Insult

“Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her.” Ruth 2:15

Insult – When strangers or the homeless seek the refuge of God’s house, how do you think they feel?  Grateful?  Relieved?  Probably.  But my guess is that they also feel ashamed, perhaps humiliated.  In fact, one of the reasons that the desperate (who are high on God’s list of important people) do not come openly to the arms of God’s people is our tendency to look down on them.  Our world paradigm believes that worth is tied to success.  If I’m not making it in life, I have no value.  People who need help are often considered worthless.  In the days of Boaz, suffering was considered a mark of God’s disfavor and punishment.  Maybe we haven’t come so far after all.

The Hebrew word is kalam.  It doesn’t really mean, “insult”.  To insult someone is to speak degradingly about him or her.  This word is much stronger and much broader.  It means, “to humiliate, to reproach or to put to shame”.  This includes a lot more than words.  All I need to do is turn away, make a face, avoid you or be condescending.  There are so many subtle ways to shame someone in need.  It’s so easy to do.

Boaz instructs his servants: “Don’t make her feel ashamed.”  We need to hear that.  The desperate, the sick, the imprisoned, the oppressed, the brokenhearted are struggling with a lot more than physical wants.  They need spiritual nourishment too.  And that means personal worth, respect, dignity and love.  Don’t give me your hand if you won’t give me your heart.

Do you want to be a servant of the King?  Then practice compassion.  You can’t do it by simply writing a check or delegating the task to someone else.  Compassion requires personal engagement.  Boaz gives us good advice.  First, realize who pays the wages.  Second, recognize worthiness from God’s perspective.  Third, practice compassion.  Get your hands dirty on behalf of someone else.