Biblical and Theological Foundations of Stewardship: The Book of Ruth - A Focus on Naomi (Part 6 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
Naomi models a stewarding of life away from loss and bitterness toward the capacity to see the activity of God in her life, to see her connectedness to those around her, and to see her own role in furthering the work of the kingdom. And Naomi, like both Boaz and Ruth before her, finds that in seeing God's hand at work and helping others find security, she also discovers her own joy and fulfillment. 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.
Biblical and Theological Foundations of Stewardship: The Book of Ruth - A Focus on Naomi (Part 6 of 6) We have yet one more character to serve as a model for how one might steward one's life {Slide, Blake} The third character in all of this is Naomi. Our book might well have been called the book of Naomi in so far as the rhythm of the book actually follows the rhythm of her character. She begins full, with husband and sons. She soon becomes empty. Like the famine that led the family to foreign soil in search of food, Naomi's life becomes a famine. The change is symbolized in her own change of name. She begins as Naomi, which means "pleasantness." And then she suffers a triple loss – her husband and two sons. Her loss becomes magnified in three ways: She loses confidence in herself, seeing no way that she can help her daughters-in-law, so she entreats them to return to their own mothers. She can be no mother to them. She also loses confidence in others, in their potential capacity to be useful to her. She loses her ability to see Ruth as a daughter who would help a mother. And finally, Naomi loses confidence in God. After they listen to her speech when she returns home to Bethlehem, the gathered women say to one another, "Is this Naomi?" "She said to them, 'Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the LORD has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?" (Ruth 1:20-21) Naomi lacks confidence in God's capacity to be for her rather than against her. "The LORD," she says, "has brought me back empty." And so she is no longer to be called Naomi, "pleasantness," but instead Mara, or "bitter." Her triple loss has transformed her. Because of what is behind her, she cannot see what is in front of her, so poignantly hinted at in the final verse of the chapter: "So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest." (Ruth 1:22) She feels that the Lord has brought her back empty. But there stands Ruth beside her, with the harvest about to begin. Think with me a minute about all the "Maras" we know. Do we not all know folks who remind us of Mara? Are we not surrounded by them? Have not many of us been there ourselves, bitter in our many losses, unable to see ourselves, others or God? How does one even consider stewarding a life in such circumstances? In many ways, the book tells the story of Naomi's journey not to Moab and back, but rather from Naomi to Mara and back to Naomi. The book is about Mara rediscovering Naomi. And the major scene of her discovery is the end of chapter two, the transition point of the book. It happens just after Ruth has returned from gleaning in the field of Boaz, after Ruth deposits before her all her riches of the day. Then the text reads: "Her mother-in-law said to her, 'Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.' So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, 'The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.' Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, 'Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!' Naomi also said to her, 'The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.'" (Ruth 2:19-20) What Mara discovers in this one event brings her back to herself, to Naomi. Someone took notice of Ruth, the unnoticeable one, and it turns out the man is a relative. Suddenly Mara has relatives, others to whom she is connected, others whom she might bless. And she sees Ruth's happening upon the field of Boaz not as a mere accident but rather as the activity of God. Her capacity to see this is perhaps the key. It is the capacity to look at the world around you, and see things that could be mere good fortune as the very hand of God extended in mercy, in kindness, extended in hesed. Naomi discovers that God is not against her and that God will use the others around her to bring her home without bitterness. Through this new perspective on the world, this newly-enlivened widow also discovers her own usefulness to others. Old widows may not be able to do much, but they certainly can scheme. So after the ensuing barley and wheat harvests, leaving plenty of time for Boaz and Ruth to get acquainted, Naomi says to Ruth: "My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do." (Ruth 3:1-4) And the rest is history. Naomi models a stewarding of life away from loss and bitterness toward the capacity to see the activity of God in her life, to see her connectedness to those around her, and to see her own role in furthering the work of the kingdom. And Naomi, like both Boaz and Ruth before her, finds that in seeing God's hand at work and helping others find security, she also discovers her own joy and fulfillment. Naomi's scheme, as we have seen, goes beyond her wildest imaginings. And out of the union she helps make possible, a child is born. The child becomes for her "a restorer of life and a nourisher of her old age." As a grandmother, I know just how she feels. But there is more to her refreshment than even the birth of the child. For what makes this child so special is not his dead father's blood, but rather the nature of his mother's love and devotion to her mother-in-law! Listen in full to what the women say to Naomi when the child is born: "Then the women said to Naomi, 'Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin (go'el); and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him." (Ruth 4:14-15) What is birthed here is more than a child – it is a new family and a new community. As the mother-in-law of a foreign daughter-in-law, I have a sense of such joy as well. What is so striking in this book is what happens not only to the three main characters when they steward their lives toward God and each other, but the effect such stewardship has on the larger community. The elders at the gate and all the people act as witness to the marriage and issue blessings comparing the Moabite Ruth to the matriarchs of the faith. "Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, 'We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; and, through the children that the LORD will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.'" (Ruth 4:11-12) Think about that: a foreign woman – a Moabite, no less – like Rachel and Leah! It would be like comparing recent immigrants to Betsy Ross and Martha Washington. In the process of community transformation, we are moved from the desperation seen in the end of Judges to the promise of the beginning of Kings. The child who is born becomes not just the next-of-kin, the go'el to Naomi but the ancestor of the go'el who would be the redeemer of the world. For Obed became the father of Jesse who became the father of David – and right into Matthew's genealogy. Living lives of blessings leads to blessings multiplied. Those who steward their lives in the light of God's blessing set the stage for that blessing to grow toward God's love incarnate in the world. The harvest is bounteous; life is overflowing. What began as the study of three individuals who steward their lives in remarkable yet quite homey way ends with riches beyond measure. Not bad for a study of stewardship from below. Even Hagrid's giant might approve such a gift. And in response to the gift, let's stand and go back to a previous slide and read it together: * Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. * Give thanks to the Lord for his mercy, his steadfast love, his hesed endures forever. * Give thanks to the Lord, creator of heaven and earth, the sea and all creatures. * Give thanks to the Lord, for we are most wonderfully made. 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 – Boaz (Part 4 of 6 The Book of Ruth – Ruth (Part 5 of 6)
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