At mealtime Boaz called to Ruth, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food.” Ruth 2:14
“Come over here.” There’s a seat at the table for you.
The workers had come in from the fields for a midday meal. Ruth had been gleaning in the edges the fields, picking up the wheat they dropped there. Gleaning was written by God into the laws of the Jewish people as a means of providing for the poor and those incapable of providing for themselves.
But Ruth knew she didn’t belong at the table with the paid workers. She was a stranger—a foreigner—even an outcast in this society because she was a Moabite.
But Boaz called to her: “Come over here.” He had made a place for her at the table. So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz served her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over. He made sure she had more than enough.
Today, there are so many lonely people standing on the fringes. They’re too poor, too weak, too scared, or they feel judged or like they’re not good enough, or they just feel like they don’t belong.
Ruth had left her own country because there was nothing for her in Moab. She was a young widow with no future, and she had thrown in her lot with her mother-in-law, Naomi, an older widow who had no more than she.
Here’s the good news. People on the fringes were the people Jesus noticed. They were the ones He said who were blessed; they were the ones He said would inherit the earth; they were the ones who would see God; and they were the ones He was preparing a heaven for.
And because of that, we are all in this group. Aren’t you? Who among us doesn’t feel these things? Who doesn’t feel like they’re not good enough? Who doesn’t feel judged? Who doesn’t feel weak?
Imagine the cacophony in heaven of all of us healed, happy and amazed that there is seat reserved for us at the table. Truly, we will all feel this way. We will all feel like we don’t belong there—but astonished that we do.
If you are not a MemberPartner, know that we are a group of fringe people—people in the margins—who have been brought into the middle by Jesus and each other. This is a place where you belong. We have a seat for you at our table, and if you can’t afford $20 a month, no worries, we have those standing by who are eager to cover you. Just let us know by emailing Marti at [email protected]. We don’t want anyone to be left out.
The Invitation
You may not realize it—but you already belong closer than you think
Maybe you’ve been with us for a while.
Reading. Listening. Watching from just outside the circle.
And in many ways—you’re already part of this.
But there’s something more.
Throughout Scripture, the table is where people find belonging.
Not because they earned it.
But because someone made room.
And today, we want you to hear this clearly:
MemberPartners are holding a place at the table for you.
Not someday.
Not when you’re ready.
Now.
👉 Step in. Take your seat. Become a MemberPartner.
