ruth
1: 1-22 - Wherever You Go, I Will Go
We are introduced to the actual person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament through the first chapter of the first Gospel, that according to Matthew. The very first thing we learn about Christ is his historical connection to the major figures of Scripture, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, and Joseph; this is done through his genealogy, a passing on of biology from generation to generation, but always through the male line. Interestingly, there are only five references to women in this genealogy, culminating in a reference to his mother Mary; these five women all have unique and interesting stories from the Old Testament that are absolutely crucial to salvation history, and obviously the most important of these women is Mary. However, each one of these women are worth focusing on independently to discern why the author of this genealogy decided to only include these five.
In addition to Mary, there are references to Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Ruth - in the book of Ruth, we are introduced to this individual, a phenomenally important character to salvation history and a notable model for how all humans ought to act in their responsibility to serve and love both God and neighbor. Ruth was a Moabite, not a Jew, but she married into a Jewish family along with another Moabite named Orpah during a great famine. Both of their husbands died and, as was the custom in these patriarchal societies, Orpah and Ruth were relieved of their duties to this specific household and allowed to return to their homeland. Orpah did exactly so, as she was given the opportunity to return to a life of familiarity. However, when Ruth was offered the same opportunity by her mother-in-law Naomi, Ruth refused; instead, Ruth tells her that she will not abandon or forsake this woman, now a childless widow. Uttered within today’s first reading is a profoundly important line that led to the trajectory of Christ coming into the world through the genealogy laid out in the Gospel of Matthew: she tells Naomi, “Wherever you go, I will go… your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” These words bonded Ruth to Naomi, not through duty or law, but by love and loyalty. Ruth was not a Jew, but engrafted herself into the body of Israel through pure assent. Ruth owed nothing to Naomi, but gave up returning to her familiar life in order to serve, help, and love this childless widow.
We ought not to judge Orpah for taking advantage of what Naomi offered; but we are to elevate Ruth to one of the most important figures in the salvation of humanity because she went above and beyond what was expected of her. This is the nature of how God works through us. There are very few things God expects of us; He simply wants us to treat others with decency and work for good, not selfish evil. But when the occasional living saint comes around and gives up a life of comfort and familiarity in order that the will of God may thrive, all of humanity benefits. Had Ruth not stayed with Naomi out of charity and sacrificial love, we would not have had David a few generations later, Solomon after that, Joseph and Mary not long after, or Jesus Christ when he came. It was Ruth’s selflessness and love for essentially a stranger that elevates her to a figure worth remembering. Above all, we ought to emulate her actions. Looking at Christ, the source of all salvation and the gift of Ruth’s (and all these others) faithfulness, we must quote her and say to him: “Wherever you go, I will go.”
2: 1 - 4: 17 - Favored With God’s Notice
Our decisions have lasting consequences that we will experience both in the short-term and in the long-term. While concepts such as karma or “manifesting” become more popular in the world today, we as Christians understand what these things actually are: living according to the ways of God will bring about endless graces, not in some transactional sense, but because this is how human beings operate. When we do good things, we are essentially investing in our future; the opposite can be said if we choose to act poorly. This common sense idea is lived out daily when we support our neighbors, who will remember our kind actions and will be more inclined to return the favor later when we are the ones in need. Most importantly, we must remember that good actions often have good consequences, bad actions often have bad consequences, and we ought to act accordingly.
We should also remind ourselves that even the smallest of our actions, not just our good or bad actions, can have major lasting impacts on our own futures and the future of the world around us. The Old Testament character Ruth made a very simple decision: she decided to stick by her mother-in-law’s side when her husband died. Ruth had the freedom to return home, but out of an acknowledgment of what Naomi had done for her and how Naomi was now in need, she chose to perform a simple act of kindness. Perhaps Ruth knew just how much she was sacrificing by not returning to her homeland. Perhaps this decision was an easy one for her to make. Regardless, it’s difficult to imagine that Ruth had any idea how profound of an impact this choice would make on the history of her family, their people, and the salvation of humanity. In this passage from her book, we learn a bit more about Ruth’s story: staying by Naomi’s side meant having to go to work. She was sent to work under Boaz, a family member of Naomi who admired Ruth in her decision to join their family for nothing other than mere loyalty. Most importantly, Boaz took to Ruth and made her his wife. When Ruth’s original husband died, Naomi lost a son, Ruth lost a husband, and their family lost the chance to have descendants. By giving up on having those things apart from Naomi, God blessed Ruth and Naomi in a unique way, giving her another husband from Naomi’s family, giving her a new son in Obed, and establishing a lineage that would change the world forever. Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the King, to whom the Messiah was promised.
Christians are often criticized today for some false sense of victimhood in which we are accused of sacrificing things in this life with no certainty of a reward in the next life. But we do not live moral lives or sacrificial lives just so that we can be repaid in some other way; rather, we do so because it is the loving thing to do. Sometimes, these sacrifices do more harm to us personally, but we still choose to do them because we know we are called to. Ruth didn’t make her choice to stay with Naomi with a plot in mind to gain more down the road; she did what was right and what was loving because Naomi needed her. The blessings that came later were merely fruits of her own humility and charity. She asked Boaz upon meeting him why, as a foreigner, she should be favored with his notice. Boaz responded that it was her choice to love Naomi that made him notice her. Likewise, it is our choice to love our neighbors that makes God notice us. It is our love that showers blessings to the world around us, and we hope that we might also be recipients of these blessings when we do love.