Causing Good Trouble
"Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble." - Rep. John Lewis
Ruth embodies the sort of advocacy that the great Civil Rights activist, John Lewis, spoke of. She went to the overseer in the fields and spoke up, because she was collecting food not just for herself but for Naomi who couldn’t even get out of the house. Her words echo the risk-taking spirit that jump-started her journey from Moab to Israel in the first place. To us it may not mean much, but it was a radical step when Ruth said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ (Ruth 2:7).
The Law designated the edges of the fields as where immigrants and the poor could collect a bit of food after the gleaners harvested the crop (see Leviticus 23:22). But Ruth speaks up and asks to jump into the middle of the field with the harvesters - where she was not supposed to be, but where she could gather enough food for both her and Naomi. Bold!
For those of us who have experienced being marginalized, it’s such a risk to put yourself out there in the area where you’ve been pushed to the side. Ruth has so much courage - and some desperation as well - to do so. But mostly, it’s love. She loves Naomi and she wants to serve her and care for her as she pledged back in Ruth 1. And in the end, that’s what wins the day. In fact, the owner of the field says, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done” (Ruth 2:11-12). Her love is evident to outsiders, and God opens a huge door for her that day.
Where might God be opening a door for you to speak up, to name a real need that can be fulfilled - not out of selfishness but out of love for God’s justice and for what God’s up to in the world?