Blue Lake Presbyterian Church | 11-8-2015
Good morning
It is a delight to be back here on this wonderful Sunday morning. What a blessing to hear the raindrops coming down on our rooftops last night giving much needed precipitation.
Our opening hymn this morning was “Morning has broken”, we all know this song, the lyrics in the second verse are very fitting today: sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from heaven, like the first dew fall on the first grass, praise for the sweetness of the wet garden, sprung in completeness, where God’s feet pass.
We welcome the rain. The hills are still golden brown by the lack of water after this long dry spell since spring. This morning we will discuss droughts and famines in the message as we highlight passages from Ruth and Mark 12.
As flower farmers we spend most of the time at the farm but we also visit customers or conventions. A few weeks ago I went to Miami to attend a convention for the flower industry and then Atlanta to a tradeshow for the produce and floral business.
These events are a great way to see and hear what is happening in our industry and to connect with existing and new customers.
The number one question that came up in virtually every conversation was the following: how is the drought affecting you. Do you still have enough water to grow your flowers? And isn’t water getting expensive, and how bad is the drought affecting the rest of California? Here in Northern California we are blessed with a good supply of very good quality water. In the South we do have water but it is getting more expensive.
Yes we are in a drought without question, by most standards it is severe and possibly the worst one in California in the last century. An estimated 900,000 acres have been fallowed causing an economic loss of $2.2 billion to California’s farmers.
Looking back in time, our Nation has seen many droughts before. Think of the dustbowl in the thirties or the great drought of the 50’s in the Southwest and Texas or the drought in in the 60’s affecting the NE or the previous drought tin California in the 70’s and 80’s. Going back in time further there were droughts in the 1800’s and a drought in Europe in the 1300’s but details are scarce.
The Old Testament provides accurate events of droughts and famines taking us back to the days of Abram in Genesis 12:10 it describes a severe drought and Abram went down to the land of Egypt as an alien because of the famine in the land of Israel. A generation later in genesis 26:1 Isaac moved to the land of philistines after a famine came upon the land once more. Then about 50 years later there was a wide spread famine all over the Middle East, Jacob send his sons down to Egypt to purchase grain.
In genesis 41:53 we read about this famine that was so large it had affected every Country. A famine so devastating it lasted for 7 years as Joseph had predicted while interpreting Pharaoh’s dream and the Egyptians where the only nation that had stored grains during previous 7 years of abundance.
The next time the bible records a major drought takes us 600 years later when there is another famine in the land of Israel and this brings us to Ruth.
The book of Ruth is found in the bible between Judges and Samuel I. In the Tanakh, the Hebrew bible, the book of Ruth is found together with Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations and Esther in what is referred to as the 5 scrolls. ….
The passage in Ruth relating to the harvest is read during Jewish Feast of Pentecost, the celebration of the harvest, essentially the Jewish equivalent of our Thanksgiving.
Although the author is not identified in the book, it is widely believed in Jewish tradition that the prophet Samuel wrote the book of Ruth.
The name Ruth in Moabite and Hebrew means “friend” or companion. Today you don’t hear the name much among young children, but in the early part of the 20th century it was a very common name. Ruth is the name of my mother in law and she fits the description very well as she is a wonderful lady.
The story of Ruth starts with this famine in the land of Israel. Naomi and her husband and two sons move to the land of Moab. For an Israelite to move to Moab is very noteworthy and underscores that this drought must have been quite severe.
Why the apprehension about Moab you may ask? There is a rich history in the bible about Moab going all the way back to Abraham and his nephew Lot whose daughters conceived two boys called Moab and Amon through incestuous relationship with their father.
The descendants of Moab and Amon settled in the land located east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea in what is currently called the Country of Jordan. For centuries there was much conflict between these countries.
Moses after spending 40 years in the wilderness came upon Mount Nebo above the plain of Moab where he could see the Promised Land but the Israelites could not enter until after Moses passed away. In the Torah the first 5 books of the bible that Moses wrote, he is very explicit about Moab and Moabites as it mentioned 47 times.
In Deuteronomy 23:3 Moses forbids any Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants for ten generations to be admitted to the assembly of the LORD. In other words Moses orders his fellow Israelites to stay away from these Moabites. Don’t hang out with these folks.
For hundreds of years this was engrained in Jewish culture which would explain why Samuel when he wrote the story of Ruth kept referring to Moab and Moabites and he repeatedly described Ruth as the Moabites, in a story covering only three pages in the bible he mentions this up to 14 times
Naomi and her husband Elimelech, and he two sons Mahlon and Chilion, move to Moab for a better life and then misfortune strikes when Naomi ‘s husband dies and both the boys marry Moabite girls one called Orpha and the other Ruth.
Ten years go by and next thing we know, both Naomi’s sons die as well. First her husband passes away and now both her sons. What is going here? Naomi has been characterized as the female version of “Job”. She now finds herself with two daughters in law. Three widows in all and no income, things are not good. She lost everything: home, husband, and sons—and even more than Job did—her livelihood.
She joined the ranks of Israel’s lowest members: the poor and the widowed. She cried out in her grief and neglected to see the gift that God placed in her path. She tells both of her daughters in law to go back to their mother’s home. Orpha obliges but Ruth instead embodied loyal love.
Ladies and gentlemen: the core message of the story of Ruth is found in Chapter1:16 In this amazing manifestation of loyalty Ruth says: do not press me to leave you or 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 where you die there I will be buried,
May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”.
Earlier this week someone gave me a book to read called “Resilience” written by Navy seal Eric Creitens, in the book I ran across a quote from Socrates: Be less concerned with what you have than with what you are, so that you make yourselves as excellent and as rational as possible –
Ruth had obsoletely nothing there was no obligation to stay with her mother in law. She remained loyal and chose to be with Naomi and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the Israelites. This passage is so important. It is like the precursor of things to come. Naomi and Ruth returned to Bethlehem and Ruth goes out to glean in a grain field after the reapers. Pick up the scraps of what is left over in the field.
The first time I heard the word gleaning was 30 years ago when I started at Sun Valley in the days of daffodil bulbs being dug in the summer. There were always some bulbs that were left after the diggers went through and we would go to through the field one last time to glean these bulbs still lying in the field.
These leftovers are still good to use. Earlier this week, I visited the Humboldt Redwood mill in Scotia, to look at woodchips we use as amendments in our soil mix for growing Lilies and Tulips. It is amazing to see the scraps coming out of the mill; one could build a deck or a fence from those scraps.
Ruth went out into the field to glean and this is where she meets Boaz for the first time. She stayed there until the end of the season of barley and wheat harvests and this brings us to today’s reading of Ruth 3 1-5 and Ruth 4 ’13-17
Ruth chapter 3:versus 1 – 4:17 can be found on page…….
3Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.2Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.3Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
4When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.”5She said to her, “All that you tell me I will do.”
The story goes on she does as Naomi instructed she comes home with six measures of barley Meanwhile Boaz first needs to settle a claim with another family member who has first right to buy the land that Naomi owns. Once he has this resolved, he acquired the parcel and this clears the way for Boaz to marry Ruth. Reading continues in:
in chapter 4 verse13So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son.14Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel!15He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.”16Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse.17The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Folks this is the ultimate story of redemption. Here we have Moabite women raised in the pagan worship of “Chemosh” who on her own decides to follow the God of the Israelites.
God blesses her with a husband and not only that she bears a son called Obed he became the father of Jesse, the grandfather of David and then Solomon, two of Israel’s most notable kings and this is the same Jesse as prophesied in Isaiah 11:1. A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, foreshadowing a messianic line that will bring us Jesus Christ our Lord and savior the messiah 1100 years later, the gift that God brought to the whole world.
Ruth could have subjected herself to despair, crawl in a cave in depression for being a widow or run back to her mother and feel sorry for herself. She did not seek for self-pity neither did she manifest the bitterness that had gripped the heart of Naomi because of her sad lot.
Amid the shadows, Ruth maintained a poise and a serenity which even her mother-in-law must have coveted. “The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Naomi’s self-confessed bitterness over the loss of husband and sons spoke of her lack of faith in God’s good providence.
This made me think of a story I heard on the radio this week about a professor who surprised his students with a midterm test. The professor handed out the question paper with text facing down as usual. He asked the students to turn the page and gave them an hour to finish the test. To everyone’s surprise there were no questions, just a blank page with one black dot in the right hand corner of the page.
He instructed the students, I want you to write down what you see. After an hour the professor took the papers and started reading them aloud. All of the students had taken great length to describe the black dot in every possible way.
Not one student had written about the white part of the paper the blank portion with countless opportunities
This is what happened to Naomi as she was in despair and focused on the dark spot in her life, she missed the blessing that God had put in her path. Ruth is more analogues with the white part of the piece of paper. Nowhere in the story do we read about her lamenting about the situation she had found herself or being in despair. Ruth seems to have calmly acquiesced in the divine will as she put her faith in God. She did not focus on the dark spot; to the contrary the story of Ruth could fill the whole page about the good that came into her life and Israel as a whole and through the messianic line it ultimately brings us to Jesus Christ 1100 years later.
Jesus is watching the crowd putting money into the treasury in Mark 12:41. The poor widow put in 2 copper coins worth one penny. He called his disciples and said this poor widow has put in more than all those contributing to the treasury.
What a great metaphor. Jesus was very aware of his ancestry, he knew the story of Ruth, and he probably could recite it by heart it as he did many parts of scripture. Ruth was the widow that had absolutely nothing, but she gave what she had, Love, Grace, Loyalty and a deep trust and faith in the lord our God.
The book of Ruth is read during the Jewish feast of the harvest. In less than three weeks we will be celebrating Thanksgiving our feast and celebration of the harvest.
The closing hymn today will be Come Ye Thankful Come. This traditional Thanksgiving song is very fitting with the upcoming holiday but also appropriate given the story of Ruth today. Come, ye thankful people, come, Raise the song of harvest home All is safely gathered in, Ere the winter storms begin; God, our Maker, does provide For our wants to be supplied;
This hymn also keenly depicts the path to salvation in verses 3 and 4: From His field shall in that day All offences purge away. All be safely gathered in, Free from sorrow, free from sin, There, forever purified, In God’s garner to abide; Come, ten thousand angels, come,
Raise the glorious harvest home!
Brothers and sisters, let the story of Ruth teach us all to put our trust and faith in God, allow his redeeming powers to take hold in our own lives, follow and spread the good news of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and let the Holy Spirit guide us on the path to eternal life.
Thank you,
Amen
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