Biblical and Theological Foundations of Stewardship: The Book of Ruth - A Focus on Boaz (Part 4 of 6) Visit website for more information.	Bible Study Author:  Dr. Diane Jacobson is Professor of Old Testament and Associate Dean of the MA/MSM programs at Luther Seminary. Click here for more info. Theme:  Communicating the Message Updated:  7/26/2006 © 2003 Dr. Diane Jacobson
Boaz shows himself to be a remarkable model of good stewardship of the wealthy. In his blessing, his sharing of both food and harvest and his protection of and openness to the stranger in his midst, Boaz shows himself to be a man of true value, a man of true worth. Please note: This material was presented at a 2003 gathering of the Southwest Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The presentation originally included art work and Hebrew quotations that cannot be reproduced on this site. Please contact Dr. Jacobson at djacobso@luthersem.edu if you are interested in having these resources.
The Book of Ruth - A Focus on Boaz (Part 4 of 6) What does a life of stewardship look like in an individual? I can think of no better book of Scripture to answer that question than the book of Ruth, to which we now turn. {Slide, Rooks} I say this for a number of reasons. Particularly for you in southwestern Minnesota, the setting is so true. The book is so close to the earth. I imagine you have all noticed the book's continual reference to seasons and grains. But the setting of the Book of Ruth is not only a setting of place; it is also a setting of time. The book begins not only with a famine of grain but also with a famine of spirit and it ends with an abundance of both grain and spirit. Ruth is a transition book from Judges to Kings. The book begins: "In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land." (Ruth 1:1) And it ends with a genealogy preceded by the final verse of the story: "They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David." (Ruth 4:17) This transition from Judges to Kings is important. Do you remember the final chapters of Judges? They are among the most frightening and pathetic chapters in all of Scripture. They are filled with rape and neglect and mutilation and war – all manner of violence. And surrounding the reports of violence is a thrice repeated refrain: "There was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes." It is the quintessential anti-stewardship refrain, which leads me to the main reason the book of Ruth is so right for looking at stewardship from within. The book of Ruth might be seen as an intimate response to that refrain of Judges, as a response to anytime the world becomes crazed with both violence and self-service. Ruth shows us a picture of what happens when people act in a different sort of way; that is, when they steward their lives not according to the desires of their hearts but centered in response to God's graciousness to them. In Ruth we have three such people, three types one might say. I want to look with you, using words and pictures, at each of their lives of stewardship, to see where it got both them and their communities. And then we will end briefly by investigating what such lives do not just for those involved, but also for the larger community. As I said, the book of Ruth centers on three characters. You know them. First is Naomi, the widow whose two sons have also died. She is alone and bereft, returned to her hometown, a beaten down and defeated woman. Then we have her daughter-in-law, Ruth, a young widow, a foreigner, worst a Moabite, which if we might update that designation could be thought of as an Iraqi woman brought back from the enemy country. And then there is Boaz, the wealthy farmer, older like Naomi. We know they are both older because even though they never speak directly to each other in the book, they kind of speak the same old-fashioned form of Hebrew, a kind of "King James" Hebrew. These three characters can teach us a great deal about the proper stewarding of our lives. Let's look first at Boaz, {Slide, Josep Anton Koch} a very likely study for any examination of a life of stewardship. We will concentrate on chapter 2. Boaz is introduced to us in this manner, "Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband's side, a prominent rich man, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz." (Ruth 2:1). One notices first that his name, Boaz, means "strength". And this pillar of the community shares a name with one of the literal pillars of the temple. The builder of the temple, Hiram of Tyre, named one of its pillars "Boaz." Now the man Boaz is, as the NRSV says "a prominent rich man." Hidden beneath this is the Hebrew, which more literally means, "a man of value, a man of worth". So one asks, does Boaz's value or worth really come from his wealth or is there more? This is one of the driving questions of stewardship. We next notice, if we are attentive, how he greets his workers, a seemingly insignificant exchange between Boaz and his reapers when he first goes out to his field. "Just as he came from Bethlehem, He said to the reapers, 'The LORD be with you.' They answered, 'The LORD bless you.'" (Ruth 2:4) Normally one barely notices this exchange. But when you look back through the book, one can notice how important blessings are throughout. I am reminded of a friend, a local pastor from the Twin Cites, who happens to be here among us, Jerry Hoffman. The context is the universal daily encounter we all have with one another. Normally, I greet a friend or am greeted by them with a "Hi, so how are you?" Their response is usually "Fine" or "Not so good." I confess mine is often "Fine, but I am way too busy!" Whenever one offers this casual greeting to Jerry, he responds, "I am grateful, thank you!" I am always taken aback by the profound proclamation of his response. No matter how many times I run into him and ask him how he is, I am stunned, surprised and amused by his response. So, in the book of Ruth, we learn first that Boaz, like Jerry, sees his life in the context of gratitude for God's blessing. We then learn a number of things about Boaz through his treatment of the stranger Ruth, who is hanging around in his field. 1. We learn that Boaz follows the law of gleaning. He knows that Ruth is both an alien resident and a widow and thus is owed by law the left-over grain in the field. So, Boaz cares for the widow and stranger. 2. We next observe that Boaz offers Ruth protection. He says to Ruth, "Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped, and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn." (Ruth 2:8-9) This act is more remarkable than it might appear. Ruth, after all, is not a virgin, and she is a foreign woman besides. Many would expect her to earn her keep through prostitution as she owed no man allegiance. In fact, one of the common words for "prostitute" in Hebrew is a word meaning "foreign woman." Ruth needed protection from the young men more than most. 3. Note next that Boaz judges Ruth more by the quality of her actions than by the color of her skin. That is, he doesn't make assumptions about her as a Moabite. Rather he says, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before." (Ruth 2:11) He is able to hear good things about this foreigner and welcome her to be among his own workers. 4. And then Boaz blesses Ruth as he had blessed his workers before her. "May the LORD reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!" (Ruth 2:12) (Watch that word "wings.") 5. Finally, Boaz shares a meal with Ruth. "At mealtime Boaz said to her, 'Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine.' So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain." (Ruth 2:14) Would you not agree that in these series of actions Boaz shows himself to be a remarkable model of good stewardship of the wealthy? In his blessing, his sharing of both food and harvest, his protection of and openness to the stranger in his midst, Boaz shows himself to be a man of true value, a man of true worth. To access the other parts of the presentation, click on the appropriate topic. The Stewardship of Vocation (Part 1 of 6) The Stewardship of Creation (Part 2 of 6) The Stewardship of Time (Part 3 of 6) The Book of Ruth – Ruth (Part 5 of 6) The Book of Ruth – Naomi (Part 6 of 6)
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