Kinship Connections: Ruth 2:1-23 - Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a prominent rich man of the family of Elimelech whose name was Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain behind someone in whose sight I may find favor.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So she went. She came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. As it happened, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. ⁴ Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you.” They answered, “The Lord bless you.” ⁵ Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “To whom does this young woman belong?” ⁶ The young man who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. ⁷ She said, ‘Please, let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ So she came, and she has been on her feet from early this morning until now without resting even for a moment.”

⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. ⁹ Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” ¹⁰ Then she fell prostrate, with her face to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?” ¹¹ But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. ¹² May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!” ¹³ Then she said, “May I continue to find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, even though I am not one of your servants.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some of this bread and dip your morsel in the sour wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. ¹⁵ When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. ¹⁶ You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. ¹⁸ She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied. ¹⁹ Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, saying, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” ²⁰ Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.” ²¹ Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” ²² Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise someone might bother you in another field.” ²³ So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests, and she lived with her mother-in-law. (NRSVue)

Jean-François Millet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On a snowy afternoon in February 2011, I received a phone call from Bishop Kusserow. He was calling to inform me that I’d been officially assigned to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod for my first call, and that he had information about a congregation seeking a pastor. He asked if I was familiar with Leechburg, and I said “yes, isn’t that where Alene Bush is from?” 

Alene was a beloved member of our congregation who departed this life way too soon. Bishop Kusserow would’ve known her, because she served on the synod’s candidacy committee, and the Gettysburg Seminary Board of Directors. Whenever she was on campus, she always made it a point to have lunch with seminary students from our synod. She told me all about her church in Leechburg, how she played her violin on Christmas Eve, and I thought to myself, that must be a really nice church.

A few months into my pastorate, I later learned that the chief architect of our church, Alva Hill, had also designed the nursing care facility in Florida where my grandparents lived out their final years. My late grandfather was absolutely to have a connection to this church, even though he was never able to visit.

I’ve always been amazed how you can meet random a person and discover that you have a connection to them. This happens all the time, and I do not believe this to be an accident. This is how God works—and this is how God gets our attention.

In our sermon text for today, Ruth has gone out to a nearby field to glean ears of grain behind the reapers. In the Law of Moses, landowners are commanded not to “reap” to the edges of their fields, but to leave what’s left for the poor and the alien. In other words, you don’t go back a second time to pick up what you may have missed the first time. 

This particular field is owned by rich young man named Boaz. When he sees the unfamiliar woman gleaning in his field, he asks the man in charge of the harvest who she was. He tells Boaz that she is the Moabite woman who came back with the widow Naomi.

Boaz immediately goes to Ruth and encourages her to continue gleaning in his fields. He’s ordered his men not to bother her, and even gives her permission to drink from their water vessels. 

When Ruth asks him why he’s being so kind to her, he says it’s because of the kindness she’s shown to Naomi.

At day’s end, Ruth returns to Naomi with 40 pounds of barley grains—a huge amount. When Naomi asks where she gathered it, Ruth tells her about Boaz. In that instant, Naomi erupts with joy—because Boaz is a close relative to her deceased husband. She recognizes that this is no mere coincidence; this is divine providence. 

God gave her Ruth, who left behind country and kin for her sake; and then, put herself on the line by going out to glean in a stranger’s field. She didn’t know if she’d be allowed to glean, or if she’d be chased away like some animal. Without a husband or father behind her, she could’ve been easy prey for the local scoundrels.

And yet, her self-sacrificing love made her the talk of the town—which is what inspired Boaz to treat her with such loving kindness. Ruth was loyal to Naomi; and now, Boaz will be loyal to them both. All will see God, and all will be blessed.

Today, God’s word is calling us out of our private, isolated lives—because this is not how God designed you to live. 

God is always bringing people together, because Christian love begins with connection. Believe me when I tell you, the people you encounter in life aren’t there by accident. They are there for a purpose. Every day, God sends people to love you and look out for you. All the same, God will send people into your life who need your good works. God will use them to draw out the best in you.

One of your most important duties as a Christian is to be friendly and hospitable to everyone. You should never feel that you’re doing wrong by talking to people. You’re not. You may be the first person who’s shown them lovingkindness in a long time. When you are gracious and non-judgmental towards people, you are already giving them something the rest of the world does not. 

Have you ever noticed that when you discover a connection to someone, you feel a little spark of joy in your heart? That’s God creating a bond of kinship. That’s God activating the love that is in you, so that you can do something good with it. And if someone happens to reject your kindness, there are plenty of others who won’t.

Sometimes, the deepest connections you will experience with others are through common struggles, like illness, divorce, domestic violence, addiction, or grief. Support groups for every possible kind of need are popping up everywhere because people need them, and because they work. 

But you can also connect with others through shared passions, or out of a desire to help others and make the world a better place.  

And you never know—God’s saving hands could be your hands. Or when your desperately in need, God will show up in someone with the loyalty of Ruth or the generosity of Boaz, 

Whatever the case, we help each other to make God’s invisible hand visible in the world. Salvation isn’t something that happens to us. Salvation is what we do. When love is as bold, selfless, and generous as we see it between Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, God is going to do some amazing things. These three ordinary people teach us who we are to be to each other, as well as to the people we will encounter along the way. This is why we are church together. This is how everyone will belong.