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All Hands
Ruth 2
Ruth Recap
Setting:
- Bethlehem, Moab, & Back
- Time of Judges
Characters:
- Noami (Mara)
- Ruth (Moabitess)
Plot:
- Famine forces move
- Death toll mounts
- Bread returns to Bethlehem: Naomi and Ruth follow crumbs
"social imaginary" = a storied way of thinking, being, doing life
a
Shaping
Story
My strong conviction is that many people today, including many Christians, are following stories – which is to say, living them out – that enslave them rather than free them… we have turned to follow popular wisdom and political correctness; we have bowed the knee to Oprah and Chopra (or both).
(Vanhoozer, Hearers & Doers, 52)
Naomi & Ruth, et al.
Common Characters
Naomi got into the story by complaining...
Ruth got into the story by asking for what she wanted....
Boaz got into the story by taking up new responsibilities.
(Peterson, Five Smooth Stones)
Ruth is not a victim. Being in God’s story does not mean passively letting things happen to us. It does not mean dumb submission, nor blind obedience. Alien though she is (and her foreignness is repeatedly emphasized; six times she is called “the Moabitess”) and outside the defined covenant boundaries, she gets into the story when she steps out of the social roles in which she has been placed by others–the role of daughter-in-law, Moabitess, gleaner—and speaks her own lines. (ibid)
The full-fledged characters stand in the forefront of the story and I Am in the background. Nevertheless, the narrative is really about the unseen Lord, “the major actor” in the drama. (Waltke, OT Theology, 861)
Gleaning vs. Sacrifice
Gleaning in ANE
In the ANE in general, it is likely that what was left in the fields was originally associated with sacrificial offerings to local fertility gods. By designating this produce for the poor, rather than local deities, the biblical writer both removes the taint of false worship and establishes a practical welfare system. (Walton, et al., IVP Bible Background Commentary, 199)
Gleaning Laws:
Lev. 19:9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
Deut. 24:19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
Exod. 22:22-24; 23:10-11; Lev. 23:22; Deut. 10:14-11:1; 15:1ff
God's hand works in the background.
3 So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
(cf. 1:6, 13, 21; 4:14)
Providence communicates God’s enduring love for creation through his sovereign preservation of the created order; it depicts his persistent intervention on behalf of his creatures and discloses God’s direction of history and his assurance that his purpose will be attained. Providence is the sure indication of God’s faithfulness.
(Bird, Evangelical Theology, 144)
Prayers of Blessing:
“May the Lord be with you.”
“May the Lord bless you.” (v. 4)
"May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge." (v. 12)
“May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead.” (v. 20)
The speakers are openly summoning Yahweh to be present among them. In a few brief words, we are suddenly presented with a hint that by wandering into a particular barley field the grieving, impoverished, socially isolated Ruth as discovered sanctuary. (James, Gospel according to Ruth, 96)
Folded hands call heaven's gifts to earth.
5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 The servant in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ Thus she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”
Human hands work on fertile grounds.
The backbreaking work that Ruth did all day was hardly the feminine occupation she envisioned for herself. But she was doing God’s work—perspiration, dirty and broken fingernails, rough surroundings, and all—and she did it with all of her might, her resources, and her wit. Ultimately, her bold initiatives bless God’s people, challenging them to contemplate what it means to live as Yahweh’s people, and Ruth herself becomes a powerful catalyst for change.
(James, Gospel according to Ruth, 105)
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied.
Boaz's Generosity:
- protection
- position
- provision
- water
- supper
- extra grain
The mythology of scarcity preys upon our fears, especially the fear that there will not be enough resources in the world to provide for us, and thus that we might starve or otherwise suffer from deprivation.
(Smith & Pattison, Slow Church, 158)
10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. 12 May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”
Open hands send God's gifts to others.
Active hands extend God's abundance.
How do [we] bear witness to the abundant economy of God’s kingdom in today’s world? The essential practices of this new economy are first gratitude, then generosity and hospitality.
(Smith, Slow Church, 167)
Those who have GIVE
Give
At the heart of this discipline is the idea that we are part of one household: God's creation. Our lives and our possessions are given to us to be stewarded and shared with others.
(Bennett, Practices of Love, 52)
Those without GLEAN.
Glean
Gleaning is about the dignity of work and the transformational role of practicing business to bring peace and welfare to all... God calls employers to provide avenues for those previously not given access to the market to be offered the dignity of work. God invites us to see the needs in our world and rely upon the spirit to imagine creative solutions.
(Baker & Parks, "The Gleaners Edge," CT July/August 2019 26-34)
Truly transformation leader is about linking arms with others to raise the tide for others.
All are GRATEFUL
Gratitude
Pray your own benedictions—brief statements that recognize the good that comes form God… The best way to do this is to first make a list of all that your are grateful to God for providing. Then go back through this list and being with the words, “Blessed are you, O Lord.”