1 The Story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boas (Part II) Paul Versluis The story of Ruth is a story about the power of kindness. Kesed is the Hebrew word translated loving-kindness. Kesed is kindness that goes beyond what the law requires. Hebrew immigration law stipulated that orphans, widows and immigrants had the right to glean their fields, a social policy designed to care for the most vulnerable. Ruth is both a widow and an immigrant, and Boas shows her Kesed. He lets her glean according to the law, but then he goes beyond the law and shows her Kesed, loving-kindness. He notices her, inquires about her family, gives her a meal of bread and wine, tells his workers not to harm her, to make sure that they leave her plenty of grain to glean. When someone shows you Kesed, you remember it. Ruth recognizes Boas kindness. She asks him, Why have I found favor in your sight that you should notice me, when I am a immigrant? And again, You have comforted me and spoken kindly to me even though I am not one of your own workers. Boas kindness comforts Ruth and lifts up her spirit. When someone shows us loving-kindness, we are comforted and given hope for a better future. Ruth shows Naomi Kesed. She takes a risk and goes out to work in the fields to help provide for her mother in law. She saves some of her meal Boas gave her to bring home to Naomi. Kindness is when we do more than the law requires, mow the grass or do the dishes when it was not expected. Kindness can be transformative. Kesed transforms futility into fertility. Kesed turns despair into hope. When we act with kindness, we become a channel of divine empowerment that helps God repair the world. When we extend kindness, we help to build Shalom, in others and in ourselves. As we live and play and work together, to kind to one another. Is God kind to Naomi? Naomi believed God had forsaken her. She cries Don t call me sweet [Naomi], call me bitter [Mara] for God s hand has turned against me, God has dealt harshly with me, the almighty has brought calamity upon me.
2 I read the book and concluded that in the end, because of the kindness of Ruth and Boas, some sweetness is returned to Naomi. Kindness works to add sweetness to what is bitter. When we encounter someone like Naomi has become bitter because of suffering, we can be kind to them. The specific expression of kindness is complicated. We need to have in place the value of kindness, and then we need to make plans for the practice of kindness. To do this we need to ask ourselves, others, Spirit, to help us do Kesed. If we ask, it will come to us, what to do. Human expressions of kindness are especially needed when God s presence in not evident to others because of misfortune. Acts of human kindness may help restore a belief in divine providence and mercy. George Sanders in a Commencement Speech said the one thing he regretted in life was not being kind to the new kid in seventh grade, that what he regrets most in life were his failures of kindness. He says, Do the ambitious things, travel, get rich, get famous, lead, fall in love, but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness. It is not easy to practice kindness. John Kotre said kindness is like a sponge that absorbs another s anger and anxiety. Often, for me kindness is being able to hold my tongue. Sometimes kindness is a hunch that comes to me from a quiet place, from deep listening and spiritual creativity or intuition. That if I ask, it will come. I was overwhelmed. I went to visit friends and they greeted me with homemade cookies, they gave me their evening, listened to my sad story, and prayed for my good fortune. May God hide you under God s wings. [If you don t have words, these will do] Their kindness helped restore me, helped me to believe God is good. The hardest part is being kind to others who are not kind to us. I have discovered that I never regret trying to be kind, but I always regret my own hostility. When I need to give a harsh word of correction or rebuke, I never regret giving the reprove with kindness and I always regret giving the reprove with insensitivity. I believe Jesus wants us to be a channel s of kindness and not a channels of wrath.
3 II. The story of Ruth is a story of immigration. Ruth and Naomi are immigrants. They immigrate out of desperation, and when they cross borders they are vulnerable and alone, they don t know the language, the customs or laws. Moreover, they are widows and they are women immigrants. While reading the book of Ruth, I woke sweating in the night. In a small but real way, I was an immigrant. In my first eight years of school I changed schools eight times. Eight times I crossed a border and entered a new place. As an immigrant, I needed a Boas, someone who would be my friend, show me favor, notice me and say, So who is that stranger, and mean it with some kindness. Ruth said to Naomi, I will go to work in the field. Perhaps I will find someone who will show me favor? And it just so happened she came to a field that belonged to Boas. Boas befriends the Ruth, offers her food, prays for her, gives her a blessing, may you find refuge under God s wings. He offers her work and opportunity. Glean in my field. He offers her protection, let her alone and make sure you leave her some grain. He gives her water. Ruth says to Boas, Why are you so kind to me when I am a immigrant? Like Boas, we can be kind to the immigrant and get to know our immigrant neighbors. We can be attentive to them, offer them food, a prayer and blessing. Perhaps we can provide then work and opportunity. Like Boas, we could be their advocate and work to protect them and defend their rights. A simple and practical response to the immigration debate is that for each of us we would to be willing to be kind and give our attention to one immigrant neighbor. Hebrew law provided that the widows and immigrant had right to glean. [Deut 24:19-22; Lev 19:9-10] But other laws were not favorable to immigrants. Ezra [9:1-5] said it was an abomination for a Jew to marry a Moabite. Nehemiah [13:2] said Moabites were not to be admitted to the assembly. The book of Ruth challenges this racial ethnocentrism. The Jew Boas marries Ruth the Moabite, and
4 Ruth alone with Tamar and Rehab, all outsiders are honored ancestors of David and Jesus. The story of Ruth encourages us to show kindness to immigrants, to build friendships rather than walls. Like Ruth, the immigrant will enrich our life. III. Ruth is a story about God? Asks the question, Can we trust God? Walter Bruggerman [OT Scholar] says the Hebrew Bible argues, maybe yes, maybe no. The Hebrew Bible reads like a courtroom drama. One attorney argues, We can trust God while the attorney argues, no we can t. In the book of Ruth, the prosecutor presents the minority position, You can t trust God. God sends famines, God takes Naomi s husband and sons. Naomi says of God, the hand of God has turned against me, [1:13], God has made me bitter [1:19], I went away full and God brought me back empty, God has dealt harshly with me, the Almighty has brought calamity upon me. Don t call me Sweet but call me Bitter [1: 20-22] Case closed, you can t trust God. The defense presents the case for the majority position, we can trust God. Naomi says to Ruth and Orpah, May God be as kind to you as you have been to me and my sons. In other words, God s not been kind to me, but maybe God will be kind to you. God is kind to Ruth. She goes out to glean, she returns with an abundance of grain and she is befriended by Boas. Naomi is grateful and says, Blessed be God for Boas favor and kindness. God is good. Boas says to Ruth, May God reward you for your deeds. May you find shelter under God s wings. [2:12] At the end of the story women say to Naomi, Blessed be God, who has redeemed you, restored you life and provided for you as you grow old. Your daughter in law is worth more than seven sons. Naomi is blessed to care for baby Obed. Case closed, we can trust God. Can we trust God? Bruggerman suggests that the tension resists a resolution. We have both voices. Jesus words are helpful, Trust in God, trust also in me. I was overwhelmed and grieving the loss of a community and a vision. Joy and I left town and went to seek some wise counsel and found it just awful, making matters worse. Just by chance we were given tickets to Mahler s Resurrection
5 Symphony. As I listened, I was overcome tears and a kind Spirit said to me, trust me, don t be afraid, I will raise you up. In the end, question, can I trust God, it comes down to a choice, I will or I won t. IV. Ruth is a Jewish story, a story [of Kesed] and Chutzpah. Naomi and Ruth have Chutzpah; meaning nerve, inventiveness, courage. This is the story of two women, of widows and not warriors. They represent the experience of women who find themselves vulnerable in the face of patriarchal structures. They do what they can to survive in a man s world. To survive they will need to stand together in solidarity to help each other improve their future. To survive they will need courage and nerve. They make sacrifices to better their odds, they take chances, they work within their structures to gain a better status. Madipnane Masenya, an African theologian from Northern Sotho says the story of Ruth shows how women in patriarchal societies are capable of affecting change in their own families. She quotes a African saying, the mother of the child holds the sharp part of the knife, meaning that when a crisis strikes a family, it is usually the women in the family who will act as an agents of salvation. Two widows, one embittered and the other an immigrant, they come up with a plan to make things better. Naomi says to Ruth, Bath, put on perfume, your best clothes and go to the barn of Boas. After he has finished eating and drinking, when he is in a contended mood, uncover his feet and lay there with him and he will tell you what to do. If things go well, ask him to marry you. This is Chutzpah, nerve, courage, and collaboration at work. Sometimes adversity turns us into victims. We get stuck in powerlessness as we complain and blame others for our misfortune. Naomi complains and blames, but she also has a dream, she also takes initiative, and together with Ruth they make plans for redemption. We can complain, but if that is all we do we become victims. Jim Wallis wrote that Martin Luther King didn t just have a complaint, he had a Dream.
6 V. Ruth is a love story, between two women and then husband and wife. When I first read the story, I figured Boas noticed Ruth because she was beautiful. And Ruth, she doesn t uncover Boas feet but his lower body, and they have premarital sex. I ve changed my mind. I think Boas notices her because she works hard, she is strong and courageous. When we sexualize the story I think we trivialize Ruth s determination and resourcefulness, Visiting a friend who grew up in the Congo, he told a story of attending a business meeting in Chicago, where an attractive Finish woman was the center of attention, attracting the male gaze. All eyes were on her and no one noticed the tall thin man from the Congo. We wondered if the male gaze, our tendency to sexualize women, is more a Western custom. He said that in the Congo you might think a woman is beautiful because of her laugh, her smile, or the way she listens to you. I doubt that Ruth and Naomi were lovers and I think Boas treated Ruth with honor and respect. They don t have to have sex in the barn for the story to work. It is a spiritual and not a sexual encounter, and I think Naomi was not being a pimp but a good lawyer; she was doing what she could to make her own way and use her connections for her own advantage and security. One of two books in the Bible named after a women, avoid tendency to sexualize their spirituality. Ruth teaches us the power of kindness, courage, creativity, solidarity, in the facing of hard times, by women who are widows and immigrants. Prayer of Blessing: When you suffer and feel forsaken May there be a Ruth or a Boas in your life. May you find a good work and safe place to live.
7 May you have a friend who will stand with you, to whom you can cling, And may God redeem you, not just in the life to come but in this life as well. And as Ruth clings to Naomi, and says, do not leave me, but let me follow you, where you go, I will go, and your god will be my God.. So may we cling to Jesus and follow him. God may you bless all those who feel god forsaken, Fill their emptiness with your Spirit s creative power. And give to those who are bereft new families when the old ones don t work. The story of Ruth, a story of barley and beer. Barley is a grass. Take off the husk, and the kernel forms a spout. Put it in water and forms a malt when heated, starch turns to sugar when add yeast turns to alcohol; add some hops [flower] bitter and sweet combination. Beer is like Naomi, both bitter and sweet. Life is like a beer, some bitter and some sweet. Early brewers were women. Think of Naomi was a brewer, and a matchmaker. Brewer and matchmaker, she tells Ruth to be sure Boas had his beer so that he would be more receptive to Ruth s marriage proposal. Later, the best brewers were monks. Some religious would argue that beer makes us receptive to the Spirit, but Paul advice provides a caution, Do not be drunk with wine, which is excess [asotia] but be filled with the Spirit. [KJV Eph 5:18] Beer might make one more receptive the Spirit, but it may just as well make us more receptive to violence or passivity. The Spirit like wine, gladdens the heart. The Spirit like wine, makes us receptive to God s wisdom. When we mediate, and pray, we are filled with Spirit, and we become more aware and receptive to the God s proposals.
8 The spirit of Alcohol can make us receptive to violence or passivity, while the Holy Spirit can only make us receptive to Shalom. Drink alcohol and we become unsteady, drink the Spirit and we become rooted in Shalom. If you enjoy alcohol, if it works to make you more receptive, calm, interested, think of being filled with the Spirit as even better, more wholesome. The effect of prayer is peace, wisdom, love, joy.