Reading the Bible
If I had to name one faith practice that has had the greatest impact on my life, it would be reading the Bible. I mention that because I know that for many regular church attenders, the Bible can be perplexing. It is for me too. My recent sermon series on Ruth has driven home the double truth that 1) reading the Bible requires an investment of time and study and 2) that investment pays dividends in profound insight into the human condition.
For example, there is a lot of innuendo in the Book of Ruth that is out of reach of the typical modern reader. If we were reading a modern short story, we could pick up on the subtexts and allusions pretty quickly. We’d understand that a character who is constantly checking her social media accounts is afflicted by loneliness, or that the angry old man who is obsessed with conspiracy theories is like a modern-day Don Quixote tilting at windmills. But a thousand years from now, those allusions will be blurred by the passing of time. Future readers of our current authors will need scholars who have spent years studying the early 21st century to decipher the code. In the same way, reading the Bible is aided by the experts who know and understand the period.
In order to glean the subtext of the Book of Ruth (pun intended) the reader has to know about the history between the Moabites and the Israelites (which is detailed in Exodus). Boaz’s genealogy also lends meaning to the story (he is the descendant of Tamar and there are parallels between Tamar’s relationship with her father-in-law and Ruth’s with Boaz). A modern day reader might also miss some of the cultural context. The fact that the residents of Bethlehem left a widow to fend for herself is a major commentary on the town that we might skip over. I have been reading this story for years and every time I learn more about the context, which surfaces hidden meanings and adds complexity to it.
Each time I read the story of Ruth, it adds greater detail to the qualities of genuine kindness. It illustrates what I can aspire to as a human being. It makes it more believable that genuine kindness can change the world. Those are insights I have had to work for. The effort has been absolutely worth it.
Blessings,
Pastor Jen
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