Sermon for August 12

The reading

Ruth 4

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. 2 Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here"; so they sat down. 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. 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." 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." 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." 7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8 So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, "Acquire it for yourself," he took off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses." 11 Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, "We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; 12 and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah." 13 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. 18 Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, 19 Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, 21 Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, 22 Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

The message

We are in our last week with the book of Ruth. So far this story has centered on 3 people.  Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. Their interactions and relationships maintain the family line of King David (Ruth’s great grandson).  In Chapter 1, the drama is set.  Naomi, her husband and 2 sons flee famine in their home city of Bethlehem.  They settle in Moab where their sons both marry Moabite women.  Over the years, Naomi’s husband and 2 sons die.  This leaves Naomi and her daughter in laws with serious problems (at the time, women had few rights and could not legally do much).   With thanksgiving and her blessing Naomi sends her daugher in laws back to their families, so they can remarry.  This is a great sacrifice on her part.  The younger women will be better off at home but Naomi will really be in trouble without them.  Orpah listens and goes home but Ruth refuses, insisting that she will go with Naomi, no matter what.  Ruth is committed to her family, promises and obligations.

In Chapter 2 Ruth and Naomi return to Bethlehem. They receive a no so warm welcome, more of an anxious stares and whispers welcome. Ruth immediately sets out to do the only thing she can, glean in the fields (widows, the poor and foreigners were allowed to collect left behind, unharvested grains, today, we can think of people collecting soda cans for the nickel deposit ).  During the first day Ruth happens to meet Boaz while gleaning in his fields.  Boaz gives her something to eat, drink and special privileges in the fields (she can pick where ever she wants and his workers will help her).  When Ruth returns to Naomi that first night, Naomi tells her that Boaz is actually a close relative on her Husband’s side.   

In Chapter 3, the harvest seasons are over and Boaz can no longer care for Ruth and Naomi through general charity. Ruth goes to Boaz at night.  This is an intimate meeting.  She goes to convince Boaz to marry her with an offer of sex, appeal to his compassion or charity and his legal obligation under the law.  Boaz is amazed again by Ruth’s commitment (Ruth had other options, but marrying Boaz was the only way to include and care for Naomi).  He tells her that he is not the first one obligated to marry her, he is second, there is another kinsman before him.  Boaz promises to find out if this kinsman will marry her, if not, Boaz himself will marry her.  If Boaz keeps this promise, Ruth and Naomi will be saved (and he will have a spot in history forever as an ancestor of King David and Jesus).      

Today, in Chapter 4, it is the morning immediately after Ruth and Boaz’s night meeting. He gets to work immediately on keeping his promise.  No wasting time, no putting it off, this is urgent.  Boaz sets out to find the next of kin and get a decision. This turns out to be really easy to do, he just walks right into him. I do not want to get lost in the mostly unclear or unknown details of Ancient Near East property and inheritance laws.  It is enough to say Boaz makes some very smart moves to protect Naomi and Ruth. He calls together a group of 10 elders in the city (that was the legal way to deal with these land or property matters). Then Boaz puts the first next of kin on the spot.  Initially, asking if that man wants to redeem Elimech’s land. The man says yes, of course, (I mean who doesn’t want free land). Boaz goes on to mention the catch, by the way, the land comes with marrying Ruth, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance.  This makes the transaction no longer appealing or in the next of kin’s economic interest. He quickly gives up his claim. We are not sure if Boaz knew this would be a deal breaker.  Judging from how impressed Boaz is with Ruth’s commitment and dedication, it seems like Boaz wants to marry Ruth. We get the sense that he trusts himself to care for Ruth and Naomi more than this other man. After all, the other man immediately gives up his claim when faced with the possibility it might cost him something, it might be a sacrifice, it might interfere with his own property. This man’s initial agreement and rapid change of mind exposes him as selfish, unwilling to actually fulfill the law when it is inconvenient.  Boaz faithfully redeems Naomi’s family property and ends their suffering.

The Book of Ruth ends with the blessing of the people (who months before had that not so warm welcome for Ruth and Naomi). Their words of blessing connect Ruth to the history of Israel, seeing in the story of her and Boaz some of the most important interpersonal events in in the Old Testament, Tamar, Judah, Rachel, Leah and Perez (all instances when families were maintained by outsiders). We end with the marriage of Ruth and Boaz and the birth of Obed, a child who, as the last words of the book tell us, will be King David’s grandfather. 

A few weeks ago, as we started the Book of Ruth, I woke up really early Sunday morning and put on the TV.  I noticed that they had the televangelist / tv church programs on and I happened to catch mega church pastor Joel Olsteen.  I normally would have kept flipping but randomly enough, he was just starting a sermon on the Book of Ruth. (and there I was thinking no ever talks about the book of Ruth).  His message had none of the history, context or explanation that I have filled this sermon series with.  He focused on keep faithful in prayer, work hard, stay committed to God and be rewarded or blessed (of course an obvious sign of being faithful was to give generously to his ministry and an obvious reward for his work was his church stadium).   

I struggle with saying things like keep faithful and be rewarded with stuff. Knowing so many faithful people who are not rewarded here and now, who are sick, going through loss, trying to make ends meet and not getting there, who ask why their prayers go unanswered.  Even Chapter 1 of Ruth ends with Naomi questioning why she has been placed in such undeserved suffering, why God no longer cares for her.  We can claim, we should claim and celebrate that we are blessed but we are blessed by knowing God’s love, we are blessed by knowing our sins are forgiven, we are blessed by knowing God is with us in the valley of the shadow of death, we are blessed by knowing God’s kingdom that covers this place and the next.  We are rewarded first, blessed by salvation by grace through faith, freely given to undeserving people.

God does not promise us a stadium if we say our prayers right, an illness free 150 year life if we log enough church hours or a lotto win if we pass a certain donation threshold.  Our faith is not a series of deals.  Being rich and popular are not signs that you are loved by God, being human is a sign that you are loved by God.  Those things leave us little more than the guy who quickly says yeah to free land and then immediately drops out once he hears a hint of sacrifice or doesn’t get his way.    The next of kin is not willing to make the sacrifice.  God does make the sacrifice for us, Jesus death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins. The story of Ruth is an invitation to use our resources, urgently, fully, not because we are playing some cosmic lets make a deal with God, but because we have been blessed and we want to.  There are times in the story of Ruth where God intervenes to ensure history is right, ending the famine and ensuring Ruth conceives a child. In both cases, its joyful but it’s not about them, no one has any idea this will matter so much, that Jesus, the savior, the world made flesh and dwelling amongst us will come from this family line Ruth and Boaz maintain, Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, 19 Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, 21 Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, 22 Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.