I read the Ruth passage from Peterson's The Message because of the way he translated Ruth's response to Boaz: "You've touched my heart." As I mention in the sermon, the final illustration of the sermon series was the invitation to come forward and touch the baptismal waters and be anointed. Although those opportunities are not every's cup of tea, for many of the congregation it seemed like a powerful experience.
“Touched by God" Ruth 2: 4-13; John 3: 1-7; SAPC, Denton; June 11, 2017; Trinity Sunday
Ruth 2: 4-13 And so she set out. She went and started gleaning in a field, following in the wake of the harvesters. Eventually she ended up in the part of the field owned by Boaz, her father-in-law Elimelech’s relative. A little later Boaz came out from Bethlehem, greeting his harvesters, “God be with you!” They replied, “And God bless you!”
Boaz asked his young servant who was foreman over the farm hands, “Who is this young woman? Where did she come from?”
The foreman said, “Why, that’s the Moabite girl, the one who came with Naomi from the country of Moab. She asked permission. ‘Let me glean,’ she said, ‘and gather among the sheaves following after your harvesters.’ She’s been at it steady ever since, from early morning until now, without so much as a break.”
Then Boaz spoke to Ruth: “Listen, my daughter. From now on don’t go to any other field to glean—stay right here in this one. And stay close to my young women. Watch where they are harvesting and follow them. And don’t worry about a thing; I’ve given orders to my servants not to harass you. When you get thirsty, feel free to go and drink from the water buckets that the servants have filled.”
She dropped to her knees, then bowed her face to the ground. “How does this happen that you should pick me out and treat me so kindly—me, a foreigner?”
Boaz answered her, “I’ve heard all about you—heard about the way you treated your mother-in-law after the death of her husband, and how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and have come to live among a bunch of total strangers. God reward you well for what you’ve done—and with a generous bonus besides from God, to whom you’ve come seeking protection under his wings.”
She said, “Oh sir, such grace, such kindness—I don’t deserve it. You’ve touched my heart, treated me like one of your own. And I don’t even belong here!”
Move 1: Ruth and Nicodemus are both good and faithful people.
- We remember Ruth as the Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi;
1. the daughter-in-law who chose to eave her homeland after the death of her husband to follow her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem;
2. a stranger forever in a new land.
3. She's worried about how she will make it, how she will support her self and her mother-in-law.
4. She has no husband, no property, no status.
5. She's a good person, who has acted faithfully to support her mother-in-law, but now she needs some help.
b. Nicodemus.
1. A Pharisee, a leader among the Israelites.
2. He addresses Jesus as “Rabbi,” which suggests that he is not at odds with Jesus, but recognizes something special about Jesus.
3. He hears about Jesus and thirsts for more in his life and in his relationship with God
4. He seeks Jesus out as part of his quest to grow in his faith.
C. Ruth and Nicodemus both discover God in new ways.
1. Not n a dramatic change like Saul being blinded and becoming Paul.
2. more like a growth in faithfulness.
3. Ruth finds God's grace in the fields where she is following the harvesters to glean the scraps from what they miss.
2. Boaz, a relative of her dead husband notices her and inquires about her.
3. When he discovers her situation, he invites her to stay in his fields. He will care for her.
4. As Eugene Peterson translates it, Ruth says to Boaz: “Oh sir, such grace, such kindness—I don’t deserve it. You’ve touched my heart, treated me like one of your own. And I don’t even belong here!”
5. In Boaz, Ruth discovers God's saving grace. The God who touches us, we who do not deserve it, and claims us as one of God's own.
6. Nicodemus learns that he must be born again.
7. He already knows Jesus as rabbi, but now he is growing into the next step — an invitation to new life is there for the taking.
Move 2: the final sermon illustration of this preaching series on being touched by God will take place after the sermon when you are invited to come forward to renew your baptismal vows, or if you have not been baptized to rehearse the vows you might take one day, and to be anointed.
a. Most of us come as people of faith.
1. You have made previous commitments, but maybe you are looking for a new level of commitment. God has been working on you, and now is the time to take the next step.
2. Maybe you will be surprised. You’re coming forward because everyone else in the pew did, and then God will seize you in the moment.
3. Come, but beware! God is alive and in our midst.
b. come forward and touch the baptismal water.
1. The first time I ever invited people to come forward to touch baptismal waters was during a special Lenten service. The draw of renewing baptismal vows by coming back to church on a Wednesday night had only appealed to 25 or so people.
I invited people to come forward as they felt moved. There was no pattern. Then a couple came forward. The wife had been battling stage four ovarian cancer for several years. She did not have long to live. But there she was, coming forward with her husband.
they approached the baptismal font and her took her hands and washed the water over them; and she did the same.
2. A touch that draws you back to your baptism.
3. Back to when you were united with Christ in both his death and resurrection.
4. Back to when you were cleansed by the waters of baptism.
5. Back to when God embraced you and claimed you as a child of the covenant.
6. Touch the water and be reminded God's claim on you and God's love for you.
c. Come and be anointed.
1. touched with the sign of the cross in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. Anointed in the name of the God who created you; anointed in the name of Jesus Christ, who invites you into a personal relationship; anointed in the name of the Holy Spirit who is still at work in your life, calling you to be a new creation.
4. Feel the touch that connects you to people of God who have been anointed as far back as they have been in covenant with God.
5. A touch that connects you to the God who calls you to new life.
Conclusion: Each time a person is baptized here at St. Andrew, the ministers ask, "who stands with this child/confirmand/person?” And the congregation stands, our rising to our feet an unvoiced “I stand with you.”
As you come to the waters of baptism and to be anointed today, you are asking, “Who stand with me?” and the answer is God’s resounding cry, “I stand with you!”
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