We’re still in the middle of barley harvest. Ruth and Naomi are eating well, but gleaning is not a long-term solution to their problem.

A few weeks ago, my son Matt, who lives in the Denver area, invited us to go to Colorado Community Church with him. That’s a first. I’ve met the pastor, Robert Gelinas – a good guy, author of Discipled by Jesus. Matt said:

Pastor Robert is doing a series on Ruth. You won’t learn anything, but why don’t you visit anyway?

June and I went, and at lunch afterward the first thing I told Matt was, “You were wrong…I did learn something!”

Pastor Robert took us through Ruth chapter 3 in the series he called “Ordinary Faithfulness.” He used a term I had never heard: disinherited. Naomi and Ruth, as widows, were disinherited. He said Ruth had three strikes against her: she was a woman, a widow, and an immigrant. Robert, who grew up a black street kid in Aurora, the somewhat rough city adjacent to Denver where the church is, introduced us to a book that was meaningful to him (and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.): Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. Dr. Thurman was the black pastor of a large multi-racial church, just as Robert is. I found it to be a very insightful book and may do a blog on its principles. Do you want a picture of disinherited? Here’s a chilling vignette (the book was published in 1949):

A few years ago I was going from Chicago to Memphis, Tennessee. I found a seat across from an elderly lady, who took immediate cognizance of my presence. When the conductor came along for the tickets, she said to him, pointing in my direction, “What is that doing in this car?” The conductor answered, with a touch of creative humor, “That has a ticket.” – Page 67

Back to Naomi and Ruth. As Robert said, “Naomi has a plan to get Ruth a man.”

Isn’t Boaz our close relative, the one with whose young women you’ve been working? Maybe it’s time to make our move. Tonight is the night of Boaz’s barley harvest at the threshing floor. Take a bath. Put on some perfume. Get all dressed up and go to the threshing floor. But don’t let him know you’re there until the party is well under way and he’s had plenty of food and drink. When you see him slipping off to sleep, watch where he lies down and then go there. Lie at his feet to let him know that you are available to him for marriage. Then wait and see what he says. He’ll tell you what to do. (Ruth 3.2 – 4, MSG)

In addition to disinherited, here’s something else I learned: Ruth went off script. Naomi’s plan was to get Ruth a man. Ruth’s plan was to get Naomi included.

In the middle of the night the man was suddenly startled and sat up. Surprise! This woman asleep at his feet! He said, “And who are you?” She said, “I am Ruth, your maiden; take me under your protecting wing. You’re my close relative, you know, in the circle of covenant redeemers—you do have the right to marry me.” (Ruth 3.8 – 9, MSG)

Ruth plays the “covenant redeemer” card – not what Naomi had asked her to do because Naomi knew that Boaz was not the closest covenant redeemer. Boaz explained:

You’re right, I am a close relative to you, but there is one even closer than I am. So stay the rest of the night. In the morning, if he wants to exercise his customary rights and responsibilities as the closest covenant redeemer, he’ll have his chance; but if he isn’t interested, as GOD lives, I’ll do it. Now go back to sleep until morning. (Ruth 3.12 – 13, MSG)

When Ruth returns home the next morning, Naomi has a final piece of advice:

Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today. (Ruth 3.18, ESV)

Wait. Chapter four reveals the outcome. The closer relative doesn’t want responsibility for Ruth and Naomi so Boaz marries Ruth, and they have a son:

The neighborhood women started calling him “Naomi’s baby boy!” But his real name was Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David. (Ruth 4.17, MSG)

Ruth, the disinherited, is the great-grandmother of King David and is listed in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus:

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 1.5 – 6, MSG)

The small story of two widows and a farmer in their out-of-the-way village reminds us that Everyone Counts!

PS You can listen to Pastor Robert’s sermon in its entirety here. The sermon starts about 42:25 into the recording of the entire service.