Hunger

Along with Esther, Ruth is one of my favorite books in the bible.

It just touches me so much; it is poetic and grand and lovely.

And this morning, we heard a bit of the story about Ruth and Boaz joined together, how they became husband and wife.

How Ruth went on to bear a child that continued the line of Judah that would eventually become the House of David, King David as many of you know him.

But before all of that happens, comes my favorite part of the story.

The beginning.

In the beginning of Ruth, we read that her mother-in-law, Naomi, and Naomi’s husband Elimelech traveled from Bethlehem in Judah to the land of Moab where they had two sons named Mahlon and Chilion.

Elimelech eventually died, leaving Naomi a widow.

Mahlon married a Moabite woman named Orpah and Chilion married Ruth, also a Moabite.

Over time though, both Mahlon and Chilion died as well.

Thus, Naomi was left without her people in a land that was not her own.

Naomi, hearing that quote, “the Lord had had consideration for his people and given them food,” then decided to leave Moab and head for Judah.

So, Naomi took her two daughters in law and set out on the road for Judah, but along the way, Naomi realized that just as she had no family, no “people”, in Moab, her daughters-in-law, essentially now daughters would have no people in Judah.

And they were still of child-bearing age as well.

Without people, without clan or family or friends, Naomi was worried that Ruth and Orpah would spend the rest of their days with her rather than raising children and falling in love and doing all those things that Naomi imagined they should do.

With all of this on her mind, Naomi turned to Ruth and Orpah and said,

Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.

Naomi loves Ruth and Orpah and they love her, in fact, they protest.

They weep and say, “no, we are staying with you, Naomi.”

But Naomi protests their protest and insists, go back!

She is too old to provide them with sons to marry.

She is too much of a burden to them and would only get in the way.

They must return to their people.

They must go.

Orpah and Ruth begin to weep once more, only this time, Orpah decides to go back.

She returns to her home in Moab.

Ruth, however, stays.

And she says something with such profundity, such grace, that it has stuck with me as much as any beautiful bit of literature ever has.

I remember reading this passage for the first time after returning to the church, I might have read or heard it before, I do not recall.

But I remember the first time after my return.

It made my heart leap, sent shockwaves through my body as if I just experienced a jump scare watching some B-List horror movie.

And I remain touched every time I read it.

Naomi pointed to Orpah making her way back home and said something along the lines of “See, your sister-in-law left, go back home.”

And then we read,

But Ruth said,

‘Do not press me to leave you

   or to turn back from following you!

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!’

Through tears, through sobbing, Ruth makes her choice.

Where Naomi goes, she will go.

She will choose love over home, love over uncertainty, love for companionship, love, despite risk.

Gets me every time.

Because I did not have to make that choice.

I did not have to make a choice between family and in the context of when I was reading this passage for the first time, and my faith.

I did not have to turn back from the unknown, for I knew to where I was headed.

Church, the Episcopal Church at least, was familiar to me.

But still there were nerves.

I was returning to a place that raised me, but would it accept me?

I had left.

And I had been gone a very long time.

But I made that choice and if I had not made that choice I would not be here.

Ruth made a choice as well.

And she chose love.

And faith.

Faith that she would find family in a new land.

Faith that she would be accepted in a new land.

Faith that she would find love and be loved in a new land.

And, perhaps, even faith that she would someday bear a child.

Ruth’s faith was rewarded.

Ruth’s faith was realized.

From that faith, she found marriage, perhaps even love.

From that faith, she bore a son, Obed.

Obed, who became father to Jesse.

Jesse, who became father to David.

David, who would become one of the great kings of Israel.

God’s promise to the land of Judah was this, that from the line of Judah would be born the messiah, the promised one who would save the kingdom of Israel.

Because of Ruth’s faith, God’s promise was realized.

And that brings us to this.

Think about that time you felt out of place, in a new city, at a new job, a new school, a new neighborhood and, although you were nervous, the people were nice, and you had faith that things would work out, so you chose to stay.

Now, Naomi and especially Ruth would be outsiders in Judah.

Naomi had been away from Bethlehem for years and years, long enough to have had two children reach marrying age.

Ruth was a Moabite through and through.

They were fleeing from famine in Moab so that was stressful enough.

But they were also entering into a new land, one that might appear unrecognizable to both of them.

The anticipation of entering into Judah must have caused some consternation, some sense of nervousness.

Sound familiar?

Maybe?

Now think about the first time you walked into this place, St. Luke’s.

Something was drawing you in, something was calling you here.

Perhaps you heard of God’s favor, that God was feeding God’s people in this place.

Perhaps you were famished and looked toward St. Luke’s as Naomi and Ruth looked to Judah.

And here you found something.

Something that peeled the scales from your eyes so that you might see the beauty found in gathering together as one congregation.

That moments shared worshiping together, drinking coffee with each other, sharing pancakes, holding conversations in little pockets throughout the sanctuary following service, all of those create family.

A church family in this singular space, liminal and real.

 A single place called church.

And just as Naomi and Ruth were pushed from a particular place due to hunger, they were drawn to a different place because of God.

That does not stop.

We are all wanderers in a sense, seeking that which will make us whole and still there are others, still seeking, still wandering.

Pushed from certain places out of hunger, they are looking for that place where they feel drawn to by God.

To so many people we can be that place.

You know, I think we all agree we are looking to grow this place, but we will only grow if we grow from a place of strength, if we realize that we are good enough.

Good enough to ask people to come to church.

And good enough to realize just how beautiful you are.

That beyond our beautiful building, we are beautiful people.

That just as Ruth chose Naomi, we will be chosen because we share our love freely and treat those new to us as our own sons and daughters, our own brothers and sisters, our own siblings in Christ as all of God’s children.

And it starts with the word from our lips to those searchers’ ears.

It starts with us letting people know that God has consideration for God’s people in this place.

And it continues by us insisting that our neighbor’s people will become our people.

And where they go, we will go.

And we shall never turn back from them.

For them shall become us and only when we take that step that says, you are welcome here.

Young or not so young, fruitful or having already multiplied, wonderer or wanderer, you are welcome here.

Because when we welcome, not just through open doors but by open action, we grow in the God wishes us to grow.

By loving the stranger, by acknowledging too, we were once the stranger in a strange land.

From the bravery it took two women to leave their home in Moab.

From the insistence that Ruth held saying she shall not leave Naomi.

From the very act of being accepted into a new community and finding love in that community, great things occurred.

Boaz and Ruth had a child together.

Boaz of the house of Judah conceived a son with Ruth and the line of Judah was saved.

From their son Obed and his wife was born Jesse.

From Jesse and his wife was born David.

From David the line continued until a child was born in Nazareth.

Great things can happen when we hunger causes us to seek out that which nourishes us.

And I promise you, so many are looking to be nourished in this day and age, and they are looking to be nourished by God.

Welcome them here.

The push we feel to share this place is real and it will push us out of our comfort zones if we do things right.

But that push will lead to great things, that push to pull in the seeker, the one who is famished for God’s word.

And tell them, God is doing feeding God’s people right here in South Glastonbury.

Amen.