Rev. George Miller
June 23, 2024
Ruth 2:8-13
The story of American music is one that is
rooted in adventure and new beginnings.
The story of American music is rooted in
tragedy and drudgery, slavery and brutality.
American music came from people who left
their homes, were pushed out of their homes, and stolen from their homes.
American music is the very essence of what
it means to be a traveler, a survivor, and an over-comer of great odds.
No wonder the world has been in love with
American music for so long, for the sounds of the USA are the sounds of the
people.
A brief bit of musicology- the music
that’s enriched America is from three groups of folk- the Irish immigrants, the
enslaved Yoruba people, and the original inhabitants of the land.
In the 1600’s enslaved people from Africa
were forced to work the tobacco fields in Virginia.
A century later, a wave of Irish
immigrants arrived, making their way to the Appalacha Mountains.
Those from Africa and Ireland lived in
close proximity to one another, along with the Indigenous people of America.
A unique
blending of these three “tribes” occurred.
They began gathering after work, under the
moon and stars.
They began to play their songs; they began
to share the music from their ancestors.
The Irish brought their fiddles and their
jigs, those from Africa brought their banjos and backbeats, the Indigenous had
their percussion and patterns.
Together, they would play, and sing, dance
and sob, and share.
Overtime those from Cuba, Haiti, Brazil
would become part of this complex community and there was the additions of rhythms,
patterns, punctuated equilibrium.
There, in the mountains of Appalachia, this
mix of Latin, European, African, Caribbean, Native American would play what
their hearts felt, using drums, rattles, wood scraped over the jaw of a dead
horse.
A symbiosis of sounds and stories, sadness
and joy, strength and spirituality composed by people for which the notion of
“home” was very complex.
From the Native American, African, and
Irish came the roots of rock and roll, country, gospel, bluegrass, Elvis,
Mahalia, “Amazing Grace,” Beyonce.
Over time the British brought the Beatles,
the Philippines brought Bruno Mars, Cuba brought Celia Cruz, Haiti brought The
Fugees,
and the world can’t get enough of what was
started by a group of folk who simply began by sitting at the fire and playing
music.
As Emmanuel UCC, we are musical children
of those Appalachia ancestors, as almost every song, every beat, every note,
can be traced back to them.
We share this because today is our
Percussive Worship service.
We share this because today we celebrate Juneteenth,
when all the enslaved people were set free.
Today we have a cornerstone story about
the roots and seeds of our faith.
It is the story of Ruth; the
great-grandmother of King David, and one of the five women mentioned in the
genealogy of Jesus.
It is also the story of an immigrant; it
is the story of the unexpected and overlooked.
A perfect story for us as we prepare to
have our narratives changed with my wandering to Missouri, and your search for your
next shepherd.
There are lessons to hear and to gather
from Ruth, such as
-you never know who God is going to send
your way,
-how God is going to work, or
-how situations of strife can sometimes be
that which brings about success and salvation.
We also learn the importance of seeing
what is unseen.
Today’s scripture takes place in
Bethlehem. Ruth is a widow. She has lost both her husband, her
father-in-law and brother-in-law, and she has no son.
She has decisided to travel to Bethlehem
to be with her mother-in-law, Naomi.
Currently, Ruth is vulnerable. No man, no job, no guarantee.
Like many immigrants, she first turns to physical
labor.
She goes out to the fields, she’s in the
hot sun, she’s in threat of danger and abuse.
She is a foreigner, which in Hebrew, has
its roots it the word “to take notice and to recognize.”
But to be a foreigner means the opposite-
it means you are not recognizable you are not known.
Which in a small town can mean two things-
That you are both ignored while also
standing out as not being “one of us.”
But something happens.
Though Ruth is among the immigrant people
who are deemed “unrecognizable,” she indeed ends up being “seen.”
The man who “sees” her is a man named
Boaz.
He is a man of righteousness and
understanding, a person who understands the true nature of God’s law.
He reaches out to her. He offers her an opportunity, he extends to
her safety and security, he provides for her basic needs.
He does something else. He engages her in conversation.
At a time when society considered women as
“less than,” he treated her as worthy of conversation.
At a time when strangers were to be
silent, he invited her voice.
At a moment when foreign folk were categorized
as unrecognizable, not only did he see her…
…but it turns out that he had heard all
about her.
Boaz says to Ruth, a non-jew, with no man,
no son, no property, no job, no record deal-
“I have heard about you; WE have all heard
about you.
How you somehow, someway left everything
you had behind, and how you have been just, kind, and humble in regard to
Naomi.”
Then Boaz says to this non-Jew, non-native woman with nothing to her name-
“May the Lord of Israel reward you and cover
you with God’s wings of refuge.”
And Ruth, being the bad mamajamma she is
says-
“May I continue to find favor in you. You have spoken to me as if you see me, know
me and care about me.”
As a result, Ruth becomes a vital part of
the religious community and brings forth new life into the Family of God.
In other words, Ruth brings her own
melody, her own instrument.
Ruth brings her own rhythm, her own song
into the people of God.
And the music of Israel will never be the
same.
People of Emmanuel, today is a reminder
that we are more than just our individual selves.
We are more than our own experience, our
own story, our own likes.
We, as Emmanuel, exist because we are a
people who have come from all places, all backgrounds,
all stories, all adventures, all heart
breaks, all triumphs, to make up who we are.
We are more than the Pastor, we are more
than the Moderator,
we are more than musicians, we are more
than then the kitchen, we are more than the property, we are more than the
missions.
We are made up of all these things, and so
much much more.
We never know who is going to come our
way, we never know who is going to bless us.
We never know who we are going to see or
who we are going to engage with.
As we embark on this chapter in our story,
lets us continue to keep an open eye, an open ear, an open heart to who God is
leading our way.
For there is no doubt that God is with
us. There is no doubt that God is
directing us.
There is no doubt that there are going to
be many more songs to sing and fields to glean and orchards to plant.
May we, as children of God, continue to
see as God sees,
to walk as Jesus walked
and to welcome the Spirit like a guiding
drum.
Amen and amen.
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