There is a little story that I tell sometimes on Christmas Eve. A woman lost her most valuable possession: a diamond ring. So upset, she called her sister, who came over right away to help her look for it. They got down on their hands and knees and began searching, inch by inch over the carpet in the living room. When her husband got home he saw the two women crawling around on the living room floor, intently looking at the carpet, serious as could be. He asked what they were doing. His wife said, “I lost my diamond ring and we’re looking for it.”
Well, he got right down on the floor with them to help in the search. The three of them were now crawling on the floor, inch by inch, searching for the lost ring. After what seemed like hours of fruitless searching the man looked at his wife and said, “Are you sure you lost it in here?” and she said, “No! Not at all. I probably lost it in the room across the hall.” He said, “So why aren’t we looking in that room?” and she answered, “The light is a lot better in here.”
This is one of the less appealing qualities of being human. We might be the most advanced of all God’s creatures, but when it comes to searching for what we need to fill us up, to make us complete, we are the worst. We seem to always look in the wrong places. And very often, for the wrong things.
Last week I said that the story of Ruth is a story of loss, of emptiness and longing to be full. Ruth, Orpah, and Naomi lost the men in their lives, thereby losing their social status and their economic security. In some ways they have lost their identity, their sense of who they are. Naomi even changed her name because she could no longer see herself as Naomi, which means pleasant.
Naomi and her family, Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon, all came to Moab as refugees; driven out of their homeland by a crisis of famine. They worked to make a home for themselves in this strange land, the sons even marrying local girls, in some ways becoming part of the community. But then the loss of the three men erased everything that might have been gained. Naomi is still a refugee – even more vulnerable now than she was before.
And so she is in a position of needing to find a new way to survive. She knows that the most logical place for her to look is back in Bethlehem, the place from which she came and where the famine which drove her away is now in the past.
And Ruth decides to go with her. This is not necessarily the logical, sensible thing for her to do. Indeed, Naomi urged both her daughters-in-law to go back to their parents’ house, that new husbands might be found for them. Orpah did the logical, sensible thing. Ruth did not.
Ruth looked at Naomi. She saw a woman growing old with nothing and no one in the world. She saw a journey ahead of her filled with dangers and hardships. And she saw that, at the end of the road Naomi still would have no one. Naomi would still be a widow, if she made this journey alone.
Ruth considered these things when she made the decision to go with her.
It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t logical. It promised her no security and little hope of finding a future. But it was the caring thing to do, and so she went to Bethlehem with Naomi to seek a life.
Naomi and Ruth left Moab empty and journeyed to Bethlehem. For Ruth and Naomi, what they were is no longer. In Bethlehem they will discover what and who they will become.
The first thing Ruth did was to go out to find a place where she could glean. Gleaning was something she, as a widow and a stranger in the land, was entitled to do. When the workers go out to harvest the fields, they walk with their scythes and their baskets row by row, cutting the grain from the stalk. But they won’t get every last bit. Some small amount will be left on the stalk. Some small amount will fall to the earth, and the gleaner is permitted to gather what she can.
This is decreed by the law of Israel, in fact. In the book of Leviticus we read, “When you reap the harvest you shall not reap to the edges of your field or gather what falls to the ground. Leave it for the poor and the stranger” Everyone, even the poor and the stranger, has a right to eat.
Ruth found a field where the reapers were at work and she found a place behind them to glean.
It happened that Ruth found herself in the field of Boaz, a kinsman of Naomi. And Boaz was a kind and righteous man, who took notice of Ruth.
It is possible that Boaz noticed Ruth because she was pretty. It is possible that Boaz made it a habit to notice the people who worked in his fields because it was good business. Possibly, it was a combination of these things. But the story tells us that Boaz was kind to Ruth because he knew of Ruth’s great kindness toward Naomi. And so it goes.
He instructed his workers regarding Ruth, that the women should welcome her, and the men should leave her alone. He insisted that Ruth drink from the water that his men had drawn and eat from the bread and wine that had been prepared for the workers. And at the end of the day, Boaz made sure that Ruth went home with plenty of grain, that her gleaning shawl was full.
It was a good day of gleaning for Ruth, with the promise of more good days to come. But no one is going to get rich or fat off of gleaning. It is a means of survival, at best, hand to mouth. While the harvest season lasted, Ruth was out every day, gleaning behind the women in Boaz’ fields, bringing home food every evening for Naomi to prepare a meal for the two of them. And while Ruth was working, Naomi was thinking.
At the end of the season, Naomi told Ruth to wash and anoint herself with perfume, to put on her best clothes, then go down and see Boaz. “He will tell you what to do,” Naomi says to Ruth. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.
We don’t know exactly what happened on the threshing room floor, although we can imagine. We do know that when Boaz awoke and found Ruth beside him, she said to him, “You are next of kin.” The term is laden with meaning that Boaz understood perfectly. To be the next of kin meant having the right to redeem. To be the redeemer meant taking Ruth as his wife, taking responsibility for her and Naomi and their family property – property that Elimelech had left behind years ago during the famine. It needs to be a man who will redeem Naomi and Ruth and make them whole again, and Boaz is that man.
And so it came to be. There was still one more detail to work out, which you can read about at the beginning of Chapter 4 if you like. But once Boaz had that taken care of, he married Ruth. And Ruth bore a child, giving fullness of life back to Naomi. Naomi who was empty is once again full.
And so we have a happy ending. It is a wonder that things ended this way. At every turn of this story, things could have gone from bad to worse. Every move Ruth and Naomi made was a risk. Everything could have turned out differently.
This is also true: at every turn, Ruth had an option that might have been easier for her. She could have stayed in Moab. Once she was in Bethlehem, she could have chosen a young man for herself out there in the fields – apparently there was interest. As was clear from the beginning of this story, Ruth had options. But Naomi did not.
And Ruth, in her faithfulness, chose the way that would offer the best chance for Naomi as well as herself. Ruth married Boaz so that Naomi would also be cared for, and so that the line of Naomi and Elimelech would continue.
And just in case the reader doesn’t care all that much about the line of Elimelech and Naomi, we are told that Ruth’s son Obed became the father of Jesse, who became the father of David. King David.
Through the story of Ruth we see the hand of the Lord at work. We see these women crossing from risk to safety and eventually to fullness. And it all happens through Ruth, the Moabite woman.
It all comes down to something called hesed – a word that appears several times in this little story. Hesed is a Hebrew word that is often translated “lovingkindness.” Most often it is used to describe the abundant goodness of God. But here in this story it is used to describe Ruth.
Ruth showed abundant kindness. She went beyond what anyone expected of her. She did the things that she could do for Naomi because she was the one who could do it.
And Orpah? We never hear of her again. Back in Moab, she made the self-interested choice. It was not necessarily a bad choice – it was the practical thing, the logical thing. But Ruth was different. Ruth did the faithful thing. The hesed thing.
From this little story of Ruth we see a human acting in the image of God. Ruth makes decisions based, not on what is in her interest, but on what is good and right. Ruth looks beyond herself, she sees the needs of another, and she does what she can.
But let us not close the book on Ruth and move on to the next thing. We can benefit from pausing for a while on this one small life. Hundreds of years before Jesus, we see Ruth living according to the teachings of Jesus, going beyond what anyone expected. We see a kindness, a goodness, a generosity that is Christlike.
This is the life we, the church, are called to live. It doesn’t always appeal to us. It doesn’t always seem to make sense to us, seem logical or practical to us. Yet, this kindness, this self-emptying love? This is what will give us fullness.
We have choices in life. Even when we feel like there are no choices, it turns out that there are. Just as Ruth made the choice for hesed, lovingkindness, we have that choice too. In a state that seemed utterly empty, Ruth took the choice that carried Naomi along with her and led them both to fullness. We always have that choice too.
So let us be mindful of this when we seek our fullness. Whatever feels like fullness to you – a big checking account balance, a hefty retirement account, luxurious vacations – whatever it is for you. We will never find fullness there. Seek the way of lovingkindness and you will be full.
Photo: ChurchArt.com
