Karen and Jan’s Wedding

Ruth 1: 16-17 Ruth said,
‘Do not press me to leave you
 or to turn back from following you!
 Where you go, I will go;
 where you lodge, I will lodge;
 your people shall be my people,
 and your God my God. 
Where you die, I will die—
 there will I be buried.
 May the Lord do thus and so to me,
 and more as well, 
if even death parts me from you!’

Karen rather off handedly suggested using Ruth as a lesson. I am not sure she understood how apt it is. For many years, this passage has been used in traditional marriages. The promise made by two women defined for heterosexuals what it is to be wed. And now the definition of marriage has increasingly changed from a man and a woman coming together to have children to two people promising faithful love for a lifetime.

The passage is also relevant to our situation as these are two foreign women. Naomi is Hebrew and the speaker, Ruth, is Moabite.

And even more important, the book of Ruth was included in the sacred scriptures to counter the establishment’s contention that God’s law called for a pure race. Ezra and Nehemiah had commanded all Hebrew men to divorce their foreign wives. Ruth’s short story was written to remind them their favorite king, David, was descended from grandparents who were of a mixed marriage between Jew and Moabite.

The same correction was made concerning Jesus. When people insisted the Messiah had to be pure, Matthew included Ruth and 3 other women in his genealogy. Two were foreign, one was a prostitute, one an adulteress, one was raped by one of the 12 Hebrew patriarchs, and one was Ruth.

Ruth was no old fashioned girl. She and Naomi were on the ancient welfare roles. While she was gleaning the fields, wealthy Boaz noticed her beauty, leading Naomi to devise a plan to get him drunk and lead him to believe he had sexual relations with Ruth. Being a good man, he married her and solved all their problems.

In other words, for over 3,000 years, God’s people have been asking if God would approve of what they are doing. Certainly some claim what we are doing is against divine law. But we are here to affirm Jan and Karen as they continue the contrarian tradition of discerning how unconditional God’s love is and how faithful love in all situations should direct our actions.

Tags: Lesbian Wedding, Marriage, Ruth