Ruth Series 3/4 Lug Nuts - A Sermon for Sunday June 21 2026

Welcome to week 3 of our 4 week series

on the book of Ruth.

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 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.

This is a story of utter desperation and grief

in a time of chaos, anarchy and disobedience in Israel.

Levirite marriage is an important part of this story.

The implications become apparent in today’s reading,

and more explicit in next week’s reading.

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;

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.

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.”

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than devotion to outdated,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.

Having come to Bethlehem with Naomi,

Ruth was able to glean in the fields,

a practice that enabled the hungry and poor

to find some food.

As it happened - or better, by the hand of God,

Ruth met Boaz,

she gleaned in his fields,

and he offered some kind protection.

Boaz took the gleaning law a step further,

allowing Ruth to basically glean as she wanted,

not just the meagre allowance.

And we heard that Boaz

happens to be

a relative of Naomi’s deceased husband, Elimilech.

Once again - the hand of God.

Boaz is a suitable redeemer for Ruth.

A couple things to keep in mind for today’s reading:

Naomi is active behind the scenes.

She needs to provide for Ruth,

and she sees potential with Boaz.

Naomi says to her daughter in law,

take off your mourning garments,

and put on something nice,

make yourself noticeable and available to Boaz.

God is at work with Naomi,

pulling the strings from the back.

If I say to you -

did you know that so and so are sleeping together?

You know it is a euphemism.

The two so and so’s are probably not sleeping,

but engaging in certain acts of intimacy.

We have a euphemism in this text,

and it is feet.

Feet, in the Hebrew,

can refer to your foot,

or feet can be a euphemism for a man’s private parts.

You will hear about Ruth’s stealthy and risqué actions,

she will uncover Boaz’s feet.

We will never know for certain what exactly happened

down on the threshing floor,

but we can read between the lines

and we can presume this is a romantic encounter.

Invite Reader forward.

Let us open our hearts and minds to God’s word today,

trusting that God’s Word is a living word,

it is not dead,

but by God’s Spirit,

by the Word of God continues to speak.

First Reading: Ruth 3:1-18

A reading from Ruth.

  ¹ Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. ² Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. ³ Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” ⁵ She said to her, “All that you say I will do.”
  ⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. ⁷ When Boaz had eaten and drunk and was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet and lay down. ⁸ At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and there, lying at his feet, was a woman! ⁹ He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin.” ¹⁰ He said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹ And now, my daughter, do not be afraid, I will do for you all that you ask, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman. ¹² But now, though it is true that I am a near kinsman, there is another kinsman more closely related than I. ¹³ Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will act as next-of-kin for you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to act as next-of-kin for you, then, as the Lord lives, I will act as next-of-kin for you. Lie down until the morning.”
  ¹⁴ So she lay at his feet until morning but got up before one person could recognize another, for he said, “It must not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ Then he said, “Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her back; then he went into the town. ¹⁶ She came to her mother-in-law, who said, “How did things go with you, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, ¹⁷ saying, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ” ¹⁸ She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”

Word of God, word of life.

Thanks be to God.

A couple quick things to unpack here.

Boaz gave Ruth 6 measures of barley,

twice as much as Ruth had gleaned previously.

Boaz says “do not return to your mother in law empty handed”

This sounds like a dowry to me.

You could say the two are secretly engaged.

Boaz’s loyalty to Ruth and Naomi is clear.

But there might just be another redeemer,

someone who by the law is better suited to marry Ruth.

Like a good soap opera,

we are left hanging

and we’ll have to tune in next week

to find out what happens next.

For today,

Boaz is ensuring that Ruth will be cared for,

if not by him,

then by another appropriate redeemer.

Boaz cannot allow Ruth and Naomi

to be down and out on the sidelines;

it is most important that they be restored to community,

with security to live their lives in peace.

This is the work of Jesus in healing,

each and every time Jesus performed a healing,

cured an illness,

restored a person to health,

They were also restored to back community.

The Samaritan woman at the well,

the leper,

the tax collector,

Peter after his denial,

even the Gerasene Demoniac,

with Jesus,

the missing member of the body of Christ

was welcomed back in,

restored to community.

It is not enough to be made physically well individually,

only together in loving community can we truly thrive.

I was getting changed for my shiny hockey game last week.

One of my teammates came in

and got my attention right away,

“Hey Aaron, do you know that you’re missing a lug nut?”

“What?” I said, “You’re kidding!”

I was shocked.

There’s no way I’m missing a lug nut.

I haven’t felt a thing while driving.

I just had the car checked out.

I take good care of my car,

I know what’s what.

I thought I knew better.

It was really tempting to ignore my teammate.

Well, turns out my teammate was right.

I got home,

and sure enough a lug nut was missing.

I just hadn’t noticed yet,

hadn’t felt it yet.

I took the opportunity to check the other lug nuts.

A few more had come loose,

they needed to be torqued again.

If I didn’t put the lug nut back,

there would have been an accumulative affect to my car.

other lug nuts might loosen and come off.

Or it can cause something to break.

If the wheel gets wobbly,

your vehicle might just crash.

The vehicle only runs as intended

when every lug nut is in place.

You could say that in this time and place,

Christ’s Church seems to be

a few lug nuts short of a full set.

My teammate was a prophet.

He saw a problem in the world that I was oblivious to,

and he told me about it.

Just so we need to listen to the profits in our community

who point us to what is wrong in the world,

who point us to who is missing in our gatherings.

If the life of faith is a car,

Then God’s grace is the hub of the wheel.

The wheel can only turn,

by the grace of God,

by God’s providing,

by the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

We have different beliefs and practices

that are like spokes on the wheel,

charity,

compassion,

governance,

social justice,

reconciliation,

There are at least two spokes for potlucks.

These things matter.

They connect God’s grace with the rubber

that hits the road.

We live out God’s grace in loving service with the world.

In the wheel of the life of faith,

you and I are the lug nuts.

You might be offended being called a lug nut,

but you’re not just any lug nut,

you are a custom made lug nut,

unique, strong in your own way,

and designed for one part of the wheel.

You are a custom lug nut

created in the image of our triune God

Made to live in the Chrysler of Christ.

We lug nut hold the wheel onto the vehicle,

revolving around God’s grace,

the hub of the wheel.

You might not notice the affects

of one missing lug nut.

You can safely drive for days

on 4 out of 5 lug nuts.

But you’ll notice the affects over time.

We are the lug nuts on Christ’s wheel.

It is the work of Jesus,

by the gathering and calling of the Spirit,

that restores us lug nuts

when we fall off.

When one lug nut falls off,

Jesus, the good mechanic,

leaves the car

and seeks out the lost lug nut.

The torque wrench tool

is like our mouths and ears,

our relationships with one another.

Lug nuts need the right amount of torque.

too loose,

and like my Chrysler,

the lug nuts slide off.

too tight, and you can’t change the tire

when the tread gets low.

Most people who change their own tires

torque the tires too tight.

Maybe we do that too inside the church,

keeping lug nuts too tight

might have us resistant to change our tires.

Have you noticed any missing lug nuts lately?

Who is missing from the body?

Who needs to be welcomed back?

Who needs to be restored to community?

I can think of some individuals,

and I hope you are thinking of some as well.

And, just as importantly,

I’m mindful of particular groups of people

whose lug nuts have been ignored

and fallen off the wheel.

I’m mindful on this Indigenous day of prayer

of the faithful work in reconciliation,

relationships slowly being restored,

and trusting I’ve got some torquing to do.

I’m mindful on Father’s Day

that the church has historically blessed

patriarchal paternalistic heteronormative marriage

in which wives are submissive and powerless.

kind of Luke Ruth and Naomi trapped in levirate marriage.

The church has historically turned a deaf ear

to the cries of women who have faced abuse in marriage.

Ruth’s story reminds us that women are not property

to be used as men desire.

We have some torquing to do.

And I’m mindful this pride month

that many Christian 2SLGBTQIA+ people

have been told they are sinful or an abomination

in Jesus’ name,

and there are many lug nuts

lying on the side of the road as victims.

We have some torquing to do.

And it is worth the effort.

You can’t trade Christ’s car in for a newer model,

The Church is a classic,

and that means it needs some care and upkeep.

But this ride has room for everyone.

Jesus is out on the road ahead of us.

So let’s buckle up,

torque the lug nuts,

and hit the road.

May we focus on relationships,

finding the right amount of torque,

to keep us lug nuts secure on the wheel.

May we notice the missing people,

the lug nuts on the side of the road,

and make space for us all on the wheel.

May you find yourself revolving in and around God’s grace,

the hub of the wheel,

today and always. Amen.