I am a mother-in-law. Our son married my beautiful daughter-in-law who invited me to be an integral part in taking care of their children since they were born. I now have two fine sons-in-law who, above all, love our daughters with respect and joy, and at least tolerate me when I want to give some helpful advice. Maybe that is why I love the story of Ruth and Naomi so much.
“The book of Ruth is one of scarcity and abundance, refugees and homeland, family, generations, blessing, love, loyalty and law, redemption, marriage and acceptance and hope in the future.” This was the introduction to a Bethel lesson I led last winter. It speaks volumes to me even now, as we are in the throes of a pandemic that we can’t seem to get a handle on.
Those of us who have plenty, who have managed to have fresh vegetables and meat, toilet paper, hand sanitizers and masks, (even if some choose not to wear them), we have the abundance. We have been called to share with those for whom scarcity is an every day situation, even more so now.
We who have legal citizenship, rely on immigrants to do many jobs to keep things running smoothly, take care of our children, fix our broken air conditioners, clean our homes, and bring food from farms and countless other jobs. We have the gift of being able to speak up for those whom government policies would send away.
We have the blessings of laws that protect us and the right that we can also call for better laws that are fair to those who have no voice. It is not only a right, but a duty, to lift up those who cannot easily fend for themselves.
Ruth was an outsider from Moab, a foreign land, who showed loyalty to the mother of her deceased husband. She risked much to go to Bethlehem to be with Naomi. She humbled herself by going to the fields to glean in order to put food on their table. She stood with Naomi in times of hunger and want. She figures in the lineage of people like Jesse, David and yes, Jesus, who was also an outsider and a refugee as an infant.
Ruth and her story teach us much about sharing what we have been given, about loving the stranger and about being rescued from our own “outsidership” and being invited into the family of God, where we all belong.
Prayer
Lord, we give you thanks for all we have. Show us ways to share with those who don’t have what they need. Rescue us from want and isolation and being the outsider. Thank you for your son Jesus who saves us from our own scarcity in noticing those who feel invisible and gives us abundance in love and blessings. Amen
Anne Wood
August 3, 2020
