Ruth 2:8-10
English Standard Version (ESV)
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
Benjie Kim wrapped up the Image series, looking explicitly and specifically at Scripture of how present God's heart for the immigrant is from Ruth 2:8-10. Ruth clings on to Naomi and moves to Judah to become the immigrant/stranger/foreigner. Boaz bestowed a sense of hospitality on Ruth. Biblical hospitality is opening up our home to the stranger. Henri Nouwen defined, “Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.” We have to know what it means to experience the vulnerability and weakness of the stranger. Chris Cheung, from our NOC family, shared how he found his life changed in his childhood when people poured their lives in him, and in response, Chris and his family opened up his home to a stranger. Chris was a stranger first before he could be blessing to a stranger. We are called to serve the stranger because we were all strangers. We experience the redemption of Christ by being the stranger.
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