Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17 (NRSV)
Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. 2 Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.” 5 She said to her, “All that you tell me I will do.”
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So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a
son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day
without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He
shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your
daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne
him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and
became his nurse. 17 The women of the neighborhood gave him a name,
saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the
father of Jesse, the father of David.
The story of Ruth reveals
itself as a very simple, ordinary love story.
Yet, to read the story of Ruth is to see God at work. The story occurs
in a time when relationships within Israel were falling apart. In chapter eighteen of Judges, the tribe of
Dan attacked the peaceful town of Laish.
In chapter nineteen, a priest cuts up his wife into twelve parts. He sent one part to each tribe in Israel in
order to deliver a message. In chapter
twenty, the other eleven tribes attack the tribe of Benjamin. They almost destroy the entire tribe. They feel sorry about it afterwards. They give the few remaining men of the tribe
of Benjamin the right to rape some of the women from another city. The book ends with the phrase: "In those
days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their
own eyes."
Something was happening in
their society. Relationships of
hospitality, of caring for one another, of being in connection with one
another, were falling apart. In some
ways, I am sure that last phrase represents sadness in the heart of God. People simply doing what they please. People acting with little sense of
responsibility toward one another.
The story of Ruth takes
place in this type of society. Just an ordinary family with rather ordinary
people involved. Naomi and her husband
moved to a foreign land. While there,
her husband died, and her two sons died without having children through their
wives. She determines to leave the
country and return to Israel. She tells
Orpah and Ruth to return to their own families.
That is what would make sense.
Orpah would do so. Ruth, on the
other hand, was determined to stay with Naomi.
There was no law that would force her to do this. She freely chose to remain in a committed
relationship with Naomi. Could it be
that in that kind of free choice, we will find God?
They arrive in Israel at
just the right time. It was time for the
harvest. Naomi sends Ruth to the fields
to glean some food for themselves. The
field she goes to is that of Boaz. He
does what is right, and just a little bit more.
It was his responsibility to allow the poor to take some food for
themselves. However, he instructed the
workers to make sure that Ruth would get just a bit more than others
would. Naomi notices something.
The older man who owns the land from which Ruth is gleaning is impressed with
and (the text seems to imply) attracted to her. Boaz has noticed how hard Ruth
works at this demeaning labor. Through the grapevine, he has heard the tragic
story of the loss of her husband, brother-in-law and father-in-law. He is
impressed that she has chosen to move from her family home in Moab to help care
for her mother-in-law in Bethlehem. Ruth is clearly a remarkable woman, and
Boaz is smitten.
Naomi sees the
special treatment Ruth is receiving. Boaz has told his workers to leave plenty
of grain in the fields for her to gather. He tells them to keep an eye on her
so she is safe. Perhaps due to her naiveté, or simply because she has more
important things on her mind, Ruth does not seem to notice what is obvious to
the reader and the older and wiser mother-in-law. Naomi the matchmaker plans to
bring these two "kids" together. Yet, she is also practical, matching
her and Ruth's need with Boaz's ability to provide. Remember, in the ancient
world marriage worked differently than it does today. There was romance, but
there was also a large dose of practicality to go along with it.
Chapter 3 opens
with a new dramatic element of mystery, secrecy, and privacy that becomes an
essential part of the story. The characters have choices to make. The call to
righteous living is dominate even here, in a provocative setting. God is
present where there are responsible and faithful human beings.
3:1Naomi her mother-in-law said
to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be
well with you. 2 Now, here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young
women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the
threshing floor. 3 Now, wash and anoint yourself, and put on your
best clothes and go down to the threshing floor. Such preparations are as
if Ruth is the bride of Boaz. However, do
not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4
When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover
his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.” The narrator is
intentionally provocative as to how much of his legs she would uncover. The
narrator wants the reader to deal with the possibility of sexual intercourse
between Ruth and Boaz. 5 She said to her, “All that you tell me
I will do.” Naomi is setting up a provocative set of circumstances. This
portion of the story has received much attention from scholars.[1] However, I would
suggest that as part of the sacred text of Jews and Christians, regardless of
the sexual and moral issues the words suggest, the point remains that simple
acts of covenant loyalty keep moving this story forward to its conclusion.
In 4:13-17, Boaz
takes Ruth for his wife. 4:13 Therefore, Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife.
When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. This
is in striking contrast to ten years of being without child in Moab. 14 Then the women said to Naomi,
“Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin. We
should note that she thought the hand of the Lord was against her in Chapter 1,
suggesting the Lord was her enemy. Further,
may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer
of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves
you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.” 16 Then
Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. 17 The
women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to
Naomi.” Naomi has received new children. While the text does not fully
answer the complaint of Naomi, she receives new tasks. They named him Obed. The neighbors seem to have a part to play in
the naming of the child, as we also see in Luke 1:59. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David. Thus, through a series of
events, she marries Boaz. There will be
a son. In a strange sense, everything
works out in the end. Naomi does not get
her sons or husband back. Nevertheless,
Boaz is there. Moreover, a grandson is
there. In addition, of course, there is
Ruth. Ruth, a far-from-royal,
down-on-her-luck outsider, is the great-grandmother of the greatest king in the
history of Israel, David. In a sense, the story of Ruth and Naomi is a story of
David.
One who was faithful in her
relationships throughout the story.
Could we find God there? How ordinary can you get? People making choices in which they live
responsibly, righteously, and faithfully.
People choosing lovingly committed relationships. Yes, God is there.
I invite you to reflect upon
the goodness and beauty of those who daily walk with God. They do so without
expecting gloriously high moments in worship. They are willing to live their
life with God and the people of God without receiving the feeling that some
people seem to think is so necessary for conversion, filling of the Spirit, and
Christian life.
One woman told her pastor
that she did not want to get too close to God. She just wanted to be close
enough to get into heaven quietly. She did not want to be saint, but she also
did want to go to hell. Her analogy was that as a child, she decided to get
C’s. She did want an F, for then she would have to repeat the class. She did
not want an A, for then people would start expecting things from her. She
figured that if she got too close to God, God might send her to India, and she
did not want that either.[2]
Such a view of life is
outside the realm of one who has made a decision to live with Jesus as their
companion. Yet, it does show that our visions of people who are close to God
are the superstars of the faith. Those who do the extraordinary are the ones we
tend to set up as patterns of discipleship. The pattern might be extraordinary
feeling or extraordinary missionary commitment. The pattern might be a certain
type of sermon. In either case, we need to recognize that while some people do
have a life journey that leads them down the path of the extraordinary, for
which we can all be grateful, the reality is that most of the people of God,
including pastors, lead relatively ordinary lives of daily faithfulness. They
do so without receiving heights of emotion, lofty visions, or seemingly obvious
miracles. To put it another way, maybe we need to see the goodness and beauty
of the ordinary life of faithfully and daily living the Christian life. When I
see it, I must say that I find it impressive.
One day, St. Francis of
Assisi said to several of his followers: "Let us go to the village over
the way and preach." As they went,
they met someone loaded down with a personal burden. Francis was in no hurry. He sat down and listened. When they arrived in the village, Francis
talked with the shopkeepers, spent time with the farmers as they were selling
their fruits, and played with the children.
On the way back, they met a farmer with a load of hay, and Francis spent
time with him. The morning now gone,
they reached the monastery from where they had set out in the early
morning. One of the followers was
disappointed. "Brother Francis, you
said you were going to preach. The
morning is spent and no sermon has been given." Francis replied, "But we have been
preaching all the way."[3]
Maybe this is true Christian
living. Simply knowing what to do today
to live faithfully in the presence of God may well be the insight we need to
continue on the Christian path. Maybe we
do preach a sermon in our families, at work, at play, with our neighbors. Are you ready to preach your own sermon
today?
Think of it this
way. All of us have a gift to give. As
we go through life, we discover that gift and offer it to others. Maybe that is the best any of us can do with
our lives. It is so easy to think only
of how others can give to us and nourish us.
Part of maturing in life, part of the growth we need, is to discover
what we can give back to others. We are
so often impressed with the larger than life heroes of the big screen. I find myself increasingly impressed by the
heroes of daily life. They do not get to
the front page of the paper. They are
the ones who get up every day and have a reason for living this day. They are willing to sacrifice for family and
friends. They are willing to live the
values and principles in which they believe.
They do these boring things every day.
Yet, they are the ones who make the world a happier and safer place in
which to live. Life is so short. Why not use this short life well? Why not use this brief time wisely? Living the Christian life faithfully and
daily moves against our tendency to demand our own way. It moves us away from
looking at others as a means to serving our ends. It will help us focus upon
what give back to life rather than just get out of life. We will rightly order
our passion and gifts. Such a life has a dimension of daily sacrifice it is
true. Sacrifice for others is not easy. Yet, such an approach to discipleship
will help us receive joy when we can make the lives of others a bit happier and
brighter because our life journeys have crossed.
I find this to be very true
to how I experience the reality of God in my own life. When I became a Christian as an early
teenager, there were no bolts of lightning.
Rather, what I was so fortunate to have was a pastor who cared about me
and prayed with me. When I committed
myself to become a minister, there were no visions. Nevertheless, there was an inner call of God
to which I responded. When I changed
denominations from the Wesleyan Church to the United Methodist Church, there
was no opening in the skies. However,
there was a sense of God leading through my connections with people and with my
own growth as a believer.
I have a rather scary
admission to make. The most moving emotional experience I have had in my life
was attending a Paul McCartney concert in Indianapolis, my two sons on either
side of me. They knew the songs of Paul and the Beatles. We joined in with the
thousands who were there. I could not believe that I was in the same room with
Paul. It was beyond anything I could have dreamed. It still it is. It still
brings tears of joy to my eyes.
I do not find God's activity
in my life to be of the dramatic, miraculous sort. I do find God to be very much with me in
daily life. Sometimes, daily life is not
very exciting. Indeed, it can be
boring. Moreover, it can be very
challenging. There are experiences of
pain and suffering which any of us can experience at any time. Yet, God is there too.
During World War II, there was a village called Le
Chambon in France. Unlike other towns,
this one did not allow the Nazis to take the Jewish people from their
midst. Rather, they hid them. Mr. Haile went to the village, wondering what
sort of courageous, ethical heroes who risked their lives like this could live
in this village. They must be
extraordinary people. Yet, as he
interviewed people, their ordinary quality is what overwhelmed him. They were not especially insightful or
daring. The one experience that united
them was there attendance on Sunday morning at the little church where pastor
Trochme preached. He believed that over
time, the people came to know what was right, and then they did it. When the Nazis came into town, they quietly
did what was right. One woman said:
"Pastor always taught us that there comes a time in every life when a
person is asked to do something for Jesus.
When our time came, we knew what to do."[4]
Maybe that is what it is like to be a Christian. We know what to do today to live faithfully
and lovingly in the presence of God.
[1]
Victor Shepherd, “Ruth: The woman and
the book,” victorshepherd.on.ca/Sermons/Ruth.htm. Retrieved June 12, 2006. Some
would suggest that the work of God moves ahead despite the sin of those who
serve God. In this case, Ruth was calculating, manipulative, and devious. They
would urge us not to get to sentimental about Ruth. She needed a husband. Her
culture marginalized widows. Yes, Ruth could glean in the field belonging to
Boaz as a way to fend off the worst effects of poverty. Yet, Ruth wanted more.
She wanted a husband. She snared her husband by entrapment. Her approach to
Boaz comes when he is thirsty from labor and drank too much wine. In uncovering
his feet, we find a biblical idiom that means exposing the genitals. As Boaz
awakens, he wonders who this woman is, covers himself and covers her.
Apparently, Ruth had exposed herself as well. He could not remember what had
happened. He only knew that upon awakening, a naked woman is beside him. It
appeared something had happened. Boaz insisted that no one was to tell it
around that the woman came to him that night. He thought the only proper thing
to do was to marry Ruth, so he did. It at least appears that Ruth blackmailed
Boaz. She falsified herself and trapped him. We cannot excuse it. We cannot
aprove it. This would not be a part of the story that we should imitate. Yet,
the story is a rminder at this point that the work of God moves ahead, despite
the most appalling clay feet of those who serve the Lord.
[2]
(Homiletics, April-June 1991, 37-38).
[3] (Encyclopedia
of 7700 Illustrations, #3104).
[4] Philip
Hailie, Lest Innocent Blood be Shed.
(Leadership, Fall 1989,
50). See also the account at http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007518
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