Our text is from Ruth 2:19-23

Naomi asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!” Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said. “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.” Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’” Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.” So, Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Often, lunch is just lunch. But sometimes, its much more. When Ruth hands Naomi her leftover lunch, Naomi clues in that something is afoot. This lunch is not just a lunch. Her questions, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work?” are not the routine, “How was your day?” sort of questions. No. Naomi recognizes that there is a mystery here, most likely, a divine mystery. She wants answers.

This leftover lunch is the turning point of the story. Naomi’s spirit rose as she saw the generous results of Ruth’s gleaning. But with the lunch, she recognizes her life might not be over, declaring, “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” But who is he? The Hebrew text leaves this ambiguous. “He” could refer to either God or Boaz. Is it left ambiguous on purpose? Are we meant to think it refers to both? I wonder.

It would certainly fit the story. In 1:6, Naomi hears that God has come to the aid of his people, so she returns. Now, a God type kindness reaches these two widows through a human. God’s aid reaches Naomi only when someone acts with kindness. I think we are meant to hear the story this way.

She speaks her first words of hope since she’s left Moab. This barley and this lunch are creating hairline fractures in the shell of bitterness encrusting her soul. When she hears that Boaz is the one responsible for this abundance, the fractures become cracks. She knows this kind of kindness. This is the same kindness which brought Ruth to Bethlehem with her. It is the same kindness with which God blesses his people with blessings they do not deserve.

Naomi recognized that Boaz was acting out of a godly mercy. You see, Boaz had no legal obligation to do these things. He was a close relative, but not too close. He could have treated Ruth like any other woman gleaning in his fields. But he didn’t. He went far beyond the call of duty.

Naomi’s hope blossomed and she gave voice to something that could bring real hope to these two widows: the kinsman-redeemer. Land and children were the future for any Israelite family. Naomi and Ruth had neither. In such a situation, a brother or nearest relative could step in to provide these (Leviticus 25:25; Deuteronomy 25:5-6). But nobody has stepped up to help them out. When they die, Elimelech’s family will die with them. Naomi knows this.

But now her hope is awakened because Boaz appears noble enough to fulfill the role of the kinsman redeemer. So, she advices Ruth to stick close to him. The least that will happen is that she will be safe. But there could be much more that happens as well.

For today, take time to ponder the kindness of God. Whom has he used to bring it to you? Did you receive it or reject it? Might God want to use you to bring his kindness to someone else? Who knows what an ordinary lunch might become?

Go now with God’s blessing:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.