October 31, 2009
-
Allegiances
I did a little research on how different countries give allegiance. I was surprised to find only three countries give their allegiance to their flag, the US being one and the Philippines and South Korea being the others. Most countries that have an official allegiance call it an oath and not a pledge and quite generally it is to a monarch. The majority of countries have an oath of allegiance to Queen Victoria and her heirs and successors, these would be commonwealth countries. Ireland is a notable exception; the Irish swear their oath of allegiance to the constitution of Ireland and offer faithfulness to King George V and his heirs and successors. So what? You might well ask. I hate to let research go to waste and I think it is interesting to look at what nations have chosen to give their allegiance to and why. The US started out as a British colony and probably had some oath of allegiance to King George III prior to the revolution and sought something to replace it and chose the flag to avoid the appearance of a monarchy. The Philippines may have chosen a pledge of allegiance to their flag as a result of being very much a colony of the US and following that example. The Irish, being the independent lot that they are were unwilling to give allegiance to anything not Irish so they compromised and pledged faithfulness to the monarchy but reserved their allegiance for the constitution of Ireland. There is great value in knowing to what you have given your allegiance and why.
In the story of Ruth and Naomi, Ruth gives here allegiance to Naomi. I take great pleasure in knowing that for centuries, opposite gender couples have included the pledge made between women in their marriage vows despite the laws and church traditions that would prevent two women from saying these words to each other in a recognized marriage ceremony. Ruth pledges her allegiance to Naomi and as a result she pledges to be loyal to Naomi’s people and her god. Nothing in the story tells us whether Ruth and her husband had kept a kosher home in Moab. It is quite unlikely they did. Most households kept the religious tradition of the wife in that time and that is why it was prohibited in the Jewish faith for a man to marry a non-Jew. Both of Naomi’s sons married Moabite woman so one could guess they weren’t strict Jews. None the less, Ruth has seen something in Naomi that makes her want to be with her and she is willing to adopt Naomi’s people and religion to do so. I would guess that many, if not all of us, came to our faith in a similar way. We were led to an understanding of God through the words and actions of someone else. Today, on All Saints Day, we celebrate the cloud of witnesses that impacted who we are today and who continue to influence us today. It is good for us to remember and honour them. It is also important we remember they were guides in our lives and not the destination.
Ruth loved Naomi as a result of what she saw in her while they lived together in Moab. Ruth lived in Israel and practiced the Jewish faith because she love Naomi but her faith and her identity went beyond that. Ruth developed her own relationship with God and, in some ways her trust in God exceeded Naomi’s. Eventually it was Ruth who restored Naomi’s happiness and her joy in God. It is critical that we go beyond admiring someone else’s faith. The Jews did this when they began to worship God’s laws rather than living in direct relationship with God. Jesus came to teach them and us that our allegiance is to God not to the laws that were meant to guide us to God. In many ways, we have done the same thing in our worship of Jesus. Jesus never asked for, expected, or even accepted worship of him. He continuously pointed to people to God, his parent and the one deserving of our worship, our loyalty, our allegiance. It is always dangerous when we lose sight of the true object of our worship. It is dangerous when the messenger means more than the message. We have all known of good religious ministries that went horribly wrong when the people and the leader lost track of their purpose and the object of their worship. As we remember the saints of the past, it is important that we remember them for what they taught us and not exaggerate their importance beyond that of guide and mentor toward a greater and more perfect understanding of God. We may make oaths or pledges of allegiance to flag, monarch, or constitution but our spiritual allegiance must always be to the living God as we have come to know and understand God. Let it be so and amen.
Comments (2)
I’ve not thought about the fact that we never hear Jesus ask for that kind of worship.
But only to follow Him unto the Father. I’m not as familier with the story of Ruth and Naomi… but it sounds very interesting.
Have a great Sunday Bob,
*~matthew~*
@bleuzeus - Only late in my journey have I come to the understanding Jesus is not to be worshipped. It helps to take the maleness out of God when we remember this. Here is the Ruth and Naomi story:
2Once upon a time—it was back in the days when judges led Israel— there was a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah left home to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The man’s name was Elimelech; his wife’s name was Naomi; his sons were named Mahlon and Kilion—all Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They all went to the country of Moab and settled there. 3-5 Elimelech died and Naomi was left, she and her two sons. The sons took Moabite wives; the name of the first was Orpah, the second Ruth. They lived there in Moab for the next ten years. But then the two brothers, Mahlon and Kilion, died. Now the woman was left without either her young men or her husband.
6-7 One day she got herself together, she and her two daughters-in-law, to leave the country of Moab and set out for home; she had heard that God had been pleased to visit Judah and give them food. And so she started out from the place she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law with her, on the road back to the land of Judah. 8-9 After a short while on the road, Naomi told her two daughters-in-law, “Go back. Go home and live with your mothers. And may God treat you as graciously as you treated your deceased husbands and me. May God give each of you a new home and a new husband!” She kissed them and they cried openly. 10 They said, “No, we’re going on with you to your people.” 11-13 But Naomi was firm: “Go back, my dear daughters. Why would you come with me? Do you suppose I still have sons in my womb who can become your future husbands? Go back, dear daughters—on your way, please! I’m too old to get a husband. Why, even if I said, ‘There’s still hope!’ and this very night got a man and had sons, can you imagine being satisfied to wait until they were grown? Would you wait that long to get married again? No, dear daughters; this is a bitter pill for me to swallow—more bitter for me than for you. God has dealt me a hard blow.” 14 Again they cried openly. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye; but Ruth embraced her and held on. 15 Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law is going back home to live with her own people and gods; go with her.” 16-17 But Ruth said, “Don’t force me to leave you; don’t make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I’ll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; where you die, I’ll die, and that’s where I’ll be buried, so help me God—not even death itself is going to come between us!” 18-19 When Naomi saw that Ruth had her heart set on going with her, she gave in. And so the two of them traveled on together to Bethlehem.