REFUELING SPIRITUAL RHYTHMS: BLESSING

Happy Labor Day!  We hope you find recreation and rest as you celebrate the day!  We continue our series, Refueling Spiritual Rhythms, to energize our routines as we start the school year.   It is getting our lives in sync with God’s Spirit and heart that helps us to overcome obstacles and confront complexity in our lives.  Everything begins to flow.   The sermon for this week is Blessing.  Our scripture is Ruth 2:8-16. In last week’s scripture, Ruth made an unlikely but transforming commitment by remaining with her mother-in-law, Naomi.  In this week’s scripture, Ruth has to fulfill her commitment, and it will not be easy.  It will require hard work and her best effort.  Since it is harvesting time, she goes into the field to “glean” whatever leftover grain the harvesters leave behind.   Even though God’s law required some grain to be left for the poor, it was easy for farmers to resent those who came to pick up the leftovers!  There was a chance in Ruth’s effort to harvest enough grain for her and Naomi that she would be mistreated or even hurt.  God had a different plan.  In the sermon Blessing we see how God begins to transform tragedy into new possibilities and loss into lessons of grace. In these verses, we find God’s grace and goodness overcoming fear and pain. We discover that blessing is a powerful tool to help us sync our hearts with the transforming power of God’s providence and care.  As we confront circumstances, we are tempted to curse the darkness, but this story compels us into the encouraging light of hope!  We pray you will sense the encouraging power of God’s Spirit blessing you with his presence so that you can be a light of joy and hope as you walk through the darkness of this world.   

Ruth 2:8-16:  

So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. ⁹ Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” ¹⁰ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me– a foreigner?” ¹¹ Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband– how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. ¹² May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” ¹³ “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant– though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.” ¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.” When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. ¹⁵ As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. ¹⁶ Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.” (NIV)