Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Then she fell prostrate, with her face to the ground, and said to him, ‘Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?’”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, August 21, 2022
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz gave us a rare glimpse of how men and women breached barriers to care for each other.
It’s time to put away our outdated notions that the women of the Bible were helpless and powerless. Today’s text is chock full of women (and men) who bucked the system so that everyone would be provided for.
Ruth—foreign to Bethlehem—had the shrewdness to glean and gather behind the reapers. What this meant was that as the men reaping in the field finished their rows, women in need followed along behind picking up the scraps of what was left. It was easily as difficult work as what the reapers did, but for far less reward. The danger, of course, was that if the reapers lacked integrity, they could bother, harass, or even rape the unprotected women.
Here’s where Boaz had one of many moments to shine. When he learned that Ruth was a relative of Naomi, he made sure to protect her as best he could. He assured her that she could continue to gather the remnants of the harvest. He also went out of his way to speak with the reapers so they knew not to harass her, and even to purposely drop some of the reaped harvest for her to glean. He even gave her access to water from the same vessels the men were drinking from and invited her to eat beside him at mealtime.
This is not a story of a rigid line dividing men from women. This is a story of relationships being formed, alliances being forged, and kindness and integrity expressed. It’s a rare moment we get to peek behind the veil of decorum and see how the men and women truly interacted in ways that were beneficial to the community as a whole. Ruth took care of Naomi. Boaz took care of Ruth. Next chapter we’ll learn how Naomi took care of Ruth and Boaz.
