Tough love

Katy Emslie-Smith September 29, 2022 0 3

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Ruth 4: 1-12 (NRSVA)

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 city, 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, one party 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, ‘Today you are witnesses 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.’

The Hebrew word used throughout the book of Ruth for kindness is chesed, which is roughly translated as lovingkindness. It marries the tough bold resilience of love with the soft healing power of kindness. We have witnessed tender kindness between Ruth and Boaz. Now we see determined love tackling policy, culture and systems.

Boaz engages in a tough act of love. He risks reputation and standing amongst his townsfolk as he tackles the obligations of the law on the relatives of a dead kinsman towards the deceased’s land, his name and his dependents. Moabites were disallowed any kinship with the Israelites in an old animosity following their lack of hospitality to the Israelites on the move from Egypt. Ruth’s ethnicity might become a huge sticking point in Boaz’s case. Indeed her ethnicity was the deciding factor for the closer relative, with more rights than Boaz, to decline the offer of increased wealth from acquisition of the land. This man could not see beyond her foreignness, the weight of history and tradition forming the framework for his decisions. He loses out.

Boaz works within the law, persuading the elders and townspeople that more important than her origins, Ruth’s character of strength, compassion, loyalty and care commend her to kinship. And so Boaz wins his bride, the land and welfare for Naomi and Ruth. He gains a continuation of his name, and, as this end of the chapter makes clear, a named place in the great narrative of God’s unfolding grace as human history works towards the revelation of His way of offering salvation to the world, in the person of Jesus. This chapter ends with abundant blessing given in the traditions of the Israelite people. Ruth is accepted.

In the places of politics, systems, laws, tradition and history which maintain disadvantage to the outsider and the foreigner, the soft heart of kindness and the tough nature of determined love can subvert the deepest of prejudice and overwhelm exclusion by the warmth of welcome. Blessing is unlocked.

PRAYER:

Father God, give us soft hearts and tough feet in the places of policy and systems. Give us wisdom and courage when working in a countercultural way for fairness, compassion and justice. Amen.