During the weeks of Advent, we’re looking at some of the stories of Jesus’ ancestors — those names that are usually glossed over in the “begats.” Today:Boaz.
Today’s scripture: Matthew 1:1-5, Ruth 2 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message)
As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.
My thoughts (Brent Walsh):
In the late 70s, my parents were raising three young children on a small town pastor’s meager salary. As you can imagine, money was hard to come by. While my father was preparing sermons, officiating weddings and funerals, visiting hospital patients and counseling troubled parishioners, my mother was, among other things, trying to find creative ways to feed her hungry family.
Have you ever watched those huge combine tractors harvesting out in the corn fields? The fields near our house were laid out in such a way that the combines could not harvest from the stalks in the very corners of the fields due to the turning radius of the equipment. The farmers who owned these fields would invite local families to come and gather all the corn from the corner stalks so it would not go to waste. Disadvantaged families had all the corn they could carry home.
Stories like these were not unusual in our family. In another town where we lived during my childhood, the local Del Monte plant would invite local families to help themselves to surpluses of vegetables. One of my earliest memories is of a huge mountain of carrots in Del Monte’s parking lot. We loaded our car so full of carrots that we had our own little mountain in our garage. We ate carrots for weeks and still had enough left over for my mother to fill a freezer full of carrot juice!
Growing up poor amidst the fertile fields of the Midwest means that I can feel a certain connection with the story of Ruth gleaning and gathering grain behind the harvesters. I’m sure the farmers who helped our family didn’t consider their generosity heroic. After all, what a simple thing it is to say that we could have their left-overs. But thirty years later their kindness lives on in my memory.
In Old Testament times when a man died, his wife and property often became the responsibility of the closest male relative who was in a position to take on such a responsibility. This man was called a Kinsman-Redeemer. If he was not in a position to assume that responsibility, the opportunity would be open for the next Kinsman-Redeemer in line to assume the responsibility. Boaz was second in line to take Ruth as his wife, and when the closest kinsman declared he was not able to do it, Boaz stepped up and took responsibility for her.
Kindness has a funny way of opening doors to opportunities we might never have been able to imagine. Ruth would not have been the first widow to show up to glean from the harvest. Boaz had made a habit of being kind to people long before he found Ruth in his fields. Little did he know that when his life intersected with hers, he would become the great-grandfather to King David! And from this same lineage there would be a child born in Bethlehem named Jesus, who would also become the Kinsman-Redeemer of his people.
Thought for the day: Make kindness a habit. You never know when it will come back to bless you!
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.