1st Sunday after Trinity – Sermon 70
Prayer to start
May the words of my lips and the thoughts of our hearts be graciously received for the glory and honour of our Lord Jesus Christ
AMEN
Introduction
What’s your favourite type of story?
A love story – a mystery? – an adventure story?
A bit of science fiction like – Harry Potter – or stars wars ? –
Maybe you like the soaps – like to imagine yourselves – in the everyday struggles of the people in Coronation street – Brookeside – or Eastenders –
In our readings this evening we have two stories – about Jewish life – one about the struggles of a family – in the violent times of the Judges – and the other a well known parable – about a farmer sowing his seed –
Stories that touch the lives of ordinary people – they challenge us to change – our attitude towards God – and towards each other – we are going to look at each one to see if it helps us decide how we should change –
Point 1 Ruth
The story of Ruth is one of – love – courage and faith – it tells of a family from Bethlehem, Elimelech, his wife Naomi and his two sons, emigrating to Moab at a time of famine – the sons – marry two local Moabite girls – Orpah and Ruth
Then tragedy strikes –
The father – and the two sons all die in Moab – and the women are left – without a future –
Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem along with her daughter-in-law Ruth
She wanted Ruth to stay – with her own family –- but Ruth clings to Naomi – and pledges her support to her – and to the God of Israel –
“where you go I shall go, and where you stay I shall stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God”
We pick up the story after their arrival in Bethlehem – its harvest time – and so that they can eat – Ruth offers to go out and collect stalks of grain – left behind by the harvesters –
The Law requires landowners to leave behind what the harvesters missed for the poor and needy – so they could “glean” for their own needs.
Ruth finds herself in a field owned by Boaz – a relative of Naomi’s husband – He offers his protection and allows her to “glean” – among the sheavers –
In verse 12, Boaz sends out prayer for Ruth – “The Lord reward you for what you have done for Naomi – may you be richly repaid by the Lord God of Israel – under whose wings you have come to take refuge”
He even tells his men to deliberately leave some of the grain for her to find – as one bible translation puts it “ to drop handfuls – on purpose”
He offers her protection and food throughout the Barley harvest – and the wheat harvest as well
Boaz is – mirroring the character of God – generously giving beyond all expectations –
As some one once wrote –
“The way to give God thanks is to make room for more Grace” –
In his act of giving – Boaz was sending out praises to God – and fulfilling – what he had asked God to provide for Ruth –
Naomi is amazed at what Ruth brings home – she’s even more amazed – when she learns that the man who offered his protection to Ruth – is a “kinsman redeemer” – someone responsible for protecting the weak and needy in her family – and in verse 20 – she calls down God’s blessings on Boaz – “Blessings be upon you from the Lord – who has kept faith with the living and the dead” –
The four chapters in Ruth – take us from a time of sadness and discouragement – to one of hope and promise –trusting and working –fulfillment and salvation
Ruth and Naomi had lost everything when their husbands had died – but in their journey together – they changed – found a special bond – towards each other – and towards God – that gave them a new direction – a new hope –
Ruth was a foreigner – from a country viewed with suspicion – but throughout the story – we see the hand of God – caring and guiding – even when the focus seemed to be on others – God brought her through the narrow doorway of acceptance – into the community of Israel – so she could play her part in its future – and in the plan to provide a new “kinsman redeemer” for the whole of mankind –
Point 2 The parable of Sower
Our second story – tells of a farmer sowing his seed over His land
Common land in Palestine was divided into strips – with paths in between – Land was expensive – and the farmer used every bit of it for agriculture – He scattered His seed everywhere – whatever survived and produced grain – he gathered in – at harvest time –
As Jesus tells us in verse 11 – the seed is the word of God – whether the seed produces a good crop or not – depends on the quality of the ground it lands on – the heart and response of the person who hears –
On the hard path – the seed is given no opportunity to sprout – these are the most difficult people to reach – hardened by life’s problems – they reject God without a second look – there’s no root – no growth – no change – no life – God’s word bounces off – like water off a ducks back – there is always something more important for them to think about and do – the devil sees to that –
The stony ground – is where the soil is shallow – there has been a change in attitude – but there’s no long term commitment – no real space for God within their lifestyle – before long they hit rock – stop listening – there’s no more nourishment and – spiritual commitment dies
then the soil full of weeds – the distracted disciple – – who starts well – but after a while God becomes less and less important – the couch-grass of rival interests takes over – and clogs their enthusiasm –
God offers full reward only to those who take the long term view – the good soil – “they hear the word and hold it fast and by their perseverance yield a harvest” –
As John Mc Arthur wrote on the Gospel according to Jesus – “ Fruit bearing is the whole point of agriculture. In the harvest weedy soil offers no more hope than does the hard road or the shallow ground. All are equally worthless for all are equally fruitless. Fruit bearing is the whole point of agriculture and its also the ultimate test, then, of salvation”
Four kinds of soil – but only one is the good soil –this one – in – four picture – might makes us think God’s is difficult to reach – in fact He’s easy to reach – He’s just at the end of a prayer – its the pressure to follow another path that causes the difficulties –
Jesus is telling this story to reassure us – that – like the farmer – God knows what He’s doing – to us -there seems to be a lot of wastage – but in fact a good harvest is guaranteed – the seed sown on the good soil more than makes up for the other three –
Point 3 So what does all this mean for us?
Jesus’ story might suggest to us that once the seed is sown – God plays no further part in the growth process until harvest time – well – that’s certainly not the case – as we’
ve seen from Ruth –
He cares about the details in our lives – nurtures and encourages each one of us as we grow – works for our highest good – even though we don’t realize it – He wants to see His word produce fruit – wants to see us change – and become like the good soil
He steers and guides us – through the power of the Holy Spirit – encourages us to – get rid of the hard clumps – and stones – to remove the obstacles and distractions – that prevent us reaching Him – and get in the way of our commitment –
He cleans and feeds us – through the love of His Son – Jesus set us free us from the smothering effects of our sins – by dieing for us – once and for all – on the cross – so that our relationship with God can begin to grow again –
We are fed and nourished through our contact with God – in daily prayer – in reading and understanding the teaching in our Bibles – and through the fellowship and encouragement of one another –
God wants us to take refuge – under His wings – to stay in His field – and receive “handfuls on purpose” – If we believe and trust and stay faithful to Him – then we know that we will be blessed – and God’s harvest from us will be large –
Ending
So if a story is written about our lives – what type of story would it be?
A love story? – an adventure? – one of service? – of prosperity?
We live in a society that believes in luck – buy a lottery ticket – and with any luck – you’ll be a millionaire – But as Christians we know – that life is not about – Good luck – but about – God Bless – its not about chance – but grace – its not about living a life for ourselves – but about growing in our relationship with God –
Only when we are prepared to do that will we know – that our lives will be truly favoured – and we will be blessed with a happy ending –
Prayer to finish
In the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit
AMEN