Your People Shall Be My People. A sermon by the Rev. Abigail Henderson, preached at First United Church of Christ in Northfield, MN, on July 20, 2014.

Transcription

1 Your People Shall Be My People. A sermon by the Rev. Abigail Henderson, preached at First United Church of Christ in Northfield, MN, on July 20, This week begins a four-week series on the Book of Ruth. We ll read a chapter a week. We just heard the first and arguably most well known chapter. The Book of Ruth is beloved to many readers. Compared to other parts of our canon like say, the Book of Numbers or some of Paul s more convoluted writings this book is readable, relatable, and short. It s also one of only two books in the Bible named after women. (The other is Esther.) And, amazingly, the primary relationship in Ruth is not really between Ruth and her future husband Boaz, whom you ll meet later. The primary relationship is between Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi. At a previous, unnamed church where I served, I participated in a women s Bible study reading the Book of Ruth. A member of the group, probably in her eighties, turned to me and said, Do you know what this book is really about? What? I asked. It s obviously a lesbian love story! she exclaimed. 1

2 I could not have predicted she would say that. Whatever you think about her conclusion, there is no denying the profound connection between Ruth and Naomi. In fact, Ruth s famous declaration of loyalty to her motherin-law has long been read at wedding ceremonies. And consider verse 14: Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. The Hebrew word for clung is dabaq. This same word also appears in Genesis. After God creates Eve as a companion for Adam, the writer states, Therefore, a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. In this opening chapter, Ruth cleaves to Naomi like Adam cleaved to Eve. This clues us into the fact that this is no ordinary story that we are reading. No: this is a foundational story of Judaism and Christianity. Ruth may lack the drama and action sequences of other books in the Hebrew Bible; there are no wars, no murders, no kings, pharaohs, floods, and extraordinary acts of God. Instead, what we have is human-scale story of faithfulness and hospitality. One that has huge implications for Jewish and Christian values, both ancient and modern. But let s back up. The Book of Ruth is believed to originate from the 4 th century B.C.E. The story takes place a few generations before the reign of King David, when the tribes of Israel were a loose confederation with no central government. The people were led by chieftains, or judges. There are two really important points to understanding what s happening, especially in this first chapter: 2

3 First: Naomi is from Israel, and Ruth is from Moab. It is hard to overstate the significance of these different nationalities. Israel hates Moab. According to Israelite mythology, the Moabites are the incestuous offspring of Lot s relations with his daughters. Other books in the Hebrew Bible contain countless injunctions against marrying Moabite women. Psalm 60 describes Moab as God s washbasin. Second: In this time and place, women are defined by their relationships with men. Single women have virtually no place in society. The household is the most important social unit, and the household cannot exist without a husband, son, or father. In other words, being a widow or an orphan was just about the most vulnerable identity one could have. In light of these two points, one thing is clear: the Book of Ruth is a highly implausible story. Implausible on the level of Noah s Ark or the parting of the Red Sea. This story begins with the intermarriage of an Israelite family and a Moabite family something that goes completely against the grain of cultural expectation. Even more radically, this story begins with a Moabite widow choosing to follow an Israelite widow back to Israel, rather than sensibly stay in her country and return to her father s family. Consider the magnitude of what Ruth is giving up: she is saying goodbye to stability; safety; identity. In cleaving herself to Naomi, she is cleaving herself to incomprehensible risk. And she seems to understand that. Where you die, I will die there will I be buried, she says. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you! 3

4 This act of loyalty from one vulnerable person to another reverberates through the Judeo-Christian mythos. It suggests to the People of Israel that Moabites that is, foreigners, aliens are not the enemy. On the contrary, Ruth embodies the Hebrew concept of hesed loving kindness more completely than many other biblical characters. And on top of that Ruth s lovingkindness has a political dimension. As we ll see in the fourth chapter, the writers claim that Ruth is the greatgrandmother of David, the man chosen by God to unite the tribes of Israel into one nation. In Christianity, of course, David is the ancestor of Jesus. So according to the Book of Ruth, the Davidic line would not exist unless two widows two outcasts were willing to cross borders physical, national, cultural. I don t have to tell you that crossing borders is still a highly controversial and risky act. The passage of human beings from Mexico into the United States is one of the most contested issues of our time. Writers and commentators whom I respect are urging us stop calling it an immigration crisis. They argue it is more accurately a refugee crisis, particularly with regards to children. Approximately 52,000 children are fleeing terrible violence and deprivation in their own countries. What would Jesus do? What would Ruth do? I don t know exactly what they would do, but I do know their stories. Jesus story involves crossing borders for the sake of safety: his mother and father smuggled him out of Bethlehem to escape King Herod s massacre of the Innocents. And Ruth s story, as we have explored, involves choosing 4

5 human connection over everything else over culture, politics, and even personal safety. Risk, connection, lovingkindness, and crossing the borders that separate us: these are our sacred themes. It is our calling to live out these themes as best we can. I know that s no easy charge. I know that the political and economic complexity of immigration reform can be overwhelming. And, for many of us, the Mexican-American border feels far, far away. But make no mistake: there are Naomis and Ruths among us: in Minnesota, in the Twin Cities, and in Northfield. And there will be more. And more. And more. I ll leave you with the words of Rev. Alice Kirkman Kunka, a United Methodist minister: When we reflect on the issue of immigration and the existence of borders between countries, it is good to recall that when seen from outer space, the earth does not reveal any borders. Borders are human-made creations that separate people who are governed by different governments. God s world has no borders. God does not create illegal people. The human condition has created these barriers to the shalom that God intends for creation. 1 With our voices, our actions, our dollars, and dare I say our votes, let us embrace Ruth s extraordinary, implausible, logic-defying, radical loving act of faith: Your people shall be my people. Amen. 1 b/justice- for- immigrants- proper- 26/ 5