Rev. George Miller
Oct 15, 2023
Ruth 4:13-17
A few days ago, Uncle Frank was on the phone, catching
up. Cousin Jeff just had his 5th
child; Maddie is in college.
Great Grandma came up in the conversation. “Remember how she always wore a hat pin in
her hair?”, he asked. “That was to defend
herself. It was a weapon!”
What! No way! Frail, proper Great Grandma walked around
with a hat pin as a weapon!
“Oh yes,” said Uncle Frankie. “Whenever she went to the
bank, she’d keep her money in her bra, wear her black hat and keep her right
arm ready for any moment that she needed to stab someone.”
Way to go Great Grandma!
What other stories could she share if we was alive today!
…This morning we learn more about our extended faith
family, and if you know anything about great-grandparents Naomi and Ruth, you
know the chisme is hot!
Here's the faith family gossip-
Naomi lived as a proper Jew in Bethlehem. She married a proper Jewish boy and had two
proper Jewish sons.
A famine hit the land, so they immigrated to Moab, where their
sons married non-Jewish women.
Then, in a series of unfortunate events, Naomi’s husband
and sons died. She moved back home, and
Ruth, one of her daughters-in-law, pledged to go with her.
When they returned to Bethlehem, Naomi felt like a broken
woman. No husband, no sons, no grandbabies
to inherit the family land or carry on the family name.
BUT there was a custom in her country- if a relative married
Ruth, then the child would be considered a proper grandchild, thus able to inherit
the land and continue the family name.
So Ruth and Naomi came up with a great plan. Naomi had a rich relative named Boaz. Ruth said, “Let me go to his field to gather some
grain, and let’s see if I catch his eye.”
Of course, the plan works. Boaz spots Ruth in the field. He says “We have heard all you have done for
your mother-in-law; may God reward you with great favor!”
Boaz invites Ruth to sit beside him and dip a morsel of
her bread into the wine. She goes home
to tell Naomi how well the first meeting went.
Noami is muy feliz.
Naomi gives Ruth new instruction- “Anoint your body and
put on your best clothes. When Boaz takes
his post dinner nap, uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”
Naomi’s plan goes exactly as planned. Boaz marries Ruth and they have a child.
The town’s women come to celebrate. Naomi holds her grandbaby against her breast
as the women name the child- Obed, who will become the granddaddy of David.
Today’s story works on so many levels. For example, it has elements of Resurrection.
What seemed to be a dead end has now become an open road.
Naomi experienced such great loss and a deluge of death that
she assumes the memory of her family will go forgotten.
But through a series of choices and the presence of God,
new life emerges from Ruth’s belly.
Second- the story is about return.
Naomi returns home, discovering it is not the same as
before, nor will it ever be, and she finds a way to get new meaning in her return.
Third- there is the imagery of female community.
So often it can feel as though images of strong, sacred femininity
is missing in Scripture.
Eve is condemned. Rachel
and Leah are presented as fighting over a man.
Mary of Magdala is maligned and Martha keeps getting put into the
kitchen.
But when do you recall a story in the Bible in which a
child is presented in a room full of women?
Earlier, the men are seen at the gates of the city,
dealing with the legal aspects of family life, but here in this room are the
women of the city coming together to celebrate.
Here we have the elders, the aunties, the neighbors, the
moms, coming to congratulate Naomi.
“Blessed be the Lord.
May your grandson refresh your life.
His Mom is worth more than 7 sons.”
Something wonderful happens.
The women aren’t saying that Ruth or Naomi have value just
because of the baby boy, they are saying that the baby boy has value because Ruth,
his Mom, has value.
Ruth, a foreign woman who once worshipped a foreign God,
is seen by the local women as being worth more than 7 men.
They also see the extended family at play, that it is not
just Ruth, but it is Naomi, who benefits from the baby.
Then, as if we are witnessing the coronation of a king,
we hear the women of the town come together to name the child.
It’s powerful, because naming indicates responsibility,
it represents legacy.
It’s as if the women of the town are saying “No matter
what, we are here for you, and if there is anything you or your child needs, you
can call on us.”
In other words, it feels as though by naming the child,
the women are saying “It takes a village…and we are your village.”
Naomi starts today’s story leaving her home, losing her
family, and at the end she discovers she has a village.
Ruth starts the story as a foreigner who discovers she is
part of the village, seen by the citizens as a person of value; a person of
worth.
Ruth is a story full of chisme, a story full of faith
family members doing things to survive and thrive.
Ruth is a story about welcoming someone from another
nation, it is a story about aging, it is a story about death, birth, marriage,
work, and new identity.
In other words, Ruth is a story about life, about God,
and about community, how we are more than just ourselves.
Amen and amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment