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Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

Going to work in the fields may not seem like that big of deal, but in this story it is. Ruth is both a foreigner and a widow. We try to say we are more enlightened these days, but as we know, not everyone would welcome a woman with those to traits. They would be considered marks against a person. In the time of this story, that is the norm. So normal, that when Boaz takes note of her, he asks "whose woman is this?", assuming all young women belong to some man. And this isn't a regular job. Gleaning means going through the field after hired workers have passed through and bundled the grain. Some grain falls and the tradition was to leave it there for the poor to pick up, like widows and foreigners.

Boaz takes special interest in her, but not for the usual reason of her simply striking his fancy. It's because he has heard the story of how she left her home and came to live with her mother-in-law in a different land. It takes place in only a day or so as happens in stories that accelerate reality, but we get a story of her social climb from a woman needing social assistance to one who dines with the land owner and is given grain from the bundles. Then we get to a more traditional, "girl dresses up to impress the man" part of the story, and the more Biblical, "uncover his feet". I think you know what that means.

This is a risky move. Even more risky, when Boaz asks who is stripping him in his sleep, Ruth says, "I am Ruth, your companion" (some translations might say servant). She does not wait for Boaz to tell her what to do, but tells him she is a close relative, invoking the Levirate claim to him, effectively proposing marriage. What follows is some legal wrangling, because there is a younger man who is also related and would have first claim on her. In the end, Boaz "acquires" Ruth, so, far from a modern tale, but still, Ruth had some say in these matters. And we finally get some mention of love. It is the love of Ruth for Naomi, as told by the women of the neighborhood, and that love is worth more than seven sons. "Seven" meaning "as many sons as there may be".

The end of the book tells us this is the beginning of the line of David, which leads to Jesus. The Jesus part is definitely not thought of yet as of the time this was written, and perhaps this line of David was also added on. Whether it was a statement to heal old rivalries or to say something about God delivering good people from unlikely places, it's the same. It's a story of virtue, of a young woman wanting to stand by her mother-in-law. Much of the Bible talks of birthrights and lineage, but Ruth has none of those. Just as Jews and Christians today seem to forget they came from slaves out of Egypt, they also forget that the line of the savior began with a woman on welfare.

1 Kings 17:8-16

Also covered in week 5th week of next year. (Sometimes there isn't a week 5, depending on when Easter falls).

Hebrews 9:24-28

We skipped over chapter 8 of Hebrews, which goes into some detail about this "copy" of the sanctuary, continuing in to this chapter in the verses that precede today's. It has something to do with what Moses was able to do. And it tells us that the first covenant wasn't the perfect one. It goes on with one of the most clear statements about just how Jesus' blood is a sacrifice. I can't help but wonder how it would be received if someone said today they knew of a new and improved relationship to God. The Mormons have perhaps been the most successful with that. Others who try often end up ostracized, arrested, or worse.

From just what we get in today's reading, we can see that this sacrifice is a replacement for the current practices in the temple, this is signaling an "end of age", and Christ will appear again to complete the ritual and "save" those who accept all of this.

Mark 12:38-44

We get another story similar to two weeks ago. This time it's a woman giving a small donation, but to her it is everything she has. This has been a bad few weeks for the Prosperity theology people. On the other hand, televangelists abuse stories like this, telling people with limited means to give everything they have because it will show they have faith and they will be rewarded. This is not what this passage is saying. The beginning part about rich people can be taken more literally. The "devour widow's houses" is a disputed text, but it's certainly some sort of crime and something to do with praying on the vulnerable.

The importance of telling the story of the widow is where it occurs in the overall narrative. The teachings of Jesus have come to an end with this chapter. We are about to hear of the destruction of the temple, something the gospel has been leading up to all along. We first get this scene of the rich, contributing, but doing it for show. They compare perfectly to the rich in the United States who claim that their taxes are a majority of the taxes collected each year. That's true, but they fail to mention that they are also the recipients of the most benefit of the wealth of the nation. The roads that are built and the armies that are employed with those taxes protect their ability to acquire the wealth that results in those revenues. The people who contribute less in dollars are contributing every day by being the ones to do that building and protecting. The case being made here is that some are judging success based on individual wealth, but God is judging Israel's failure based on the existence of destitute widows. They have forgotten Exodus 22:22-24, that you "shall not afflict any widow."