Boaz, having removed his sandal

Love is a rare thing in that it is enjoyed only by those involved in it. It is not a spilling emotion, not one that the others can get caught up into, like the rays of the sun which fall alike on all men. Nothing is hidden from the heat of the sun, but love is an interchange, a mutual going forth, a conversation between the hearts of two which cannot be eavesdropped upon. It is like Benjamin's sack of grain, ordinary on the outset, but inside there is cup of gold.

I have stood before these men now, given my solemn pledge, taken off my sandal according to the customs we have made. This was the circumcision of our love, the seal of my promise to her, this brown woman, this Moabitess, this Ruth. O Lord, I have so often looked out upon the ways of men and maidens mystified and slightly amused! Now I stand in it and it fills me with a joy that feels fresh, as if any words I used to describe it would be new and wonderful.

I saw her first when she was fresh in the days of her sorrow, having come with her mother-in-law from the land of the enemies across the great valley where Abraham once rescued his righteous nephew. Lot's descendents, now among our fiercest enemies, are given over to idols, and though Elimelech went there in search of work and food, his two sons took upon them foreign wives, Moabitesses. I heard the rumors when Naomi returned, but only when I saw Ruth working in the fields did I lay eyes on this foreign woman working among us. She was beautiful and young, taking on her the dangers of gleaning the fields, a task usually reserved for the older widows and impoverished women, those who could not acquire a husband in the normal way, and thus feared little from working in a field full of men. When I saw her, she was beautiful to me, I looked upon her and loved her even then, though the distance of her youth and ancestry would not permit me to go further. But Naomi was my kin, her daughter-in-law also, so I protected her that day from my men and provided for her the grain she needed.

A Moabitess. When she came to me later, as I was sleeping, an act both expected and unexpected, I had had time to consider her. I had surprised myself that day with my words and the unexpected warmth of them. Her labor in the fields, the story of her faithfulness to her mother-in-law had touched me. To follow Naomi was to join her, to become her kin in a way that defied the usual understanding we have of family. I had heard about her words to Naomi, "Your people will be my people, your God will be my God."

Lord, let your words remain always in my mind as I consider these things. We are the descendants of Abraham, the twelve tribes of Jacob. I myself come from Judah, in the line of Perez and Rahab. My kin are those who come from the same flesh, those of us all once contained in the body of Abraham, those who in him offered to the priest-king a tenth. We are the heirs of the blessing, given to Abraham, repeated to Isaac and Jacob. We are the ones who possess the law. Lot's line, those sons of incest and sin, are cursed. This is family, the bonds of flesh, facts of nature and situation not changeable.

My reflections took me to this woman towards whom my heart was already exercised, towards whom already my thoughts were much upon. She was beautiful, certainly, but her character, her strength, her determined womanhood, these also had enlivened her beauty in a way that no outward adornment could. She was gentle, quiet in her heart and posture, submissive in her bearing, but she had thrown of all things to follow the God of Israel. When I compared her to the women of our village, chasing after the young men poor and rich, I saw a heart that beat for the promises of God, a heart that had heard from her godly mother-in-law of the people who worshiped the true God, and she had sought him and found him!

Then last night, she was at my feet. When I saw her, my heart loved her. Before she spoke she was my joy and my delight. When she asked me to take her upon myself, to take her under the shadow of my garment (what does this mean except for me to recreate what Adam had done so long ago when he cradled the woman under his arm, she his, when he named her for she had come from him?), I had already taken her up in my heart. There she was my flesh, my body, one with me in the mysterious pathways of this created love, this act set in place by God so that men would not be alone.

I saw her and I loved her. Then I spread my love over her, to shelter her. Now here in the city gates before the elders of the city I have sealed for all time our love(meaning, of course, as long as time is, until the unmaking of time and the remaking of the world).

Remember when once I was a foreign man, adrift in the world, taken up by the love of God. To know God as a loving God is to know him as a husband. Once I too was the outcast of the peoples, a brown woman working in the fields, my heart hungry but not free. Lord, this woman is mine, my glory and my delight for all time. What do you express to us in this love, this love you created? Man is in your image, and so love must be too, for you have said yourself that in marriage the two become one. Lord, the seeking, the sheltering, the joy, all these are in my experience too.

Moabitess, my love. When God spoke he chose, when he took Abraham he took him freely. We, his people, are his people freely, the people of his love. Every choice of his is free, and if free than it is to us as a foreigner, as one estranged, as one far off. We stand far off but he brings us near. It is he who spreads his cloak over us, who takes us up. When I redeemed Ruth according to the law, I did so that she would belong to me. This purchasing was a choice, one I did with joy because of the exercise of my heart towards her.

These elements are all in place, I in love acting towards her, she drawing near in her request, the satisfaction of the law towards her. Now for the celebration of our love, the love that with all my heart I hope will pour forth into fruit, into expansion, into an heir that will stand one day in praise of this woman, this love, this faithfulness of God towards us.

In celebrating our love, we celebrate yours, O God, who made love and made our hearts to love.

-----------------------
Scripture:

The WHOLE book of Ruth
References to Melchizedek in Genesis 14
Other bits of Genesis
The reference to "brown woman" is from Song of Songs 1:6 "do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun."
Other bits of Song of Songs also present.