The Kin-dom of God

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November 8, 2015

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

¹Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. ²Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. ³Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do." ⁵She said to her, "All that you tell me I will do."

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son. ¹⁴Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! ¹⁵He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him." ¹⁶Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. ¹⁷The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi." They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

“The Kin-dom of God”

The story of Ruth is a strange sort of fairytale.  There’s no wicked stepmother, but instead a mother-in-law Naomi who is so beloved that, after Ruth’s husband, her son, dies, Ruth speaks perhaps the most beautiful words in all of scripture to her: 

Where you go, I will go;

    where you lodge, I will lodge;

your people shall be my people,

    and your God my God.

Where you die, I will die—

    there will I be buried.

May the Lord do thus and so to me,

    and more as well,

if even death parts me from you!”

So, if there is a villain to this tale, it’s certainly not Naomi or Boaz, Ruth’s older prince charming of sorts.  The villain in this story is one still working evil in the world today: poverty.  Poverty kept Ruth and Naomi trapped like Rapunzel trapped in a tower or Sleeping Beauty trapped behind impenetrable thorns. 

The source of their poverty is sadly very simple: they were women.  Women could not own anything in those days.  Women could not work to earn a living wage.  They certainly had no power religiously or politically. The best they could do was align themselves with a man who would provide for them.  They could at least do this because God made sure of it.

God has always been at work defeating that great villain of the world, poverty, and the law in the Hebrew scriptures was a powerful tool to do that.  The law addressed poverty first this way: Israelites weren’t allowed to glean to the very edges of their fields, but instead commanded to leave some of their crop remaining for the orphan, widow and foreigner.  This was God’s biblical design to keep the poor and marginalized remembered by the wealthy and powerful.   

The second way God fought poverty was through that feminine Hebrew word, linked to “knowing” used throughout the fairy tale of Ruth: next-of-kin.  Jewish law demanded that caring for people in need wasn’t just a farming matter – it was a family matter.   When a woman was left without a man to provide for her, that providing became the responsibility of her closest living male relative.  Family had to look after each other, it was the law of God. 

Which is perhaps why romance in this story is sadly lacking.  Ruth does get a little makeover a’la Fairy Godmother from her mother-in-law Naomi, and she’s sent to the threshing floor to secretly meet Boaz. 

I think matchmaker Naomi hoped for some wooing to happen, but Ruth is not a mindless amusement for Boaz.  She’s a fierce character in her own right in this story.  So, she did go to the threshing floor, but instead of asking Boaz what he wanted of her, she bravely named what she wanted from him: “I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin.”  Spread your cloak was another way of saying, “take care of me.”

Boaz could have rebuffed Ruth if she had only made romantic advances on him.  But ignoring the law of God was not an option.  So, the next day, Boaz had himself a wildly romantic session meeting with the elders to confirm that he was indeed next-of-kin.  And then he “acquired” Ruth and Naomi.  I must say, I don’t love that language.  Fellas, please don’t send your wife an anniversary card saying something ridiculous like, “25 years ago, I acquired you!  You’re my favorite property (like my truck)!”  You would acquire a night in the doghouse for that one! 

But it was the way of things in the time of this strange fairy tale, and it meant that the great antagonist of the story, poverty, would be defeated once and for all.  All because Ruth reminded Boaz of his obligations for her and Naomi as next-of-kin, and he stepped up.

We often speak in this place about the “kingdom” of God.  We pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done…”  We listen to Jesus’ words describing the kingdom of God as a pearl of great value, a mustard seed producing a tree that shelters birds, a vineyard where all are equally compensated with grace, a wedding feast and more.  This is helpful language, language certainly appropriate in the time of Jesus.  But today, I offer an additional image of the reign of God, one that comes to us from Catholic Cuban theologian Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz.

A woman accustomed to seeing how absolute power, especially when only given to men, can corrupt absolutely, she offers instead the option to describe God’s reign in this world, not as a kingdom, but as a kin-dom.  A family.  Kingdom, she says, especially in her context where that great enemy poverty is rampant, can reinforce oppressive structures that keep women on the margins.  But kin-dom, that is a liberating word indeed!  The kin-dom of God, she says, "makes it clear that when the fullness of God becomes a day-to-day reality in the world at large, we will all be sisters and brothers--kin to each other."

I think that’s what this fairy tale of Ruth is all about – giving us a picture of what the world looks like when we see that we are all family in the kin-dom of God.

Now, it just so happens that today, we are honoring a woman who, like Ruth and Naomi, embodies this so well.  I am certain she is weary of me telling this story, but I have to tell it again, because when you hear something that is Gospel, good news, you have to share it over and over again.

I am speaking of course about Jane, faithful member of this church, the well-deserving Presbyterian Women lifetime membership recipient.  Jane is why I’m here.  (You can thank or blame her later!)  God used her to show me what church can be, and still does.

You see, when I was interviewing with this church four years ago, I was also in talks with another.  A church in Texas, my home state.  I asked them and Cameron the same question: “What is a hope you have for your pastor?” 

A man on the search committee of that other church, who will remain nameless, said in a very gruff tone, “Well, I hope they know this church ain’t a cake walk!  You got work to do!”  Well.

When I asked that question of the search committee from Cameron via a Skype interview, Jane E. answered immediately, with deep emotion.  “We hope you feel like family, because that’s how we’re going to treat you.”

I was offered a call in both places.  It was a no-brainer.  Cameron Presbyterian Church, through saints like Jane, faithfully embodies what it means to be a part of the kin-dom of God. 

So today, I’m not going to push you to radically change how you do things.  I’m not going to urge you to treat one another like family.  You already do that, whether you’re related or not!  Instead, I say to you, to Jane, what I think God our Father and Mother would say, “well done, good and faithful servant.” 

Ours is not just a church of families.  Ours is a church that makes everyone feel like family.  That is why a happy ending in the fairy tale of Ruth and Naomi was possible. 

That is why we can hold the kin-dom of God alongside the kingdom of God, proclaiming that God has created us to provide for one another, until poverty, despair and injustice only remain in fairy tales, and are no longer a part of our world. 

If we recognize one another as kin, anything is possible.  If we recognize one another as kin, no one is left out. 

If we recognize one another as kin, the kin-dom of God comes, as God wills, on earth as it is in heaven. 

In the name of the God who cares for the orphan, widow and foreigner like family and calls us to do the same, and in the name of the Son who came to us through that line of Ruth and Boaz to reveal a kin-dom of grace, and in the name of the Spirit who is poured equally and powerfully on all, female and male, amen.