Widows, Orphans and Resident Aliens

Widows, Orphans and Resident Aliens

Consider the plight of three widows: Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth [Ruth 3:1-4:17], and an unnamed widow placing an offering of two small coins into the Temple treasury in Jerusalem [Mark 12:38-44]. In his book, Reverberations of Faith [Westminster John Knox Press, 2002], Walter Brueggemann writes, “One strand of ethics in the Old Testament includes the concern of YHWH, and consequently the concern of Israel, for the weak and vulnerable. Among that class is the widow, most often grouped with orphan and alien [sojourners, immigrants, refugees] as among the most vulnerable in society…widows orphans and sojourners characteristically have no social entitlements of their own.” [p 230] This is an ethic that persists throughout the entire Bible, most especially witnessed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and the emerging church community in the New Testament as well.

In Mark 12:38-44 Jesus levels a stinging critique of religious authorities who draw attention to themselves which attention ought to be directed to the honor and glory of God. They do so, says Jesus, by wearing their religious garb in public, making long-winded public prayer, and at both worship and social functions contrive to have special seating so as to be seen – and specifically to be seen as more pious and holy than others; all others.

The final condemnation, however, is that in dressing up their importance and piety, these pretentious authorities win the trust of the most vulnerable, represented as widows, orphans and resident aliens, who in turn entrust their meager resources to them only to see these authorities plunder it to further dress up their own importance: “They devour widow’s houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation!”

Then Jesus sits down opposite the Temple treasury to watch. He watches a crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. Then along comes a poor widow who has only two small coins worth a penny and places them in the treasury. “Truly, I tell you, the poor widow has put in more than all those who contributing to the treasury. For all of them contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all that she had to live on.” Snap! The poor widow models more faith and trust than the religious professionals. This teaching never fails to bring me to my knees asking if and when I might fully embody the lessons therein.

The widow, she who is left with nothing but her faith in the Almighty and his community of care, is lifted up as a lesson for us all. She no longer has bus money so she must walk home. She no longer has lunch money so must depend upon God and God’s community of love to provide. We are not given her name. Nameless she retreats into the vast number of those like herself who largely remain invisible to both church and society – a society that more often than not will instruct her to look out for herself first, get a job and become self-sufficient. She disappears from the narrative. We never know what happens to her, even though we ought to.

We do, however, learn what happens to Ruth and Naomi, those two widows who have lost everything when their respective husbands suddenly died while sojourning in the land of Moab. You see, as is so often the case, there was a famine in the land of Israel, so Elimelech and his wife Naomi travel to the land of Moab seeking relief. They have two sons who marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Elimelech dies, and eventually so do the two sons, leaving Naomi and her daughters-in-law with no protectors, no providers, and no legal status. Naomi instructs the girls to go home and find new husbands for themselves. As for herself, she is past the time of having children and will return home hoping to find a kinsman. Orpah goes home, but Ruth stays with Naomi and vows to care for her in what is perhaps one of the most powerful and beautiful speeches in all of scripture [Ruth 1:16-17]. They return to Israel. Note, they are both widows and resident aliens, that class of people for whom the God of Israel and Jesus has particular concern.

The notion of sojourner, resident alien, immigrant, or refugee, is embodied in the Hebrew word, ger. Ger denotes people who are displaced because of economic, political or military disruption. The seek a new life in a new place where they don’t belong, because they are no longer welcome or can no longer sustain themselves in the old place. [Ibid p 198] God’s people know this reality from their experience of slavery in Egypt and Exile in Babylon. And once Israel became a client state of the Roman Empire, Israel itself was no longer home. Like widows and orphans, the refugee and immigrant is vulnerable and without resources, thus God’s commands to care for them “as the native among you, and you shall love them as yourself. For you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” [Leviticus 19: 34]

Ruth seeks work harvesting grain to support her mother-in-law Naomi. She ends up working in a field of one of Elimelech’s kinsmen, Boaz. He fulfills the commandments to support the widows and resident aliens and instructs his field-hands to watch over Ruth. Naomi eventually instructs Ruth to “wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor” where Boaz will eat and drink and fall asleep. After he is asleep, she is to uncover his feet and lie down, “and he will tell you what to do.”  Boaz is a faithful Israelite and knows there is a closer kinsman to Elimelech, but after informing him it is settled that Ruth shall become the wife of Boaz, and he shall redeem the name of Elimelech and the two sons who died in Moab. Ruth and Boaz have a child and name him Obed.

Left at that, this would be a marvelous tale of the mysterious ways in which God arranges to provide for the world’s most vulnerable people: widows, orphans and resident aliens. God is at work in the lives of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz! They serve as models of faithful commitment to the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus. It is a story that declares that outsiders, immigrants, refugees and resident aliens, can become integral parts of the society of God’s people, and that inter-marriage is a good thing not to be feared despite the experiences of Exile and Egypt. The Book of Ruth confirms that the concerns of the Lord extend beyond the borders and the people of Israel to the people of every nation.

But the book ends with the greatest surprise of all: Obed becomes the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David, the future and model king of Israel! That is, when we extend welcome and care to those most vulnerable in our society, we can never know the contribution they may make to the future of our society, our community and our country. Ruth, a foreigner seeking asylum in Israel with her mother-in-law Naomi, becomes the great-grandmother of David, and therefore the great-great-great-great etc grandmother of Jesus, born of the house of David. This tale that is nearly 3,000 years old has much to teach us today as we struggle to understand our role in the lives of displaced and vulnerable people who come to us seeking a place to call home, a place to thrive, and a place to contribute to the future of our land and the future of the world itself!