Show Notes
In this twenty-fourth week of “Ordinary” (or “Normal”) time, Case reflects on how the selflessness of Ruth and Naomi can inspire us to think of the good of our neighbors in the election season.
Nuance’s Formed for Formation is a weekly liturgy to encourage all of us to be faithful to Christ in the public square. Join Case Thorp as he follows the Church calendar through the reading of Scripture, prayer, and short reflections on faith in all facets of public life.
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Episode Transcript
Welcome to the Formed for Faithfulness podcast, where we invite Jesus to speak into our lives and guide us on the path of discipleship. Well, an election is upon us. Took us two years, okay, three, maybe four to get here. My, my. Why can’t we seem to cut this journey to the highest office of the land down? Well, either way, here and now we seek to hear Jesus’ voice.
Learn from his teachings and be shaped by his love as we strive to live out our faith with purpose and integrity. Join us as we open our hearts to his words, trusting that he will lead us in truth and transform us to reflect his character in all that we do.
A reading from the book of Ruth, chapter 1, verses 1 through 18.
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of His people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”
At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
The book of Ruth is a powerful narrative about loyalty, commitment, and the transformative power of love and faithfulness. In this passage, Ruth, a Moabite woman, chooses to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi, even after the death of their husbands, declaring, where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God, my God. This act of devotion, despite the uncertainty and challenges ahead, it exemplifies the strength of character and the deep bonds that can form between individuals, transcending cultural and familial ties.
Relating this to the U.S. presidential election, Ruth’s unwavering commitment can serve as an inspiration for how leaders and citizens alike might approach their responsibilities and relationships. Just as Ruth made a selfless choice rooted in loyalty and love, so too should the process of electing a leader be guided by principles that prioritize the well-being of all people, regardless of background or affiliation.
The election process, like Ruth’s journey, is fraught with uncertainty and requires the courage to make difficult decisions. However, if these decisions are made with a commitment to justice, to compassion and unity, values exemplified by Ruth, they have the potential to lead to a future where the bonds of community are strengthened and the common good is served. Ruth’s story reminds us that the choices we make today can have far reaching implications shaping not just our own lives, but the lives of those around us and the generations to come.
A reading from Deuteronomy 6 verses 1 through 9.
These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
One of the most famous prayers for the country by a past U.S. president is from President Abraham Lincoln. During his second inaugural address on March 4th, 1865, as the Civil War was drawing to a close, Lincoln offered words that reflected a deep sense of humility, faith, and hope for a healing of the nation. Here is a paraphrased version of a prayer inspired by his address.
Almighty God, we come before you in this time of trial with hearts that are heavy, but full of hope. We have endured much as a nation, yet we trust in your divine guidance and mercy. We pray for the healing of our land, that the wounds of division and strife may be mended. Grant us the strength to pursue justice and peace and to act with charity and humility toward one another.
May we seek your wisdom in all that we do, striving always to uphold the principles of freedom, equality and unity that form the foundation of our nation. Let us remember that it is in you that we place our ultimate trust, that through your grace, we may find the courage to move forward together as one people. With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as you give us to see the right.
Let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for those who have borne the battle, and to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. In your holy name we pray.
A reading from the book of Hebrews chapter 9 verses 11 through 14.
But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
