A Story of Loyalty: Act 2. Finding God’s Favor

A Story of Loyalty:
2. Finding God’s Favor
Stephen Van Kuiken
Community Congregational U.C.C.
Pullman, WA
October 16, 2022

Ancient Witness:  Ruth 2:1-23

Last week we began looking at the book of Ruth. I said that the key word to this story is the Hebrew word, hesed, which is often translated as “kindness” or “steadfast love.”  Probably the best English equivalent, though, is the word, “loyalty.”  Hesed is about binding oneself to the other, clinging, sticking together, stubbornly holding on to the other.

This dogged determination is a quality we see in God.  But in the covenant community, hesed is also required from one member to another.

Last week we saw how Naomi, her husband Elimelech, and her sons, Mahlon and Chilion immigrate to Moab because of a famine.  Elimelech dies and Mahlon and Chilion marry Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah.  Then Mahlon and Chilion die, leaving Naomi and her two daughters in law.  Naomi decides to go back to Judah and tells Ruth and Orpah to go save themselves and go back to Moab.  Orpah does this, but Ruth sticks with Naomi, even at great risk.

Our story continues:  Last week we heard about two homeless and childless widows, Ruth and Naomi.  And we saw an incredible devotion exhibited by Ruth for her mother-in-law who had all but given up.  She demonstrates hesed in her relationship with Naomi.

Today we read that Ruth goes out and gleans in the fields behind the harvesters.

What is gleaning?  Well, Israelite law made provision for the poor to provide for themselves by gleaning the fields after the reapers had finished their work.  So gleaning was picking up the leftover grain by hand—much of which would have been wasted anyway.  And to ensure that there would be something for the poor, the law required farmers to leave a part of their harvest for gleaning by the poor.  In Leviticus it says:

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.  You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them to the poor and the alien.  (Leviticus 19:9-10)

When I was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after college I worked for awhile in a halfway house and came into contact with an organization called The Gleaners, a modern-day equivalent that collected leftovers and food from grocery stores, warehouses and restaurants that would be thrown away for the poor and hungry.  (Perhaps someday wasting food will be against the law.)

So Ruth is gleaning and “as it happened,” or as luck would have it, this is the very same field owned by the very same relative of whom Naomi spoke—Boaz.  And as it happens, Boaz notices her and, in the conversation which follows, increasingly learns of her kindness.  “To whom does this young woman belong?” is his first question.  Notice the patriarchal culture.  A young woman must belong to someone; she is a possession, not a person.  Boaz does not ask her name, but the name of her owner.  So the question fits the culture, but not the woman.  And the servant cannot answer in the traditional way.

And so when Boaz hears Ruth’s story, he gives her permission to glean in his field, encourages her to help herself when she is thirsty and tells his servants not to harass her.  Apparently it was common for the young male workers to take advantage of the poor young females who were vulnerable.  So Boaz says, Look, stay in my fields close to my women, and you will be alright.

Now when Ruth hears all this, she falls prostrate, “with her face to the ground.”  This is the language and posture of worship in the Hebrew scriptures.  And she says, “Why have I found favor in your sight?”  Me, of all people, a foreigner!

Boaz then responds to her by heaping praise on her.  First, he wishes God’s blessing on her for her kindness and loyalty toward Naomi—her hesed.  Then, he gives her more than she can eat at mealtime, and finally, he commands his workers to leave something extra for her.  So she goes home now, dragging a hefty load of grain—an ephah is about 30-50 pounds.

When Ruth arrives home, she shows Naomi her load.  Naomi says, This is great!  “Blessed be the man who took notice on you.. Where have you worked?”

Ruth tells her where, and Naomi says, This is incredible!  “Boaz is one of our nearest kin.”  Other translations read, “He is one of our redeemers.”

Why is this important?  Well, under Israelite law the next-of-kin had an obligation to protect the honor and property of the family.  When we think we have grown as a civilization—morally and ethically—we should look back upon this time when it was illegal not to care for your relatives!  And if one looked those abandoned to the streets and nursing homes, there would be many people brought to trial… “If any of you kin falls into difficulty and sells a piece of property, the next-of-kin shall come and redeem what the relative has sold.”  (Leviticus 25:25)  This is why they called their nearest kin the “redeemer.”  And this is why it was so important to Naomi.  Because the redeemer is the male relative who upholds the rights of a family member.

And at this point of the story, it does not seem that Boaz is aware of this fact.  Otherwise, if he knows of the relationship and responsibilities, then his kind words and generous actions actually do not go far enough.  It is also interesting that Naomi has not sought his help, even though she knew who he was.  Maybe she thought he was still too distant—not a close enough to care.

Whatever the case, this part of the story ends almost as it has begun—in uncertainty.  It ends by saying that Ruth gleaned until the end of the harvest.  All the time living with her mother-in-law.  All the time not saying a word to Boaz about being their redeemer.  So through kindness she was able to eat and live for a couple months.  The harvest is now over.  Now what?

So the setting is still overcast and gloomy for Ruth and Naomi; there are still dark clouds of desperation overhead.  Underneath Ruth’s polite words is a woman who has no one to notice her and, if no one does, may die.

In this story, Ruth is someone who must rely upon the goodwill, the grace (hesed) of those around her.  And even though a lot has happened, this does not change.  And yet, this is how God created us to live, that we must all rely upon goodwill, grace and kindness, that we must have it or we will die, that we can never grow so independent, so successful, so self-reliant that we do not need love and hesed in order to live.  Life itself is sustained by kindness.  Human beings cannot live without the grace and kindness from God.  We are dependent.  And so God calls us to enter this way of living.

According to the prophet Jeremiah, God spoke:  “I act with steadfast love (hesed), justice and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.”  (Jeremiah 9:24)  God delights in this way of life, affirms it and gives God’s blessing to it.

And so this is Ruth’s experience:  “Why have I found favor in your sight?”  Because of her kindness and faithfulness she experiences Boaz’s kindness as an affirmation and a validation from God.  Boaz, a person of privilege and wealth, shows hesed—loyalty and kindness—to Ruth, one who was poor, vulnerable and marginalized.

Naomi says, “Blessed be he by the Holy One, whose kindness has not forsaken the living and the dead!”  One might ask, whose kindness (hesed) is he talking about?  Boaz’s?  God’s?  The answer is “Yes!”  In Ruth’s kindness we see God’s kindness.

For through Ruth the pattern of kindness is set in motion.  And we see that kindness begets kindness.  Kindness begets community.  We see that true life depends upon people working kindness to one another.

This is the kind of living in which God delights—to live in reciprocal kindness and mutual loyalty with others is to find God’s favor.

Paul wrote, “Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time…” (Galatians 6:9)

We will not necessarily escape hunger or poverty, misfortune or pain, but we can come to understand and realize that God’s favor and kindness will not forsake us.

Friends, we know that the Holy one is faithful to us
in all our trials and tribulations,
in our struggles and daily living.
We know that the Holy One
clings to us
will not let us go
is eternally loyal.
Even when we are not loving or loyal,
God’s love is steadfast.
And because we experience this and know this
we can show the same kind of loyalty
the same kind of determination
the same kind of stubborn love for each other
and for all who are pushed around
by the world
by the church
by those in power and who use that power to silence and intimidate.
And so we cling together
bind ourselves together
through thick and thin
through good times and bad.
We unite our privilege with lowliness
our abundance with need.

Now, people are human; they make mistakes.  There’s nothing in our story to suggest that Ruth and Naomi were perfect people.  It’s possible each had qualities that drove the other crazy.  But they held onto each other.  And we will not let disappointments entice us to give up on each other.

And so, may this be a community marked by hesed.

May the message of God’s steadfast love shine through us, as it shined through Ruth and Boaz.

And as we do this, the Holy One will smile and rejoice.  God’s face will shine upon us and look upon us with favor.