{"id":1502,"date":"2016-07-31T13:11:40","date_gmt":"2016-07-31T17:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/?p=1502"},"modified":"2016-07-31T13:11:40","modified_gmt":"2016-07-31T17:11:40","slug":"to-earn-the-trust-of-immigrants-teachings-from-the-book-of-ruth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/?p=1502","title":{"rendered":"To Earn the Trust of Immigrants: Teachings from the Book of Ruth"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>
Khizr and Ghazala Khan, parents of Humayun Khan, who was killed while serving in Iraq with the U.S. Army. Timothy A. Clary\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhy did Elimelech and Naomi leave Bethlehem?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

They knew the story: This is a church filled with bible-literate individuals, after all.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause there was a famine,\u201d one woman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes that happen elsewhere in bible?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

They named examples: Abraham leaves his land because of famine. Jacob sends his sons to foreign climes to find food.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo,\u201d I said, \u201cNaomi and her family leaves Bethlehem, the house of bread, because there is no bread to be found. They leave their homeland because they are hungry, because they need to feed their children. They leave because they need to find a better place for their family.\u201d<\/p>\n

I paused and looked around. \u201cCan we think about that, please? Can we think about the way our texts tell us that our forefathers and foremothers had every reason to emigrate in order to survive?\u201d<\/p>\n

Then I asked: \u201cDo we know this family? Do we know these immigrants?\u201d<\/p>\n

For two Sundays church members and I explored the Book of Ruth. We spoke about the ways in which the text showed is the despair of indescribable loss. It is Ruth, the Moabite, who creates hope for her mother-in-law, Naomi. It is Ruth \u2013 not the townspeople of Bethlehem \u2013 who makes sure her widowed and childless mother-in-law is fed. It is Ruth who intertwines the law of the levir and the law of redemption and asks Boaz to help her make certain her husband, Mahlon\u2019s line, will not be extinguished and her mother-in-law will eat.<\/p>\n

The Book of Ruth is not simply a happy idyll.<\/p>\n

Naomi sends Ruth into the night dressed and perfumed and tells her to lie down in the dark next to their kinsman. Naomi prepares her adopted daughter to act the seductress. What risks is Naomi taking with Ruth? Ruth belongs to a hated people. Moabites are clearly associated with sexual profligacy in bible (Numbers 25). Moabites may not be admitted, so Deuteronomy 23:3, into the congregation of Israel.\u00a0 Ever.<\/p>\n

Every major character of the Book of Ruth bends the rules in order to assure what appears to be a happy ending. And the outcome still leaves us with questions. The townspeople both name Ruth\u2019s child and hand the infant over to Naomi. What of Ruth, who dared to come to a foreign country though she belonged to a despised people? Ruth vowed to be a daughter to Naomi. Ruth herself proposed the marriage that would, at one fell swoop, permit her mother-in-law security and a descendant who could \u2013 in some way \u2013 replace her dead sons? Does the end of the story give Ruth her due?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d I said, \u201cwe know that immigrant women in this country are at risk. Yes,\u201d I said, \u201cwe know immigrants who have given everything they had to this country and its people. Yes,\u201d I said, \u201cwe know immigrants who are hated because they belong to a despised people. Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho here has served in America\u2019s military? I asked. About ten people raised their hands. \u201cPlease rise,\u201d I said. \u201cWho has had a parent who served in America\u2019s military?\u201d I asked. \u201cPlease rise.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then, the parents of sons and daughters in America\u2019s military. \u201cPlease rise,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

I looked at those parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is reprehensible to attack the parents who have lost a child serving in America\u2019s military. It is doubly reprehensible to do so because of those parents\u2019 religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then I asked everyone to reflect about what they had learned and to dedicate it to the memory of Captain Humayun Saqib Muazzam Khan and in honor of his parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan.<\/p>\n

I asked everyone to pray with me. So we did. For an America that opens its arms to our immigrants. For a country that knows that we are the stronger for those who cast their lot with us.<\/p>\n

We have our Moabites. The Book of Ruth tells us what we should do when they arrive at our shores. Welcome them, make them at home, and honor them for their courage and their hard work. Thank them for trusting us.<\/p>\n

Earn that trust.\u00a0 May we learn that lesson and act accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I asked everyone to pray with me. So we did. For an America that opens its arms to our immigrants. For a country that knows that we are the stronger for those who cast their lot with us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[393,395,396,394,397,383],"class_list":["post-1502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-captain-humayun-khan","tag-ghazala-khan","tag-immigrants","tag-khizr-khan","tag-moabites","tag-the-book-of-ruth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1502"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1511,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502\/revisions\/1511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}