The book of Ruth occurs in the time of the Judges. The time of the Judges is shorthand for a time of violence and precarity. It is not unlike our saying that this story happened during the Great Depression, or the Great War, or perhaps, during the Great Pandemic.
It is interesting to think of these two books of the Bible happening at the same time. On one hand, the rise and fall of military leaders and the vexed question of war and conquests and succession. On the other, two women make their lonely journey from Moab to Bethlehem in the midst of a famine. Thinking of these two stories together reminds me of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. It also has two stories happening at the same time: one an account of battles and mighty men and the other a story of the dogged pilgrimage of Sam, Frodo, and Gollum towards Mount Doom. We know in that story that the fate of Middle Earth does not depend on the doings of general, but on the dogged faithfulness of the little hobbits.
This is also true of Ruth and Judges: the mighty men (and some women) who arise in the book of Judges aren’t significant for redemption history, but Ruth is (she will be the Grandmother of David and the ancestor of Jesus.)
Ruth’s makes a promise to Naomi—“your God will be my God; your people my people”—it is frequently used at weddings. When I was a teenager this story really offended my evangelical sensibilities. Did Ruth have her own faith? Did she believe?
This is not a concern of the authors. Instead their concern is displaying Ruth’s exemplary faithfulness. Her actions towards Naomi are describe as “doing hesed” --
hesed is generally translated in the Bible as “faithful lovingkindness“ and it is generally a type of loving that is assigned only to God.
Things are starting to look very dark in our world. My heart aches for the nurses and workers at long-term care homes who can’t get appropriate PPE. Healthcare workers are trying to procure hotel rooms, RVs, and basement apartments so that they don’t infect their loved ones. Our own family is broken up for the next several weeks so that Doug can work on the front lines in Toronto.
It is hard for the church to know how to minister at this time. What are the churches essential services? In my mind what is essential is summarized well by what the Catholics call the corporal acts of mercy.
Accompanying the afflicted.
Giving water to the thirsty
Clothing the naked
Shelter the homeless
Instructing the confused
Visiting the Sick
Ransoming the captives
Burying the dead.
And yet some of this work is made very difficult and some of this work is nearly impossible in this time of covid-19. How do we, for instance, visit the sick, or bury the dead? It is imperative that the church not become lethargic: it must employ every form of creativity possible to keep doing its essential work. The church must be advocating for the homeless in overcrowded shelters who desperately need a rooms of their own in which to self-isolate. As covid-19 rages through the prisons it becomes imperative that the church works to ransom the captives. The church need to find what every means we can to continue to make sure the thirsty have enough water to drink and with which to wash their hands.
We must continue to find ways to care for those who are the most vulnerable in our world. Online services are essential: the church must comfort all the afflicted. Yet, church can’t just be therapeutics for the well-heeled. The church needs to continue to be the place where the people of God scheme together about how to care for those for whom the impact of covid-19 is going to fall fast and hard.
The church must become the church of Ruth in this time of covid-19. A church of dogged faithfulness. May each of us, like Ruth, be filled with the transformative, redemptive power of divine love. May we like Ruth not give up on the vulnerable, even—and especially because—we are vulnerable too. May we find the strength to travel the hard, long, road of faithfulness, Amen!
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