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| "One tree in a field of wheat" by Kerstin Hellstrom |
Trees of the Field
Jesse Tree Symbol: Wheat
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A Greeting
Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God.
(Psalm 86:2)
A Reading
So [Naomi] said, ‘See, your sister-in-law
has gone back to her people and to her gods;
return after your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said,
‘Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die—
there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!’
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her,
she said no more to her.
(Ruth 1:15-18)
Music
Meditative Verse
You have devoted your life to wisdom,
and called understanding your mother.
(2nd Esdras 13:55)
A Reflection
Both Rahab and Ruth were not Jews.
These women could have been considered skeletons in Jesus' closet.
These women were honoured; they were not considered skeletons, they were honoured because of their faithfulness, their loyalty. They were embraced, brought into community so that they were no longer aliens in a foreign land. Today is the Sunday of Advent when we celebrate joy. How do these stories bring us joy? In many ways I think it depends on who we are and what's important to us. For instance, there may be times when any one of us feels like an outsider, an imposter. We claim to be Christian but we feel like if anyone really knew who we were, if they found out the truth, we would be totally exposed. We may feel like we are the skeleton or that we have skeletons that would embarrass us at best, if they were revealed. The stories of Rahab and Ruth remind us that all of those self-imposed or culturally-imposed standards are hogwash....You, are not a skeleton. I declare that. You are not a skeleton... The gift of Rahab and Ruth, being in the lineage of Jesus Christ, is that if we see ourselves as outsiders, then we can rest assured that there is a place for us. That gives me joy. No one is excluded from the lineage of Jesus based on their status, not then or not now... To that, I say 'joy to the world'.
- from "Women in the Lineage of Jesus: Rahab and Ruth",
a sermon by Rev. AnnMarie Kneebone
Verse for the Day
The mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
(Isaiah 55:12)
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| Jesse Tree image by Eric Westra |
Although scholars believe that there are some three hundred years and possibly eight generations historically between Rahab and Ruth, in the Matthew and Luke geneologies Rahab appears as Ruth's other mother-in-law, from her second marriage to Boaz. Again today, the selected reflection focuses on the question of being an 'outsider'. Whereas yesterday's homilist cautioned us against creating an 'us and them' culture in our faith communities, today's minister points out that if we are feeling like an outsider, then we are in great company! Ruth is a Moabite woman who was the devoted daughter-in-law to Naomi, a native of Bethlehem, who was forced to leave Judea because of a famine. When all the men have died, Naomi disperses her daughters-in-law and goes home, but out of loyalty and a desire to care for her, Ruth stays with her. The story of Ruth spans an approximately seven week period from Passover to the festival of Shavuot, during which both the barley and the wheat harvests were made. Ruth gleans behind those harvesting and is noticed by the man who will eventually become her husband, Boaz. Ruth's trust in God rests in the understanding that God provides, and that the one guiding her (Naomi) has her own best interests at heart. Ruth offers herself to Boaz as a near-relation and someone who could 'redeem' them all. But Ruth and Naomi transform that custom by taking the initiative to seek out Boaz. Therefore the story offers a wonderful account of a deep trust in God by women who have little real power but enormous will to transform their lives. The Jesse Tree symbol for Ruth is wheat, representing the gleaned grain that brought Ruth and Boaz together.
In Leviticus 26, God promises that the 'trees of the field' shall yield fruit, and the rain will fall, as long as the Israelites remain faithful. The phrase appears often, signifying orchards that were planted to yield fruit as a crop. But trees of the field are also trees that provide shade and fruit to those who plant and harvest and who, like Ruth, glean behind the others, and must work harder to find even scraps of food. These trees become oases, places of respite from harsh work. God's promise of abundance comes with the promise of a place and a time to rest from labour.
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| "The lone tree Panoramic" by Martyn Smith |
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LC† The Trees of Jesse is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto.
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