A Sermon by Rev. Henley on Sunday, November 8, 2009
Several years ago, in 1997 to be exact, a learned book critic Jonathan Kirsch wrote The Harlot by the Side of the Road – Forbidden Tales of the Bible. A reviewer of the book wrote
“The Bible was written for adults, not for children, and some of its stories may well be said to have been written for adults only.”
While the story of Ruth and Naomi is not included in Kirsch’s Harlot it is one of those books of the Bible that is quite provocative.
First, we’ll look at the story itself, I’ll try to refrain from making too many comments, then my message will explore the possible meanings of the Book about Ruth and Naomi.
Around two thousand years ago—give or take a decade—a Hebrew scribe wrote down a story of a strong, young woman of the Moabite tribes. Her name was Ruth. Ruth’s mother-in-law was Naomi from Bethlehem. It was an oral story, an oral tradition, long before it was written down. There is no doubt in my mind that it began with a woman.
First thing we want to notice is at the end of the story, we see the lineage, … which tells us the scribe who wrote it down was looking for legitimacy of King David’s rule. Obviously, this was added to a much older oral tradition. It was difficult for the Hebrew tribes to transition from governance after Moses to priests, then to the judges, then to Kings. We still see how difficult it is for cultic tribes to come together today in the same part of the world.
But, we find more in Ruth than this later addition. We find love and justice. Within the boundaries of a male-dominated culture that disregards and denigrates all those who are different. We find “The Good Samaritan” story which Jesus told in the first century. We see Naomi befriend her Moabite daughters-in-law. Women she “should have” barely tolerated and could have made their lives miserable. She befriended them to such a depth that one young woman went back to her mother at Naomi’s request, even though, in that culture, to go back to her mother probably wasn’t as positive an action as we might we think.
She befriended them to such a depth that the other young woman would not leave her, and declared her love to Naomi, her people, their God, for as long as she lived.
What a deep friendship. Some scholars have suggested there might have been more than friendship and familial love. I believe that we must interpret the Bible’s stories through whatever lens we need to affirm love and justice for all of us. Whether it be through a lens of liberation, feminism, homosexuality, or social justice.
We see the love Ruth had for Naomi, it was a story of real love and the good Samaritan in each woman.
What does Carter Heyward say in our reading:
Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being "drawn toward." Love is active, effective, a matter of making reciprocal and mutually beneficial relation with one's friends and enemies.
We see Boaz accept Ruth as his wife, and then we see Naomi’s people accept her.
Carter Heyward is worth repeating:
“Love creates … justice, here on earth. To make love is to make justice. As advocates and activists … know, loving involves struggle, resistance, risk. People working today on behalf of women, blacks, lesbians and gay men, the aging, the poor in this country and elsewhere know that making justice is not a warm, fuzzy experience. … relationships demand hard work, patience, and a willingness to endure tensions and anxiety in creating mutually empowering bonds.
What are we doing to make love, to make justice,
Our support of gay marriage is crucial right now,
We need to show our support when the City Council meets again, we need to to talk about it, write about it,
Our collection of winter wear and blankets is an act of caring
Our thanksgiving baskets will show others our love
We need to show our support of our armed forces—in whatever we can, and we need to let our elected officials in Congress know how we feel. Oh, that’s right, citizens of DC have no elected congressional representatives, perhaps that is a cause for justice?
Ruth and Naomi may not have made Forbidden Tales of the Bible, nevertheless, it is a provocative book. Jesus provokes the same tribes with “The Good Samaritan,” and we need to allow the story to provoke us. Provoke us to love and justice,
provoke us to social action that makes love real,
all kinds of love: cultural, societal, friendship, family—
all kinds of families.
Opening Words
Howard Thurman from Deep Is the Hunger
"Bend with the wind and keep on living." This exhortation raises the basic question of compromise. It can be interpreted to mean that so high a premium is placed upon survival for its own sake that to do anything in order to survive is quite all right. Compromise, as an ethical issue, is often very difficult to settle. It is of the very essence of certain kinds of idealism to take the position that compromise, in any form and under any circumstances, is never to be countenanced. .... When the tree bends with the wind, it is merely adjusting itself to its environment without any real loss. . . .
Reading 1
From CARTER HEYWARD
Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being "drawn toward." Love is active, effective, a matter of making reciprocal and mutually beneficial relation with one's friends and enemies.
Love creates righteousness, or justice, here on earth. To make love is to make justice. As advocates and activists for justice know, loving involves struggle, resistance, risk. People working today on behalf of women, blacks, lesbians and gay men, the aging, the poor in this country and elsewhere know that making justice is not a warm, fuzzy experience. I think also that sexual lovers and good friends know that the most compelling relationships demand hard work, patience, and a willingness to endure tensions and anxiety in creating mutually empowering bonds.
For this reason loving involves commitment. We are not automatic lovers of self, others, world, or God. Love does not just happen. We are not love machines, puppets on the strings of a deity called "love." Love is a choice -- not simply, or necessarily, a rational choice, but rather a willingness to be present to others without pretense or guile. Love is a conversion to humanity -- a willingness to participate with others in the healing of a broken world and broken lives. Love is the choice to experience life as a member of the human family, a partner in the dance of life, rather than as an alien in the world or as a deity above the world, aloof and apart from human flesh.
You have probably heard our second reading this morning, because it is read at many weddings.
There are many lessons from Ruth and Naomi.
One, is political. It is written they know at the time the Hebrew tribes were governed by kings, although it says it was written in the time when the tribes were governed by judges. Just as the prophetic books were written after the historical events, so was this story. Scholars tell us it may be a justification for rule by kings. Well