An Odd Couple
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series II, Cycle B
An Odd Couple
What do the Lone Ranger and Tonto have in common? How about Forrest Gump and Lieutenant Dan Taylor? Or Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock? These are all odd couples when you stop to think about it, considering their backgrounds and interests. Life has afforded some unusual associations, odd couples who have collaborated either by necessity or through circumstance. I am also reminded of two friends sharing an apartment, but whose ideas of housekeeping are as different as night and day. I'm sure you remember The Odd Couple, a stage play which became a movie and a television series.
Originally conceived by Neil Simon, who based the script on his brother Danny's true experience, The Odd Couple is best described by Simon himself. "Two men, one divorced and one estranged, and neither quite sure why their marriages fell apart, move in together to save money for alimony. Suddenly they discover they're having the same conflicts and fights with each other that they had had with their wives."1
Felix Unger is a hypochondriac and neat freak whose wife got fed up with his cleaning and cooking fixations, and threw him out. If you have annoying traits or habits, and I'm sure I am not talking to any of you here today, those habits will probably follow you wherever you go. Sure enough, they followed Felix to Oscar's place.
Oscar Madison is a messy, capricious apartment dweller who offers this distressed friend, Felix, a place to stay. Trouble soon begins because two such contradictory characters supposedly cannot live together for long.
Ruth and Naomi are also an odd couple of sorts, linked by circumstances beyond their control. Mothers-in-law do not always have sterling reputations. They have received bad press over the years and have been the brunt of many jokes resulting from strained relationships. However, Naomi is not your stereotypical mother-in-law.
It all began with the drought. Naomi's homeland Judah was parched and scorched beyond its ability to sustain life of any kind. Once again, crops were in ruin from the blistering heat of the sweltering noonday sun. Just as their ancestors had done before them, Naomi, her husband, Elimelech, and two sons interrupt their lives to flee from the ravages of famine. The family sets out from their hometown of Bethlehem, which ironically means "house of bread." They ramble the dusty path from Judah, west of the Dead Sea, around its southern perimeter to Moab, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, where food is not as scarce. Incongruously, the Hebrew people must turn to their perceived enemies in Moab to provide them with life-sustaining food and water.
During the turbulent time when the Judges ruled, life is anything but easy. Most Israelites live in small villages, farming marginal land. But there is camaraderie amongst the families. Villagers regard themselves as a kinship group, working together and celebrating together. Each household is comprised of members of three or four generations. A family's land is passed on and on from sons to their sons. Each family member contributes to sustaining their subsistence level of survival. Men and boys work in the fields, while the women birth and nurture children, and process grain and fiber.
The people of Israel had first encountered Moabites during their travels from slavery in Egypt to the promised land. They have been fighting with the Moabites ever since, so Moab was labeled "enemy territory." The two nations disagreed over land, economics, and religion, among other things. The Moabites did not worship the God of the people of Israel. They worshiped many gods, and for this reason, the Israelites were forbidden to intermarry with Moabites. However, the two sons of Naomi and Elimelech end up doing that very thing.
Naomi's family arrives in the land of Moab with a great deal of fear and trepidation, only to be pleasantly surprised by what they find there. They receive a much warmer welcome in the land of Moab than they had expected, possibly because of their own easygoing demeanors. The Moabites were people, too, who loved their families and worked hard to provide for them. These new immigrants settle into a community of new and different customs, and their sons quickly make friends among the boys and girls of Moab. They meet new people and enter into new relationships.
Sometimes people inadvertently carry the prejudices of their forebears long after the original reason for discord has evaporated from memory. It is so much better to bury the hatchet and learn to live and work together amicably. People are people the world around, with the same concerns and human needs. Naomi's family was very fortunate to find themselves among the included rather than the excluded in Moab.
Before long, Naomi's husband dies, but fortunately she has two sons to provide for her. Her sons then choose Moabite women for their wives, and life is good for ten more years. Then both sons die, leaving their widows childless and alone. The three widows live in Moab, bound together by the love they had for the same three men.
Life for widows, orphans, and foreigners in biblical times is extremely insecure. Without husbands, sons, or uncles, women ceased to be persons. They had no identity, no rights, no future, no way to make a living, and no people among whom to live.
Women in the ancient world had no status and no economic power. Husbands and sons were the only sources of a woman's security and value. The only profession open to women was the oldest one. Women's fates were determined by men -- their fathers, then their husbands, sons, and even the town elders. In the ancient world the laws didn't allow widows the right to inherit. Widowhood was a disgrace, even though the prophets chided people strongly for neglecting to care for widows and orphans. Fortunately, widows were considered to be under the special care of God.
Each of us has experienced the heartache and hardship of loss. Even our children know the loss of beloved relationships. We know how lonely it feels to lose a loved one. So when Naomi loses her husband and her two sons, she is devastated.
This also places Naomi's two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, in a desperate situation. Naomi insists that her daughters-in-law return to their hometown, and finally convinces Orpah to return to the security of her family of origin. Orpah returns home, a sensible decision under the circumstances. But Ruth commits herself totally to being "family" with Naomi and vows to stand by her. Ruth tells Naomi, "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."
Ruth's loyalty to Naomi is touching, but contemplate her last words, "Your God, my God." Ruth's words indicate that she is a spiritual seeker in the process of crossing the line of faith to the one true God, the God Naomi knows.
Naomi receives word that the famine in Bethlehem is over and she decides that she would really love to return to her homeland. In the move to Moab she has lost contact with any extended family she may have left behind. She also lost valuable friendships and support that were available to her in her hometown of Bethlehem.
Therefore, Ruth leaves her homeland of Moab, a radical decision for a single woman who has little hope for the future. She has only Naomi to hold onto, while Naomi keeps trying to push her away. Naomi and Ruth begin their treacherous journey into an unsure future. Although God may seem silent through our sorrow, God is continually involved in steady, unspectacular ways. God comes to a distraught and tormented Naomi in the person of Ruth.
So, two penniless widows, and one of them a foreigner from the despised community of the Moabites, begin their journey toward Bethlehem, Naomi's family home. The journey is slow and arduous as Naomi and Ruth plod along the dusty, rocky terrain under a scorching sun. A courageous Ruth is willing to step out on faith, taking risks as she begins her pilgrimage into an unknown future.
Like Ruth and Naomi, we also forge ahead into an unsure, unknown future, but we have the assurance that God is in control. Our lives and our futures are also uncertain. What we do know is that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We know who we are and we know Whose we are. Our faith holds us in good stead while everything around us continues to change. God is walking as a shepherd beside us, blessing us as we go.
One of God's favorite ways of blessing us is through the love of our family and friends. These are the folks who support us emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually, but our family life is sometimes disrupted. That is a good time for us to remember that "Family" especially includes our church family, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Just as Ruth is an instrument of blessing and healing in Naomi's life, we bring healing to each other. The person who comes to our door bringing hugs, bringing food, and who provides a sympathetic listening ear, also brings healing.
When we are in need, we are ministered to by this wider family. God uses those around us to reach out to us. And we, in turn, minister to the needs of other people in our community. Maybe the significance of Ruth's being a foreigner is that it forces us to enlarge our picture of who our family is, who it is that we support and are supported by. There are no outsiders in God's family, regardless of where people come from or what their background is. Those who become God's people are not chosen by race, status, or pedigree.
Ruth obviously has a strong commitment to family and relationships. It isn't easy to lose your spouse, leave home, and move to a foreign country. It isn't easy to live with your mother-in-law and to accept new tasks and responsibilities in life. Any one of those encumbrances could be overwhelming.
Ruth is blessed with a variety of coping skills. In today's world she would have many more options, just as we do. We are fortunate to have support groups and family members who walk the journey with us day by day. Caring friends with listening ears are just a phone call away. Leisure time engages us with a good book or a movie. And amid all the external help that's available, there is also that inner strength that comes only from God.
Isn't God's way full of surprises? Two childless widows making their own way in life certainly are unlikely heroes of a book of the Bible. And one of them is not even a Jew! Now, fate might never deal you or me the kind of blows it dealt Naomi and Ruth, but whatever comes our way in life, we can depend on God, as Naomi and Ruth do, to see us through. God provides us with the things we need to live from day to day. God does take care of us.
Ruth and Naomi move from the anguish of deaths in Moab to new life in Bethlehem, from death to resurrection. Ruth represents a Christ figure in Naomi's life, who persists in offering Naomi her love and support, even in the face of Naomi's rejection. In the same way, God persists in loving us in the face of our rejection. This is good news for us. God is always working in the shadows, actively caring for us. During times of loss and transition we naturally turn to God with our questioning "Whys."
We come to find that God is not absent at all, but is closer to us than ever. Although God may seem absent, or at least silent, God is continually present and at work in steady, unspectacular ways in our lives, healing hurt hearts and bringing hope for a brighter future.
____________
1.ÊNeil Simon, The Odd Couple I and II: The Original Screenplays (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), p. 9.
What do the Lone Ranger and Tonto have in common? How about Forrest Gump and Lieutenant Dan Taylor? Or Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock? These are all odd couples when you stop to think about it, considering their backgrounds and interests. Life has afforded some unusual associations, odd couples who have collaborated either by necessity or through circumstance. I am also reminded of two friends sharing an apartment, but whose ideas of housekeeping are as different as night and day. I'm sure you remember The Odd Couple, a stage play which became a movie and a television series.
Originally conceived by Neil Simon, who based the script on his brother Danny's true experience, The Odd Couple is best described by Simon himself. "Two men, one divorced and one estranged, and neither quite sure why their marriages fell apart, move in together to save money for alimony. Suddenly they discover they're having the same conflicts and fights with each other that they had had with their wives."1
Felix Unger is a hypochondriac and neat freak whose wife got fed up with his cleaning and cooking fixations, and threw him out. If you have annoying traits or habits, and I'm sure I am not talking to any of you here today, those habits will probably follow you wherever you go. Sure enough, they followed Felix to Oscar's place.
Oscar Madison is a messy, capricious apartment dweller who offers this distressed friend, Felix, a place to stay. Trouble soon begins because two such contradictory characters supposedly cannot live together for long.
Ruth and Naomi are also an odd couple of sorts, linked by circumstances beyond their control. Mothers-in-law do not always have sterling reputations. They have received bad press over the years and have been the brunt of many jokes resulting from strained relationships. However, Naomi is not your stereotypical mother-in-law.
It all began with the drought. Naomi's homeland Judah was parched and scorched beyond its ability to sustain life of any kind. Once again, crops were in ruin from the blistering heat of the sweltering noonday sun. Just as their ancestors had done before them, Naomi, her husband, Elimelech, and two sons interrupt their lives to flee from the ravages of famine. The family sets out from their hometown of Bethlehem, which ironically means "house of bread." They ramble the dusty path from Judah, west of the Dead Sea, around its southern perimeter to Moab, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, where food is not as scarce. Incongruously, the Hebrew people must turn to their perceived enemies in Moab to provide them with life-sustaining food and water.
During the turbulent time when the Judges ruled, life is anything but easy. Most Israelites live in small villages, farming marginal land. But there is camaraderie amongst the families. Villagers regard themselves as a kinship group, working together and celebrating together. Each household is comprised of members of three or four generations. A family's land is passed on and on from sons to their sons. Each family member contributes to sustaining their subsistence level of survival. Men and boys work in the fields, while the women birth and nurture children, and process grain and fiber.
The people of Israel had first encountered Moabites during their travels from slavery in Egypt to the promised land. They have been fighting with the Moabites ever since, so Moab was labeled "enemy territory." The two nations disagreed over land, economics, and religion, among other things. The Moabites did not worship the God of the people of Israel. They worshiped many gods, and for this reason, the Israelites were forbidden to intermarry with Moabites. However, the two sons of Naomi and Elimelech end up doing that very thing.
Naomi's family arrives in the land of Moab with a great deal of fear and trepidation, only to be pleasantly surprised by what they find there. They receive a much warmer welcome in the land of Moab than they had expected, possibly because of their own easygoing demeanors. The Moabites were people, too, who loved their families and worked hard to provide for them. These new immigrants settle into a community of new and different customs, and their sons quickly make friends among the boys and girls of Moab. They meet new people and enter into new relationships.
Sometimes people inadvertently carry the prejudices of their forebears long after the original reason for discord has evaporated from memory. It is so much better to bury the hatchet and learn to live and work together amicably. People are people the world around, with the same concerns and human needs. Naomi's family was very fortunate to find themselves among the included rather than the excluded in Moab.
Before long, Naomi's husband dies, but fortunately she has two sons to provide for her. Her sons then choose Moabite women for their wives, and life is good for ten more years. Then both sons die, leaving their widows childless and alone. The three widows live in Moab, bound together by the love they had for the same three men.
Life for widows, orphans, and foreigners in biblical times is extremely insecure. Without husbands, sons, or uncles, women ceased to be persons. They had no identity, no rights, no future, no way to make a living, and no people among whom to live.
Women in the ancient world had no status and no economic power. Husbands and sons were the only sources of a woman's security and value. The only profession open to women was the oldest one. Women's fates were determined by men -- their fathers, then their husbands, sons, and even the town elders. In the ancient world the laws didn't allow widows the right to inherit. Widowhood was a disgrace, even though the prophets chided people strongly for neglecting to care for widows and orphans. Fortunately, widows were considered to be under the special care of God.
Each of us has experienced the heartache and hardship of loss. Even our children know the loss of beloved relationships. We know how lonely it feels to lose a loved one. So when Naomi loses her husband and her two sons, she is devastated.
This also places Naomi's two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, in a desperate situation. Naomi insists that her daughters-in-law return to their hometown, and finally convinces Orpah to return to the security of her family of origin. Orpah returns home, a sensible decision under the circumstances. But Ruth commits herself totally to being "family" with Naomi and vows to stand by her. Ruth tells Naomi, "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."
Ruth's loyalty to Naomi is touching, but contemplate her last words, "Your God, my God." Ruth's words indicate that she is a spiritual seeker in the process of crossing the line of faith to the one true God, the God Naomi knows.
Naomi receives word that the famine in Bethlehem is over and she decides that she would really love to return to her homeland. In the move to Moab she has lost contact with any extended family she may have left behind. She also lost valuable friendships and support that were available to her in her hometown of Bethlehem.
Therefore, Ruth leaves her homeland of Moab, a radical decision for a single woman who has little hope for the future. She has only Naomi to hold onto, while Naomi keeps trying to push her away. Naomi and Ruth begin their treacherous journey into an unsure future. Although God may seem silent through our sorrow, God is continually involved in steady, unspectacular ways. God comes to a distraught and tormented Naomi in the person of Ruth.
So, two penniless widows, and one of them a foreigner from the despised community of the Moabites, begin their journey toward Bethlehem, Naomi's family home. The journey is slow and arduous as Naomi and Ruth plod along the dusty, rocky terrain under a scorching sun. A courageous Ruth is willing to step out on faith, taking risks as she begins her pilgrimage into an unknown future.
Like Ruth and Naomi, we also forge ahead into an unsure, unknown future, but we have the assurance that God is in control. Our lives and our futures are also uncertain. What we do know is that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We know who we are and we know Whose we are. Our faith holds us in good stead while everything around us continues to change. God is walking as a shepherd beside us, blessing us as we go.
One of God's favorite ways of blessing us is through the love of our family and friends. These are the folks who support us emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually, but our family life is sometimes disrupted. That is a good time for us to remember that "Family" especially includes our church family, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Just as Ruth is an instrument of blessing and healing in Naomi's life, we bring healing to each other. The person who comes to our door bringing hugs, bringing food, and who provides a sympathetic listening ear, also brings healing.
When we are in need, we are ministered to by this wider family. God uses those around us to reach out to us. And we, in turn, minister to the needs of other people in our community. Maybe the significance of Ruth's being a foreigner is that it forces us to enlarge our picture of who our family is, who it is that we support and are supported by. There are no outsiders in God's family, regardless of where people come from or what their background is. Those who become God's people are not chosen by race, status, or pedigree.
Ruth obviously has a strong commitment to family and relationships. It isn't easy to lose your spouse, leave home, and move to a foreign country. It isn't easy to live with your mother-in-law and to accept new tasks and responsibilities in life. Any one of those encumbrances could be overwhelming.
Ruth is blessed with a variety of coping skills. In today's world she would have many more options, just as we do. We are fortunate to have support groups and family members who walk the journey with us day by day. Caring friends with listening ears are just a phone call away. Leisure time engages us with a good book or a movie. And amid all the external help that's available, there is also that inner strength that comes only from God.
Isn't God's way full of surprises? Two childless widows making their own way in life certainly are unlikely heroes of a book of the Bible. And one of them is not even a Jew! Now, fate might never deal you or me the kind of blows it dealt Naomi and Ruth, but whatever comes our way in life, we can depend on God, as Naomi and Ruth do, to see us through. God provides us with the things we need to live from day to day. God does take care of us.
Ruth and Naomi move from the anguish of deaths in Moab to new life in Bethlehem, from death to resurrection. Ruth represents a Christ figure in Naomi's life, who persists in offering Naomi her love and support, even in the face of Naomi's rejection. In the same way, God persists in loving us in the face of our rejection. This is good news for us. God is always working in the shadows, actively caring for us. During times of loss and transition we naturally turn to God with our questioning "Whys."
We come to find that God is not absent at all, but is closer to us than ever. Although God may seem absent, or at least silent, God is continually present and at work in steady, unspectacular ways in our lives, healing hurt hearts and bringing hope for a brighter future.
____________
1.ÊNeil Simon, The Odd Couple I and II: The Original Screenplays (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), p. 9.
