Introduction
“While Life’s dark maze I tread, And grief around me spread, Be thou my guide. Bid darkness turn to day, wipe sorrow’s tears away, Nor let me ever stray, from thee aside”
In case you are wondering, I just quoted the third stanza of the hymn “My faith looks up to thee.” This day I find myself drawn to one particular phrase within this third stanza: “wipe sorrow’s tears away”(x2), speaking of course of God as would be true of the rest of the hymn and most hymns for that matter.
The God who wipes away our tears[picapp src=”1/a/0/5/Mass_Funeral_For_5e68.jpg?adImageId=5073425&imageId=1495368″ width=”234″ height=”156″ /]….– this is the God whom I wish to reintroduce to us today. I say “reintroduce” because there are some among us, who need not be introduced to such a God. Experientially they know that God does wipe tears. if asked to step forward and testify, they would. In many words they would remind us of some time past when grief brought tears to their eyes. But then they would testify that the weeping did not linger on indefinitely. Something happened. God showed up. As one would jerk up the body of a car and yank out the undesirably deflated firestone tire and in its place put back a desirably inflated tire, God yanked out their source of grief and in the place of grief he introduced pleasantness. God brought back a smile to their faces. These folks need no introduction. What they probably need is mere nostalgic reminder.
The God who wipes away our tears…– this is the God that I wish to thrust before us. I say “thrust ” because there could be some among us who are experiencing such a pain this day that it would call for nothing short of a firm declaration and a poignant elucidation for them to believe that Yahweh does indeed turn our darkness of mourning into a sunshine of laughter and joy.

Sermon Proper

Sermon Thesis
“God has so designed it that that at times it is his very hand that wipes our tears. Other times he employs human agency to be the hand the wipes the “tearing.” eye. The human hand that is most prone to engage in the positive service of wiping “tearing” eyes is that which is associated with a selfless heart. Conversely the human hand that is least prone to engage in the positive service of wiping “tearing” eyes is that which is associated with a selfish heart.
A Family in Tears
Open your Bibles to the book of Ruth chapter 1. I have labeled vv1-5: “A family in tears, what nasty experiences it had to undergo.”
Nowhere in the first five verses of Ruth chapter one does it categorically state that tears were shed. But the narrator need not be that explicit for us to recognize that tears did indeed drip. Some of us have probably lived through some of the nasty experiences described in these five verses and you can attest to the painfulness of the experience
First in the list of nasty experiences that the family of Elimelech went through was the threat of famine and the resulting displacement of the family from its familiar habitat.
(Ruth 1:1 ¶ In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man (whose name v. 2 reveals as Elimelech) from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife (named Naomi in v. 2) and two sons (names as Machlon and Kilion in v. 2), went to live for a while in the country of Moab)
Threat of famine, a family displaced.
You only need to replay in your mind the picture of the 6 year old turkana boy named Aro Koriang’ posted on the daily nation of Nov. 22nd 1999 to be reminded of the ravaging effect of famine. What a moving picture it was if I recall. Just as moving also were the title and brief commentary associated with that picture. The title read: Pain and despair as starving families strive to survive. Part of the commentary read: one topic dominates the conversation in Trukana district. Akoro (the Turkana word for hunger) stalks the region like plague, leaving a trail of death, malnutrition and suffering. I suggests to us that as it was in Turkana, so was it in Bethlehem of Judah. Famine ravaged the area and the little Koriangs of Palestine were faced with the threat of death through hunger and malnutrition so much so that the newspaper headline in Palestine during this period of the judges could just as well have been an echo of the Nov. 22 Nation Newspaper headline: Pain and despair as starving families strive to survive. Someone might say, wait a minute! Elimelech and his family would not have suffered the revages of the famine because the family took off. Okay, I grant you that for v. 1b reads (… a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab). So you are right in arguing that Elimelech’s family took off (headed for Moab) before the famine had its toll on them. But having said that we need to be reminded that the exit that the family was forced to take was tantamount to displacement. Their’s was not voluntary migration. They were forced out by the famine. And only the victims of the clashes know the pain of involuntary displacement–having to leave your comfort zone. So when it says in v.2 that (…They (meaning Elimech, Naomi, Machlon and Kilion) went into the country of Moab and remained there.). it wasn’t as if a family took a holiday trip. No! It was a survival trip that they were forced into to escape the ravaging famine back at home.
So what do we have here so far? A Koriang-like family faced with the threat of starvation. A-victim-of-the-clashes-like family caught up by the sad experience of being displaced. Is this a hurting family? Certainly yes. Is this a family filled with tears? Probably yes

God has so designed it that that at times it his very hand that wipes our tears
Now let your eyes fall down to v. 6 (Ruth 1:6 ¶ Then she (meaning Naomi) started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had done what” considered his people [(NIV reads “ … she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people“) (the Old King James rendering could never have been so graphically accurate “… she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people “)] and given them food.)
What’s my point? Verses 1,2: Threat of famine looms over a family. In the name of survival the family take a forced exit. Is this a hurting family? Definitely yes. Is this a weeping family? Probably yes. Then comes v. 6. There is no longer the threat of famine. Food is now available. Displacement is just about to become a thing of the past for this family. What brought about this pleasant reversal of situation? God’s visitation!
You are here today hurting deeply even “tearing.” I want to affirm to you on the basis of v. 6 and the rest of Scripture that my God, your God, does pay us a visit. And the trail of his visit, the evidence of his visit many a times is marked by the sweet reversal of our paining circumstance.
Yahweh visited Naomi and the trail, the evidence of his visit was marked by possibility of her returning home (no longer to remain displaced) and availability of food (which had gone scarce for a while). May be you want more evidence that God does indeed visit. Here are 2 other biblical examples.
You remember Sarah, the wife of Abraham? What was her greatest pain? Lack of children. Gen 16:2 (and Sarai said to Abram, “You see that the LORD has prevented me from bearing children…). Sarah had given up hope of ever having children. Of this very Sarah the Bible says in Gen 21:1 (The LORD visited Sarah (the word “visit” here in Gen. is that same word that is used in reference to Naomi in v.6 of Ruth ch. 1) ). What was the consequence of God’s visitation? Next verse, Gen 21:2 (Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son .) a sweet reversal of an earlier nasty experience.
Here is another example–Israel in Egypt! What was there life like in captivity? Exod 3:7 (Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings). We have the people of God here portrayed as experiencing mysery and suffering. And you know what, they too received God’s visitation according to Exod 4:31 (Ex. 4:31 (He) visited the Israelites (same word) and (saw) their misery). End result of God’s visitation of Israel?– reversal of a life of slavery, triumphant exit from Egypt)
Friends God ‘s hands wipes our tears. He wiped tears then. He wipes Sarah’s tears, he wipe Israel’s tears, he wiped Naomi’s tears. And the good news is that he wipes tears today. if you are in any doubt whatsoever for that God wipes tears today, then ask my wife. The baby-kicks she is currently sensing in her womb would not be there had not the Lord visited us and evidenced his visit with the conception that we’ve waited for and prayed about for 4 long years.
So far we have looked at one of the two nasty experiences that the family of Elimelech went through–the threat of famine and the resulting displacement of a family from its origibal habitat. God himself stepped into the scene and began the process of reversing the situation–a reversal that would ascertain ease of pain and drying of tears.

Threat of missing out on a progeny to carry on the name of the family

Second in the list of nasty experiences that the family of Elimelech went through was the threat of missing out on a progeny to carry on the name of the family. I don’t know about your experience with your parents. I was nagged about marriage by my parents–”Nicholas you need to get yourself a woman,” my mother would say. Now you would think that if you got married, they will grant you some breathing space. Wrong, dead wrong. You get married and there they are again, “when are you going to have a child ?” For kuks it would be “when are you going to name your mother?” You get a child, “when are you going to get a second child?” And on and on goes the nagging.
I don’t blame parents for nagging.The greatest joy of the parents of grown up and married children is the birth of a grandchild. Proverbs 17:6 remind us that (Prov. 17:6 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged). If there are no grandchildren forthcoming, parents of grown up and married children begin to fret. We could even say that they are pained by the possibility that their name would not be propagated on. This is the type of pain that is captured in vv 3-5 (Ruth 1:3 Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons). (Ruth 1:4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth.) (When they had lived there about ten years, Ruth 1:5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband). Death of a mate, death of her only 2 sons, why by the way, dies childless,– all these would have caused Naomi great concern even pain for how would the family name be carried on?

Other times God employs human agency to be the hand the wipes the “tearing.” eye. The human hand that is most prone to engage in the positive service of wiping “tearing” eyes is that which is associated with a selfless heart.
Here is a question for us to think about?
Question. This danger of possibly missing out on a progeny, how could it be reversed and thus bring about the easing of pain for Naomi? What would it take for Naomi to witness the continuation of her family name?
Answer: It would take two human acts. First human act: at least one of the two wives of Naomi’s dead sons would have to choose to accompany Naomi home in order to increase the chances of a marital encounter between Naomi’s daugter-in-law and a relative of Elimelech. Second human act: it would require a relative of Elimelech to agree to marry Naomi’s daughter-in-law.

The human hand that is most prone to engage in the positive service of wiping “tearing” eyes is that which is associated with a selfless heart.
Let me point you to what a selfless heart looks like.
(Ruth 1:7 Naomi sets out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, with the intention of going back to the land of Judah. Ruth 1:8 Naomi says to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. Ruth 1:9 The LORD grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud.
Ruth 1:10 They say to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
Ruth 1:11 Naomi responds, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Ruth 1:12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, Ruth 1:13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has turned against me.”
Ruth 1:14 Then they all weep aloud . Orpah kisses her mother-in-law goodbye, but what does Ruth do? She clings to her.
Ruth 1:15 ¶ Naomi tries to convince Ruth to detach, Naomi says, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; your sister is heading for sweet home, return after your sister-in-law.”
Ruth 1:16 Then Ruth utters one of the most selfless and others-centered statement ever recorded, she says, “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 1:17 Where you die, I will die — there will I be buried. May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” ). Now that is a selfless heart!

Conversely the human hand that is least prone to engage in the positive service of wiping “tearing” eyes is that which is associated with a selfish heart.
Now let me point you to a selfish heart. Remember we said that for Naomi’s pain of a lack of progeny to be eased, it would require that a relative of Elimelech be willing to marry Naomi’s daughter-in-law. Turn to Ruth ch. 4
(Ruth 4:1 ¶ No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over, friend; sit down here.” And he went over and sat down. Ruth 4:2 Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here”; so they sat down. Ruth 4:3 He then said to the next-of-kin, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. Ruth 4:4 So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.” So he said, “I will redeem it.”
Ruth 4:5 Then Boaz said, “The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.”
Ruth 4:6 At this, the next-of-kin said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” ) Now that’s a selfish heart.

Conclusion
Are you are aware of a situation where it would take your response to ease another person’s pain. Are you selfish or selfless?
“God has so designed it that that at times it his very hand that wipes our tears. Other times he employs human agency to be the hand the wipes the “tearing.” eye. The human hand that is most prone to engage in the positive service of wiping “tearing” eyes is that which is associated with a selfless heart. Conversely the human hand that is least prone to engage in the positive service of wiping “tearing” eyes is that which is associated with a selfish heart.”