Sermon | Speaking and Listening
Text: Ruth 1
Speaker: Sarah Martin
Originally this sermon was supposed to be about Ruth. But then I read what Naomi says at the end of chapter 1, the thing we just heard about her bitter life, and I was intrigued, and all the ideas I had for this sermon were about that, because my brain is kind of ornery like that. Then I thought about it, and realized, whenever this story comes up Ruth gets all the attention anyway. And Joel said it was all good, if I wanted to talk about Naomi, so that's what's gonna happen, folks. Although Ruth will make an appearance at the end.
The reason Naomi's speech intrigued me is that it's really a weird addition to the story. When Naomi and Ruth arrive back in Naomi's homeland, instead of jumping straight into the main narrative, the author gifts us this strange little interlude that's just Naomi throwing shade at God for letting all these bad things happen...