Love kindness

Do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8.

We have already looked at the the call to do justice, as illustrated by Esther. Now we want to look at the call to love kindness. If you have guessed the character of Ruth for this one, you have guessed right!

‘Hesed’ love

Kindness is one of the major themes in the book of Ruth. The Hebrew word which is translated ‘kindness’ is ‘hesed’ and means ‘steadfast love’. But, as we will see, it means even more than that.

Paul Miller has written a wonderful book about Ruth called ‘A Loving Life’.

Sometimes ‘hesed’ is translated ‘steadfast love’. It combines commitment with sacrifice. ‘Hesed’ is one-way love. Love without an exit strategy. When you love with ‘hesed’ love, you bind yourself to the object of your love, no matter what the response is. ….. ‘Hesed’ is a stubborn love…. ‘Hesed’ is opposite of the spirit of our age which says we have to act on our feelings. ‘Hesed’ says ‘No, you act on your commitments. The feelings will follow’. Love like this is unbalanced, uneven. There is nothing fair about this kind of love. But commitment lies at the heart of Christianity. It is Jesus’s love for us at the cross, and it is to be our love for one another. Paul Miller

Background

The book of Ruth begins with an explanation that Naomi was the wife of Elimelech and the mother of Mahlon and Chilion. She lived in Bethlehem of Judah, the very birthplace of Jesus. The name ‘Bethlehem’ means ‘house of bread’, so Naomi lived in a place where she had all she needed – a husband, two sons, a home in a place of plenty, and the community of God’s people around her.  And then her life began to unravel. 

First of all, famine struck. To escape from the famine, she and her husband and two sons fled to Moab. Paul Miller says: Ancient readers would have been intrigued and possibly troubled by the family’s move to Moab. The Moabites were…the result of an incestuous relationship between Lot and one of his daughters. And of course Moab was one of Israel’s enemies as well.

While in Moab, Naomi was thrust into a situation of further loss – she lost first her husband and then her two sons. That was devastating. And it would be hard enough in any culture but in the traditional cultures of the Near East, mothers have no identity outside the home. Their daughters marry and leave while their sons remain, forging a powerful mother-son bond. Their sons are their life. Paul Miller. 

It was bad enough for Naomi to have lost her husband. Now that she has lost her sons, she has lost her identity. There is no one to carry on the family name. There is now no future for that family in the Ephrathite clan. Her sons would have been the source of financial security for her. She has lost that as well. Everything has been stripped away. Her life, as she knew it, is over. Her dreams have died, along with her husband and sons.

Now she is left alone, to mourn her losses. In Ruth 1:5, we read the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. Naomi was left without. ‘Left without’. What a series of losses. Naomi has lost her life. She has entered into a living death….Living outside of Israel…is already a partial death. Now with the death of her husband and two sons, Naomi’s life is functionally over. Paul Miller

That’s the background story – a story of death and grief and pain. Against that dark background, the ‘hesed’ love or loving kindness or steadfast love of Ruth shines as a bright light of hope which will lead to life and joy and healing.

This kindness is no ordinary kindness. This is steadfast love, ‘hesed’ love. Let’s see what makes it so special.