DAYS OF OUR LIVES
A sermon preached by
Rev. Dr. Randle R. (Rick) Mixon
First Baptist Church, Palo Alto, CA
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Text: Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17
"Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives" - and the soap opera continues. Through manipulation and seduction, Naomi and Ruth climb out of poverty and secure their future at the expense of the gullible Boaz. At least that’s one cynical view we might take of the book of Ruth. As with many other biblical texts, it does read as something of a soap opera. One might imagine a late night television drama based on its twisting plot and subplots, featuring its richly fascinating characters and all their machinations.
In today’s ancient word, Naomi plots, for her widowed daughter-in-law, Ruth, a seduction of her husband’s cousin, Boaz. The alleged purpose is to “seek some security” for the young woman, but, of course, Naomi, herself, is likely to benefit from the liaison as well. In 1953, James T. Cleland wrote in his exposition of this text for the Interpreter’s Bible, “The actual method employed in carrying out Naomi’s plan is so foreign to our sex mores that it will be wisely rejected for homiletic purposes.” He continues, “Most commentators refer with approval to the delicacy with which the incident is told. But there is little guarantee that such delicacy would be maintained if the passage should be repeated and elaborated in a sermon or other exposition to a group” (James T. Cleland, “Ruth” in The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 2, pp. 845-6.)
Well, Dr. Cleland, that may have been true of post-war America, but I doubt you would find much of an audience in 21st century USA that would be shocked by the behavior of Naomi or Ruth. This is fairly tame stuff compared to the regular rat-a-tat of gunfire, the gory examinations of dead and decaying bodies, the drug and alcohol drenched dramas and the heavy innuendo followed by graphic sex that today parades across our screens, both large and small. Delicacy is pretty much a thing of the past. The interplay of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz would hardly raise an eyebrow in current culture.
Still, for people of faith, this little book is a fascinating and instructive tale. Last week we celebrated the fidelity that Naomi and Ruth pledge to one another. Today we see that loyalty lived out. The two widows arrive back in Bethlehem just in time for the barley harvest. Remember how Naomi lamented to her former friends and neighbors that she had gone away “full” and returned “empty”, how she had been called “pleasant” but was now to be called “bitter”? She left with a husband and two sons and returned with no man to act as her protector in a culture that demanded this. In the early days of the feminist movement, we were fond of saying that “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” But for Naomi and Ruth having no man in their lives was a source of real distress, their wisdom, skill and dedication notwithstanding. The resort to what we might thoughtlessly call “feminine wiles” was a matter of survival for them. Does the end justify the means? In this tale, it seems to.
In the intervening text between the return to Bethlehem and today’s reading, Ruth goes to the fields to pick up the left-over grain that the harvesters leave behind. As we heard in the Litany of Reflection, it was the right of widows thus to share in the harvest. But it is also true that Ruth is a foreigner. She does not even qualify as a resident alien, so she has no right to any share of the harvest. It also appears that as a young and perhaps attractive single woman she is vulnerable to harassment and even attack by the men who work in the fields. When she offers to gather grain for their household, she places herself at great risk in the service of her fidelity to and love for Naomi.
She has heard Naomi speak well of Elimelech’s kinsman, Boaz, so I imagine it is no accident that she finds herself in fields belonging to him. When Boaz comes on the scene, we discover that he is as good as his reputation. He treats his workers with respect and he treats Ruth with kindness. Now it may be that Boaz finds Ruth attractive or he’s drawn to her exoticism. At least he notices her immediately and inquires after this foreigner working in his field. For whatever reasons, she gets, first his attention, and then his protection. Maybe he takes notice of how hard she is working. He says he has heard of her faithful attention to Naomi and perhaps he has been on the lookout for her, wanting to meet this person with whom he seems to share core values. Perhaps it is just the necessity of the story line, but clearly they are drawn to one another from the beginning.
When Ruth comes home from her hard day of work, with both the abundance of her harvest and the remnants of the lunch Boaz has shared with her, Naomi is moved. She realizes that there is a relationship here that is meant to be and she decides it is her role to ensure that it comes to fruition. So she hatches her plan for Ruth to visit Boaz on the threshing floor after dark in order to give herself to him. Their willingness to take this risk says that both Naomi and Ruth are hopeful that Boaz will “do the right thing” and, of course, he does not disappoint.
There are several things we might draw from this fascinating story. In the first place, this is a tale of strong women, placed in a heavily patriarchal context, from a time and culture when women were little more than property. Though the drama plays itself out in that patriarchal context – Boaz gets the credit for being the go’el or redeemer because he is the man who comes to the their rescue and restores their social standing – there would be no redemption without the loyalty, perseverance, cleverness and wisdom of these two women. It is clear that this woman, Naomi, like Job, has a relationship with God – whether she’s complaining, mourning or rejoicing. She recognizes God’s presence in her life and depends on God and God’s good gifts to sustain her, even when she’s down and out. If there is a conversion of Ruth in this tale it has to be because of Naomi’s strong, lived-out witness to her faith in God.
In spite of a recent report from the US Bureau of Labor statistics that women now make up more than half the work force in this country, all the vestiges of sexism have not disappeared. Kate Huey writes of our text that “The methods and means of Ruth and Naomi may sound a bit strange, but are not unknown in our own age, if we think of the way marriage has represented security for women right up until the last generation or two. Even now, women are not treated equally in many workplaces, schools, and churches, or in subtle ways, they are not given the same respect and opportunities. Is it really so unreasonable, however regrettable, that women, consciously or unconsciously, find it necessary to offer themselves, or let themselves be given by another, in order to secure their future?” (Kate Huey, Weekly Seeds, i.UCC.org, 2009.)
This is also a tale that focuses on the biblical notion of hesed or committed lovingkindness. Naomi, Ruth and Boaz all demonstrate hesed in their relationships with one another. Committed lovingkindness is a core value and a personal characteristic of each of them. Covenant love drives this story and transforms the lives of its characters. As with all parables, this one teaches us to “go and do likewise.” What would we be like if our lives were characterized by this kind of covenanted love and respect, loyalty and compassion for the people we encounter? What if you and I determined that we would treat one another and everyone we meet with hesed, with committed lovingkindness? What difference would it make in our marriages, our partnerships, our families, our congregation, our community, our world? What if in our casual encounters and our deep relationships we acknowledged our very human capacity for judgment, manipulation and abuse and then pledged to opt instead for lovingkindness as a way of life?
I know lovingkindness is an old fashioned term. Maybe it would be better to speak of choosing to live in charity with one another and all creation. Maybe it makes more sense to speak of having compassion for all we encounter, of feeling empathy for one another, of walking the proverbial “mile in another’s shoes”, of somehow getting “inside the skin” of the others in our living so that we might better understand and respond with respect and care. I found online this “working definition” of hesed as “the consistent, ever-faithful, relentless, constantly-pursuing, lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, furious love of…God!” This is the love that seals a covenant between God and God’s creation, drawing covenanted love in response. Naomi, Ruth and Boaz all seem to know something of this kind of love. Each seems to have had some experience of this and it has shaped their lives. Do we know something similar in our own lives? Have we felt the inexorable lure of divine love that draws us into communion with God, transforming our lives and our relationships?
Kate Huey, again, says that in the end “Naomi and Ruth's survival skills are less important than the depth of their concern for each other, for that kind of concern, called hesed in this story, is something to build churches, communities, and a better world upon. The covenant of care is a place, and an experience, where we can understand a little better how steadfast and life-giving is the love of God for us. In Ruth, we might even say that we understand just a little better what it means to be created in the image of God, an image we encounter in the most unexpected of people” (Kate Huey, Weekly Seeds, i.UCC.org, 2009.)
The third thing this text teaches so well is, as we said last week, the lesson of radical hospitality. While all social and cultural categories of oppression are not overturned here, key characteristics of class and race, of culture and national origin are challenged. Ways are found for the characters in the story to live beyond the bounds of social expectation and cultural taboo so that they may move from emptiness to fullness. Redemption may have to be worked out within an oppressive system, but still it happens. Poor folk are fed, the marginalized are brought into the circle, foreigners are welcomed, women are strong and wise, men are kind and ender. All the walls do not come tumbling down but cracks are made and enhanced. Hope shines through. God’s covenant of loving relationship is lifted up in a new and exciting way that leads to hesed as a way of life along with the peace and justice that must inevitably flow from such a source.
"Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” Like lovingkindness, flowing from God through us to one another and the whole creation and back to God, so may the days of our lives come to be. Amen.