As we leave the mess of Judges, we stumble across a delightful short story, masterfully told: the Book of Ruth. And, as usual, Eugene Peterson’s introduction, appearing in The Message, is worth a look. He starts by contrasting the great heroes of the Bible with our possible perception of ourselves:

Very impressive. So impressive, in fact, that many of us, while remaining impressed, feel left out. Our unimpressive, very ordinary lives make us feel like outsiders to such a star-studded cast. We disqualify ourselves. Guilt or willfulness or accident makes a loophole, and we assume that what is true for everyone else is not true for us. We conclude that we are, somehow, “just not religious” and thus unfit to participate in the big story.

And then we turn a page and come upon this small story of two widows and a farmer in their out-of-the-way village.

We’re so used to this story and how it ends that we tend to see Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz as bigger than they really were: “…two widows and a farmer in their out-of-the-way village.”

Peterson’s introduction ends this way:

The unassuming ending carries the punch line: Boaz married Ruth, she had a son named Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David. [Ruth 4.17]

David! In its artful telling of this “outsider” widow, uprooted and obscure, who turns out to be the great-grandmother of David and the ancestor of Jesus, the book of Ruth makes it possible for each of us to understand ourselves, however ordinary or “out of it,” as irreplaceable in the full telling of God’s story. We count—every last one of us—and what we do counts.

It’s a great story. Stay tuned.

The family tree of Jesus Christ, David’s son, Abraham’s son: Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, Jacob had Judah and his brothers, Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar), Perez had Hezron, Hezron had Aram, Aram had Amminadab, Amminadab had Nahshon, Nahshon had Salmon, Salmon had Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Boaz had Obed (Ruth was the mother), Obed had Jesse, Jesse had David, and David became king. (Matthew 1.1 – 6, MSG, emphasis mine)