St. Ruth [Trinity 5; St. Luke 5:1-11]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

In the Gospel, you hear Jesus speaking to you saying,

“And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.”

What we see today in the casting of nets and the catching of a great number of fish, is the Gospel of Christ at work in the world. The sinner is happy in his home of sin and death and wishes nothing more than to be left alone there.

So when Jesus’ net comes crashing in, threatening his way of life and his very existence, he attempts to flee and resist. This is the perfect picture of the sinner before a holy God. Whether the sinner is saved or not, the struggle continues. You think you have lost your rebellious streak?

Yet, it is good for the net to enclose you. It is good for you to be ripped out of the only environment you think can preserve you. It is good for you to be caught and die, because Christ is the Fisherman; the One Who kills and makes alive again.

One perfect example of this is found in Ruth, whose day we commemorate today. If you remember the story of Ruth or not, make sure you go home and read it today. Let me sum up the book so you know what you’re reading: a man of God goes down to a foreign country, leaving his plentiful homeland, but his death there makes his people’s redemption, possible. (Hint: its about Jesus)

In the book of Ruth, we hear of Elimelech, which means God is King, a native of Bethlehem, and Naomi his wife and two sons, who leave the Promised Land in Bethlehem for the land of Moab.

Now, Moses and Joshua had just spent over 50 years of their lives trying to get Israel into the promised land and, in Ruth’s time, the Judges are very busy trying to KEEP Israel in the Promised Land, and Elimelech up and leaves.

A result of this is that his two sons take Moabite women for their wives, Orpah (not Oprah) and Ruth, an act explicitly forbidden by God (Deut. 7:3). So serious is this command, that in the Book of Ezra, all of Israel separate from their foreign wives, after the Babylonian Exile, in order to be complicit with God’s Law.

Well, as you would expect, removing yourself from God’s Promises only creates death. Thus, Elimelech and his two sons die of a famine, leaving the women to fend for themselves in a life bereft of life.

In this lifeless life, Naomi is overcome. Depressed, she returns to her hometown, the Lord’s land in Bethlehem, changes her name to Mara, which means “bitter”, and attempts to send her daughters-in-law away to start their own lives over and not remind her of her pain anymore.

Orpah leaves (big surprise), but even more surprising, Ruth does not leave. She was determined to have Mara (Naomi) as her mother-in-law and the Lord as her God until death them do part.

Now, the story belongs to Ruth. The net of God’s Word has enclosed Mara and Ruth, trapping them in His Word and ruining their lives, by dragging them out of their comfort in the desert of Moab, up into the Promised Land of Bethlehem. Ruth had been married to a child of promise, but now a widow, she was just an outsider, a Moabite outside the promises of God.

Her only hope lie, now, in the bitter arms of her mother-in-law. The one person who is a part of the covenant God made with the whole earth and, in taking care of Mara, she shows forth her own redemption. In their lifeless life, Mara and Ruth find a redeemer. Meaning they find one of Naomi’s kindred that is able not only to buy back the women’s birthrights as children of God, but also to marry Ruth and continue the blood line.

The two little fish, Naomi and Ruth, though trapped in the net, find that in their lifeless lives; their lives of sin and death, the Lord brings new life. Now they are fish that can live on land; Promised Land. For Boaz, the redeemer, buys back all of Elimelech’s stuff, claiming Naomi as true descendent and Ruth as his wife.

This new life; this Word of Life and Promise spoken by Jesus is the net which He casts at us. The horrible, harbinger of death of a net is lowered onto us, and we squirm. We kick, we fight, we bite the hands, anything in order to be let go; in order to be dropped back into the waters of everlasting death.

But the net does not let go. The Gospel goes out and accomplishes that purpose for which God sent it out: the salvation of the whole world. Naomi heard it and believed. Ruth heard it and was saved. You heard it and the Holy Spirit entered your life, giving you faith, which allows you to live in a world covered in the shadow of death.

Just what is this Word of Life and Promise that mightily brought Ruth out of the lifeless desert and into a new life of redemption? It wasn’t just Boaz, but their descendant. For if you look in the first chapter of St. Matthew, you will find a list and in that list are explicitly the names of Boaz and Ruth, great-grandfather and great-grandmother of Jesus.

Ruth’s story is not just history. Its not a story of losing love and finding it again. It is not even a story about hospitality and congeniality among family. It is The Story; the History of Salvation story in which Jesus, against all odds and ends, makes it into the womb of St. Mary.

In celebrating or commemorating St. Ruth, we are simply celebrating the Word being preached to us, in our hearing. The Law, always accusing, always killing; and the Gospel always comforting, always making the lifeless alive.

Hear the promises made to Ruth:

“Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” (1:8-9)

“I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty.” (1:21)

“Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find grace.” (2:2)

“Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.” (3:11)

“Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.” (3:18)

Boaz is representing Christ, who dwells in Bethlehem, whose wealth of grace and mercy, purchased on the cross, authorizes Him to buy back all that satan has corrupted and redeem it.

He has also purchased and won His Bride, the Church, who is our Mother that we return to, empty of this world, but who fills us with Christ and His forgiveness. Where we go to the fields of harvest and find nothing but grace. Wherein we wait upon Jesus to appear with the morning and find our redemption in the sacraments freely given.

All so that Jesus’ Name would be holy, that His legacy would not be cut off from the earth, for He has made you a promise. Jesus has promised that He would save you from your sins. Jesus has promised that you will not be slaves to sin forever. He has promised that you will be free just as He is free.

Hear, then, the Lord’s words to His Church; to you all, today:

“We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman… like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this … woman.” (4:11-12)

And finally, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter…who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” (4:14-15) Who is, Christ the Lord, for your salvation.