Tuesday 21 February 2017

Notes and Questions for discussion from Wendy Haslam's sermon on Boaz

Hand out
Ruth Chapter 4:verses 1-8
The Marriage of Boaz and Ruth
4 No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by.
So Boaz said, “Come over, friend; sit down here.”
And he went over and sat down.
Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said,
“Sit down here”; so they sat down.
He then said to the next-of-kin, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech.
So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people.
If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.
” So he said, “I will redeem it.”
Then Boaz said,
“The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.”
At this, the next-of-kin said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance.
Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel.
So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz,
*“Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal.
*("In order to make every matter legal, a man would take off his sandal and give it to the other man. This was the way a contract was publicly approved in Israel.")

Summary of Sermon
Boaz’s redeeming of Ruth is a picture of Christ redeeming us.
For us all, even in sorrow and calamity, God can bring great blessings.
Ø      The events recorded in Ruth were part of God’s preparation for the births of David and then Jesus.

Ø      Because of Ruth’s faithful obedience, her life and legacy were significant even though she could not see all the result.

Ø      It is a lesson for us in living in faithfulness to God, knowing that the significance of our lives will extend beyond our life time.

Ø      To appreciate how Boaz foreshadowed Christ, we must first understand the significance of an ancient Israelite law concerning the kinsman-redeemer  It stated, “If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold”
Ø      We know the term – The sins of the fathers.
Ø      Over the years I have uncounted people weighed down by such issues. The same steps apply to past generations as they do to us. Take them to the The Lord, he will forgive and heal.
Ø      Boaz’s redeeming of Ruth is a picture of Christ redeeming us.
Christ does indeed redeem us.
1, Question: - God put into the place the line to David and then Jesus.
Is this a new concept for us?
2. Question: - How does the marriage arrangement between Ruth and Boaz look from our Western culture?
Consider how other faiths and cultures may view marriage now.
3. Question: "What is the meaning of Christian redemption?"
Are you comfortable with the concept of redemption?
You may like to discuss the below answer.

Answer:
Everyone is in need of redemption. Our natural condition was characterized by guilt: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Christ’s redemption has freed us from guilt, being “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

The benefits of redemption include eternal life (
Revelation 5:9-10), forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7), righteousness (Romans 5:17), freedom from the law’s curse (Galatians 3:13), adoption into God’s family (Galatians 4:5), deliverance from sin’s bondage (Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:14-18), peace with God (Colossians 1:18-20), and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). To be redeemed, then, is to be forgiven, holy, justified, free, adopted, and reconciled. See also Psalm 130:7-8; Luke 2:38; and Acts 20:28.

4. Question: - do you see yourself as part of a family line?
Is this a good or difficult feeling?
Do you know of any awkward things that have taken place in your family history?
Do they still have an effect upon the family? (The sins of the father’s concept.)

If there is a problem, would you consider talking to a trusted person and then asking them to pray for you?




Wendy Haslam's sermon on Boaz

Ruth Sermon Series – Boaz
We have been looking at the book of Ruth for several weeks now. When we first met Ruth she was a destitute widow.In the end we see Ruth becoming the wife of Boaz.
This may be seen as a picture of how some come to faith in Christ.  They begin with no hope. Then the risk is taken and faith in Christ is found. God saves, forgives and rebuilds lives.  He offers his blessing. 
And so you see, Boaz’s redeeming of Ruth is a picture of Christ redeeming us. For us all, even in sorrow and calamity, God can bring great blessings.
To some the book of Ruth may be just a nice story about a girl who was fortunate in the end. But in reality, the events recorded in Ruth were part of God’s preparation for the births of David and then Jesus.
Just as Ruth was unaware of this larger purpose of her life, we will not know the full purpose and importance of our lives until we are able to look back from the perspective of eternity.
Because of Ruth’s faithful obedience, her life and legacy were significant even though she could not see all the result.
It is a lesson for us in living in faithfulness to God, knowing that the significance of our lives will extend beyond our life time.
But I leap a little ahead without unpacking the scripture of this morning.
I said Boaz’s redeeming of Ruth is a picture of Christ redeeming us. How can this be? To appreciate how Boaz foreshadowed Christ, we must first understand the significance of an ancient Israelite law concerning the kinsman-redeemer.
This law helped ensure that inherited land remained within the family. It stated, “If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold”

Since Boaz was a kinsman of Naomi, he was eventually able to redeem her land through marriage to Naomi’s daughter-in-law Ruth.

Boaz went to the city gate, the traditional center of business and civic activity. He needed to be sure he was able to marry Ruth for there was another relative who might do so.
It was also a suitable place to find the other man and there would be citizens to witness their conversation.
Boaz presented the case to the relative. The deal was that Ruth came with the purchase of some land. Upon hearing that the relative backed down— as Boaz hoped he would. The way was open for Boaz to marry Ruth.
And so we look at the term kinsman-redeemer. Boas was the kinsman redeemer, and so we begin to understand that he pre-figures our own kinsman-redeemer, Jesus Christ.
And then it gets a little more complicated in that through his act of redemption, Boaz returns Naomi (Israel) to her land, and also takes Ruth (a Gentile) as his bride. This suggests a parallel with the Church as the Gentile bride of Christ. The parallels between Boaz, Naomi, and Ruth with Christ, Israel, and the Church have been widely recognized.
The events recorded in Ruth were part of God’s preparations for the births  of David and of Jesus, the promised Messiah.
Just as Ruth was unaware of this larger purpose in her life, we will not know the full purpose and importance of our lives until we are able to look back from the perspective of eternity. We must make our choices with God’s eternal values in mind  Because of Ruth’s faithful obedience, her life and legacy were significant even though she couldn’t see all the results.
One other observation. Thinking of family trees.
We know the term – The sins of the fathers.
This term derives from Biblical references, (Primarily in the books Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers) to the sins of one generation passing to another.
We see such happenings with characters in the Bible. And so it may be too within our own families if we go back many generations.
Some years ago I was very involved with the diocesan healing group under the leadership of The Revd. David Howell. He was once warden at Crowhurst Healing center in Sussex.
He talked about the burden felt by some who went to seek help and prayer at the Centre due to past generational sin. It weighed heavy upon them. With talking and prayer for release, situations really were changed.
Over the years I have encountered people weighed down by such issues. The same steps apply to past generations as they do to us. Take them to the the Lord, he will forgive and heal.
I said earlier Boaz’s redeeming of Ruth is a picture of Christ redeeming us. Christ does indeed redeem us. I end with words from Crowhurst.
“The saving, healing work of Jesus is all about Kingdom come/coming. Every time a person is drawn out of darkness, slavery or dis-ease it is a Kingdom moment.
The kingly rule and authority of Jesus breaking into our world.
Every time we allow Him to be King in our life or in a situation around us, the Kingdom has come.
Amen

(Wendy Haslam)

Tuesday 7 February 2017

Ruth Sermon Series Week 1: Questions for Discussion and Reflection

Book of Ruth Sermon Series
Week 1: Naomi


·                    If the Book of Ruth were not there, what would be lacking from the bible?

·                    What are the origins stories of your family? How important are those stories? Do you know of any immigrants in your family story?

·                    Does Naomi trust in God or in her own powers?

·                    A theme of the book is the importance of loyalty. To whom or what do the various characters show loyalty?

·                    What do the names of the characters contribute to your understanding of the Book of Ruth?

·                    Where is home?

·                    What does it mean for Christians to speak of our true home being in God’s kingdom?

·                    What is the most important choice you have made in your life?


·                    In what ways do the choices that you make (big and small) display your loyalty to God?

Ruth Sermon Series Week 1 - Naomi: Richard's sermon at Blackford and Wedmore

Book of Ruth Sermon Series
Naomi

Everyone loves the Book of Ruth. Everyone loves the book of Ruth because first and foremost it is a great story. An make no mistake this is almost certainly a work of fiction, a story written for a particular purpose, and not a piece of history – and more of why that is the case later.

The book is a great story because it has that classic progression. It begins in despair and ends with great hope for the future; it begins with death and ends with life. There is romance; there are plot complications (the appearance of the closest relative); there is suspense; there is a whiff of seduction’ and, of course there is a happy ending. Everyone loves the book of Ruth because it is a story with strong characters and we all like heroes and heroines. There is Boaz, an amalgam of everyone’s favourite uncles and everyone’s favourite boss; there is Naomi and her persistence; there is Ruth who just seems to be a truly good person – loyal, faithful, resourceful.

Everyone loves the book of Ruth because it is a story that can help navigate and reflect upon our own times, how we might act in similar situations, even though the setting of the story s so alien in both time and place. These four chapters can make us think about such weighty and relevant issues such as family, loyalty, the choices we make that define us, the nature and meaning of home, faithfulness, redemption. And I am sure that we will have the chance to reflect on many of these as the sermon series progresses.

Particularly for those who weren’t able to hear the book read last week and haven’t read it for themselves…yet, the bare bones of what happens to Naomi and Ruth are as follows.
Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two sons (Mahlon and Chilion) are forced to leave their home in Bethlehem because of poor harvests and resettle in Moab (Moab is in what is now Jordan, across the Dead Sea from Israel – you can see the hills of Moab from Bethlehem, but it could have been a difficult and dangerous journey through the Judean desert). The sons marry, the three men die and when Naomi hears that things in  Bethlehem are going well now, she opts to return. Her daughters in law Ruth and Orpah go with her. Naomi tries to persuade them that they will prosper better in Moab. Orpah stays; Ruth returns with her. It is harvest time in Bethlehem so Ruth goes out to glean what she can. By chance she finds herself in the fields of a landowner who is also a relative (or kinsman), Boaz. Boaz recognises Ruth for a relative and perhaps takes a shine for her; so he makes sure he is looked after.
Naomi is delighted at this turn of events and persuades Ruth to lie at Boaz’s feet at night. Boaz recognises his responsibility for the family but knows there is a relative who has a closer claim on the women. He buys the claim off the other relative, marries Ruth and they all live happily ever after, Ruth and Boaz becoming the great grandparents of David himself.

I mentioned at the beginning that this is story and not history. That it is so is kind of given away by the names. For it seems as if these characters were named for the part they play in the tale or for a particular light they can cast on our relationship with God. After all who, in real life would call their two sons, as Naomi and Elimelech do , Sick and Weakling. Ruth means ‘Friend’ and that is exactly what she proves to be; Orpah means Nape of the Neck and therefore to present the back of the neck and therefore ‘turned away’, another appropriate name. While Boaz means Strength or Security, which is exactly what he offers. Finally Elimelech means My God is King’. And this is what all the characters in one way or another discover as the narrative progresses.

So a story, written for a particular purpose and this is why all the scholars also love the book of Ruth – because no-one knows when or why it was written and so they can argue around and around to their hearts content.
Was Ruth perhaps written during the time of the early kings to give that link to David? The book begins by saying that it was the time of the Judges and everyone knew that this was a time of anarchy and misfortune. It ends with David’s heritage, David who brought stability and wealth to his country. You can read the whole book as a sort of ‘Origins’ story. The entertainment industry is obsessed with origins stories at the moment. The Marvel franchise of superhero films has recently given us all sorts of back stories to explain how the heroes came upon their powers. James Bond has been back to his family home and been stalked by an old family nemesis. Even the final Sherlock episode can be explained as an ‘Origins’ story. Our own family origins fascinate us, where we have come from. Our family foundations stories are repeated to each generation and often embellished. And the book of Ruth tells us that Origins stories were important then also. This is David’s origins story and it is notable that his foundation story is one of refugees and aliens and powerless but able women.




Or was Ruth perhaps written after the people of Israel had returned to their land from exile, hundreds of years after the supposed events of the book? At a time when some strands of the jewish faith were pushing for greater purity, seeking to ban marriages with non Jews, here is a different side to things, a story about the great grandmother of the greatest king of Israel who just happens to be a Moabite, a foreigner, and a rather wonderful woman at that. God is God of everyone, not just of Israel and so anyone can join his family.  And so we wonder about the place of stranger or immigrant in our own family or community story (focus more on that next week when come to look more closely at Ruth)

Anyway whenever and for whomever it was written, everyone loves the book of Ruth. But not everyone love Naomi. One commentator writes, ‘It’s often hard to “read” Naomi. She will sound deeply depressed and disillusioned with God when she is trying to persuade the two women to stay in Moab and when she herself gets back to Bethlehem…does she have much hope that her hopes will be fulfilled? One could hardly blame her if the answer is no.’
Naomi means ‘Gracious One’ but God has hardly been gracious to her. She is like a female version of Job – her wealth, status, security and family stripped away from her one by one. Reading some refugee stories as part of this sermon preparation, I was struck by how similar the stories and the desires of many of them were to those of Naomi, in the way that she becomes as nothing, in the way that she longs for her home and also in the way that she still remains a protagonist, moving the action forward, taking responsibility. Little wonder that Naomi seems depressed and full of self pity at times but her actions belie her words and her part of the story show the importance of sticking with someone through depression, standing by them, as Ruth stood by Naomi, not giving up or turning away, even if the one who is depressed seems not to care (Naomi’s reaction when Ruth insists on sticking with her is a kind of ‘Whatever.’ Like many before and after, Naomi is saved by the love of a good woman.
Not everyone loves Naomi, but I have always had a soft spot for her (perhaps it’s because my wife’s middle name is ‘Naomi’). Naomi refuses to play the victim and on more than one occasion is the one to move the action forward.

When we first really come across Naomi, she is utterly powerless, lacking the protection of husband, father, son, an old woman, lacking protection even of own land and people. Here are three women who appear to have nothing except each other and the passage I chose for today gives us Naomi railing against her situation but it also gives us those beautiful words of Ruth and the covenant she makes with Naomi
‘Where you go, I will go;
   where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
   and your God my God.’
Beautiful words.
But these powerless women, a refugee and an alien are shown to be important and precious to God and important to his plan for his people, Israel. So again as we use the book of Ruth to ask questions of our own time, might it be the case that those with nothing, those who are powerless are also precious and important to God and tohis plans for his people.

Finally, this part of the story that belongs to Naomi can help us to reflect on the nature of home. Home for Naomi was a definite place, the hills around Bethlehem that she could perhaps see from Moab.
Home for Ruth is tied up more with people, those she is closest to.
Home for each of us brings out so many associations. I guess that, for me it is the fields and hills and houses where I grew up, little changed through that time and home is also about family.
But home for Ruth is also tied up with the God of Israel, our Father. She ultimately finds her home among God’s people and in God’s presence. And so she reminds us that we can become too attached to ‘home’. For we who are Christians our true home is only and always where God is. We are citizens of heaven in the process of colonising earth. As that great Easter hymn proclaims ‘bring us safe through Jordan to our home above.’ Ruth and Naomi came safely through the Jordan, one to an old home, one to find a new one. Both ultimately found their home in being faithful to the one we call upon today. may we be faithful also, may we also ‘come home’.


‘Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone by John Goldingay;  publ. by SPCK





Ruth 1.11-21
11But Naomi said, ‘Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?12Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, 13would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.’ 14Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
15 So she said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ 16But Ruth said,
‘Do not press me to leave you
   or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
   where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
   and your God my God. 
17 Where you die, I will die—
   there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
   and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!’ 
18When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, ‘Is this Naomi?’ 20She said to them,
‘Call me no longer Naomi,
   call me Mara,
   for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. 
21 I went away full,
   but the Lord has brought me back empty;
why call me Naomi
   when the Lord has dealt harshly with me,
   and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?’


Ruth Sermon Series - Flyer

Love and Loyalty
Welcoming the stranger
What does Family mean?
Men and Women
Provision for the poor

THE BOOK OF RUTH
A SERMON SERIES
JANUARY 29TH-FEBRUARY 26TH 2017

The Book of Ruth takes us back to the very early days of the people of Israel, before the prophets, before the Kings, before even Samuel. Yet some of themes of the story can appear very contemporary, such as those above.

Over the five weeks of the sermon series we will look at these themes through a focus on a different character each week and discover what God might be saying to his people today.

Each sermon will be accompanied by notes and questions that can be used in home groups or for individual reflection. Many of the sermons will also be posted on the St Mary’s website.


Sunday 29th January –   listening to the whole book read out loud.
Sunday 5th February –   Naomi
Sunday 12th February – Ruth
Sunday 19th January –   Boaz
Sunday 26th January -   God


Where there is an all age service, the theme will be tackled in an age appropriate way, rather than with a s ‘set sermon’.