As most of you know, this is the third of four sermons based on the book of Ruth. In the first week we talked about the despair of these two women, Ruth and her Mother-in-law Naomi, that caused them to bind their lives and their fates – and even their concept of God and community – into what became an expression of chessed, which is a Hebrew concept meaning “love expressed through loyalty”.
Last week we had the amazing Jackie Cummings, and the wisdom of her mom, who reflected on the story of Ruth gleaning the fields of Boaz, as Ruth continued to embody “love expressed through loyalty.” Now, I know we don’t normally do this, but I wonder if anyone remembers the “momism” from last week? It was “Do right and right will follow you.”
Jackie talked a little about a lot, and it was a beautiful thing to see the way she brought her mother’s wisdom with her because that is very much what we find in Ruth’s story as Naomi continues to coach her along the way. I said at the beginning that Ruth’s story is as much about Naomi as it is about Ruth because the core of this story is the restoration of a member of the house and family of God through the actions of a person who is in many ways an outsider, a foreigner, and someone without right or reason to be seen as a member of that family.
In other words, it’s kind of tough to say who saves whom. Is it Ruth through her tenacity? Is it Naomi through her wisdom and tact? Is it Boaz through his ethic and care and compassion? Ultimately this is a story about God and God’s providence, so I don’t think you can go wrong if you chose any of these or all of the above as long as we put it in the context of the love and providence of God.
Jackie told us last week that God places people in our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime, and I couldn't agree more. I don’t mean, and I don’t think that she meant, that God treats us like pawns on a chessboard, but God gives us unto one another and guides us through our seasons of want and plenty so that we might demonstrate that chessed, do the right thing for the person in your midst, kind of love that proves to us beyond the shadow of a doubt that we are not alone.
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered if anyone in the span of the universe has ever felt the way you feel? I can tell you this – you aren’t alone in that. Even before COVID, social psychologists were noting a dramatic uptick in loneliness – even calling it an epidemic. So much of the anger and fear that we are seeing in the world today is birthed by those who have looked into the void of the internet and found common ground with someone or some group that wants to give voice to their fears and anger and frustration and it feels good!
I think that is why I feel so drawn to this story of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz. Even though the language and the customs are archaic and sexist and potentially predatory, the deeper reality it points to is one of intimacy. By that, I don’t just mean romantic intimacy. Even though there are plenty of innuendos in the story there is nothing to indicate that they had more than a cuddle on the threshing floor, but that’s not really the point either.
What I’m talking about is the level of mutuality and respect and communication that takes place on the threshing floor and how it impacts Naomi and Ruth and Boaz altogether. First, we have Naomi recognizing the special treatment that Boaz offered Ruth. In chapter 2 Boaz told Ruth, “I have heard and seen the dedication you have shown Naomi. Don’t glean anywhere else. In fact, follow my workers. Drink from their water. Share their bread.”
Let me tell you why that’s such a big deal. The custom, which was not practiced by everyone, was to harvest a square of land in a circle. That way there would be some left in the corners for those in need. Boaz took it a step further. He let her into the circle. He sustained her with bread and water, and just to be sure we don’t think he’s doing it because she’s pretty (remember Jackie said it’s hard to look pretty while you are gleaning) the text clearly states that his motivation is Ruth’s work ethic and her commitment to Naomi.
Maybe that was an attractive quality back in the day because she is described in the same way that Proverbs – which comes before Ruth in the Hebrew Bible – describes the ideal wife. She is an eshat hayil – a woman of integrity, a worthy woman. Still, he is also an esh gibor hayil – a powerful man of integrity – and he was legitimately surprised when he woke up to find her next to him. His concern was as much for his own reputation as it was for her wellbeing.
Somewhere along the line, Naomi realized that Boaz is their “next of kin.” We have no way to know how close or far they were related, but we know that there was a custom of bringing widows who were without children into the household of the closest relative so that they would not end up gleaning fields and getting by on scraps like Ruth and Naomi were. In fact, we know this custom existed even unto the time of Jesus because in Mark 12 the Sadducees asked him a question about whose wife a woman is in the resurrection when 7 brothers have all married her each after the other has died. Boaz’s reaction shows that he knew all of this and that he was not the only choice – maybe not the most desirable choice – that Naomi could have encouraged Ruth to pursue.
All of this is part of a larger picture to show us all what it looks like to care for one another, especially those who are more vulnerable, with love and respect. We see this when Naomi tells Ruth to wait for Boaz’s instructions, yet Ruth says to Boaz, “Spread your cloak over me.” Friends, that ain’t just pillow talk. That was a marriage proposal. That matters because it means that Ruth – the woman, the foreigner, the outsider, the beggar on the corners of the field – was given an equal voice and equal choice. Agency is what we call that these days. She had the ability – the agency – to make her own choice, and her choice was the one that opened the possibility for greater intimacy within the context of their community.
We’re going to pick up on that a little more next week as we hear about the restoration that comes from the intimacy of the relationships that are being established in chapter 3. Before that, I want to take a note from my dear friend Jackie and see where we find the places of connection between this story of intimacy and right relationships and the teachings of Jesus that we read earlier in Mathew 7.
Last week Jackie did a great job of connecting verses from the Gospel reading to the characters of our story. Today I want to know if you found connections between the actions or relationships or events of this story. Let’s start with Matthew 7:7-8. ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. [Pause for feedback.]
Naomi asks Ruth to make her intentions and needs to be known to Boaz. Ruth asks Boaz for a covenant partnership. Boaz asks Ruth to wait. All of these are done in the hope of the providence of God.
Matthew 7:9-11 Is there, anyone, among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? 10 Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Boaz has demonstrated his compassion, and Naomi is banking on the idea that Boaz will not turn them away. Evil is a little tricky in this one, but in the context of Jesus’ speech, it has more to do with our imperfections and self-centered nature. While the obvious example of a less than perfect person loving perfectly may be Boaz, I think the more extreme example comes from Ruth who aligns her faith with Naomi and then Boaz as an extension of love born from loyalty. Also, as Jackie said last week, asking and getting from God don’t come in our time, and it may not look like what we expect or want, but we can trust in God to care for us – especially in and through our connectedness as God’s people.
Matthew 7:12 ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.
I think we see this throughout the whole story, which is centered on the idea of chessed, love born from loyalty, and I have one more story to share about the way this story can be a template for all of our relationships. Sometime around Y2K, when we all thought the world was going to end and planes would fall from the sky, I had a life-changing experience. I was in seminary at the time, so I was having a lot of those. This one happened while leading a challenge course for a leadership team from an organization called Boaz and Ruth.
I was so fascinated by their story and by the humility and approachability of the group’s founder that I went on to write at least one paper about them for a class and after seminary, they worked with me to set up a mission experience for a group of youth I worked with.
Anyway, the story is that Martha Rollins was sitting in church one day at Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, VA. The Pastor asked the congregation to consider who they identified with the most in the story of Boaz and Ruth. She said, “I immediately knew that I was Boaz! I’m a shop owner. I have power. I can help people.” Her shop was a vintage clothing and antique shop, so she decided to find someone who needed a job and taught him how to refinish furniture.
Other people heard about it and wanted to get involved. Over the years this turned into a non-profit organization that owns four businesses, trains people with entrepreneurial skills, and reconnects formerly incarcerated people with their communities. Friends, that ain’t just cuddlin’. That’s investing deeply into the restoration of people and communities.
As we wrestle with our calling as God’s people, I think we will see that we have a habit and a history of investing deeply into the restoration of people and communities. Sometimes we need partners to get it done. Sometimes we feel more like Naomi – bitter and empty. Sometimes we feel like Ruth, focused on the day and willing to do what is needed to get by, but there are yet times when we are like Boaz – the unlikely dance partner who still has much to give.
However you see yourself, or this congregation, let us remember that we are not alone. Let us remember that the intimacy and vulnerability of relationships grounded in compassion and care create a welcome space for restoration and community and the clear and present expression of the providence of God. At least I pray it may be so with me, and that it may be so with you, so that we may give thanks and glory to God; now and always, amen!
Last week we had the amazing Jackie Cummings, and the wisdom of her mom, who reflected on the story of Ruth gleaning the fields of Boaz, as Ruth continued to embody “love expressed through loyalty.” Now, I know we don’t normally do this, but I wonder if anyone remembers the “momism” from last week? It was “Do right and right will follow you.”
Jackie talked a little about a lot, and it was a beautiful thing to see the way she brought her mother’s wisdom with her because that is very much what we find in Ruth’s story as Naomi continues to coach her along the way. I said at the beginning that Ruth’s story is as much about Naomi as it is about Ruth because the core of this story is the restoration of a member of the house and family of God through the actions of a person who is in many ways an outsider, a foreigner, and someone without right or reason to be seen as a member of that family.
In other words, it’s kind of tough to say who saves whom. Is it Ruth through her tenacity? Is it Naomi through her wisdom and tact? Is it Boaz through his ethic and care and compassion? Ultimately this is a story about God and God’s providence, so I don’t think you can go wrong if you chose any of these or all of the above as long as we put it in the context of the love and providence of God.
Jackie told us last week that God places people in our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime, and I couldn't agree more. I don’t mean, and I don’t think that she meant, that God treats us like pawns on a chessboard, but God gives us unto one another and guides us through our seasons of want and plenty so that we might demonstrate that chessed, do the right thing for the person in your midst, kind of love that proves to us beyond the shadow of a doubt that we are not alone.
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered if anyone in the span of the universe has ever felt the way you feel? I can tell you this – you aren’t alone in that. Even before COVID, social psychologists were noting a dramatic uptick in loneliness – even calling it an epidemic. So much of the anger and fear that we are seeing in the world today is birthed by those who have looked into the void of the internet and found common ground with someone or some group that wants to give voice to their fears and anger and frustration and it feels good!
I think that is why I feel so drawn to this story of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz. Even though the language and the customs are archaic and sexist and potentially predatory, the deeper reality it points to is one of intimacy. By that, I don’t just mean romantic intimacy. Even though there are plenty of innuendos in the story there is nothing to indicate that they had more than a cuddle on the threshing floor, but that’s not really the point either.
What I’m talking about is the level of mutuality and respect and communication that takes place on the threshing floor and how it impacts Naomi and Ruth and Boaz altogether. First, we have Naomi recognizing the special treatment that Boaz offered Ruth. In chapter 2 Boaz told Ruth, “I have heard and seen the dedication you have shown Naomi. Don’t glean anywhere else. In fact, follow my workers. Drink from their water. Share their bread.”
Let me tell you why that’s such a big deal. The custom, which was not practiced by everyone, was to harvest a square of land in a circle. That way there would be some left in the corners for those in need. Boaz took it a step further. He let her into the circle. He sustained her with bread and water, and just to be sure we don’t think he’s doing it because she’s pretty (remember Jackie said it’s hard to look pretty while you are gleaning) the text clearly states that his motivation is Ruth’s work ethic and her commitment to Naomi.
Maybe that was an attractive quality back in the day because she is described in the same way that Proverbs – which comes before Ruth in the Hebrew Bible – describes the ideal wife. She is an eshat hayil – a woman of integrity, a worthy woman. Still, he is also an esh gibor hayil – a powerful man of integrity – and he was legitimately surprised when he woke up to find her next to him. His concern was as much for his own reputation as it was for her wellbeing.
Somewhere along the line, Naomi realized that Boaz is their “next of kin.” We have no way to know how close or far they were related, but we know that there was a custom of bringing widows who were without children into the household of the closest relative so that they would not end up gleaning fields and getting by on scraps like Ruth and Naomi were. In fact, we know this custom existed even unto the time of Jesus because in Mark 12 the Sadducees asked him a question about whose wife a woman is in the resurrection when 7 brothers have all married her each after the other has died. Boaz’s reaction shows that he knew all of this and that he was not the only choice – maybe not the most desirable choice – that Naomi could have encouraged Ruth to pursue.
All of this is part of a larger picture to show us all what it looks like to care for one another, especially those who are more vulnerable, with love and respect. We see this when Naomi tells Ruth to wait for Boaz’s instructions, yet Ruth says to Boaz, “Spread your cloak over me.” Friends, that ain’t just pillow talk. That was a marriage proposal. That matters because it means that Ruth – the woman, the foreigner, the outsider, the beggar on the corners of the field – was given an equal voice and equal choice. Agency is what we call that these days. She had the ability – the agency – to make her own choice, and her choice was the one that opened the possibility for greater intimacy within the context of their community.
We’re going to pick up on that a little more next week as we hear about the restoration that comes from the intimacy of the relationships that are being established in chapter 3. Before that, I want to take a note from my dear friend Jackie and see where we find the places of connection between this story of intimacy and right relationships and the teachings of Jesus that we read earlier in Mathew 7.
Last week Jackie did a great job of connecting verses from the Gospel reading to the characters of our story. Today I want to know if you found connections between the actions or relationships or events of this story. Let’s start with Matthew 7:7-8. ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. [Pause for feedback.]
Naomi asks Ruth to make her intentions and needs to be known to Boaz. Ruth asks Boaz for a covenant partnership. Boaz asks Ruth to wait. All of these are done in the hope of the providence of God.
Matthew 7:9-11 Is there, anyone, among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? 10 Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Boaz has demonstrated his compassion, and Naomi is banking on the idea that Boaz will not turn them away. Evil is a little tricky in this one, but in the context of Jesus’ speech, it has more to do with our imperfections and self-centered nature. While the obvious example of a less than perfect person loving perfectly may be Boaz, I think the more extreme example comes from Ruth who aligns her faith with Naomi and then Boaz as an extension of love born from loyalty. Also, as Jackie said last week, asking and getting from God don’t come in our time, and it may not look like what we expect or want, but we can trust in God to care for us – especially in and through our connectedness as God’s people.
Matthew 7:12 ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.
I think we see this throughout the whole story, which is centered on the idea of chessed, love born from loyalty, and I have one more story to share about the way this story can be a template for all of our relationships. Sometime around Y2K, when we all thought the world was going to end and planes would fall from the sky, I had a life-changing experience. I was in seminary at the time, so I was having a lot of those. This one happened while leading a challenge course for a leadership team from an organization called Boaz and Ruth.
I was so fascinated by their story and by the humility and approachability of the group’s founder that I went on to write at least one paper about them for a class and after seminary, they worked with me to set up a mission experience for a group of youth I worked with.
Anyway, the story is that Martha Rollins was sitting in church one day at Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, VA. The Pastor asked the congregation to consider who they identified with the most in the story of Boaz and Ruth. She said, “I immediately knew that I was Boaz! I’m a shop owner. I have power. I can help people.” Her shop was a vintage clothing and antique shop, so she decided to find someone who needed a job and taught him how to refinish furniture.
Other people heard about it and wanted to get involved. Over the years this turned into a non-profit organization that owns four businesses, trains people with entrepreneurial skills, and reconnects formerly incarcerated people with their communities. Friends, that ain’t just cuddlin’. That’s investing deeply into the restoration of people and communities.
As we wrestle with our calling as God’s people, I think we will see that we have a habit and a history of investing deeply into the restoration of people and communities. Sometimes we need partners to get it done. Sometimes we feel more like Naomi – bitter and empty. Sometimes we feel like Ruth, focused on the day and willing to do what is needed to get by, but there are yet times when we are like Boaz – the unlikely dance partner who still has much to give.
However you see yourself, or this congregation, let us remember that we are not alone. Let us remember that the intimacy and vulnerability of relationships grounded in compassion and care create a welcome space for restoration and community and the clear and present expression of the providence of God. At least I pray it may be so with me, and that it may be so with you, so that we may give thanks and glory to God; now and always, amen!
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