This year All Saints Day is today which gives us an opportunity to recall those who have been important in our faith tradition and in our personal lives. This holiday is not traditionally celebrated by Mennonites. In fact, there would be many Anabaptist and Mennonite saints who would roll over in their graves if they knew that we observe this day. Doing away with the veneration of saints was one part of the reformation. Our Anabaptist forbearers said the church should not encourage the worship of any human, dead or alive. Worship is for God alone. And like so many other rituals of the church it had become corrupt and a way to make money.

But holding up the stories of people who showed us God's way of love, peace, justice, and forgiveness is important to the formation of our faith. Their lives instruct us in how we might continue the story of God's presence and work in our world. So it's appropriate that we look at 2 lives that are part of our spiritual heritage. The story of Ruth and Naomi give us lessons on loyalty, openness and compassion to the stranger.

This morning we only heard part of Chapter 1 but I encourage you to read the whole book in one sitting. It is a quick read; only 4 short chapters. I want to give you a brief overview of the story because it will give a fuller understanding to the relationship between Ruth and Naomi. After Orpah decides to stay in Moab, Ruth and Naomi go back to Judah to live. The news of their arrival spreads and Naomi tells anyone who will listen what has happened and how bitter and angry she is because God has abandoned her. Ruth however, is more interested in finding food and she volunteers to go collect grain after harvesters have gone through the fields. Naomi agrees to this plan. The field happens to be owned by Boaz, a rich landowner who is a relative of Naomi's. Boaz comes to the fields that day, notices Ruth, finds out who she is and tells his hired hands to allow her to pick up as much grain as she likes. Boaz gives her food and water and promises to protect her. Ruth expresses her appreciation and gathers grain in his fields through the rest of the harvest. Naomi is overjoyed with this turn of events and praises God for being generous with her.

Now Naomi wants to help Ruth get married so her future will be secure. She and Ruth plan a way to attract Boaz's attention and desire. You really must read the interesting things that happened on the threshing floor between the two of them. When Boaz responds positively they must then negotiate the cultural norms so Boaz and Ruth can get married. Because Boaz is a relative there was some obligation for relatives to take care of widows of their family. It works as planned and Ruth and Boaz are wed. They soon have a son Obed. As Ruth offers Naomi her new baby, the women of Bethlehem say to Naomi: ``Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next of kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be your restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter in law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.'' The story concludes by naming the lineage between Ruth and Boaz and King David.

This beautiful story starts out with desperate need and want, but changes to hope and well-being. It is a story of loyalty and love. But to the ancient Jews it must have also been a disturbing and up-ending story because it put two people together who would not very likely love each other or even have anything to do with each other. And it shows that their beloved King David does not come from a pure line, but has foreign blood from his great great grandmother.
The book of Ruth was most likely written long after the actual events. While the setting is at the end of the time when the Judges ruled Israel and Judah, it was written for the Jews who were returning to Jerualem from exile hundreds of years later. At that time they would have been very concerned with how to regain their identity as a people. As they rebuilt their beloved Jerusalem they were aware of what it meant to be influenced by foreign governments and cultures and looked backed longingly to the days of King David when their identity as a people was much clearer.

So this story is a reminder that blood lines are not what define the purity of a people. Having the right parents does not necessarily make one faithful or a good Jew. But what can it mean for us? As residents of a so-called melting pot country, purity of blood lines does not carry the same weight socially or religiously. At the same time, there is a significance for us in the loyalty and compassion that Ruth and Naomi gave to each other despite their differences in culture and homeland. The many immigrants among us often have stories of hardship and need that are easily ignored. But one of the themes repeated in the Bible, in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, is that the stranger, the hurting, and the oppressed are to be cared for and be treated justly. They are to be welcomed and brought into the center of the community.

If we look at the history of Moab and Israel we can see that this is an important part of this story of Ruth and Naomi. There are several places in the Bible where Moab is mentioned and usually it's not very positive. Moab is on the other side of the Dead Sea from Judah. In Genesis we learn that the remainder of Lot's family (who was Abraham's nephew) went to live in Moab after Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. So while there is a connection between Moab and Judah it is somewhat negative. The Moabites in many ways were different than the people of Judah, they were influenced by the cultures and religions around them. In Dueteronomy, as laws were being set up, Jews were to not associate with the Moabites because they did not worship God as the Jews did. In a time when remaining pure as a people was important, the fears of being influenced by the Moabites put distance and judgment between them.

So although this story doesn't directly say anything bad about the Moabites it is unusual that Naomi ended up in Moab at all and strange that her sons would marry Moabite women. Given the situation then, it is not surprising that Naomi would entreat Ruth to stay in Moab. What kind of welcome would Ruth get in Judah coming from such a questionable people? And it is surprising that Ruth would choose to go to live among a people who would have contempt for her from the beginning.

As humans we bond with those we first see and often they look like us. We have traditions and rules about family and culture and religion that give our lives meaning and help us know where we belong. We know with whom to be friends, to fall in love, to form community. But in this story, hunger and poverty demand a different path if Ruth and Naomi are to survive. It is through this loyalty and love that goes beyond social convention and religious boundaries that not only enables Ruth and Naomi to survive but the Jews most beloved King David is a direct descendant from this outsider.

A few weeks ago our family went to Ohio for my step-grandmother, Anna Amstutz Sommer Amstutz's, funeral. She married my grandfather in the mid-80s, as I was finishing college. They both grew up in Kidron, OH, as their parents and grandparents had. They couldn't marry in Ohio legally because they were 2^nd cousins. Fortunately, my family was living in Illinois where 2^nd cousins could marry so they traveled out to Lombard and we had a big celebration of bringing these two families together.

Although Kidron is a small, safe Mennonite community, Anna had seen hard times in her life. Her husband died suddenly of a heart attack in his 50s, one of her sons in law committed suicide, and there were significant financial losses and problems along the way. She had to work hard to support her family. She had a large garden and she sold fabric in the local general store. Despite the small town nature of Kidron, Anna was a refined soul. She had a keen eye for beauty which was apparent in her house, her gardens and how she dressed. She had a love for and immense knowledge of the natural world that she shared generously.

About 10 years ago one of my cousins from Kidron, Dan, married a young woman from Canada named Shanti. She had been adopted into a Mennonite family as a baby from Bangladesh. She grew up in Montreal and then went to Goshen College where she met Dan. At Anna's funeral, Shanti, described the first time she met Anna, on the porch of her home in Kidron. In detail she recounted what Anna was wearing and the care and attention that Anna put into what she wore. It was nothing flamboyant or sophisticated but simply, beautifully, put together. From that moment, Shanti and Anna had a special bond. They grew to love and appreciate each other and they spent hours together when Shanti visited. Although Kidron has very little diversity and often has not been kind to outsiders, Shanti experienced a deep friendship and acceptance from Anna that denied the difference in age, experience, homeland, and color of skin.

I imagine that Ruth and Naomi's relationship was similar. That with some people what seem like insurmountable differences disappear when a bond of friendship has been formed.

For me, Naomi is the interesting character in the story. It is through her that we know the depth of despair and the heaviness of responsibility that immigrants experience as they find themselves strangers in a strange land. And it is through her character that we see the fullness of God's love and care for her and Ruth as they negotiate their way through customs and attitudes that make it difficult to care for themselves. Noami's resilience and ability to speak her truth especially speak out to me.

Naomi was resiliant. Although she was bitter and angry, she did not give up. She did not leave Ruth to fend for herself, she did not play the victim and act helpless, waiting for those who had power to save her. Often, Boaz is seen as sort of the savior of this story. And he certainly was the way that Ruth and Naomi got out of poverty but it wouldn't have happened if Naomi didn't invest in and empower Ruth to seek out Boaz's protection and love.

Naomi was willing to speak the truth of her heart and experience. She felt forsaken, abandonment by God and she spoke it, plainly. She did not put on a false front and act like everything would be okay. She also rejoiced as their lives turned around. When Ruth was able to find enough food to feed them both, Naomi praises God for not forsaking them.

What I noticed about Ruth is how she helped Naomi choose life. There were many differences between these 2 women: homeland, customs, religion, age. Despite these differences Ruth was able to be Naomi's compass. She was able to orient them both towards life. Even when Naomi was at her lowest, Ruth's response was to go find them some food. Despite Ruth seeing the worst side of Naomi she did not leave her. And Naomi responded in kind to Ruth. She taught Ruth her country's customs so that they both would live. Their loyalty to each other inspired a loyalty to life and to God.

Marge Piercy wrote a poem about Ruth and Naomi. She ends the poem with this stanza:

At the season of first fruits, we recall
two travellers, co-conspirators, scavengers
making do with leftovers and mill ends,
whose friendship was stronger than fear,
stronger than hunger, who walked together,
the road of shards, hands joined.

As we celebrate all saints day, we celebrate the lives of those who have been true to the call of God to choose lifein their circumstances, in their cultures, among their people. And we recognize those who have chosen life even when they have found themselves among strangers, in a strange land. May we be inspired by these people, and may we reach beyond our artificial borders to form bonds of compassion and loyalty.