Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor." Naomi said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter." So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The Lord be with you!" "The Lord bless you!" they answered. Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, "Who does that young woman belong to?" The overseer replied, "She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.' She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter." So Boaz said to Ruth, "My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled" (Ruth 2:1-9).   Let me start with an aside: here we find the inspiration for the words from our Lord's Supper practice: "The Lord be with you!" Boaz says.  "The Lord bless you!" replies his workers.  Whenever we speak these words during the Lord's Supper—your mind should come here, to the barley harvest.  It is God's full-ripened provision and redemption for his people.  A moment of joy.  God's whole good news story of Ruth and her place in King David and King Jesus' family lines is evoked every time we speak these words of greeting. As we enter chapter 2, then, we've come from the death and desolations of Moab to the fully ripe house of bread where there is provision enough.   Yet not everything is sure.  Ruth is bold and determined to support her and Naomi in this new home.  But the fact that she is a Moabite rings out a few times—she's not from around here.  Will that become a problem?  A number of times across this chapter, Boaz will ensure that "no one lays a hand" on Ruth.  Did they otherwise want to?  Gleaning was a practice established in the law God gave his people.  In Leviticus 23:22 for instance, it says this: "'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.'"  The trick of course, is that the law does not say how big the edges and gleanings you leave in your field ought to be.  Each landowner had to decide for themselves how generous they would be with the harvest God had given them.  It's also true that Israel didn't always follow its own law.  Gleanings were designated for the poor and the foreigner.  Ruth was both.  And yet her safety as a foreigner was not guaranteed until Boaz himself came to guarantee it.  Upon his arrival, we find out that in his field, the law would be upheld—the foreigner, protected. Provision for the poor, protection for the foreigner—these were gifts of God to Ruth, through the righteousness and generosity of Boaz.  It is God who manages the happenstance of Ruth winding up in Boaz's field.  It is God's gift of the law and the land that sets the context for Boaz's protection and provision for Ruth.  What about us?  All the things that you have are gifts of God.  How generous will you be with them?  As so many Immanuelites have shown over the years—we also have a lot of power that can be stewarded to protecting and providing for newcomers from foreign lands.  How can you join this good work of ensuring the foreigners among us receive God's protection? We never know the part that we might play in God's stories of redemption, but the invitation is always there—every time ordinary life and "happenstance" bring a new gift or opportunity.  So be looking for them.   As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:     May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.

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