February 22, 2017
(Ruth1:15 – 2:13)
Yesterday and today the reading in the Revised Common
Lectionary has included sections from the book of Ruth in the Jewish
scriptures. Yesterday I was impressed by the loyalty that Ruth exhibited toward
Naomi. I also found it very human, and something we all do occasionally, when
Naomi said, “… because the Lord has turned against me.” (1:13b CEV) The scriptures, and in this case the book of
Ruth, demonstrate human reactions, both good and bad, to situations in the
lives of people. In today’s reading in (2:1 -13) Ruth goes out to glean grain
from the edge of a field that is being harvested by workers hired by a man
named Boaz. Boaz, when greeting his workers, notices Ruth and asks who she is.
He learns that she is picking grain left behind by the harvesters; a practice
encouraged by Jewish law and custom so that the poor would have food to eat. In
verses 8 and 9 the scripture tells us, “Boaz went out to Ruth and said, ‘I
think it would be best for you not to pick up grain in anyone else’s field.
Stay here with the women and follow along behind them, as they gather up what
the men have cut. I have warned the men not to bother you, and whenever you are
thirsty, you can drink from the water jars they have filled.” Perhaps Boaz’s
kindness is not necessarily completely selfless, because as we find out later,
he finds Ruth attractive.
But there
is a lesson in these two verses, and in the book of Ruth, that is valuable for
us today. We are in the midst of a climate of fear where we are told to fear
the stranger or anyone who is different from us. We are to fence them out, to
deport them, and to do this without consideration of their humanity. We are to
clutch fear, to hold it close to our hearts, to reject. But much of scripture
in general and the book of Ruth specifically tells us otherwise. Boaz welcomes
the immigrant and treats her kindly. We know that she is an immigrant from the
first chapter and from what Ruth says to Boaz, “You know that I am from another country. Why are you so good to
me?” (2: 10b) Boaz’s answer is that he
sees her good character because he has heard how good she is to her mother-in-law
and also because she had left her own family to, “live in a foreign land among
people you don’t know. I pray that the Lord God of Israel will reward you.” (2:
11b - 12a)
If we, today, listen to our better instincts and open our eyes to see the vast
majority of immigrants from another
country as valuable human beings
to be welcomed and made to feel worthwhile we will be responding to them as the
Jewish scripture instructs us to. Indeed, we will be reacting as Jesus told his
disciples to and as he tell us to when he said that we welcome Him when we
welcome the stranger. There is, and has been since the very earliest history of
the United States, a myth that this is a Christian country. It is not and
should not be because we are to welcome and incorporate into our civil life all
religions without exception. But let’s fantasize for a moment and view the US
as a Christian nation. Given that concept would we reject the stranger, the immigrant?
Would we reject Ruth? Or would we welcome strangers and as a result welcome
Jesus among us? I leave the answer up to you. I personally am for welcoming
Jesus.
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