Dedicated To Commitment

Ruth's incredible story as told by Obed, the grandson of Ruth.

He tells of Boaz, Naomi, and the role Rahab had in this engaging saga. The bloodlines that Ruth created are to be celebrated. COULD BE USED AS A LONGER SERMON STARTER, OR TO COMPLIMENT THE SERMON.

Cast: 1 (monolog) m

Bible Reference: Ruth 1

Set: standard

Sound: wireless mics if available

Song: none

Lighting: standard

SFX: none

Props: none

Costumes: traditional

Special Instructions: none

Time: 20

Sample of script:

Actor comes on stage

The barley harvest. And a fine crop it will be. Plenty and more for all. This year the poor, the gleaners will also have full bellies. Where are my foremen? You, Eliab, (pronounced E-lý-ab), go remind my foremen in the fields, tell them Boaz says “leave extra for the gleaners.”

There she is, over there, my kinsman Naomi’s benefactor and daughter-in-law, Ruth, the Moabitish woman. We warned Naomi and her husband to stay in Jerusalem during the time of the famine. But my relative, Elimelech, he never was a man to be talked into anything once his mind was made up. Off to Moab they went, searching for a land of milk and honey. What did they find? Death for Elimelech, then death for their two sons, Chilion and Mahlon as well, leaving Naomi a widow, and as well, a widow’s life for her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth.

After 10 years of hardship, and with nothing left to hold Naomi in Moab, Naomi makes the logical, the right decision to return to Bethlehem and to we, her relatives. From what I hear, Orpah and Ruth felt honour bound to make the trip back here with their mother-in-law, but seems like it didn’t take too much persuasion from Naomi to convince Orpah that she should stay with her relatives in Moab. Ruth, on the other hand, flatly insisted on leaving her native Moab and returning to Judah with Naomi, declaring her complete devotion to her mother-in-law.

Face it, the decision is radical, and from a cultural perspective makes absolutely no sense. But then, Ruth felt a dedication and a commitment to Naomi, and a dedication to commitment seldom makes “head sense”. Ruth and Naomi arrived here in Jerusalem at the beginning of the grain harvest. I must admit, I was impressed to see that this foreigner, Ruth, why she took straightaway to work. To keep from starving, or worse, from begging, or a life of prostitution, she took advantage of our custom which demanded that landowners not harvest the corners of the fields but leave this grain for the poor to harvest, to glean.

I am told that Ruth just “happened to come” to my field. Me, Boaz, a very wealthy relative of Naomi’s deceased husband. Whether it just happened, or whether by design . . .