Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 27, 10 November 2024: Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17; Psalm 127; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
Last week we heard Ruth declare that she would follow Naomi back to Naomi’s home in Bethlehem. This was a risky decision: support depended on being part of a household headed by a man, and Naomi and Ruth were both widowed. So they arrived in Bethlehem destitute. Naomi is working to link Ruth to the men in her family, who were obligated to protect them. But Naomi does not do this by demanding directly; she does it by making her relatives see their responsibility. In the sections we have not read, Ruth works gleaning in Boaz’s fields, and he is kind to her. When she lies at his feet on the threshing floor, she is asking him to take responsibility for them. And when the most senior relative refuses to marry her, Boaz does.
Reading this story this week, I am conscious of the vulnerability of migrants. Ruth and Naomi returned to Naomi’s place of origin, but needed to find protectors. It was not automatic. Boaz was generous to a foreigner, and also offered protection to Naomi.
Why is this story part of the scriptures? It is explained in the last sentence. The child born to Ruth and Boaz is grandfather to King David. Thus an immigrant, a foreigner, is a crucial link in the descent of Jesus. She was expected to return to her parents, but instead she followed her mother-in-law. While the Biblical genealogies omit women (and even in the genealogy that follows in Ruth 4:18-22, it is only fathers), here we have a whole book telling us the story of how one woman came to be a mother, in this case part of the genealogy of David. The story reinforces a key commandment in the Hebrew scriptures, which are full of reminders to be kind to strangers. For example:
You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deut 10:19);
The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (Lev 19:34)
And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place. (Jer. 22:3)
Jesus picks up on this theme when he separates the sheep from the goats, and promises that those those who fed and welcomed him would inherit the kingdom. When they asked when they had done this, the response is ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ (Matt 25:35, 40) It is not surprising that hospitality has long been seen as a central virtue.
Last week we were reminded that a key to understanding the commandments was to “love your neighbor as yourself”. This week we are reminded that foreigners, strangers, and aliens are all our neighbors. May live as if this was so.