this powerful, abundant, unasked-for-though-desperately-needed love, and through Ruth’s demonstration of it, she knew more deeply something of what the love of God is like, and something of how she could be faithful to Ruth too. This hints of a love and relationship that abides even after death. "Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried,” Ruth says. “May the LORD do this to me and more so if even death separates me from you.”
Telling this story of Ruth on All Saints’ Day brings me to the idea of “re-membering.” When we “re-member” someone, we’ve internalized some of their spiritual gifts, passions, and concerns, and we live them out in the world, in something like the way they would.
Through family relationship, I was lucky enough to experience God at work, and in abundant love, in the life of my brother-in-law, Richard Durrett. Richard proved himself faithful to me when I was young, and I didn't know much about what love from someone who was not my parents or sisters was like, or what it was like for someone to marry into my family, which is rather loud, and somewhat crazy in our own way, as I suppose all families are. From the time I met him at the age of 5, he became a caring sibling and mentor who I eventually realized I was so grateful for. His joy for life and for relationships, the way he watched sports with such excitement, stayed committed to family and to the things that matter, and consistently asked new people he encountered, “What’s your story?” continually inspired me, my family members, and his other loved ones.
Richard died suddenly in June 2014, just before my senior year of college. While the grief of my family, his three children, and his friends continues to this day, in sadness that will never go away, I see how those of us who saw his embodiment of God’s love, and were lucky enough to be in relationship with him, continue to live his love of God and his particular spiritual gifts in our lives and actions for others.
We “re-member” Richard’s freely given love and gifts when we commit to each other and thoughtfully show and pass on the love we’ve been given.
When we get excited about a baseball game, or follow an entire football game, though admittedly less excitedly than he did, we channel him.
His love is also re-membered through the “Do It For Durrett” foundation, which raises money for and supports other families who experience sudden loss in the Dallas Ft.-Worth area.
When Richard’s loved ones go to the events every summer to raise money and speak with a family who has experienced loss, but also generosity, like we did, we show caring like Richard.
When we imitate his distinct, Southern phrases, like “isn’t that right honey?!” and “this parking lot is just covered up!” we laugh as we recall him.
We re-member him when we stay involved in the church, including the one he gave much of his time and energy to, Northway Christian Church in Dallas, where I served as Intern to Youth and Young Adults this summer.
In these and so many other ways I cannot know, carried out by others who knew Richard, Richard has not left us, he is part of us--he has not left us. His particular ways of being faithful to God and his spiritual gifts continue to speak to us, and we continue to live them out, re-membering him in relationship with others.
Ruth may have been “re-membering” and living into her husband's dedication to her mother-in-law when she stayed by Naomi. She was certainly also following her own spiritual gift for faithfulness and loyalty, which it appears abundantly clear throughout the book that she possessed. Whatever the case, these women experienced God’s love through one another, and knew it to be a love that would not falter, even through grief, uncertain futures, and eventual death.
The Rev. Joe Kay, reflecting on All Saint’s Day, wrote "Those who love us are with us always. They’re near, dear, and not-so-departed. They remain an intimate and important part of our daily journey to become more loving people and to build a more just society together. We’re reminded that death isn’t about destruction or separation; it’s a moment of holy transformation that takes us even deeper into life. We trade our heartbeat for a deeper place in the heart of God who is love, a heart that remains active and involved in our world."
Many of us who have lost a loved one can attest to this truth, and can tell stories of those relationships where we’ve seen God at work, as well as to the grief and “re-membering” that comes after the loss. I’ve named one of these stories today, and we’ve been inspired by the story of Ruth and Naomi. Now, in this moment, I'd like to invite us to reflect on how we are already re-membering those who have died, though we may not always realize it. With a moment of silence, and a moment to check in with yourself right now, with eyes closed or open, connecting to your breath… this is a time to reflect on how the people who have gone before us are living on in us and what of their spiritual gifts we can embody.
Through relationship, and in the gifts and ministries of all, we experience God’s abundant, ever-present, persistent love. May we continue to re-member.
Amen
Call to Discipleship
And now…
As we all take a deep breath that I’ve finished my first sermon…
We’re invited to consider how we are called to re-member Christ today and all the days ahead.
Through relationship
Through our words,
Actions, and
Thoughts…
As we work to “deal kindly” with each other, with ourselves, and in our communities.
Will you now rise in body or in spirit to sing our hymn of discipleship, number 638.