Ruth Series 2/4 Sunday June 14 2026
Welcome to week 2 of our 4 week series
on the book of Ruth.
A brief review to get us situated:
Ruth is a delightful book,
not just named after a faithful woman,
but featuring strong women as main characters.
Only Esther shares that claim to fame in our bible.
Although God does not speak in this book,
we can discern God’s work
in and through the relationships.
God is at work in the compassionate and courageous acts
of these faithful women - and in Boaz -
to preserve their family.
This story takes place after the time of the judges of Israel
and before the kingdom of Israel under David,
so 1200-1000 BCE.
It may have been written while
David was in command around 1000 BCE,
written to tell about
the king’s foreign grandmother,
but more likely it was written in the 4th century BCE,
some 500 or 600 years later
after the Israelites returned from exile.
That was a time in which folks were
suspicious of foreign women,
and Ruth helps combat this fear.
An important part of the story is Levirate marriage,
Basically, if the husband died leaving his wife a widow,
the deceased’s brother will marry the widow,
preserving family line, land and property.
It was meant to provide security for widows,
but it also kept widows captive,
powerless, without choice.
The story of Ruth begins and ends in a familiar place:
Bethlehem.
This will one day be called the city of David.
This will one day be known and celebrated
as the birthplace of Jesus the Christ.
They left Bethlehem,
the house of bread, to find bread
in a foreign land, in Moab.
Migrate or die.
But Moab was enemy territory for Jews;
This is a story of utter desperation and grief
in a time of chaos, anarchy and disobedience in Israel.
But God was faithful in a foreign land,
God is faithful in any land.
Naomi was widowed,
her husband died.
and so did her sons,
Mahlon and Chilion,
leaving Naomi with her two daughters in law.
Orpah returned to Moab,
to find a life in her home country.
Ruth clung to her mother-in-law, Naomi,
and with her,
she clung to YHWH, the Hebrew God.
Naomi and Ruth could have forsaken God,
the one who seems to have caused their suffering,
and chosen the Moabite god Chemosh,
but they remained faithful.
Ruth said to her mother in law:
“where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die; there will I be buried.”
Naomi encouraged Ruth and Orpah to return home,
to stay in Moab,
to find Moabite husbands.
This was likely a compassionate plea
because Naomi didn’t want to be a burden,
and she knew that these Moabite daughter-in-laws
would be hated by her fellow Israelites
in her hometown of Bethlehem.
But Ruth clung to Naomi.
Ruth takes the chance,
showing devotion not only to her mother in law,
but to the God of Israel,
YHWH.
Remember, Ruth is a Moabite who married an Israelite -
and in turn took on devotion to the God of Israel.
Devotion to God is greater
than devotion to outdated,
imperfect religious customs
that need to change because
they do more harm than good.
We too ought to pay attention to and change
our own imperfect religious customs
that cause more harm than good.
As they returned to Naomi’s hometown of Bethlehem,
it caused quite a stir:
the town was literally buzzing with conversation.
At some point in this journey home,
Naomi becomes bitter.
When she sees her old townspeople, she says
“don’t call me Naomi, anymore…
call me bitter.
Call me Mara.”
God sent me away full
and I am returning empty.
Why has God caused this to me?
But she is not empty.
She has Ruth.
The Moabite.
The devoted, widowed daughter in law.
That might not be enough for Naomi,
but it is more than enough for God.
When we find ourselves bitter,
trust that God’s presence is faithful
and God will call us into openness to the other,
to make room for the other,
and in that making room,
we might find our Mara turn to Naomi,
that our bitterness melts to pleasantness.
To be faithful to God is to make room for the other.
When we find ourselves bitter,
May God call us back into faithfulness.
Ruth Meets Boaz, Ruth 2:1-23
Dramatic Reading of the Text
Pronunciation Guide:
Elimelech: ee-LIM-e-lek
Ephah: EE-fah
Readers: Narrator, Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, Reaper
Narrator: Now Naomi had a kinsman on her
husband’s side, a prominent rich man, of the
family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And
Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi,
Ruth: Let me go to the field and glean among the
ears of grain, behind someone in whose sight I
may find favor.
Narrator: She said to her,
Naomi: Go, my daughter.
Narrator: So she went. She came and gleaned in
the field behind the reapers. As it happened, she
came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz,
who was of the family of Elimelech. Just then
Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the
reapers,
Boaz: The Lord be with you.
Narrator: They answered,
Reaper: The Lord bless you.
Narrator: Then Boaz said to his servant who was
in charge of the reapers,
Boaz: To whom does this young woman belong?
Narrator: The servant who was in charge of the
reapers answered,
Reaper: She is the Moabite who came back with
Naomi from the country of Moab. She said,
“Please, let me glean and gather among the
sheaves behind the reapers.” So she came, and she
has been on her feet from early this morning until
now, without resting even for a moment.
Narrator: Then Boaz said to Ruth,
Boaz: Now listen, my daughter, do not go to
glean in another field or leave this one, but keep
close to my young women. Keep your eyes on the
field that is being reaped, and follow behind them.
I have ordered the young men not to bother you.
If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from
what the young men have drawn.
Narrator: Then she fell prostrate, with her face to
the ground, and said to him,
Ruth: Why have I found favor in your sight, that
you should take notice of me, when I am a
foreigner?
Narrator: But Boaz answered her,
Boaz: All that you have done for your mother-in-
law since the death of your husband has been fully
told me, and how you left your father and mother
and your native land and came to a people that
you did not know before. May the Lord reward
you for your deeds, and may you have a full
reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under
whose wings you have come for refuge!
Narrator: Then she said,
Ruth: May I continue to find favor in your sight,
my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken
kindly to your servant, even though I am not one
of your servants.
Narrator: At mealtime Boaz said to her,
Boaz: Come here, and eat some of this bread, and
dip your morsel in the sour wine.
Narrator: So she sat beside the reapers, and he
heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate
until she was satisfied, and she had some left
over. When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed
his young men,
Boaz: Let her glean even among the standing
sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also
pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles,
and leave them for her to glean, and do not
rebuke her.
Narrator: So she gleaned in the field until
evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned,
and it was about an ephah of barley. She picked it
up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law
saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took
out and gave her what was left over after she
herself had been satisfied. Her mother-in-law said
to her,
Naomi: Where did you glean today? And where
have you worked? Blessed be the man who took
notice of you.
Narrator: So she told her mother-in-law with
whom she had worked, and said,
Ruth: The name of the man with whom I worked
today is Boaz.
Narrator: Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-
law,
Naomi: Blessed be he by the
Lord, whose kindness has
not forsaken the living or the dead!
Narrator: Naomi also said to her,
Naomi: The man is a relative of
ours, one of our nearest kin.
Narrator: Then Ruth the Moabite
said,
Ruth: He even said to me, “Stay
close by my servants, until they have
finished all my harvest.”
Narrator: Naomi said to Ruth, her
daughter-in-law,
Naomi: It is better, my daughter,
that you go out with his young
women, otherwise you might be
bothered in another field.
Narrator: So she stayed close to the
young women of Boaz, gleaning
until the end of the barley and wheat
harvests; and she lived with her
mother-in-law.
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
Did you notice our narrator say; “As it happened?”
As it happened,
Naomi came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz,
who was of the family of Elimelech.
As it happened?
Coincidence?
You and I have a decision to make.
We can either say this is coincidence,
or we can take the author’s hint,
and say “Coincidence? I think not.
- As it happened - is the hand of God!”
Not everything that happens is God’s will.
Not every coincidence is a God-incidence.
It is important for us to discern what is God and what is not.
But, as it happened,
God invaded the mundane and showed up in Boaz.
As it happens, Boaz is related to Elimilech,
the deceased husband of Naomi.
If you are knowledgeable about Levirate marriage
you know that Boaz is now a legitimate contender
to marry Ruth,
in the ancient language - to redeem her.
More on this next week.
God’s faithfulness is found at the intersections of our lives,
God comes into our stories,
God enters our lives
and we often experience God in relationship with others.
God is at work in and through the faithfulness
of people like you and me,
regular, ordinary humans.
Boaz praised Ruth’s faithfulness.
He praised her loyalty to her mother-in-law.
Boaz blesses Ruth.
And he blesses Naomi,
for a key concern for Naomi is providing for her daughters in law,
and she couldn’t.
What a relief it must have been for Naomi to see hope in Boaz.
Here’s an idea of how much help Boaz was.
Ruth has gleaned something like 30 pounds of barley.
She’s carrying that much barley around,
and it becomes apparent that Boaz is her helper.
But Naomi doesn’t just give Boaz the credit.
Naomi says: Blessed be [Boaz] by the LORD,
whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!”
Naomi sees God in Boaz’s kindness.
Boaz’s kindness helps Naomi be Bitter no more,
Mara no longer.
God is at work in relationships.
God is at work in kindness,
choose kindness, always.
I said last week that many of us,
Canadians,
Albertans,
even Lutherans
are bitter.
Bitter at the world,
bitter at politics, polarity, economy,
perhaps bitter at change that we don’t want,
or bitter over change that is taking too long to come.
Choose kindness in the face of bitterness.
Kindness is God’s tool that melts bitterness into pleasantness.
Kindness helps us move from despair to hope.
Life is full of things that can lead us to despair.
God knows it,
Jesus knows it.
But despair doesn’t get to win.
Our Lord has given us a great kindness,
a blessed sacrament, a pleasant sacrament,
that reminds us it is by God’s hands that we are fed,
Despair no longer,
for it is a descendant of Ruth,
our Lord Jesus Christ
who feeds us with the bread of kindness at this table,
that we too might go from this gathering
and feed those who hunger,
to show kindness trusting this is God’s work in us.
In kindness, as we cling to Jesus at this table,
we can cling to one another,
in devotion to one another,
like Ruth’s devotion to Naomi,
together we are stronger,
and even in drought, or desperation,
in any kind of hunger,
at the Lord’s table,
there is always an abundance of bread.
