The Rev. Patricia Templeton
Epiphany 6B
February 15, 2009
St. Dunstan's

Readings

Sorrow Halved; Joy Doubled

“Do not press me to leave you
     or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
     where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
     and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die –
     there will I be buried.
May the Lord to thus and so to me,
     and more as well,
     if even death parts me from you!”

These are some of the most beautiful words of love in all of scripture, maybe even in all of literature. “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

I cannot think of any words that better express the love and devotion that binds two people together for a lifetime.

And yet, if you go to the marriage service in the Book of Common Prayer and look at the suggested scripture readings, these words are not there. This beautiful pledge of a lifetime of love and devotion is not considered appropriate to use in a wedding.

Why not? Because these words were not said by a man hoping to woo his prospective bride, or to a woman promising devotion to the man she loves.

No, these words were said by one woman to another – more specifically by Ruth to her mother-in-law Naomi.

This story that focuses on the relationship between two women is rare in scripture. The Bible is a book written by men, and men have most of the starring roles, along with, of course, God (who is usually, but not always, portrayed in masculine images.)

Think of it this way: If the equivalent of Academy Awards nominations were being given to Bible characters there would be lots of competition for best supporting role for a woman, but it would be difficult to find a full slate of true leading women roles.

So right away we should know that Ruth is not your usual book of scripture because women do have the leading roles.

Another thing that sets the women in this story apart is that theirs is a story of friendship, of women working together to overcome great difficulties.

So many times when women’s relationships do show up in scripture, they are competing against one another for status and power, or more specifically for men, which is, of course, how women had status and power.

Think Sarah and Hagar, competing for Abraham; Rachel and Leah, competing for Jacob; Mary and Martha, competing for Jesus.

But with Ruth and Naomi there is no competition, no backbiting, no jockeying for position. This is a story of fierce friendship, of devotion and loyalty, and of survival against all the odds.

The story begins in Bethlehem with Naomi and her husband Elimelech and their two sons. A famine hits Bethlehem, which ironically means “House of Bread,” forcing the family to flee to the distant land of Moab.

After they get to Moab, Elimelech dies, leaving Naomi a widow with two sons, both of whom marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Then both sons also die, leaving the three women alone with no man to support them.

In those days, the status of a woman changed overnight when her husband died, especially if she had no sons old enough to care for her. On their own, women had no rights, no stable means of survival.

In fact, throughout scripture the term “widows and orphans” – meaning women and children who had no men to care for them – is used as the epitome of powerlessness, vulnerability, and poverty.

So here we have three women – Naomi, Orpah and Ruth – suddenly alone and vulnerable, with no one to provide for them.

All of this happens within the first two paragraphs of the story, so we haven’t really learned much about the personalities of these women, or the quality of the relationship between them.

We start to find that out when Naomi, in her grief, decides to return to Bethlehem, where the famine is over. She urges her daughters-in-law to return to their parents, not because she doesn’t love them, but because she does.

In a culture where women’s main value is their ability to bear children, Naomi – who is well past child-bearing years – knows her prospects for the future are bleak. But there is still hope for Ruth and Orpah, who are young enough to remarry and have children. In fact, that is their only hope.

“Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me?” Naomi says. “The Lord grant that you might find security, each of you in the house of your husband.”

As all three women weep together, Orpah kisses her mother-in-law, and then leaves. But Ruth clings to Naomi, unwilling to leave the older woman.

“Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!” she cries. “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge: your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die – there will I be buried.”

These passionate words convince Naomi of Ruth’s determination, and the two women set out for the arduous journey to Bethlehem.

Details of that journey are sparse, but evidently Ruth’s devotion to her mother-in-law is so strong that it inspires all who see them. When they finally arrive in Bethlehem, “the whole town was stirred” by the relationship between the old woman and her young companion.

Naomi knows that they need to find a way to survive, and she has a plan. Her long-dead husband has a rich, distant relative, named Boaz. She sends Ruth to glean from Boaz’s fields, hoping she will be able to gather at least enough to sustain them.

Ruth soon catches Boaz’s attention. When he learns who she is, he tells her not to glean from anyone else’s fields, and tells his workers to protect and provide for her.

Ruth is overwhelmed. “Why have I found favor in your sight, when I am a foreigner?” she asks.

Boaz answers, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me. May the Lord reward you for your deeds.”

Ruth is astounded by Boaz’s kindness, and can’t wait to tell Naomi and show her how much she has gleaned from the fields.

But Naomi knows that this kindness, though much appreciated, is no guarantee of long-term security. Soon the harvest will be over, and then what will they do? They cannot rely on the kindness of others indefinitely.

Once again, Naomi has a plan. She sends Ruth to seduce Boaz, with the hope that he will marry her.

The plan works. Boaz and Ruth marry, and together have a son.

When the baby is born, the women of Bethlehem rejoice for Naomi. “A son has been born to Naomi,” they proclaim. “This child will 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.”

Worth more than seven sons! That is high praise, indeed.

One footnote to the story – Ruth’s son is named Obed. Obed becomes the father of Jesse, who becomes the father of David, who becomes the greatest king of Israel, and ancestor of Jesus.

That footnote is probably the reason the story of Ruth and Naomi is in the Bible, to give us a glimpse of David’s ancestry.

But it seems to me that even without David, this is a story worth keeping – this story of two women who see each other through good times and bad, through marriages, the deaths of husbands and children, moving to strange lands, poverty, courtship, remarriage and birth.

Some contemporary Biblical scholars express disappointment that in the end, Ruth and Naomi end up depending on a man to save them.

And it is true that Boaz comes to the rescue.

But I agree with a writer named Joyce Hollyday who says this about the story:

“Ruth and Naomi could not destroy the laws of patriarchy that defined them as property. But with courage and savvy they worked the system to secure their survival.

“At the heart of their success was a deep love and affection to each other, an unbreakable bond of sisterhood. When one suffered, both suffered; when one was blessed, both were blessed.

“By faithfulness, the sorrow that Ruth and Naomi bore together was turned to joy – sorrow halved, joy doubled, as the old adage says of friendship.”

The story of Ruth and Naomi reminded me of a contemporary story of friendship between two women, told to me by a friend Kuulei Green, an Episcopal priest and nursing home chaplain.

One of the patients at the nursing home was a lonely woman named Margaret, who had Alzheimer’s. Like many people with this awful disease, Margaret liked to wander. She talked incessantly, words that often made no sense.

Margaret needed constant attention. She wanted and needed someone to be with her all the time.

Another patient there, Anne, had had a severe stroke. She was bedridden and unable to talk. The staff told Kuulei that she needn’t bother with Anne, that she was unable to communicate and should just be left alone.

But Kuulei would not accept this judgment. She visited Anne and talked to her and soon discovered that although Anne could not speak, she could understand what was said to her, and she could respond by squeezing her hand.

One day Kuulei had an inspiration.

“You could really help me out,” she said to Anne. And then she told Anne about Margaret, about how lonely and confused she was, and about how she needed someone to be with her.

“Could Margaret come here and sit with you and hold your hand?” Kuulei asked. Anne responded by firmly squeezing Kuulei’s hand.

And so every day Margaret would go and sit by Anne. She would hold Anne’s hand and talk and talk and talk. Anne would listen and squeeze Margaret’s hand in reply.

Anne and Margaret, sisters in Christ. Ministers of the love of Christ to each other.

On the surface, Anne and Margaret are very different from Ruth and Naomi. The two modern women are probably close to each other in age. They are not related by blood or marriage. Their physical needs are taken care of by others.

But like Ruth and Naomi, Margaret and Anne are among the most vulnerable people in our society. In the eyes of the culture they have little or no worth, and although they have shelter and food, they have been largely abandoned.

And then they found each other.

“Sorrow halved; joy doubled.”

Readings

Ruth 1:1-18

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had considered his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has turned against me.” Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried. May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

Mark 1:40-45

A leper came to Jesus begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

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