Ruth 1:1-22

Sometimes in my place, when we read from Ruth, we put our reading into simple hermeneutic about love. We use the book of Ruth, specially chapter 1:16-18. But now there is a big question about it. Is it correct or not in context to put reading from Ruth on wedding sermon.

The book of Ruth for me can be divided four sections. And for chapter 1, I divide it into several sub section : (1) bethlehemie tragedy in Moab (1:1-5); (2) returning to Judah (1:6-19a); and (3) the arrival in Betlehem (1:19b-22).

This book was named from one of three women’s name who apprear – specially in chapter 1. These women are Naomi, Ruth and Orpah. And only Naomi and Orpah continued apprear in the all narrative of the book. Even for this point, we can say that the book of Ruth itself is a good example of the art of telling a story.
This book opens with an information about famine in the land of Judah, and interesting, closed with the first barley harvest after the famine. And in between, the narrator has worked on the theme of emptiness – fullness, like : Mahlon and Kilion – Kilion and Mahlon (1:2,5 and 4:9); husband and boys – boys husband (1:3 and 1:5); goes and return – return and goes (1:8a and 1:12); kiss and cry – cry and kiss (1:9 and 1:14); Shadday and YHWH – YHWH and Shadday (1:20-21a and 1:21b); These things also show us that the book of Ruth has a rhythmic prose; only in 1:16-17 we can see a poetic form of Ruth.

Chapter one has a very quick set in its first five verses. We can read the time frame only in verse 1 which say to us that it happened in the days of judge (in the days when the judges ruled – NIV), during the “general chaos” of the period of the establishment of the monarchy. After the first five verses, narrator jumped to ten years story (1:4). The narrator tell us how Naomi is left alone, from leaving to Moab with husband and two sons to leaving from Moad without her husband and two sons. Now Naomi and her daughters-in-law are in a precarious situation; They left in “bereft of male protectors” situation. Hearing that the famine has ended in Judah, Naomi set off to return home.

The important key word in this chapter is is “khesed” חסד     (1:8-9). We can understand khesed as loyal love, kindness, lovingkindness that move someones to act for the benefit of someone else without considering “what’s in it on me”, love that goes beyond the requirement of duty (love of Ruth to Naomi as mother-in-law which was shown by Ruth by leaving her nation, her family, her life in Moab to follow Naomi). We understand khesed as God’s love to His people. It’s not only God’s love but it’s about God’s love or God’s kindness that acts through human agents. So when people act with khesed, God is actiong in them. We can see this theme in whole story of Ruth. Like khesed of God to Naomi’s family (even in her losing of her husband and sons), khesed from Naomi to her daughters-in-law by asking them to return to their family so they can have husbands, khesed which shown by Ruth to Naomi when she decided to come with Naomi to Judah, or in khesed which shown by Boaz to Ruth.

In Ruth, it is human being who bring God into the world, depending upon how they choose to interpret their lives. By reading the book of Ruth, we are invited to make moral respond to others based on khesed.

There are many people who live in suffering in Indonesia. They suffer for many reasons like poverty, jobless, injustice situations, hatred, low education, gender discrimintaion,  lack of job oppurtunities,  illness without proper oppurtinity to go to hospital (because they don’t have health insurances), big gap between rich people and poor people, freedom of religion (specially the fundamental moslem group often show their dislikeness to christian and try to close churches), and many others reason. People are crying and dying because their suffering. People are trying to find help.

The big question here, what should christian in Indonesia do to the such situations? With the reading in Ruth, we understand that we have to show our khesed  others who live in suffering even at the same time, we are suffeering in our difficulty and struggle as christian living in Indonesia. If we do have and act khesed to others, so we believe that God’s love can be perceived through us.

By understanding khesed in Ruth, Christian Church in West Java (GKP / Gereja Kristen Pasundan) is called to have a sollidarity with people who suffered from many reason. Spesially for people who suffered because poverty in many places in Indonesia. The poverty which was caused by the injustice situation that took a shape of chance to have a proper education and proper job in their daily love. There are so many people with these conditions in our life context in West Java. For example in my place in Cirebon. Even my church members also live in the same situation with others. They live as a scavengers. They are poor because a system of scavenge it self. My church members and also a lot of people who life in Panguragan area – it’s about 30 minutes from my home in Cirebon. The scavenger business is like this : they have three layer system – first (the bottom one) is scavengers who find scraps door by door with cart. They go usually on foot. They can walk almost 20 km a day to find scraps. But they only can earn a little bit money for one day work. The second layer is a middle man “boss”. They collect all the scraps from scavengers, like used paper, tin, plastics, woods, any kind of bottles etc. The third layer is a big “boss”. They are rich because they can have fully access to factory which used the scraps. Usually the big “boss” only collect special item. So there are many big “boss”. One boss collect only paper from used newpaper, the other only collect bottle, the other only collect plastic etc. So big “boss” earn big money.

My church in Cirebon is called to have khesed to the scavengers, included several of our church members. We try to translate the khesed to action. We have made a fund raising program. And with money we collected, we made ten carts and gave the carts to ten scavenger families, five for our church members and the other five carts for moslem scavenger families. We tried to make one of our church members to become “middle man boss” by organizing the ten families. We tried to gave them fair price but still can earn some profits.

So for us, khesed is not only just an ideas or utopia. But we make khesed become a real action. Like Naomi shows khesed to her daughters-in-law and like Ruth shows her khesed to Naomi, we try to show our khesed to others.