Scripture: Ruth 1:6-18 (NIV)

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.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

At the end of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker is stricken to learn that the evil Darth Vader is actually his father.  It was such a terrifying revelation that he was willing to plunge down a shaft in Cloud City with the strong possibility of death than to join with Vader on his quest to overthrow the Emperor.

We don’t know how much time passes between Empire and Return of the Jedi, though it’s probably about three years.  In that time, not only has Luke come to terms with his parentage, but he’s also had time to think about his father and his motivations.  Luke has determined that there “is still good in him” and will say that to anyone that he comes across.  Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, his sister Leia–it’s surprising that he doesn’t say it outright to the Emperor during the throne room scene.

Even as Vader engages him in a lightsaber battle, Luke is dedicated to the idea that his father can be saved.  Trying to defend his sister, Luke does wind up chopping of Vader’s hand, but that brings him back to his senses and he throws his weapon away.  Eventually, of course, his loyalty is rewarded when Vader returns to being Anakin Skywalker and saves Luke from the Emperor’s Sith lightning.

We see another story of devotion in today’s Scripture.  Ruth was abandoning all she had, all real hope of a good life it seemed, to follow a person whom, with the passing of her husband, she wasn’t really related to anymore.  Naomi continues to encourage her to return home, but Ruth will have none of it.  In one of the more powerful declarations of fealty, she states, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”

Like Luke, Ruth’s loyalty winds up having a positive effect.  Boaz, a relative of Naomi, takes a liking to Ruth and eventually marries her, giving her a child.  That child was Obed, who went on to have a son named Jesse.  You may have heard of one of Jesse’s sons, David.  As a result of Ruth following Naomi, she became part of the lineage that eventually lead to Jesus, the Christ.

Having that sort of loyalty is difficult and, honestly, can be dangerous.  What if you are loyal to the wrong subject?  What if that person you would do anything abuses that loyalty?  Loyalty in human relationships needs to be carefully measured, but we can always be loyal to our God, who will never steer us wrong.  That loyalty might take us to some strange situations or places, but there’s always a point to it.  Be loyal to the Lord!