Church is Family: Learning from the Book of Ruth

In a bid to give their family security during a famine, a man and his wife relocate themselves to a well-to-do country that was relatively unscathed. Children are born, a house is built, weddings blossom and life is good when suddenly, as if the zip around their careful lives becomes undone, one by one, the father and both sons fall ill and die. The women, who were previously in a whirlwind of worry, bustling Doctors, and round-the-clock nursing suddenly find themselves inexplicably abandoned. The beds are curiously empty, the house silent. The neighbours look askance at them.

This is the situation Naomi, Orpah and Ruth found themselves. In a culture where husbands and sons meant security and protection while widows begged for food, were bullied and forgotten, Naomi and her daughter in laws were suddenly of the latter category. It was a disaster. How could it be?

Naomi's heart turned bitter as she thought about the bleak future she now faced. Who could blame her? Her daughter in laws must remarry to give themselves a secure life so she tries to ensure that by letting them go. However, Naomi herself was too old to remarry; she would not know that kind of security ever again. The years stretched before her as a yawning chasm. She would return to her people. At least she would be among her own in the twilight of her life, even if she would sit alone in a silent house until the end.

After all those dark months of clinging to one another, Orpah and Ruth would not hear of parting. They were all they had left of the memories of their husbands. Must the women also part and let time scatter these remnants of a once happy family to the wind?

And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!”(Ruth 1:10-13)

Meditate then on the ramifications Ruth was bringing upon herself when she clung to Naomi and said:

“Entreat me not to leave you,Or to turn back from following after you;For wherever you go, I will go;And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;Your people shall be my people,And your God, my God.17 Where you die, I will die,And there will I be buried.The Lord do so to me, and more also,If anything but death parts you and me."

The Lord do so to me... these are the words of an adamant vow that cannot be broken, since they were made in the name of the God of Israel. But Ruth was not an Israelite. She was a Moabitess, a stranger to the covenant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She was from a line produced by incest from Lot's family, Abraham's nephew. Lot's daughters had thought that they and their father were the only beings left on the Earth after the catastrophic destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Her people had always been at war with the Israelites.

Yet, after life with Naomi and her family, Ruth was willing to adopt and be adopted to the most complete degree posssible, despite the grief she had experienced with them. Here, we learn our first point about family: family is life-long commitment to each other through thick and thin. A commitment that is held by the strength of the name of the God of Israel. Ruth somehow still saw grace and hope in this God while Naomi only saw punishment in her pain.

'Naomi' means 'pleasant' but she could not see anything pleasant about her life and instead asked to be called 'Mara' which means 'bitter'.

“Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

Here is our second lesson: family is the lending of strength. We lean on each other in times of need but sometimes when life is difficult, we can to push people away. Ruth was wise and knew to lean in and lend her strength although Naomi clearly did not appreciate her in the beginning, saying that she had come back 'empty' even while Ruth had stayed by her side unconditionally at great price. Bitter hearts don't need nagging; they need sacrificial love to help them heal.

Ruth threw herself into caring for her mother-in-law. In the culture of those days, daughters no longer belonged to their father's house once she becomes married. She becomes members of her husband's family. Ruth could have returned to her own people but she left all that was familiar, all that was dear from her pre-marriage life because now Naomi was all the family she had, and this family bond was the most important thing to her.

Naomi and Ruth had returned to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest and it happened that a wealthy man named Boaz was in the process of harvesting his fields. It seemed that the whole town knew who Ruth was, but none had taken any steps to welcome her. Like any new immigrant in an unfamiliar garb and pronunciation of speech, it was likely that she stuck out like a sore thumb. Yet, when Ruth found herself gleaning in Boaz's field, she came face to face with kindness.

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”

At the lunch hour, he made sure she felt at home.

Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

Boaz knew who she was but didn't leave it at that: he decided to treat her like family. Learn from him as we watch how he reached out to her:

• You will listen, my daughter, will you not?
  Family is adoption
• Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women.
  Family is taking you under my wing
• Have I not commanded the young men not to to touch you?
  Family is to look out for your well being
• And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.
  Family is making sure your needs will be met
•  Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar
  Family is giving the right to belong
• He passed parched grain to her
  Family is to make meaningful contact
• Boaz commanded his young men, "Let her glean among the sheaves, and do not reproach her..."
  Family is making sure others see you as family too

There are many people around us without family, or who are disconnected from community in one sense or another. They may be in our classes, workplaces, Church halls, in the same shopping aisle as we pass each other. We may notice that they are down, disconnected, or in need, but are we reaching out like Boaz did for Ruth, who was new to the town and had not yet found her feet?

Church is family, the family of the One who paid the price for our freedom, gave us His Name and gave us a place in His house. We need to look out for each other. However, God not only paid the price for our freedom, but also for all who will trust Him. Our Heavenly Father calls us to go to the highways and by-ways and compel those we find wandering to come in so that His house may be full (Luke 14:23).

How will you be a Boaz today, and everyday?

Source: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/files/2012/06/waiting-for-a-harvest.jpg