Possibilities Beyond Problems
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins
(Ruth 2)

Let us dwell together in peace, and let us not be instruments of our own or others’ oppression. And now, may God’s word be spoken, may only God’s word be heard. Amen.

Last Sunday and today we’ve been hearing the story of Ruth and Naomi. They’ve had some bad breaks. They’ve lost their husbands. Naomi has lost her sons. Naomi left her homeland during a famine and took refuge in Moab. Now Moab is having a famine and Ruth has left her homeland to return with Naomi to hers. Their options for supporting themselves are limited, but as hard as things are, Ruth is determined to find a way through the difficulties.

Ruth goes to a barley farm. The harvesters drop some barley on the ground while they are harvesting and Ruth and other women who have fallen on hard times scrounge around to collect the barley that winds up on the ground.

The owner of the farm, Boaz, has heard of this Moabite who has traveled with her mother-in-law from Moab to Judah and has promised to care for her. This story moves Boaz and he arranges for Ruth to collect more barley than she otherwise might. At least she and Naomi won’t starve now.

When Naomi and her husband faced a famine, they moved to Moab. There were possibilities beyond their problems.
When Naomi’s husbands and sons died, and she was facing another famine, she and Ruth moved to Judah. There were possibilities beyond their problems.
When they didn’t have a way to support themselves, Ruth found work scavenging for left behind grain. And when Ruth met Boaz, Boaz showed her extra kindness. There were possibilities beyond her problems.

Maybe Boaz admired plucky women. His mother was one. The first chapter of Matthew’s gospel tells us that Boaz’s mother was Rahab, a woman who ran and inn that apparently doubled as a brothel. Rahab (in the book of Joshua) provided cover for Israelite spies. Rahab is an ancestor of Jesus, as is Ruth, the Moabite. In fact, Rahab and Ruth may wind up being related, but that’s for next week.

Ruth has no children…yet. She’s lost a husband. She’s left her homeland. She picking up barley scraps for survival, but she is surviving and her story is about to get a lot better.

Ruth and Naomi faced multiple difficulties, but beyond each difficulty there were possibilities.

In 1914 a career was born. A young lady, for a lark, was an extra in a silent film called The Song of Soul. She liked the work and wound up featured in a few films over the next few years. Then, throughout the 1920s, Gloria Swanson became one of the biggest silent film stars in Hollywood.

But times change. Silent movies were to be replaced by talkies. In 1929 Swanson along with Douglas Fairbanks, John Barrymore, Charlie Chaplain, and Mary Pickford made a radio show appearance to show the world they had voices and they could use them. So, throughout the 1930s, Swanson continued to make films, but her popularity waned.

So, she started doing theatre in the 1940s and in 1948 she hosted one of the first live series on television: The Gloria Swanson Hour.

And then, she got back on top in 1950 when she took a role that Mae West and Mary Pickford turned down…Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. A superstar again!

She went on to do a few more plays, a few more television appearances, a few more movies, she wrote her autobiography. She showed for six decades that when the industry changed, she could adapt. If one thing she tried didn’t bring satisfying results, she’d try something else. If Gloria Swanson got knocked down, she’d get back up. If she got left behind, she’d catch up. If the medium that began her career ceased to exist, she’d just move on to another medium. She worked it out. She gleaned leftover grain at times, but it was part of a larger story of success and survival.

Morris Goodman is known as the Miracle Man. He had a pilot’s license and in March of 1981 he was flying a small plane which malfunctioned and crashed. He sustained major injuries including spinal damage. He was completely paralyzed, unable to even swallow or breathe on his own. His sister helped him develop a system of communication using his eyelids. They worked out a code so that she would know what a series of blinks meant.

Goodman was a fan of Zig Ziglar and Napoleon Hill and he believed in the great powers of the mind. He started focusing his attention on one finger, trying to move it. Eventually, he was able to slightly move one finger. If he could communicate by blinking and by force of will move one finger, maybe he could see improvement in other parts of his body and he chose to hope for just such progress. Somehow, he dared to believe that there were possibilities beyond his incredible problems.

In pretty short order he found himself being able to breathe on his, and then he could swallow. Just four months after his plane crash, he was walking. Not skipping. Not dancing. There was pain. But he was walking.

Goodman wrote a book about his miraculous recovery, has made television appearances, and was featured in the film “The Secret.” He had his devastating accident at the age of 36, and today he is 72 and still telling the tale.

Ruth and Naomi had to cope with grief and financial uncertainty; but they discovered there were possibilities beyond their problems.

Gloria Swanson had ups and downs in her career, but she kept going. She kept finding ways to do what she loved. She discovered that there were possibilities beyond her problems.

Morris Goodman had his health demolished in the blink of an eye…and so he learned to communicate by blinking his eyes, and he did what most medical experts would say could not be done…he learned to walk and talk and breathe and eat again…he’s a living miracle. He definitely discovered that there are possibilities beyond problems.

What are your challenges, problems, disappointments? What ever it is, don’t get too bogged down in it. Don’t give it more power than it deserves. The problem may seem big, but I promise you, there are possibilities beyond problems. This is the good news. Amen.

Dear God,
I affirm that there are possibilities beyond problems.
Even miracles are possible!
Alleluia!
Amen.