“Forsaking All Others”

Ruth 1:15-18

Matthew 1:1-6b: An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminidab, and Aminidab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.

Ruth 1:16: 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.”

[prayer]

Some say that blood is thicker than water. What that means is that kinship – the sharing of bloodlines – trumps everything. In other words, when push comes to shove what ultimately matters is one’s genetic family – one’s blood kin. A person’s ultimate loyalty is to his or her kin.

Growing up and spending most of my ministry in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia, I saw that lived out over and over again. Within my childhood home I had it constantly drummed into my head that my family – my blood kin - always came first, that family ties were the only ones that counted, and that members of my family were the only people upon whom I could ever depend.

So I wasn’t too surprised last year when my mom expressed her genuine amazement at Sandy’s love of our grandchildren. How could she love these children to whom she was not related by blood? Didn’t I find that a bit strange, especially given that Sandy had grown up in the same Appalachian culture as I had? And Mom was really surprised when I said that I didn’t find it strange at all.

In Sandy’s heart Alisa and Maddie are as much her grandchildren as they are mine; they are our grandchildren. Love trumps blood. Sometimes friendship is deeper and more meaningful than kinship. And sometimes we end up referring to people not related to us as family, because that is what they have come to be in our lives.

Back to Sandy. When I met her she was the caretaker for her Uncle Karl, who was mentally challenged. Karl wasn’t easy. And as he grew older he became more difficult. Be that as it may, Sandy loved Karl. When he died she grieved. She was the one who made sure that he had a decent gravestone. That’s to be expected within a family circle. Karl, however, was her uncle by marriage. He was not kin to her. There was no blood relationship. Did she love him any less? No.

Today’s text deals with a woman named Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi. Due to circumstances beyond her control Naomi had been forced to live as a stranger in a strange land. After the death of her husband and sons she decided to migrate back to Israel. Wishing only the best for Ruth and her other daughter-in-law, Naomi started her journey home.

But Ruth balked. She did not want to be separated from Naomi, this woman to whom she was related only by marriage. She was willing to accompany Naomi back to Israel and live herself as a stranger in a strange land. She was willing to walk away from everything familiar to her, including whatever family she had in Moab, in order to maintain her relationship with Naomi. That, my friends, is real love and faithfulness.

In a traditional Presbyterian wedding service there’s a line about promising to forsake all others, and that doesn’t just mean all other intimate relationships with those of the opposite sex. It means making our relationship with our spouse our primary human relationship. The only relationship that is ever to take a higher priority is our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. To use the old language, we are to cleave unto our spouse – not mama, not daddy, not all our various and sundry kinfolk – our spouse.

Back to Ruth and Naomi. Ruth’s relationship with Naomi puts a different twist on the idea of forsaking all others. Ruth was literally forsaking all others in order to remain in relationship with Naomi. She was forsaking her nation, tribe, kinfolk, and religion. She was turning her back on her home, her country, her friends, and everyone and everything that had been the basis of her security.

That was risky. To put it in modern American terms, she didn’t even know if she’d be allowed to cross the border. If she was allowed into Israel, there was no guarantee of a green card or work visa. Maybe she would be allowed to become a full citizen. Maybe she wouldn’t. She had no way of knowing. But one thing she did know: she loved Naomi so much that she was willing to do whatever it took to remain by her side.

The flip side is that Naomi loved Ruth enough to take her with her, vouch for her, and do whatever was necessary to see that she was made welcome in her new country. There would be some rough days ahead, but because of the Covenant Law requirements pertaining to widows, orphans, and those who came among the Hebrews as aliens, it all worked out. Naomi and Ruth survived. A good man named Boaz intervened. Ruth married that good man. She and Naomi were taken care of. And the rest is history: Boaz begat Obed, Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

Let’s take a look at all those begats in the family tree of Jesus. If I’m reading it correctly, Boaz’ mother was not an Israelite. She was a prostitute from Jericho. And as for the great King David, well his great-grandmother had emigrated from Moab. There was at least one skeleton in the family closet, there were no pure bloodlines on the family tree.

Did Rahab’s somewhat shady past automatically make her bad mother for Boaz, or for that matter an undeserving ancestor of Jesus? Was David any less a king because there was a little blood from Jericho and Moab flowing in his veins? Her poor choice of professions aside, Rahab played a vital role in the conquest of the Canaan land. Whatever Ruth’s racial background and emigration status, she was probably more of a Hebrew in her heart than were some of the so-called bluebloods Bethlehem. God brought Rahab and then Ruth into the life and history of Israel. Dare anyone suggest that God did not know what he was doing?

The story of Ruth and Naomi is a beautiful and powerful reminder that love can transcend any human barrier or obstacle. The story of Ruth and Naomi is a wonderful reminder of the power of friendship and loyalty. But what is its message for us? What does it say to a Twenty-First Century follower of Jesus Christ?

First of all, it reminds us that blood is not thicker than water, and that within the family of God - within the Communion of Saints - the water of baptism is much more binding than is blood kinship. United in Christ we who are Christians really are brothers and sisters to one another. United in Christ it doesn’t matter where we came from or how we got to where we are. Issues of race, tribe, family, or nation are of no real importance in the Body of Christ. Did not Jesus, in fact, tell us that following him could alienate us from our kinfolk?

Secondly, it reminds us that as God’s people we are called to display hospitality to all. That includes our modern Rahabs and their ilk. It also includes the aliens in our midst, be they legal or illegal. God never brings such people into our lives accidentally. There is a reason, and maybe that reason has something to do with our willingness to love our neighbor. Or, and this is a biggie, maybe it has something to do with our willingness to trust God’s ability to provide what we need, even if we might have to stretch it a little bit to make sure that it goes around. That, by the way, is also a stewardship issue. We either trust God to provide or we don’t.

Ruth loved Naomi even though she was a foreigner. Naomi loved Ruth even though she was not one of her blood kin. They were family, just as in Christ, we are family. A few moments from now, when we symbolically gather around the Table of our Lord, we will, in essence, be getting together for a family dinner. There is always room for one more at God’s Table; always room for one more citizen in the Kingdom of God. Amen.