This summer, read the book of Ruth in the Bible. If you want the full experience, read the book of Ruth 4 times in the bible. At an average pace, it takes 25 minutes to read the book through, and there just happens to be four chapters. At Holy Cross this summer, we will read one chapter a week as part of the worship, and the sermon will be focused on that chapter. So, of course, you could read one chapter a week and keep up! No, I’m not trying to add to your prodigious to do list! I am wishing the best for you, and yearning for this summer series to enrich your life. Because nearly all of our lives are stories of abundance, loss and love – Like the story in the book of Ruth. 
So, read the first chapter of Ruth, where an ancient story comes alive. Ancient? the 11th century BCE – the time of the Judges, a dark time in the promised land, where the children of Israel have come following the Exodus from Egypt – usually dated about 1450 BCE. For the Israelites, hard times usually come as war from outsiders, or famine. This is a time of great famine, and Naomi (the central character of the book of Ruth) and her husband, Elimelech, are starving. They leave Bethlehem (extra points if you remember Bethlehem means city of Bread) to journey with their two boys to Moab to find food. Moab is a hated country, for so many reasons I am loath to list them here. Just know, to go to Moab for food is a deep step down for this little family. Then, their two sons marry Moabite women (such a big no-no in those days as trying to keep the little tribe of Israelites pure has been impressed upon them by God since the time of Moses). Then, Elimelech dies. The two sons die. And the wives have borne no children. There are no men in this line at all any more, and they are in a foreign land. Well, at least Naomi is in a foreign land, and she is the main character! I believe we can each identify with Naomi in this moment, as we touch the places in our own lives where we have felt abandoned by God, bereft, and with no resources.
There is so much here – the unfair and marginalizing customs that demand these women be saved by a man in their family – the complete abandonment Naomi feels as she has only tried to be a good wife and mother – then they hear there is food in Israel again, and Naomi feels she must go back in a last effort to stay alive. And the daughters in law go with her, though Naomi feels great guilt about this. She tries to send them back, and eventually Orpah goes back to her own people (a huge step down for a woman in this world). But Ruth stay with Naomi. She has hitched her wagon to Naomi’s. She became part of this family when she married Naomi’s son, and she plans to make it a career. She utters the beautiful phrase, “Where you Go, I will Go, and where you Stay I will Stay”.
In a life of faith, of loving God, we need visuals, we need story that points us toward God’s love and teaches us how. In this story of a woman who has lost everything, we see the love, the devotion of Christ come forth from her daughter in law, and we hear the words that embody what it means to Love.
Come with me on this journey through Ruth to hear about Abundance – to hear another who has experienced Loss, and see through the actions of a woman from a hated tribe, the true expression of Love.
We’ll cover it all the next 4 weeks at Holy Cross Lutheran, 1998 Lansing Ave NE, Salem, OR 97301 at 9:30 am on Sunday July 29, and again Sunday August 5, August 12, and 19. See you there – Pastor Patricia