Today we continue our sermon series 'Skeletons in the Closet' by looking at another female ancestor of Jesus. We have already looked at Tamar who tricked her father-in-law into having sex with her. And we have looked at Rahab who used her profession as a prostitute to give military intelligence so as to gain protection in a coming battle.
Today we look at Ruth who, at first glance is nothing like the other two 'skeletons'. Ruth is the heroine of the book which bears her name. True: she does have to capture the attentions of a man who will ultimately become her second husband, but there is no hint of prostitution or subterfuge in Ruth. She is a good woman, a devoted daughter-in-law. So why is she a skeleton? - because she was a foreigner. And not just any old foreigner, she was a Moabite who, to the Israelites, were child-sacrificing pagans, beyond redemption, and not to be mixed with.
And yet, this Moabite woman will be not only redeemed by her faith in the God of the Israelites, but will give birth to a son, Obed, who will be the father of Jesse, who will be the father of David. Only three generations back from the line of ancestry established by the great King David - which will eventually reach forward to Jesus of Nazareth - there is this strange anomaly: a woman who is also ethnically a Moabite. No proud Israelite would want one of those in the family: yet there she is. And this delightful book of the Bible, sandwiched between Judges and Samuel, is her story.
The story is quite short - only 4 chapters - and very concise. The events move along quite quickly and only contain essential facts. This suggests that it was widely transmitted through the storytelling traditions of the day, was probably well-known, and had been trimmed down to its tightest and clearest structure so that it could be easily remembered.
Like so much of the Bible - especially the Old Testament - the story of Ruth is not offered as proven history. It is a parable intended to teach its hearers a significant point of truth.
The author places us in the timeframe of around 1200 BC, but because the book ends with a paragraph which describes the lineage of Ruth's son reaching forward to David, we know that this version of the story must have been compiled no earlier that the 4th Century BC.
The significant point of truth which the book teaches throughout is to do with loyalty and faithfulness to our covenants. The first chapter, which we read today, is really just the scene-setter. It leaves us with three widows and an uncertain future, heading back to Bethlehem as a last resort, with no idea of how what will become of them.
But we have already encountered one striking example of loyalty. Ruth has chosen to stay with Naomi rather than go back to Moab. And the powerful phrase, 'Your people shall be my people, and your God my God' tells us that Ruth is taking seriously the covenant she will have formed with the Israelite culture and religion during her 10 years of marriage to Naomi's son. Compared with what her Moabite culture and its gods have to offer, Ruth is now a committed follower of the God of Israel and feels that, if she belongs anywhere, she belongs among the chosen people in the promised land.
Later in the story, after returning to Bethlehem, Ruth is gathering food in the barley fields of a kinsman of her late husband. The kinsman is called Boaz and he has heard how devoted Ruth has been to Naomi; and, even though she regards herself as a foreigner, Boaz is full of respect for her loyalty to Naomi. Boaz shows her many kindnesses and a bond of friendship grows between them.
So, here again the story is teaching that loyalty is rewarded. Ruth has been exercising the common Jewish right to follow the reapers in the fields and gather whatever is left in order to feed herself and Naomi; and her hard work, humility, and devotion is blessed by the growing friendship with Boaz.
Naomi then advises Ruth that she needs to consider her long-term future by gaining the security which could only be achieved, for a woman, through marriage. Gently and discreetly, Ruth appeals to a sense of duty in Boaz that, as the nearest kin to Naomi, he should consider the tradition that a surviving brother should marry the widow of his dead brother. And, even though the family link between Ruth and Boaz is much more vague than the tradition requires, she offers herself to Boaz and invites him to take her as his wife.
Boaz now comes centre-stage into the story while the author demonstrates that Boaz is an honourable and dutiful man. Boaz is aware of someone else who might have a stronger claim on Naomi's inheritance - which included a parcel of land - and would include maintaining the family name by taking Ruth as his wife. Boaz openly explains the situation to the man with the prior claim, and ensures that the man honestly and formally renounces these claims in front of the town elders.
Here again, the story is teaching that honesty and integrity in our dealings with the claims of others are the right foundations on which to build.
So Boaz marries Ruth and they are soon blessed with a son. This is seen as a blessing from God (remember Ruth's 10 year marriage to Naomi's son, which was childless) and the book ends with words of praise to God by the women of Bethlehem as they say to Naomi:
'Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.'
And then, at the very end, the book lists the genealogy of David showing the male line back from David through Boaz.
It's a happy ending for those who show loyalty and keep their covenant with the God who calls them into a covenant relationship. The book of Ruth has always been hugely valued as a collection of truths about God's covenant. It starts with tragedy: famine; displacement into an alien land and an unfamiliar culture; racial inter-marriage; the death of a husband; the deaths of two sons; three destitute widows with no resources and only two choices - stay in Moab or return to Bethlehem. Naomi becomes bitter and convinces herself that God has deserted her. Her only practical choice is to go back to Bethlehem and see if there are shreds of her former life that she can piece together. But in most respects she has thrown in the towel. Orpah, the other daughter-in-law concludes that her original homeland is probably her best bet to start a new life. Ruth, although a Moabite, behaves like the perfect Jewish daughter-in-law, and is ultimately blessed by God to become not only the great-grandmother of a king, but the forebear of the King of Kings.
The Jewish people who came after Ruth would continue to struggle for many years with issues around ethnic purity, inclusion and exclusion, who were God's chosen ones and who were outsiders. Twelve hundred years after Ruth's story, a certain preacher from Nazareth will be telling parables about foreigners - this time Samaritans - who will show more of God's love to an injured traveller than any of the Jewish people who crossed the road to avoid involvement. And there will be many occasions when people of this New Covenant with God - apparently followers of that same preacher from Nazareth - will brand people as being outside their covenant, foreigners to the love of God, coming from the wrong background or lifestyle to be included. We may no longer call them Moabites or Samaritans or gentiles, but we still have lessons to learn from the truth enshrined in stories like that of Ruth.
When we turn our attention to the Gospel of Matthew in a few weeks time to hear the Christmas story again, we shall encounter 'Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth' once again. We may not read out the whole genealogy - but she is there, in amongst that great story of redemption. What you may not realise is that we shall see her shadow again much later in the church's year. When we celebrate the feast of Pentecost in the middle of the summer, as we reach the end of the great resurrection experience which starts at Easter, we shall read in the book of Acts of the disciples gathered together on the day of the Jewish feast of Pentecost. In the temple and synagogues on that Jewish feast, they will have read the story of Ruth as one the readings set for the day. So, in a very real sense, the values of Ruth - the love of God for all people, the inclusion of everyone in God's blessing, and the fact that God's covenant with humanity encompasses all people and excludes no-one, - will have been the lessons the disciples were hearing and praying about only hours before the Spirit of God burst upon them and the Christian church began to take shape.
So, one of the least dramatic skeletons in that closet turns out to be one of the most influential. This is the quiet, determined woman who responded to the covenant of the God of Israel and became the outsider who contributed to the future of the nation. It's a different lesson from the dramatic survival tactics of Tamar, or the kind-hearted espionage of Rahab. But it has found its way into the hearts of many Jews and Christians over the years and is a deeply treasured story of loyalty, faithfulness and trust.
It is, perhaps, the parable we forget about when we look no further than our gospels.
Amen.
(Philip Jones)
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church
of Manchester. Click here for further information.