Where You Go, I Will Go
July 16th marks the day when the Lutheran Church commemorates Ruth, who lived just a few generations before King David and bore Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David. She is perhaps best known for her unwavering steadfastness to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and consequently to Naomi’s God, the Lord.
Ruth had married one of Naomi’s two sons, but the Lord ordained that Naomi should not only lose her two children but her husband as well, leaving her with two Moabite daughters-in-law. While the other daughter-in-law returned to her home following her husband’s death, Ruth insisted on remaining with Naomi. Recall her famous words from Ruth chapter 1:
“For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” (Ruth 1:16-17
The two traveled to and settled in Bethlehem. There, Naomi told Ruth of her relatives, including a man named Boaz, and Ruth went to work in his field that she might gain his favor. Indeed, Boaz favored Ruth, protecting her and instructing the workers to leave wheat for her to harvest. He redeemed Ruth by marrying her and purchasing the land of Naomi’s late husband so that his name would endure, thus becoming the kinsman-redeemer.
Ruth bears a son who would become the grandfather of King David, thus continuing the messianic line. Also notable to Ruth’s story is how Gentile blood is brought into the Messianic lineage through this faithful foreigner, a foreshadowing to the Gospel that would go out to all nations and the grafting in of the the Gentiles. Because of Ruth’s faithfulness and Boaz’s redeeming, we see not only the continuation of the Messianic line but also an example of a Gentile who was brought by faith into the fold of God’s people.
Brief History
Liturgical literature doesn’t have much to say on the history of the celebration of St. Ruth. In the Roman Catholic church, Ruth is commemorated on November 1st. This date, however, doesn’t appear to have a connection either with Ruth’s birth or death. According to one Roman Catholic website, Ruth was probably added to the liturgical calendar by local clergy due to her popularity, a phenomenon referred to as “pre-congregation” beatification.
Thus, in setting a date to commemorate St. Ruth, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod followed the 1868 sanctoral calendar proposed by Pastor Wilhelm Löhe. No matter when the Church has historically celebrated her day, though, a salutary custom for this day has been to read the book of Ruth in its entirety. A short read of only four chapters, a household can easily read the book around the dinner table, taking turns by paragraph or by chapter.
Collect
Hear us, O God, our Savior: so that we, who rejoice in the feast of Blessed Ruth, may learn from her spirit of loving devotion; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost: ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Lessons
First Lesson
Gospel
Resources
Issues, Etc. interview with the Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller on the book of Ruth.
Propers found in Daily Divine Service Book: A Lutheran Daily Missal, edited by the Rev. Heath Curtis
References:
1. Weedon, William C. Celebrating the Saints: The Feasts, Festivals, and Commemorations of Lutheran Service Book.Concordia Publishing House. 2016.
2. Blog post by Pr. John Rickert, http://lutheran-in-sc.blogspot.com/2012/07/commemoration-of-ruth.html
3. Mayes, Benjamin T.G. The Sanctoral Calendar of Wilhelm Loehe’s Martyrologium. Emmanuel Press. 2001.
Images:
1. Ruth and Boaz, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Germany, 1825.
2. Ruth and Boaz, David Wilkie Wynfield, Britain, 1879.
