Episode 48: 6/12/09

Readings:

Psalm 22
Ruth 4:1-17
1 Timothy 5:17-25
Luke 14:1-11

Sermon:

When we last saw Naomi and Ruth, the two women were at the low point of their lives: Naomi’s husband and sons were dead and she was left destitute in a foreign land; Ruth’s husband, one of Naomi’s sons, had left her a widow without a child to carry on the family name. Left with nothing but their love for each other to sustain them, Naomi and Ruth travel back to Israel where they will have to depend on the kindness of their neighbors to keep them from starvation.

Tonight, however, we get to see the happy ending to this story, but before we can do that, we must endure some suspense. In chapters 2 and 3 of Ruth, an important character enters the scene: Boaz, a rich relative of Naomi’s late husband. Boaz shows his kindness to the two women by letting Ruth glean in his fields during harvest time, so that she might be able to provide for herself and Naomi. Gradually this sense of compassion grows into something more, and as tonight’s reading begins, Boaz is ready to marry Ruth, not only out of a sense of duty as her kinsman-redeemer, but out of a deep and abiding love.

An obstacle stands in the way of their happiness however: an even-closer relative who has the right to claim Ruth for his own. This man is willing to take her property, but when informed that he must marry Ruth and raise her first born son as the heir of her dead husband, he backs down, unwilling to jeopardize his inheritance. Breathing a sigh of relief and thanking God for His blessing in this matter, Boaz marries his beloved Ruth, gives her the son she has been longing for, and provides Naomi with a home and family where she can end her days in honor and respect.

This is a lovely story and probably the only book of the Old Testament to finish with a completely happy ending, but why is it included in Scripture? What are we meant to learn from it, other than the obvious lessons of true love and compassion for the downtrodden?

The key to this story is Boaz’s role as the kinsman-redeemer, the one who rescues his family members from suffering and death.

In the Law of Moses, there were two paths open to an Israelite who fell into dire circumstances as Naomi had: one, they could sell themselves into slavery or indentured servitude if they could no longer provide for themselves or pay their debts; or two, a kinsman-redeemer could step in to settle their accounts for them and free them from any more threats against them.

But not just anybody could be a kinsman-redeemer. First, as the title suggests, they had to be a close relative, a kinsman. Second, they had to be able to fulfill what they promised to do: it would not be valid for them to take on the debts of another if they themselves were burdened with debts of their own that they were unable to pay. Third, they had to be willing to take on the responsibility, they could not be forced to obligate themselves for another although it was considered shameful to refuse; and finally, they had to be willing to pay the complete debt, no discounts, no partial payments, only the full price, down to the last penny. And in the case of childless widows like Ruth, they must be willing to take her into the family and treat her as a respected bride, not a lowly concubine.

In Boaz we see the one man who can fulfill all those requirements and redeem Ruth and make her his bride. Their son, the joyous result of this blessed union, grows up to be the grandfather of Israel’s great King David, and ultimately of the Messiah, Jesus the Son of God born through the line of David.

It is in Jesus that we see the perfection of the role of kinsman-redeemer, as He saves us all from slavery and death. First, He is our close relative, our true kinsman: as St. Paul reminds us, we who are born again in the Holy Spirit become the children of God, co-heirs with Christ our Brother. Next, Christ alone is able to do the task required, able to take on all of our debts and sins because He alone was not burdened with any of His own. Third, He was completely willing to take on the responsibility, even at the price of His own life. And finally, He paid the complete price, settling our accounts with God for all time, so that no enemy can ever claim us as his own.

And like Boaz, Jesus does this for us not just out of a sense of duty, but out of a deep and abiding love for us. He welcomes us into His family as a beloved brother or sister, not as a despised poor relation or as a slave or indentured servant; as a cherished bride, not a lowly concubine.

And if Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer through our adoption into the family of God, then it stands to reason that we are all close relations of each other and stand as kinsmen-redeemers to each of our brothers and sisters. We cannot save them from their sins, only Christ can do that, but we can act in His love to help the poor and the oppressed, to love the lonely and unloved, to encourage the hopeless and despairing, to protect the helpless and threatened. Let us do this not out of a sense of burden, but of deep and abiding love, and of thankfulness for the great blessings God has given us.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.