A Story of Loyalty: Act 1. Clinging to the Afflicted

A Story of Loyalty:
Act 1: Clinging to the Afflicted
Stephen Van Kuiken
Community Congregational U.C.C.
Pullman, WA
October 9, 2022

With Ruth and Naomi, two people lacking status, power and the resources to
survive are bound into a union by one partner going against the counsel of the
other. Two weak people do not create strength together. Ruth joins weakness to
weakness, loss of hope to loss of hope…
—Johanna W.H. van Wijk-Bos

Ancient Witness: Ruth 1:1-18

For the next few weeks we will read the entire book of Ruth. Before we start, however, it is important to say a few things about this remarkable story.

There are a few themes that one could point to: the affirmation of David’s ancestry, the affirmation of the Deuteronomic Code, and the affirmation that the concern of God extends beyond the people of Israel to all people.

But, first and foremost, the Book of Ruth shows human beings doing what God wills human relationships to be. There is a key word which comes up again and again. Ruth is about those who practice hesed.

Now, this is such an important word for understanding the story, so let’s say it aloud together: HESED. The reason that you need to know this Hebrew word is that it has meaning which is not easy to translate into English.

Hesed is often translated as “kindness,” but this often just does not capture the meaning. Hesed is much more than politeness or a sweetness. It is a kindness above and beyond the call of duty. The word has also been translated a “loving kindness,” “goodness,” “righteousness,” or “faithfulness.”

But probably the best English word is “loyalty.” And so, this is what the story is about: Ruth is a story of hesed. It is about loyalty and faithfulness. It is a story of integrity, human responsibility and kindness.

This story is a testimony that there is a way in which life is meant to be lived. This way goes beyond mere legal obligation or social convention. Hesed is the driving principle behind the law. It is a story about not just human loyalty, which we might expect; it is about a loyalty which imitates the divine initiative which comes unconditionally—without being deserved.

The story of hesed says that living a righteous and responsible life is a matter of determination to do so. So we are not talking about actions that are not just kind, but actions that show that one is dedicated and committed to the other.

This also says one more thing: In a day and age when people ask, “Where is God?” when God is less visible in “signs and wonders,” this story shows how we can see God in the loyalty of these people. God is present and working for good in the everyday faithful actions of ordinary people toward each other.

The story begins, “In the days when the judges ruled…” One might paraphrase this to read, “In the days when legal matters were properly handled… there was a famine.”

Elimelech was from Bethlehem, and the word Bethlehem literally means in Hebrew, “House of Bread.” So we have an interesting situation. One would think that the house of bread, under “just rule,” should be the last place for a shortage of food. How could there be such widespread suffering in a land of plenty?

I suppose that one could ask the same question of the United States of America. If there is any country today which should be called “house of bread,” what should it be? If there is any country which has just rule, what should it be? We often hear people say that this is the greatest country in the world.

And yet, this should be the last place to find people forgotten and fallen between the cracks. This should be the last place to find an epidemic shortage of affordable and decent places to live. This should be the last place to find hundreds of thousands of willing able men and women who are desperately looking for decent jobs to provide for their families. This should be the last place to find women and children suffering from hunger and malnutrition. In the U.S. it was estimated that 43 million people live in poverty and experienced inadequate food and shelter, and 2.5 million children are homeless.

So, the parents, Elimelech and Naomi, and the two sons, Mahlon and Chilion (KIL-yon), leave Judah to settle in Moab because of the famine. They become resident aliens, a family of sojourners. Refugees. The phrase, “to live as a stranger” indicates that they were living on the margins, without rights and privileges of those who belonged. They were already vulnerable, unprotected by law, subject to prejudices and hostility from others.

Then Elimelech dies and Naomi is left with two sons. Eventually, these two sons marry Moabite wives, Orpah and Ruth, and they are married about ten years without any children.

This is important because children were essential for future survival. This is one reason why they were counted as such a blessing in the Bible—they were security. Children were like a pension fund, Social Security, and Medicare all rolled into one.

Then Mahlon and Chilion die, and all hope seems cut off. Naomi, Ruth and Orpah were all now childless widows, and this was disastrous. It was one of the most vulnerable positions to be in.

It meant to be stripped of identity and security in a male-dominated society. On her own, a woman had no status—nothing. With no male presence they now have no life-support.

So Naomi says to her daughters-in-law, “return to your mother’s house.” There they will have legal protection, security and greater chances of remarriage. She continues, “May the Lord grant that you may find security in the house of your husband.”

Naomi was older, beyond the age or remarrying. She had given up on herself. And she was telling these two, “Look, I’m a lost cause. Save yourselves. Don’t let me drag you down.” She says, “Call me no longer Naomi (which means “pleasant); call me Mara (which means bitter), for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.” (vs. 20) Someone paraphrased this: “Do not call me Sweetie, call me instead Sourpuss.”

And yet, Naomi sees in these two women a kindness and devotion which is of God. “May the Lord deal kindly with you, and you have dealt…” They are models for God. In the holy Hebrew texts these heroes, these models for God are outsiders! They are not Hebrew, they are Moabites!

Now, Orpah was the sane and reasonable one. She sadly kisses her mother-in-law good-bye. “But,” our story says, “Ruth clung to her.” Naomi said, “Why don’t you get some sense like Orpah?” But Ruth still clung to her. This is the same word used in the creation story in Genesis: “A man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.” Here there are two women clinging to each other. This is the kind of commitment and loyalty in human relationships that God intended for the creation. And this is the kind of commitment and loyalty that Ruth demonstrates.

And then, we have some of the most beautiful word ever written, the embodiment of hesed, coming from Ruth:

Entreat me not to abandon you,
to turn from following you.
For where you go, I go,
where you sleep, I sleep;
your people, my people,
your god, my god.
Where you die, I die,
and there I will be buried. (vs. 16-17)

Even at the possibility of her own death, Ruth sticks by Naomi and declares her solidarity with her, instead of doing the logical thing. Ruth’s choice makes no sense. She leaves behind the security of her mother’s house and family. She disavows her national identity and religious affiliation. This young woman commits herself to the life of an old woman rather than search for a husband. She chooses death over life. She declares her loyalty to Naomi, “even if death parts me from you!” she said.

And in this relationship we catch a glimpse of how God has intended all humanity to live and the kind of loyalty one is to have for the other—especially for the weak and afflicted.

In our story, Ruth hears a different voice than the voice of reason. She hears the voice of compassion and love. She hears the need of her neighbor speaking louder than any other voice. “For God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the strong,” wrote Paul. (1 Cor. 1:27)

Ruth said, “Your God will be my God.” She chooses Naomi’s God, the God of Israel. And then she shows what it means to act on faith. Ruth, the non-believer, shows Naomi, and us, God’s loyalty to us.

The story of Ruth shows a very important quality about God. The God of Israel, later revealed in Jesus, is loyal to the end. Divine love does not let go. It is absolutely stubborn.

As a community that proclaims the reality of God in the world, our most important witness might be how we demonstrate hesed. In the midst of our difficult situation, our barrenness, we can demonstrate God’s hesed in our our loyalty and convictions. As we cling and bind ourselves with those who are marginalized in our society, we proclaim God’s hesed. As we stubbornly stick together, we show the world how God stubbornly sticks with all human beings. There’s something about God the world needs to know—there’s a fierce devotion, and unshakable dedication, a ridiculous and insane loyalty, and an absolutely pig-headed love.

This kind of loyalty isn’t valued much in the world. It’s hard to find. In the name of progress we make alliances with the powerful, not the weak. In hopes of victory, we bind ourselves with the insiders, not the alienated. In order to be “effective” and “smart” we seek those who can help us in the halls of the establishment, not those who are vulnerable and exposed. Divine loyalty is rare because it is not “outcome-based.” In fact, it often appears to be quite the opposite. As Johanna Bos wrote, it “joins weakness to weakness, loss of hope to loss of hope.” It’s not a sensible thing to do. Professor Bos wrote:

The God of ancient Israel is the God of loyalty, devotion, kindness, in the Hebrew hesed. In God’s alliance with ancient Israel there is no advantage for God. At the time of the Exodus, God clung to the weakest and most oppressed group around. God’s people are called to show the same behavior toward one another that God showed them. The life of hesed is a characteristic of the people who claim to be God’s people.

Yet when the going gets tough, people often throw up their hands and walk away. We give up on each other too easily: our partners, our mothers and fathers, our sons and daughters, our friends, and the vulnerable and weak in our communities and nation.

Friends, God’s love for us is steadfast and true. God’s hesed and loyalty to us is unshakable. May this inspire us to be loyal to God and God’s ways of compassion and justice. May we stubbornly cling to each other. And finally, may we be open not just to our causes, but other causes of compassion and justice, too, bravely binding ourselves with the afflicted and all God’s children.