As I was looking over the sermon resources for this week, I could not help but notice that few commentators commented on the text from Ruth, opting instead for the Markan passage about the widow's mite. Perhaps they felt that all that needed to be said about Ruth was spoken last week, when the text focused on Ruth's decision to remain with Naomi. How we love the "whither thou goest" language! This week, we are confronted with the story of what happened next: Ruth had to figure out a way to earn a living, and Naomi tried to figure out a way to find a nice Jewish husband for Ruth. Enter Boaz. Through some scheming, Noami and Ruth were able to get Boaz to notice Ruth, and to notice her in a big way. Boaz took quite a shine to her, and even though a kinsman of Naomi's late husband was next in line to court Ruth, he stepped aside so that Boaz might be the suitor. So, Ruth and Boaz married and had a child and Naomi had an honorary grandchild and all lived happily ever after. That sounds corny, and I cannot help but wonder if that is why so many folks ignore this passage this week. After all, what can one say about the story that was not covered last week?
Glad you asked! At its heart, the story of Ruth is the story of the Other. Andre LaCocue, in his book The Feminine Unconventional: Four Subversives in Israel's Tradition, makes the point that Ruth, a foreigner, was the embodiment of all that was despised by those who considered themselves "pure." "Ruth is not any foreigner in general. She belongs to a nation that, for Israel, represents perversion and destruction. Moabite females attempted to corrupt the Israelites coming from Egypt on their way to Canaan. Since then, the numerous references to Moab in Scripture are unanimously pejorative (85).
The true miracle of the story of Ruth is the outcome for Naomi, and, by extension, for the children of Israel. The law of levirite marriage provided a childless widow with the opportunity to have a son to carry on the family bloodline (Genesis 38, Deut. 25:5-10). Usually, the brother of the dead husband provided the necessary "services." In the case of Naomi, her ex-daughter-in-law, a Moabitess, was wed to a Jew, Boaz, and gave birth to a son, Obed. Through the machinations of Levirite marriage, Naomi's Jewish family bloodline was preserved through an outsider. And it should be noted that the child, Obed, grew to marry and he and his wife had a son, Jesse, who had a son, David..and you know the rest,right?
So, in Jesus' own bloodlines were women who were anything but insiders, Ruth and Rahab among them. How then, can people of faith ever stand by while folks are excluded from religious communities for any reason? Perhaps the story of Ruth is given scant attention for the very reason that it upsets the status quo, if that status quo is one that demands that the Other remain just that. The story of Ruth is the story of an amazing grace from a God whose love knows no bounds. Go ye, and do likewise.
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