Why
is the book of Ruth in the Bible?
I started three weeks ago by pointing out all
the obstacles the book of Ruth faced in ever making it into the Bible: A story
of a heroine in a world run by men; a moral about loving kindness for a
mother-in-law to whom Ruth had no legal obligation; a story about a foreigner
who was not part of the tribe. It’s one of those things that may well have
happened and then dissolved into obscurity; the great-grandmother of King David
who nobody talked about, as it might betray his royal blood.
And, yet, for exactly those reasons, it is so
powerful that the book of Ruth persists. This is about a foreigner whose audacity to stay by Naomi’s side changed
history. This is about a woman, who
was property, and yet shows us a model for how to live in dark and dangerous
times. This is a story that reads
well today, in spite of the many and obvious differences between our society
and theirs, precisely because of the unlikelihood of it all—because there are
so many little, seemingly insignificant, people who do little things that make
all the difference.
Ruth loved Naomi. Naomi advised Ruth. Boaz worked
within the rules of the society, subtly influencing the unnamed next-of-kin to
give up his inheritance, which included Ruth. All of these are little things
that change the lives of all those involved, but they also suggest something
about how God works through people. It’s rarely dramatic shifts, conversion
experiences like Saul’s, or experiences more dramatic still, as it was with
Jonah. More often, God moves just behind the scenes, subtly stirring hearts in
a direction we will never see. Ruth has no idea of her part in all this, but
she doesn’t have to see the big picture. Instead, because of her actions, not
only does she save her mother-in-law from a life of poverty and death in
obscurity, she also becomes great-grandmother to David, the great king of
Israel. In that way, she becomes a central figure in the bloodline that
eventually leads to Jesus.
Ruth was a Moabite, a Gentile, and the Moabites,
like the Samaritans in Jesus’ time, did not get along particularly well with
the Israelites. They worshiped different gods, had different customs, and simply didn't think much of one another. This is the perpetual history of the Holy Land,
stretching from before Ruth’s time all the way to today. Some things change and
some do not. To that point, the idea that a Moabite woman would become a
central player in the genealogy that leads us to King David is incredibly
unexpected; the fact that she enters the scene because of her own care and love
for her mother-in-law is a huge cultural surprise; and that she is given over
to an Israelite who sees past her heritage and values her for her commitment is
nothing short of miraculous.
It’s also a reminder that God only ever seems to
use the least and the last and the lowly. It’s the same story over and over
again. Ruth was a woman. Ruth was a foreigner. Ruth was a Gentile. Ruth was
everything she was not supposed to be to change the world, but change the world
she did. The tradition of God choosing the least continues to live on in her
descendents. She would become great-grandmother to David, who was the youngest
of many sons; not the strongest, not even the smartest. He also proved susceptible
to weakness in his power, messing everything up terribly with Bathsheba, who
also ends up in that genealogy leading to Jesus. God continues to work through
the smallest, the victims, and the outsiders.
Ruth’s great-great grandson was Solomon, who had
all the power, prestige, and wealth of a royal bloodline, in a way the
completion of everything that Ruth was not, and, yet, it is with Solomon that
everything falls apart, the kingdom is eventually split, the reign of kings
ended. The powerful people we like leading us seem only ever to undo the good
work done by little people, acting out of kindness and love. Power corrupts,
and Ruth has none of it.
Ruth is a reminder about this aspect of human
nature. We so often choose the wrong people to lead us, forsaking virtue for
fear. All the while, God continues to lift up the Ruths of the world, and
forever they are being shouted down by those in authority. So many of these are
women: Mary Magdalene, Shiphrah and Puah, Hannah, and Esther; every one of them
overcoming societal biases to change the course of history. God would uses the
anonymous more than kings, more than the strong or the rich.
God’s methodology is backwards and inefficient,
because it is not about efficiency; it is about love. God does not use the
powerful, because the powerful make idols of themselves, forsaking the love
that lives inside of them, forgetting what it means to be a child and have that
childlike faith. For Ruth, and the heritage of lovable losers and societal
rejects who follow, there is nothing to fall back on but that love that
persists in spite of every conquering authority who tries to snuff it out. How
many of our biblical heroes are foreigners? Women? Gentiles? Are the youngest?
The least ready? Have sinned badly?
Not only are they not perfect; they tend to be
pretty much the worst choices of all. As the parent of a four-year-old,
everything reminds me a Moana quote in one way or another, so here is one that
seems particularly apropos for Ruth. In the movie, Moana has just sailed across
the ocean to find Maui, the demigod, to help her return the heart of the ocean.
She approaches Maui and tells him, “My people didn’t send me, the ocean did.”
Maui responds, “The ocean? Makes sense, you’re
what? Eight? Can’t sail… Obvious choice.”
Yes! That is it. That’s exactly who “the ocean”
will choose, because it’s exactly who God will choose—the least, last, lowly,
little, or dead[1].
God doesn’t choose with eyes like ours, because God is not interested in short
term results. God is only interested with love winning the day in the end.
What does this mean for us? Well, I don’t have a
lot of confidence that it will help us pick better leadership; after all,
nobody runs for office on a platform of having the least experience, but I do
think it has to influence the way we look at one another. We need to listen to
those less powerful than us, hear their stories, let them resonate within us;
not out of some magnanimous charity, or any sense that we are doing them a
favor and giving a hand-up, but because God continues to speak through ones
such as these.
We simply will never know where we are being led
if we don’t listen to these voices from the margins. God does surprising things
through people like Ruth, but they are surprising to us only because we lack
the imagination to believe that people like Ruth are capable of making a
difference. God lacks our biases. The book of Ruth is a reminder that God is
much better at this than us. God chooses better than us—the Moabite, the woman—who happens to be the best
one to demonstrate what true love looks like. Ruth’s love for Naomi is a hint,
just a hint. Some days that’s all we get; some days that’s all we need.
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