Ruth Series 4/4 Legacy and Hesed - A Sermon for Sunday June 28 2026

Welcome to our final instalment

of the preaching series on the book of Ruth.

Please allow one last refresher 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 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.

A little bible trivia for you:

in our bible,

the book of Ruth appears after the book of Judges.

This is chronologically appropriate,

as this story took place in that time.

In the Jewish bible,

the order of books is different.

The Hebrew bible places Ruth after the book of Proverbs.

This is probably more appropriate

for when the book was actually written,

but it serves another purpose.

You might recall “the woman of honour” in Proverbs 31.

The book of Proverbs

ends with an Ode to a capable woman:

Ruth is the embodiment of this worthy woman;

a faithful example of living out God’s kind of love.

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.

Naomi 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, Elimelech 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,

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

Ruth met Boaz,

she gleaned in his fields,

and he offered some kind protection.

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.

You could argue that Naomi is the main character in this story.

It begins and ends with her,

and she is pulling the string behind the scenes.

Naomi tells Ruth,

take off your grieving and mourning clothes,

put on your best outfit,

get your hair and make up done

- put on oil.

Make yourself obviously available to Boaz.

Ruth obeyed, and there was a romantic encounter

on the threshing floor.

Quite funny actually,

Boaz wakes up at midnight and is startled

to a woman at his feet!

Who are you? He says.

It is subtle, but in this romantic encounter,

Ruth proposed marriage to Boaz!

Ruth asked Boaz to spread his cloak over her,

which was indicative of marriage proposal.

But there’s a problem,

Yes, Boaz is a suitable redeemer for Ruth,

but there’s another man,

a closer kinsman to Elimilech,

Naomi’s deceased husband.

Boaz sent what I consider a dowry to Naomi,

60 pounds of barley,

and his intentions are clear.

Boaz will marry Ruth,

unless the other redeemer does so.

A little primer on Levirate marriage:

as the implications are explicit in today’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.

This is the kind of marriage that is proposed

between Ruth and Boaz.

It was meant to provide security for widows,

but it also kept widows captive,

powerless, without choice.

But the man has a choice.

If you are a bible nerd like me,

I invite you to open your bibles to Deuteronomy 25.

There are some various laws lumped together,

before and after the verses about Levirate marriage.

Many of these laws read this way to me:

something strange and bad happened,

this cannot happen again,

so we make a law.

This is Deuteronomy 25:11-12 in a nutshell.

For today, we are concerned with verses 5-10,

The brother of the deceased husband

is to take the widow as his wife,

to raise up children to the dead,

that the deceased brother’s line may continue.

But, the brother can say no.

It would be shameful to say no,

but you could refuse.

If he declined, the brother’s sandal would be removed,

and the widow would spit in his face.

“This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house. Throughout Israel his family shall be known as “the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.” (Duet. 25:9-10)

Invite Reader forward.

This first scene we will hear is intended to be humorous,

and I hope you can hear some of the humour

even if lost in translation.

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

Narrative Lectionary Reading: Ruth 4

A reading from Ruth.

  ¹ No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin of whom Boaz had spoken came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over, friend; sit down here.” And he went over and sat down. ² Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the town and said, “Sit down here,” so they sat down. ³ He then said to the next-of-kin, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. ⁴ So I thought I would tell you of it and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.” So he said, “I will redeem it.” ⁵ Then Boaz said, “The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.” ⁶ At this, the next-of-kin said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
  ⁷ Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging to confirm a transaction: the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. ⁸ So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal. ⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.” ¹¹ Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; ¹² and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

  ¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. ¹⁴ Then the women said 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! ¹⁵ 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.” ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse. ¹⁷ The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
  ¹⁸ Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, ¹⁹ Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, ²⁰ Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, ²¹ Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, ²² Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

Word of God, word of life.

Thanks be to God.

You know what they say about Boaz;

before he got married,

he was Ruth-less.

Thanks for hearing the dad joke.

Boaz was faithful,

and lives his faith in a cunning way,

comedically ruthless in pointing out

the shame of the unnamed man.

I think it is really funny.

Boaz says to the unnamed man,

the closer kinsman,

Come, sit down “friend”.

But friend might not be the best translation.

It’s more like Boaz saying”

Hello Joe Shmoe - come, sit down!”

It is not a fluke that Joe Shmoe is unnamed,

and he just happens to be walking by… 

again - the hand of God.

They are gathered at the gates of the town,

Elders have been assembled,

this is how important decisions were made

in that time of anarchy in Israel.

“Sit Down Here!”

is a formal judicial summons.

A formal judicial summons for Joe Shmoe,

who was just walking by,

minding his own business.

The other day I was out shopping at Cross Iron Mills,

and maybe you’ve had an experience like me.

I was thinking of buying a new summer shirt.

I noticed one hanging on display from the hall,

and I walked in thinking I should buy it.

I did what many of us do - poppin’ tags,

I looked at the price.

$15.99. Awesome, must be a sale, I’ll take it!

But then I noticed the decimal was in the wrong spot.

It wasn’t $15.99, it was $159.99.

For a little shirt!!!

Way too expensive for me,

even if I loved the shirt.

I tried not to look sheepish

hanging the shirt back up.

Well, this is kind of what happens to the unnamed man

the Joe Shmoe sheepish on trial.

I can imagine Boaz like a clever defence attorney,

“Will you buy the land?”

“Yes” says the unnamed man. It looks lovely.

You want the land?

It comes with Ruth,

and you can’t handle the Ruth.

The cost is too high,

Joe Shmoe looks sheepish,

and off comes his sandal.

There is no spitting in his face,

but it is proclaimed that the unnamed man

would not care for Ruth,

and it would be shameful.

Often in our bible,

characters who are deemed unimportant

are not given a name,

or sometimes, like the Pharaoh in Exodus,

not naming the person is casting judgment.

This unnamed man had an opportunity

to have his name carved in stone

forever linked as an ancestor to king David,

and eventually ancestor to Jesus the Christ,

But he declined.

Let this be a warning to people of faith,

when we say no to the adventure of faith,

we may just be missing out on participating

in God’s mission.

There adventure of faith may just leave a lasting legacy.

On the one hand Joe Shmoe is justified;

he would lose his own inheritance if he married Ruth.

But let it be a lesson to the faithful:

there is the path of personal financial security,

and there is the path of faithfulness,

and the two paths don’t necessarily cross.

I hear an encouragement for us to focus on people,

on relationships,

and to not allow individuals to fall through the cracks

in the name of mine or our

personal financial security.

The unnamed man’s legacy is financial security.

Boaz’ legacy is in the relationships,

loving, faithful, Hesed relationships.

That’s the kind of legacy people of faith are invited to build,

a trust in God that is found

in loving relationships.

Even amidst terrible drought,

we trust and pray to God,

give us, not me,

give us today, not tomorrow,

this day, our daily bread.

It is by God’s hand that we are fed.

Do we trust God to provide enough for today?

Remember the context of drought in this story,

Naomi and her family fled during drought,

and they returned when God provided bread.

The barley harvest is in,

there is no threat of bad weather,

and it is time to celebrate.

Similarly we too ought to thank God for the healing rains

that are healing this land.

This is God’s work - bringing new life

out of death.

Ruth was dead, so to speak.

She was considered barren,

no children with her husband Mahlon,

and barrenness was akin to death.

As it happened - God provided Boaz,

Ruth’s barrenness is dead,

and she gives life.

There’s new life for Naomi too.

She becomes the wet nurse for her grandchild.

She is not empty, she is not Mara,

she is literally giving life,

pouring out life into Obed.

I’ll close the Ruth series with a couple thoughts

on an important Hebrew word,

Hesed.

Hesed appears 3 times in the book of Ruth.

Hesed is a full word,

it is God’s covenant love,

Hesed is love in action.

Hesed is a radical, loyal, and steadfast love,

combined with active mercy and grace.

Hesed is devotion that goes above and beyond.

Hesed is God’s kind of love

love poured out on the cross of Christ,

the kind of love that

you and I then seek to live out in our lives.

God gives Hesed amidst dislocation.

Trust in God to provide,

to pour out Hessed, God’s covenant love

in your home town,

and in a strange land.

Many of us are facing dislocation or transition.

Some are moving into new homes

better suited for aging bodies.

Some are discovering who they really are inside

and wondering where they fit.

Some have transitions forced upon them,

and others have been waiting in anticipation

of the coming change.

Transition is holy - God is with you

amidst your experiences of dislocation and transition,

God’s love, God’s Hesed,

is yours, now and always.

Thanks be to God. Amen.