Naomi and Ruth: Ripples

 For the next couple weeks, we’ll look at the story of Naomi and Ruth as found in the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Scriptures. In this tale, we’ll see how supporting one another encourages the entire community, like ripples from a pebble in the water.

The story begins with Naomi and her husband Elimelek moving to Moab with their two sons during a famine time in Bethlehem. They settle in Moab which starts one set of ripples as the foreigners from Bethlehem learn to interact and live with the Moabite community. The boys grow up and marry Moabite girls: Ruth and Orpah. This is a new ripple in the pond caused by the integration of the foreigners more deeply into the community. Then tragedy strikes as Elimelek and his sons all die. This leaves the three women vulnerable as widows with no man to care for them. For Naomi and her daughters-in-law this is like a stone into the pond with huge ripples of consequences.

Naomi decides on the drastic step of returning to Bethlehem, telling her daughters-in-law to remain and find new husbands in Moab. Her decision resonates with multiple ripples. There is the goodbye and return to her family by Orpah. And there is the massive ripple when Ruth famously responds, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17) Ruth is willing to leave all she knows to remain in relationship with Naomi. This choice ripples across the ages.

The pair sets out on a long trek of somewhere between 60 and 100 miles. They must cross the Jordan River and traverse desert and hills. It is possible, even probable, that they would have joined a caravan heading in the right direction. It would be rare and very unsafe for two women to travel alone, but the Bible doesn’t say. We are simply told, the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” “Don’t call me Naomi, she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter…” [arrived] in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. (Ruth 1:19-20, 22) The return of Naomi with her Moabite daughter-in-law made ripples among the tight-knit community of Bethlehem.

The timing of getting to Bethlehem at the time of the harvest was fortuitous because the Law of Moses allowed widows and other destitute people to gather the grain from the edges of the field. Ruth offers to do this for herself and Naomi. She luckily entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters….in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. (Ruth 2:3)

Boaz is impressed by Ruth’s support of her mother-in-law and tells her to stay with his workers throughout the barley harvest and into the next harvest as well. Naomi sees the opportunity in this and suggests a risky ploy to Ruth. She says, “Tonight [Boaz] will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor… note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” (Ruth 3:2-4)

Ruth’s decision to glean and then to follow Naomi’s advice are intersecting ripples in the story. Her action results in Boaz meets with the elders, and another relative, at the city gate. As was the custom, he offers the other man a chance to buy land and wed Ruth. When he declines, Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown.” (Ruth 4:9-10)

Boaz marries the foreign woman leaving ripples of change in the wake. Ruth has a son. The Book of Ruth ends with the statement they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. (Ruth 4:17) The great King David of Israel is descended from the son of a foreign woman (Rahab) and the immigrant Moabite, Ruth. Because of her faithfulness, Ruth was welcomed into the community. Naomi supported Ruth just as Ruth supported Naomi. Together their courage and faithfulness led to the strengthening of the nation of Israel two generations later. Ruth’s insistence on going with Naomi dropped a pebble into the water. That pebble continued to eddy outward until it reached a stable in Bethlehem 1000+ years later.

Every choice we make and action we do has a ripple effect. These intersect with the actions and choices of others. Some actions cause large ripples or even waves and they join with other ripples. Some are barely noticeable. We never know where the ripples from our actions may lead.

Think about how your actions cause ripples that meet and cancel or build on other ripples around you. We’ll look more deeply at that next week.

Leah, Rachel, Jacob: Learning a new way

 For the past couple weeks, we’ve been looking at the family dynamics in the lives of Jacob, Rachel and Leah from the Hebrew Scriptures. Leah and Rachel had a competition over the number of children and the status that provided in the tribal culture. Their antagonism trickled down to their sons. This caused the sons of Leah to hate their half-brother, Joseph.

As the proud, and seemingly oblivious, father, Jacob doesn’t help the situation. Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he had been born to him when he was old. He made a long robe with full sleeves for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother so much that they would not speak to him in a friendly manner. (Genesis 37:3-4)

The sons of Rachel band together to throw Joseph into a pit to die, then decide to sell him into slavery. “What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up the murder? Let's sell him to these Ishmaelites. Then we won't have to hurt him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed, and when some Midianite traders came by, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. (Genesis 37:26-28)

As we look at our own tendencies to dislike or even hate someone (or some culture) because they are different, how might living as Christ taught change our response?

Jesus says, You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Jesus expands the meaning of neighbor in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, where it is the unexpected (hated) Samaritan who helps the wounded man. Jesus, on the cross, cries out Father, forgive them. Jesus calls us to go beyond the personal and cultural norms to build relationships and bridges instead of burning them.

What can I do in my life today and this week to create a healing opportunity in my family or in another relationship? Maybe all I can do is start to pray for someone I dislike or fear. Maybe, like this cat and dog, I can find a common ground of agreement.

Leah, Rachel, Jacob: Truth and Lies

 Last week we met Jacob and Leah and Rachel, one of the many dysfunctional families in the Bible. While this family lived over four thousand years ago, the dynamic of competition and rivalry is still present and active in our lives. It drives our divisions and disagreements. It manifests in hate and war.

How can we combat this tendency in our lives? For Leah and Rachel their rivalry was fostered by Rachel’s inability to have children. She even bartered with her sister for some mandrake root (a supposed aphrodisiac) by offering Leah a chance to sleep with Jacob.

Our own self-importance or our perceived lack of power can make us do unhealthy things, too. At first glance these two things seem opposite. Yet, it is our desire for control that causes us to think we are wonderful, or it can cause us to think we have no control over anything.

Rachel needed to have (or thought she needed) children, especially sons. Being barren made her feel like a failure. She started to see her fertile sister as being better and having more power in the family. That led to feelings of anger, even against Jacob, and insecurity. She confronts him, When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” (Genesis 30:1)

His reply probably didn’t help the situation. Jacob snarls, “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!” (Genesis 30:2)

Leah’s ability to have children seems to have given her pride. It did give her status in the family unit. When she stopped having children, she offered her maid to Jacob as a surrogate wife to keep up with Rachel’s maid. Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. (Genesis 30: 9)

Each of the women told themselves a lie and came to believe it deeply. Rachel believed she was no good because she was childless. Leah felt that she was, if not loved, at least honored for having many sons. The truth was that God loved both women, and Jacob tried to do so as well.

Within our own families and other relationships, we may not start a birthing competition. However, don’t we all know families where siblings try to outdo each other with better cars or houses or jobs? Don’t we all know people whose only goal in life is to have the newest and best thing on the market even if it means destroying a relationship? Aren’t there people we know who sneer at other family members because their lifestyle is different from the family norm and therefore “wrong”.

This comparison doesn’t stop with family members. Neighbors and cultures and countries that have different customs and norms from our personal ones, may be deemed ‘barbarian’ or ‘evil’ or ‘stupid’. That designation, untrue though it is, historically has lead to genocide, wars, and inquisitions among other evils.

What are the lies we tell ourselves about our families and other relationships?

Think about your own personal norms. How do they differ from other members of your family or community? Do you find yourself labeling those who think differently as ‘bad’?

What might you do to change that mindset and be more understanding of neighbors and family members who are different from you?

Leah, Rachel, Jacob: Family Dynamics

 This summer, and into the fall, we are looking at men and women in the Bible who can inspire us to remember that God uses even flawed and fumbling humanity to build the Kingdom of God. We have already looked at Elizabeth and Zechariah from the New Testament in June, and Sarah with her husband Abraham from Genesis in July. We now move forward a couple generations to look at Leah and Jacob (Abraham’s grandson). Theirs was a troubled relationship, and yet God was present and active in their lives.

Isaac, the miraculous son of Abraham and Sarah’s old age, marries Rebecca. She bears him twin sons: Jacob and Esau. (Genesis 25:19-26) We hear that Rebecca receives a prophecy stating, The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son. As the boys grow, the sibling rivalry seems to be fostered by the parents. We learn that Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Jacob seems to take advantage of this by tricking his brother out of his birthright with lentil stew. When Isaac is old and blind, he wants to bless his sons. Rebecca convinces Jacob to trick the old man into giving him the blessing of the first-born son. (Genesis 27:1-40). Esau is, understandably, enraged and Jacob flees to Haran where he meets his mother’s brother Laban and his two daughters. In Genesis 29, we read how Jacob loves Rachel, the younger daughter, but is tricked into marrying the elder one, Leah.

When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive. Bearing children was important in tribal cultures because it ensured the lineage. Because she cannot conceive, Rachel starts a sort of ‘birthing competition’ by giving her maid to Jacob to bear children she can claim. Leah, even though she has four children, responds by offering her own maid to Jacob. (Genesis 29:40-30:24)

Finally, God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said. And she named him Joseph, for she said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my family.”

The family rivalry continues to manifest and multiply between the sons of Rachel and Leah, until his brothers sell Joseph to slave traders going to Egypt, then claim he was killed by wild animals. (Genesis 37:18-36)

What can we learn from all this dysfunctional family dynamics from four millennia ago?

It would be easy to stand apart and say, ‘that’s awful and the parents should have known better.’ Then we might be self-convicted by realizing that we have our own competitive tendencies. Perhaps not amongst our families (although every family likely has some dysfunction and competition). There are other ways we can compete and try to outdo each other. Or we simply think we are better than someone else because we can do a task better, or because we are lucky enough to have more privilege.

Think about your life and relationships. Where do you find yourself in competition with co-workers, family members, or even the trap of ‘keeping up with the Jones.’ Next week we’ll delve into that idea more deeply. 

Sarah and Abraham: Mentoring the next generation

 For the past couple weeks, we have been considering the story of Abraham and Sarah found in Genesis 18. They had waited and hoped for a child for years and now they were (they thought) too old, being almost 100. God visits the couple and promises a child despite their age.

Put yourself in the sandals of Sarah and Abraham. What would you have done if three strangers appeared to you and announced something like ‘you will have a child’? Abraham is astonished, and Sarah chuckles to herself, seeming to think it’s a joke.

God works in just the right time and right way. We don’t know why it was the perfect time for Isaac to be born when Sarah was so old. It certainly is a reminder that God’s work isn’t constrained by appearances or age. Those of us who have had children may sympathize with Sarah and how difficult it must have been to bear and care for a child at that age. In Genesis 23:1 we hear that Sarah lived to be 127, so she was able to see her son grow to adulthood. (Abraham was 175 when he died.)

There have been times in my life when I thought I was too old, or young, or not experienced enough to do the work God seemed to be putting in my path. When I was a young mother, I was asked to teach preschool Sunday School in the small church we attended. There was no curriculum for that age, and I felt a little overwhelmed. However, years of reading Bible stories as a child came to my help. I was able to develop my own curriculum using felt cutouts and flannel boards. (It was a long time ago.) That small beginning evolved into teaching and helping write preschool curriculum in a larger church. Then I was Director of Christian Ed and really felt out of my depth even as I initiated VBS and ecumenical events. That all eventually led to writing books and speaking about Bible persons. God was in each step of the way and provided mentors and helpers along the way.

Everyone has a story like that—of ways and times you have felt unprepared for what God has in store. It was not the right time for me to write books and speak to women when I first started teaching Sunday School. That only came as I matured and walked the faith journey further. I would not have gotten there if there hadn’t been women and men along the way who encouraged me.

We don’t hear about the people who encouraged Abraham and Sarah, although in the tribal setting, there would have been many other women to help Sarah with the child. Sarah and Abraham, too, would have been leaders and mentors to the younger women and men in the tribal unit. All worked together for the good of all-- most of the time, although we know that Sarah had her issues with Hagar and Ishmael. 

The key to acting in faith is to have a community of support. We are not meant to be alone, so there are always friends and companions to help and give advice. Whether it’s just answering questions or showing a young person how to do woodwork, we can all mentor someone.

Who have been the mentors that helped you progress along the path God laid out before you? If any are still alive, you might consider saying ‘thank you’.  

How can you tell the story of the way(s) God has acted in your life to encourage others on their journey?

Sarah & Abraham: Unexpected results

 Last week we met Abraham and Sarah, an elderly couple in the Book of Genesis. In a surprising turn of events, they had a child (Isaac) when they were around 100. Read Genesis 18:1-15 and Genesis 21:1-7 in a couple translations to get a picture of the whole Biblical story of this event.You might want to read it in a couple of versions to see if slight differences in wording and translation spark a new insight. BibleGateway.com is a good resource for looking up multiple versions. 

What surprised you in the story? What did you see that perhaps you never noticed before?

As I noted last week, we are often invited to participate in “new birth” in our lives. This can be an unexpected and new thing or an expansion of something we are already doing. I suggested that you think of a time when God presented you with a surprising opportunity that challenged the way you planned your life.

Did you see God’s hand in the new birth right away? Or is it more in looking back that you realize that God’s hand was present in what happened?

When I look at my married life, I see many times when God’s hand was in what happened. There have been times, especially in early married life, when money to pay bills was short and then, at just the right time and in the right amount, a special job would come up and all would be well.

For Abraham and Sarah, the right time for a son was when they were nearing the century mark of their lives. That may seem like a rather late time to start parenting, but it was God’s timing and it was perfect.

It is often a temptation to try and rush God’s hand when we want something to happen. Abraham and Sarah did this by using Hagar (Sarah’s maid) as a surrogate mother earlier in the story. (Genesis 16) That did not work out well. Even though Hagar bore a child, Ishmael, it caused hard feelings between Sarah and Hagar that resulted in the servant being evicted from the camp twice. She ran away before her baby was born and then after Isaac was born Sarah jealously sends her away. (Genesis 21)

God is in even our disastrous missteps and mistakes. God meets Hagar and provides water and guidance both times. Despite Sarah’s actions, God’s grace was present. God is also active in our personal failing and fumbling. When we do wait on God’s timing, the result is always more than we could have expected.

Birthing a new ministry or career or retirement or any change requires patience. It requires prayer and listening to God. It may demand that we set aside our personal timeline and agenda to align with God’s plan. And sometimes, like Sarah and Abraham, we may give up hope before the desired outcome happens. Then, God is able to surprise us with an unexpected outcome!

Next week we’ll consider how we might walk with one another in our discerning and waiting. 

Sarah and Abraham: New birth-Old age

 We looked at one old couple for the past few weeks as we considered the reactions and fulfillment of hope in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth. For the next three weeks, we’ll think about an elderly couple in the Hebrew Scriptures. Sarah and Abraham were, we are told, old when the three men visited them and promised a child.

In our own lives, we might ask ‘what can I birth’ in my old age (or my youth or middle age)? God’s work is not constrained by human measurements. David was a youngster when he killed Goliath in the name of the Living God. Samuel started his ministry with Eli when he was a child. Joseph was a grown man when he became second in command in Egypt. Sarah and Abraham, though elderly, had a part to play in God’s salvation story. And so do we.

The announcement of a child for Abraham and Sarah has a miraculous element to it, similar to the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah we looked at last month. In Genesis 18 we hear the Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

I always like to have an idea of where the Biblical events happened. Scholars and archeologists believe that the “Oaks of Mamre” were near present-day Hebron. This is about 20 miles south of Jerusalem in what is now known as the West Bank. There is a Russian Orthodox monastery on the supposed site of the actual oaks. This well known icon interprets the three visitors in a way that helps us enter the event. 

With traditional nomadic hospitality, Abraham greets the trio of visitors. He says, Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way… In a desert land, the offering of water and food to anyone passing through was (and is) a sacred calling.

Abraham tells Sarah to prepare bread and has a servant prepare a calf with curds and milk for the guests. After the meal, one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

This was a rather surprising statement for a (seeming) stranger to make. Indeed, Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

We do not hear that Abraham has doubts, although the visitor, who is, of course, God, rebukes the couple, Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.

The narrative is then interrupted with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and with the interlude of Abraham with Abimelech. Then in chapter 21, we hear, Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.

The name Isaac comes from the Hebrew יִצְחָק (Yitsḥaq), which means "he will laugh" or "he will rejoice". Sarah reinterprets her earlier doubtful laughter by stating, God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.

In their old age, Sarah and Abraham have a new life to rejoice and laugh with. At any season of our life, God may step in and point us to a new birth. A different ministry opportunity, or a change of location, or a surprising career move may pop up unexpectedly, just like the three visitors who suddenly appeared at Abraham’s tent.

Perhaps we don’t recognize God’s hand at first, and it is only in looking back that we see God’s hand. Maybe, like Sarah, we chuckle a little and ask ‘really, can this be happening now?’ Any new birth of an idea or a child or an opportunity causes change and challenges. If we get stuck looking at the potential differences and difficulties, we can miss the fact that challenge really equates with opportunity.

Has there been a time when you faced an unexpected opportunity that was also a challenge to the way you expected your life to go?

Next week we’ll look at that question more deeply.