This short act of worship has been prepared for you. I invite you to share in a few moments with God knowing that other people within Paulton, Trinity and Chew Stoke Methodist Churches are sharing this act of worship with you.
Revd Martin Slocombe
Psalm 65: 1, 5-8
Thanksgiving for Earth’s Bounty
1 Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
5 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
6 By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
7 You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
8 Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
Hymn – Captain of Israel’s host, and Guide www.youtube.com/watch?v=q91QXsRBoWw
1 Captain of Israel's host, and Guide
of all who seek the land above,
beneath your shadow we abide,
the cloud of your protecting love;
our strength, your grace; our rule, your word;
our end, the glory of the Lord.
2 By your unerring Spirit led,
we shall not in the desert stray;
we shall not full direction need,
nor miss our providential way;
as far from danger as from fear,
while love, almighty love, is near.
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
Prayer
We are in your presence, God our Father. Although we are spread far and wide, you are with us wherever we may be, Lord of all, of time and space.
We come to worship you, to know you and to thank you for your wonderous grace shown to us, and to all those who have gone before us. As we share in this time of worship, we seek your presence and to know your love. We have come to learn more of you, and to seek your guidance as we navigate our lives.
Help us to quieten our hearts and minds, that we might hear your word for us, and refocus our thoughts on you, as we pray for ourselves and for each other. We do so in accordance with your will, and to you be the glory, today and everyday. Amen
Cleanse us, Lord, from all that distorts your image in us ….. from all that divides us from one another and from you ….. from our satisfaction with less than the fullness of life that you offer ….. from our dishonesty of thought or action ….. from worship that is unworthy of you.
In your mercy, forgive us, loving and merciful God. Amen
As we continue to explore the book of Ruth through the month of July, I am encouraging you to read one complete chapter each week. This week we concentrate on Chapter 2 which introduces us to Boaz, the relative of Naomi, who allowed Ruth to glean grain from his fields. The excerpt which follows is taken from Chapter 2.
Readings
Ruth 2: 8-16
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped, and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.’ 10Then she fell prostrate, with her face to the ground, and said to him, ‘Why have I found favour in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?’ 11But Boaz answered her, ‘All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!’ 13Then she said, ‘May I continue to find favour in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, even though I am not one of your servants.’
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine.’ So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, ‘Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.’
Matthew 5: 43-48
Love for Enemies
43 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Hymn – Brother, sister let me serve you www.youtube.com/watch?v=07FBSrx5Oq4
1 Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace
to let you be my servant too.
2 We are pilgrims on a journey,
and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
3 I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.
4 I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I'll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we've seen this journey through.
5 When we sing to God in heaven
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we've known together
of Christ's love and agony.
6 Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace
to let you be my servant too.
Richard A. M. Gillard (b. 1953)
Reflection
Chapter 2 introduces Boaz to the story, as Ruth sets about gleaning in the fields, as the only means by which she can support herself and Naomi.
As the crop is harvested and stacked into sheaves, it was the law that the poor of the village would be allowed to follow behind and pick up any loose grain that had been left behind. Gleaning calls for hard work, being stooped over for hours in the heat of the day, looking hard at the ground to find the elusive grains. Good reapers must maximise the harvest for their masters, and therefore will not leave much behind.
In verse 4, Boaz arrives. His greeting to the workers suggests he is a faithful and respected leader. Boaz first asks his supervisor about the stranger (Ruth 2:5), but for the steward, she is only one thing: a Moabite, a stranger.
But Ruth is a feisty character. Despite having only just met Boaz, she asks to glean amongst the sheaves. This would put her at an advantage to be the first to find the left-over grain, and would put her on a collision course with the other women. It is not going to endear her to them!
Does Ruth expect special treatment? Does she think she is more deserving than the others? Or is she prepared to do whatever it takes to provide for herself and Naomi? Is this an act of selfishness or desperation?
Boaz appears to acknowledge Ruth’s hard work, and gives Ruth a privileged place in the fields. He is concerned that she is not rebuked, and offers her protection in three ways: she is to count herself amongst his young women; she is to be ‘off limits’ to his young men; and she is to be offered water. That Boaz has to instruct the male field workers not to bother (more accurately, molest or assault) the new arrival, and that Naomi also previously warns Ruth about the risks of working in an unknown field, suggests that sexual harassment was common. Ruth accepts all of these risks in her struggle to survive.
The chapter ends, as it begins, with Ruth returning home to Naomi. The abundance of grain she brings with her gives Naomi renewed confidence in the God of blessings. Finally, she acknowledges Boaz as the one who offers the hope of redemption.
Naomi sent Ruth to glean in the fields, but it is unclear what Naomi is doing to support them both!! Perhaps she is too old and is unable to help, dependant instead upon her daughter-in-law. When Ruth returns, she has more than Naomi expected, and far more than they needed. Naomi knows nothing of what has happened during the day, but recognises Boaz’s name as being a relative, albeit more distant than we might first think. This man may well be the answer to their prayer. He has an obligation to them, and his obvious wealth and social standing in the community enables Ruth and Naomi to join with the family, and is a potential means of redemption. In the tradition of the time, the Redeemer was the person in the clan who keeps the clan together and restores justice, who cares for the poor as they are able, and frees them from their poverty.
In the gospel reading above, Jesus exhorts his disciples to love their enemies as well as their friends. Is this not exactly what Boaz does? Ruth is not of his tribe or clan, indeed she is a Moabite as his steward goes to great lengths to point out. But Boaz recognises her situation and helps her as he can by allowing her to glean amongst the sheaves. Indeed, he goes further by instructing the reapers to pull grain from the sheaves in order that she has more to collect, an act which is costly to himself. She has done nothing to deserve such treatment, but benefits from his generosity. We might call that grace.
Grace is not deserved, nor is it to do with an equal sharing, but it is given and received, seemingly at random, but from the generosity of the giver. But there is no right to grace. I am sure we have all, at some point, recognised a gift in others that we wish we had for ourselves, perhaps a musical ability or sporting achievement, or the ability to speak a foreign language for example. And seeing it in others, we might think that it is not fair that we too, do not share in that gift. Rather like the other women gleaning in the fields, who might feel somewhat aggrieved that Ruth has been allowed the first pickings from amongst the sheaves, we also might feel left out. She has received special treatment without deserving it. And to make matters worse, she is not even one of their clan, but a foreigner, a stranger. But that is the nature of grace. It is not a matter of deserving or having a right, but gratefully receiving the grace which is generously offered.
The love we receive from God is the result of his overwhelming generosity, his grace. We do not deserve it, or have any rights to it, but we recognise it with gratitude, and receive it with thankfulness.
Ruth works hard just to survive and therefore recognises the great value of the undeserved grace which Boaz gives to her. However hard she works , she is dependent upon the grace of another to provide the surplus she needs. Her powerlessness is shown by the long, back-breaking hours she spends in the fields, working patiently but without any assurance of success. As we work tirelessly for the kingdom, we might also wonder when someone might notice, so that our efforts have not been in vain.
The assurance of God’s love means that we are all called to be children of our Father in heaven, who notices and sees all that we do, and rewards us with his unlimited and undeserved grace.
Amen
Intercessions & Lords Prayer
Lord God, we offer now our prayers for ourselves and for each other.
We pray for those who have to work hard to provide for their families in sometimes back-breaking situations, in dangerous places, for uncaring employers.
We pray for the poor and the homeless, the refugee, for those exiled from their homelands, for the hungry and the unloved. May we reflect the grace of Boaz as we offer what we can to help.
We pray for our families and friends, and for all those in need at this present time:-
We pray for the churches in our Circuit, this week for Midsomer Norton, and their minister, Stephen Robinson
Today, Lord, we give thanks for the generosity of others, for all who share of their time, their possessions and themselves. We pray for a generosity of spirit, that we might offer the gifts you have given us for the good of those in need.
Lord of Glory, hear our prayer.
Amen
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Hymn – Amazing grace www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvt6E9N7AQw
1 Amazing grace — how sweet the sound —
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see.
2 God’s grace has taught my heart to fear,
his grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!
3 Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
God's grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
4 The Lord has promised good to me,
his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.
5 And, when this heart and flesh shall fail
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil
a life of joy and peace.
6 When we’ve been there ten thousand years
bright shining as the sun,
we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
than when we first begun.
John Newton (1725–1807) (alt.)
Blessing
May the glory of God enrich your life; may the wisdom of God inspire your thoughts; may the love of God envelop your heart; may God bless you, this and every day.
And the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you, now and forever more. Amen
www.youtube.com/watch?v=akT32E83zjI