Podcast Summaries

the church Bibles in the Old Testament section. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you for your word. Thank you for the people whose lives we're reflecting on today. Thank you for their witness, their part in your salvation history. And I thank you that we are swept up into their story. Would you give us ears to hear and hearts that are ready to respond to your call afresh today? Amen. Well, it's mid-November and in the vicarage, that means that we have to start thinking about Christmas, partly because of my job and partly because at least one of my two children thinks that Christmas season begins on the 1st of November, much to my distress. But I wonder whether any of you are already thinking about when to watch your favourite Christmas film. Maybe you are, maybe you're not. It's a cliche, but my must-watch every year Christmas film is Love Actually. It's in my top three favourite films of all time. And I never cease to be moved by the stories of the eight different families that are featured in that film. And what I really appreciate about it is the way that it shows us what love looks like in a variety of different situations. There's the love of a sister for a brother with very significant additional needs. There's the love of a wife which can overcome her husband's transgression. There's the love of a father for his bereaved stepson and so on. And it highlights love which, in many instances, not all, is so extraordinary that it takes our breath away. And whether or not we see it on a screen or read it in a novel or experience it in our own lives, deep love has a way of truly surprising us. And two weeks ago, we had a pause for Remembrance Sunday, but if you've been with us on this journey through the book of Ruth, we left their story of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz on a cliffhanger at the end of chapter 3. And it looked hopeful that change was afoot for Naomi and Ruth. And Boaz has said these amazing words to Ruth. He said, May you be blessed, my daughter. I will do for you all that you ask. Chapter 3, verses 10 and 11. But there was a snag, because Boaz knew of another man in Bethlehem who needed to be consulted about this decision to be the redeemer before any firm decisions could be made. And two weeks ago, when I was preaching on Ruth 3, I was describing the book of Ruth as a love story, and I really stand by that. But the more we look at it and the more we're going to get into in chapter 4, we see that it is not primarily a romantic love story. What it is, is a beautiful demonstration of familial love. Love within families. And it's showing us what love and responsibility look like when you put them together. It's showing us how dutiful, respectful love for those who need it and deserve it can make a difference, not just to our own immediate family, but to all the generations that will follow on after us. And in Ruth 3, we noticed that despite being on their own in a secluded place in the middle of the night, Boaz and Ruth act completely honorably towards each other. And from what we see in chapter 4, it seems like they do that primarily because of their shared love for and their responsibility towards Naomi, as opposed to any attraction towards one another that they might feel. And so chapter 4 tells us what happened the morning after. At the town gate of Bethlehem where legal decisions were made, it would be the same as now us going to a courthouse or maybe to a solicitor's office. And there's lots of contrasts between chapter 3 and chapter 4, but particularly in terms of posture. So chapter 3, lots of emphasis on lying down, Boaz and Ruth lying down next to one another. And now in chapter 4, Boaz is very clearly sitting down. And he invites his friend to sit down with him. And then the 10 elders of the town also sit down and witness this legal transaction. And so the situation is explained. There's another man in Bethlehem who is more closely related to Naomi than Boaz is. And this man, the next of kin, who interestingly, for men in the Bible, is remaining unnamed, has the right to say that he wants to acquire the land that belonged to Naomi's late husband, Elimelech. And in doing so, he would also acquire Ruth and Naomi as dependents. And I think it's a bit surprising that this man turns down that offer. We don't know why, other than he says it will damage his own inheritance. So be that as it may, that leaves Boaz as the next closest relative of Naomi's, duty-bound to step up and shoulder responsibility for these two women. And so to seal the deal, the unnamed man hands Boaz his sandal, and Boaz gives a speech that concludes with these words. He says, I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Malon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place. Today you are my witnesses. And that bit of Boaz's speech gives us a clue to the extraordinary love that is being demonstrated here by Boaz. He has love and respect for a man he once knew, Elimelech, but who he hadn't seen for a long time and who now had died. And he has love and respect for Elimelech's sons, Malon and Chilion, who probably, and I am surmising here, he would have known when they were young boys before Naomi and Elimelech took their family to Moab. But he hadn't seen them for a long time and now both of them have also died. And so this love and respect for his kin is translated into love and respect for the two women who remain from this family, Naomi and Ruth. And Ruth, because of her age, was the only hope left if the family line of Elimelech were going to continue. What Boaz primarily seems to want is for Naomi to be honoured and protected through the provision of a grandson for her who will take the family name onwards into the future. So Naomi, Boaz's kin, has got a need and Boaz knows that he can help provide it. Providing of needs. I know from conversations with a great many of you over the years that I've been here that so many of you are now or have been in the past carers in some shape or form for relatives in need. And I know what a toll that can take on people and if that is you right now and you're feeling weary then let me say to you, well done and keep going. Because that kind of love and devotion is often undervalued and under-celebrated in our country. And I think we should be cheering each other on as we faithfully tend to the physical and emotional and practical needs of people within our families who need that extra care because of age or illness or circumstance. So if that's you, you are extraordinary. And the love that you have shown or you are showing is extraordinary. And by loving in that way, you are in part reflecting the extraordinary love of God into this world. And I believe your faithfulness will have implications for good far

beyond what you can currently see or imagine. You don't need me to tell you that romantic love is not a universal experience. Some people by choice or by circumstance will never love someone else in that way. But everyone is born into a family. It might be a very tiny family, just the baby and the mother who has given birth to him or her. And sadly for some children, it's not appropriate for them to grow up with members of their birth family. But the intention, at least in our country, is that every child is cared for and nurtured within the context of a family of some size or description, whether they are biologically related or not. Families really matter, don't they? Families matter to God. And the Bible is essentially one long story about God's family. And we're reminded of some of the people who came earlier in that story of God's family through the words of the people of Bethlehem in the last bit of the chapter four that we read. And quite astonishingly, after this legal contract has been made and the sandal's been passed over, there seems to be, the way I read it, I think it's a spontaneous prayer of blessing being prayed over Boaz and Ruth by the people of Bethlehem. And they say this, then all the people who were at the gate along with the elders said, we are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem and through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah. They're praying that God would make Ruth to be like Rachel and Leah. Let me briefly jump us back to Genesis. Rachel and Leah were sisters who became the wives of Jacob and they, along with two other women, produced his 12 sons who went on to become founders of the massively significant 12 tribes of Israel. You can delve back into their story in Genesis 28 through to 2035 to get the backstory of Rachel and Leah and their tumultuous relationship with one another and with Jacob to whom they were both married. But we can recall that Rachel was initially barren, but in the end, God blessed her with two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. And we can also pay attention to the reference here to Ephrathah. That's both a region and a descriptive term in Hebrew. It's the region, the area around Bethlehem, which was the center of agriculture at the time. And the name Ephrathah literally means fruitful or abundant. So it was a fertile land, a place of growth. And when people heard that word, it would have been linked in their minds to the blessing of God and God providing for his people. And also, fascinatingly, if you read Genesis 35, it is the place where Rachel died as she was giving birth to Benjamin. Whether they realize it or not, the people of Bethlehem on this day of this transaction are prophetically declaring that the child that God will bless to Boaz and Ruth will be an important one in the narrative of God's covenant people. And next week, when we bring the journey with Ruth into land, I'll explain more about that. And Simon's alluded to it with the genealogy in Matthew's gospel. But that does indeed turn out to be the case because their son, Obed, becomes the grandfather of King David, who is a vitally important figure in Old Testament history. And then many generations later, in the same line comes Jesus, the one who will offer to redeem not just members of his own family, but the whole world. And before we assume that this family was somehow more special or more holy than other families or our family, then we need to think again because the lives of Rachel and Leah and Jacob were complicated and certainly not without dysfunction. But the prayer of blessing over Ruth and Boaz also mentions some of Jacob's descendants, Judah, Tamar, and Perez. And you can find their story in Genesis 38. I'm gonna tell you it very briefly. Judah is the fourth of Leah's sons, so one of the 12 sons of Jacob. And Tamar later becomes his daughter-in-law. There is a complicated turn of events. Tamar's husband dies and the brother of her husband dies. Does that sound familiar? And in desperation to continue the family line, Tamar becomes pregnant by Judah, her father-in-law, by pretending to be a prostitute. And Tamar and Judah end up having twin sons called Perez and Zerah. That's quite messy, isn't it? And yet the people of Bethlehem remember that complex part of the history of God's people and then they link it to the union of Boaz and Ruth. Clearly, there are some key differences. Boaz and Ruth, as we've said, have acted honorably. The family line is continued by dutiful devotion, not by deceptive manipulation. But nonetheless, it's another case, I think, of God making a way where it seemed like there was no way. In Matthew chapter one, we get that genealogy of Jesus and it dates all the way from him back to Abraham. And usually in genealogies in ancient Israel, there wouldn't be any women mentioned in them. But astonishingly, there are five women mentioned in that genealogy. Tamar, who we've just met, Rahab, also a prostitute, Ruth, Bathsheba, adulteress with David, and Mary. Also mentioned are Judah, Perez, Boaz, Obed, and many others. And all of those people's stories combine into one long family history that stretches back to the beginning and takes us all the way to Jesus and beyond. And so we, in our own messy, dysfunctional families, and let's face it, they all are, aren't they? Are caught up into this bigger story and invited to demonstrate that same extraordinary love that we see time and time and time again through the pages of the Bible. And so whatever it is that you're facing today in your own family and with those who you see as family, I pray that God will give you the strength to keep on loving, keep on serving, because he uses all of these selfless acts of compassion and kindness for good. And there will be repercussions from them in ways that we will never see or realize in our lifetime. So keep going, good and faithful servants, and hear those words of well done from Jesus today. Tideo's gonna come and lead us now in prayer. Thank you.