Wise as Serpents, Innocent as Doves
Wise as Serpents, Innocent as Doves
Ruth 4:5-6
Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
Boaz has just delivered a masterclass on the art of the deal. Consider his speech through the lens of a commercial, friend. Think of the way a beer commercial frames its advertisements, usually by targeting younger demographics, by splashing images of people laughing around a pool or an outdoor BBQ or a tailgate for the ballgame, making drinking seem like a safe and fun and unifying endeavor, only to tack on a quick warning at the very end like, “Please drink responsibly.” Medicinal drug commercials follow the same template. We’ll hear a calming narration, undergirded by a happy-go-lucky musical score, with scenes of couples walking together on a shoreline or kissing under the moonlight or laughing during a pickleball game, only to get a brief overview of the devastating side effects in the closing frame. That’s the template for modern messaging: put all the good stuff out front in bright, bold font, and condense all the bad stuff into the smallest font you can find. Ah, but Boaz flips the script. He’s more saint than salesman, and a saint is the only messenger who can be savvy and honest at the same time.
At first, when Boaz starts out by offering this kinsman redeemer Naomi’s fields, I’m sure the guy’s face lights up. “Of course I’ll take some free farmland!”, he probably says. But then Boaz starts talking about death, and then he cleverly frames the mandatory marriage to Ruth as a liability rather than the greatest prize—not deceptively, but matter-of-factly—and it works. Boaz doesn’t have to bring Ruth to the bargaining table in her best dress, nor does he have to tell this relative the story of Ruth’s heroism. No, his only prerogative is to state the facts and give this man a right of refusal, which, to his great credit, he faithfully and justly and artfully does.
“Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” our Lord commanded in Matthew 16:10. Boaz shows us how.