A Garden of Kindness

Ruth 2:14-18

Jesus said in Luke 6:38, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you". What He is teaching is that if you do good to others, good will come back to you. It is the law of sowing and reaping. One kernel of corn can produce dozens of kernels of corn. Also, the more you plant, the more you will harvest. This is not about a "get rich quick scheme". I am not talking about a "prosperity gospel". Jesus was talking about kindness. If you are kind to others, that kindness will be returned to you; but maybe not from the person you expected it from.

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Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. 15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied.

Ruth 2:14-18

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I'm not going to try and paint this as a love at first sight story. The scripture does not say that explicitly. What we do know is that Ruth certainly caught Boaz's eye while she was working. Then, when he inquired as to who she was, he learned of the sacrifice she had made to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi. While we do not know if it was love at first sight, it was certainly respect and admiration at first sight. Because of her kindness to her mother-in-law, Boaz decided to show her some extra kindness as well.

First, he invites her to have lunch with himself and his servants. It is a simple meal of bread, vinegar, and roasted grain. Nothing was held back from her. He took care of her just like she was one of his hired servants. She was not treated like a foreigner, a rejected pagan alien to Israel, or an impoverished widow. Second, after the meal he spoke quietly to some of his servants. He instructed them to allow her to glean even among that which had already be harvested. He commanded them to drop extra grain in her path. Finally, he told them to be kind to her and not to scold her if she did something wrong. While she may not have realized it, she was his guest. He extended every hospitality to her. There was not a field in Israel that she could have gone to and been treated better.

Her kindness to her mother-in-law was paid back by a stranger who owed her nothing. She was allowed to glean. The law commanded the Israelites to be kind to foreigners in the land. Here is what Leviticus says about foreigners (strangers) who lived among the Hebrews:

And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. 34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 19:33-34).

However, just because this was the law, it did not mean people practiced it. This was probably the case because it was how Ruth expected to be treated. The kindness that came from Boaz surprised her. It is the same with us and God. God owes us nothing. As a matter of fact, we owe Him everything. We are His enemies by birth because of our sin nature. And yet, if we enter into His presence humbly and submit ourselves to Him, He is kind and generous. He does "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Ephesians 3:20).

Father, what a wonderful story that teaches us of Your goodness towards us. We are tempted to think that we are supposed to be Boaz in the story. We are Ruth. The foreigner who has no hope of anything more than surviving. We are not owed kindness, and yet that is what You give. We are not owed blessings, but You pour them out from Your abundance. Thank You for loving us!