Latest Posts

Read

[Click here to read today’s Scripture: Jonah 1:17-2:10]

Click here if you would like to read the sermon text.

Pray

Lord, we pray for ourselves, that as we rejoice in your great love for us we would be loving to others. We pray for our world, for justice and peace. We pray that more and more people would hear the good news of Jesus Christ and and turn to you. We pray for leaders all over the world to lead with love and justice and to desire peace. We pray for justice for the oppressed and marginalised.

We pray for your continued help in the fight against the Coronavirus. Bless those who mourn with your comfort. Bless those who are fighting against this virus in their own bodies. Heal them, Lord. Bless those who are fighting on behalf of others as the work to care for and treat them. Bless those who fight in labs to find effective treatments and vaccines. As we continue to ease restrictions here help us to remain watchful, careful and considerate of those who are especially vulnerable.

Lord we pray for those who have been impacted by restrictions. Those who are out of work. Those who are already struggling with something else and now are feeling very alone. Those for whom home is not a safe place. Lord God, be near to them and help them.

Today Lord, may we practice our religion in love.

We pray all these things in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Sing

Read

Click here if you would like to read the sermon text.

Pray

Today is Pentecost Sunday. It’s a day when we remember when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit to go and be Christ’s witnesses. On that day people from different countries, speaking different languages, got to hear and understand the message of the gospel. So today, let us pray for the mission of the church, the spread of the gospel and that God would continue to heal the divisions of our world by bringing us together in Christ. We remember that God is not just the God of people who look and sound like us, but God Almighty, the Creator of us all.

Our loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us, your church. May He empower and embolden us for mission, beginning wherever we are right now.

Bless those who devote their lives to spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Protect them and make their work fruitful. May many people all over this world hear and respond to the gospel in repentance and faith.

At Pentecost you brought brothers and sisters together from different places, different cultures, different languages. Lord, we ask your forgiveness for when the differences between us cause hatred, injustice and oppression. We ask you to heal us and make us whole, together with our brothers and sisters all over the world.

We pray for justice and peace in America. May those who grieve the death of George Floyd be comforted with just reforms in the systems of power in America. You hear those who mourn, their cries reach you. May they also reach those entrusted to lead and serve them. May your peace enter into this storm of rage and fear. Still our storms and bring us all closer together in respect, and even in love. Raise up just leaders who will speak for those who are not being listened to. As we see this situation may we also be reminded that we are not immune to such things. May we all strive here for a society that values all human beings equally and treats them fairly.

Once again we pray for an end to this Coronavirus pandemic.
We pray for those who grieve the loss of loved ones. Comfort them, O God of all comfort.
We pray for the sick. Heal and strengthen them.
We pray for those who work to treat and care for the sick. Protect them and give them strength and skill.
We pray for those who work in labs to find and develop treatments and vaccines. Bless their efforts and may we have powerful medicines soon.

Fill us with your Holy Spirit, Lord. Help us today, and all days, to follow Jesus, in whose name we pray.

Amen.

Sing

Thank you for joining me again today as we bring our series on Ruth to a close. I hope you have benefited from the series and from these resources.

Read

Today we read Ruth, chapter 4.

Throughout this series God has been showing us through his word that he works powerfully in and through ordinary people in ordinary everyday life. We tend to think of God working through big, dramatic, epic things, but Ruth shows us that he works just as powerfully in the kindness, faithfulness, and love that we can experience in our ordinary daily lives.

If we only think of God operating on the big, epic scale, we can adopt the false belief that our lives don’t really matter that much to God. That’s dangerous for two reasons. One, we can slip into thinking that the sins we commit are no big deal. “Why should God be bothered if I do this? Hasn’t he got much bigger fish to fry? Isn’t there much worse going on in the world?” Two, we can think that the good that we can do in our ordinary daily lives doesn’t really matter that much either, so we get discouraged and lose our enthusiasm for doing good. We can end up thinking that participation in the mission of God, because it is such a big epic thing, is for other people who are somehow living extraordinary lives. And what’s that got to do with us?

What Ruth shows us is that it all matters. Every bit of human life. And that’s especially clear in this final chapter.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

These were Christians like you and I, living in the real world, living real life with all its mundane tasks and opportunities. There’s no part of your life that God doesn’t care about.

Did you know your life is sacred? Did you know that God Almighty is present with you throughout your day? Did you know that the ordinary things you do, the ordinary life you live, can glorify God? Don’t wait for some great heroic opportunity. Live faithfully now, doing the good things that God has prepared for us to do in our day-to-day lives. They might not seem that amazing, but what this chapter shows us is that they matter more than we may know.

Last time we saw Boaz was in the previous chapter when he had loaded up Ruth with grain to take back to Naomi and was heading straight into town. Most of this chapter (from verse 1 to verse 12) is about what happened there. Boaz went straight to the town gate and sat down. The gate of a town in ancient Israel was where the town elders met to witness transactions, to adjudicate over disputes, to settle cases. Just as Boaz gets there the very man he needs to speak to comes along. Another one of the “just so happened” events of Ruth where those who are paying attention can see God at work even though it’s not explicitly stated.

This man, we’ll call him Mr. So-and-so, who we just found out about in the previous chapter, is a closer relative to Elimelek, Naomi’s late husband, and Elimelek’s son Mahlon, Ruth’s late husband, than Boaz is and therefore is first in line to be the kinsman redeemer. The kinsman redeemer is someone who can acquire the land and/or the widow of a deceased relative so that that deceased relative’s line and inheritance would continue. Boaz wants to be that man because he loves Ruth and he’s a godly man who wants to do right by Naomi, but Mr. So-and-so is first in line.

When Mr. So-and-so hears the proposal about the land he jumps at the chance to possess it. But then Boaz hits him with the catch. The family line of Elimelek and Mahlon must go on, so Mr. So-and-so, if he acquires the land must also marry Ruth so that their children will inherit the land just as if they were Mahlon’s children and not Mr. So-and-so’s. He balks at this. This would, as Mr. So-and-so put it, “endanger [his] own estate” (v. 6).

Boaz on the other hand, is not concerned about his own name or his own estate. He wants to do right by these two widows, and he knows what a worthy woman Ruth is. So, while Mr. So-and-so wastes no time in rejecting this offer, Boaz wastes no time in sealing the deal before witnesses.

Here’s the irony: this man who was so concerned about his own estate, who is he? What’s his legacy? What’s happened to his name? Something like “Mr. So-and-so” is about the best we can do. The Hebrew used when Boaz calls him over and says “my friend” is Ploni Almoni (פְּלֹנִ֣י אַלְמֹנִ֑י), and is like the Hebrew equivalent of “Mr. So-and so,” or “Mr. What’s-his-name,” or something like that. In modern Israel Ploni Almoni is the equivalent of “John Doe”, a placeholder name you use for when you don’t have someone’s name. This man who was so concerned with protecting his name, his inheritance, his legacy has been forgotten. Intentionally left anonymous in this story.

Boaz, on the other hand, we remember and celebrate. even though he was willing to endanger his own inheritance by redeeming Elimelek and Mahlon’s land and marrying Ruth so that offspring could be raised to continue the line of Elimelek. He is, as the elders said, “famous in Bethlehem”. Boaz is remembered for being a good and righteous man of God who lives out the teachings of God’s word. A man of faith, kindness, honour, and love. What better legacy can we hope for?

We hit fast-forward at the end of the story. Ruth and Boaz have a baby together. Verse 13

“So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.”
(Ruth 4:13. NIV)

Did you notice that? This is the only point in this whole story where the narrator tells us explicitly that God has done something. If you’re watching carefully you can see God is very active in this story, but here we’re told explicitly that God blessed Ruth and Boaz with a child. It functions almost like a signature or a stamp at the end of the story to affirm that, yes indeed, God was at work here all along.

Bit of a movie spoiler here maybe. But it’s about the iconic twist ending of the sci-fi classic “Planet of the Apes” from 1968, and it’s a scene that has been referenced a lot in other media. The Simpson’s even did a musical parody of this scene! So, I don’t feel too bad about giving away the ending of the film.

At the end of “Planet of the Apes”, Charlton Heston’s character, the astronaut George Taylor, sees the Statue of Liberty laying in ruins on a beach. All this time he had thought that he had landed on some strange alien planet ruled by talking apes and here in this moment he realises that it was earth all along. This is home! He’s travelled forward in time but landed on the very same planet he left at time when human civilisation has collapsed, and apes now rule. He gets off his horse, falls to his knees, punches the sand and shouts in anger and despair, overacting in a way that only Charlton Heston can get away with.

Now, if we were back in 1968 and you were a sci-fi fan and I spoiled the ending of that film for you back then you would be quite understandably upset with me. I’d have ruined the film watching experience for you. Because that ending (although it’s foreshadowed throughout the film) changes the film. It changes how we understand it. It shifts our perspective on the story.

When we get to the end of the Book of Ruth, we have a similar situation. As this story ends, verse 17 of this chapter hits like a bombshell:

That line is like the Statue of Liberty laying in the sand at the end of “Planet of the Apes”, except it’s not bad news. It’s wonderful news! We can react, not by beating the sand and cursing, but rejoicing and marvelling at the sovereignty, grace, and faithfulness of God.

From verse 17 to the end of this book we are told that these two people, Boaz and Ruth, are the ancestors of King David. And that revelation changes our whole perspective on this story. It is a story of faithful love. Ruth is faithful to Naomi. Boaz is faithful to Ruth. And what this ending shows us is that all this time it’s also been a story of God’s faithfulness to his people.

Go back to the first words of this story: “In the days when the judges ruled” (Ruth 1:1). Dark days of Israel repeatedly going astray, getting worse and worse. The Book of Judges repeatedly reminds the reader that there was no king in Israel in those days. The last verse of Judges sums up this dark period like so:

And then we have this story which shows us that even without a king people can live justly and faithfully by adhering to God’s word and relying on him. Boaz lived out the teachings of the Torah, not just according to the letter, but to the spirit. We get to the end of the story and we see forward to the time when God would raise up a man after his own heart to be king over his people: King David.

This story is ultimately about our faithful God. Christians can see even further down the line. This story, as small as it may seem, is part of God’s plan of redemption not only for Israel, but for all creation. From King David would come another King. A truly faithful King. A King like no other, whose kingdom would have no end. Ruth and Boaz are ancestors of Jesus Christ! This little love story is part of God’s great love story. This is part of the story of God’s love for his people, which is so merciful, so gracious, so faithful, that God himself descended into our darkness, took our sins – our debts – upon himself to redeem us. Jesus Christ, God the Son, Son of David suffered on the cross to atone for our sins and rescue us. The motivation for it was the faithful love of God and we can see that faithful love of God here all these years before as he sovereignly orders things to bring about a faithful king for his people. God uses these ordinary people and their acts of quiet faithfulness to bring that about.

Remember, you are part of God’s story too. Your ordinary life is not insignificant. There is no such thing as an insignificant life, an insignificant day, an insignificant moment. God is sovereign over it all and can use the smallest things to tip the balance towards his glory and our joy. God uses the everyday faithfulness of people like you to bring about great things. There are no unremarkable people. The little things you are doing can have big effects. These small acts of faith are used by God.

So, let me leave you with a question, before we pray: What are you going to do today?

Pray

Sovereign Lord, we praise you for your faithfulness. Help us to remember that you are Lord this day. You are Lord over the big things and the small things. You are Lord over the storms and the stillness.

We pray Lord that you would help us to be faithful in our day. Help us to do the good things that you have prepared for us to do.

We pray Lord for wisdom as our country relaxes some of the restrictions that we’ve been under because of Coronavirus. We pray for protection. We pray against this virus. Protect us all from it, help us to slow and even stop its spread. Strengthen those who work to heal and care. Bless the efforts of those who fight against this virus in labs. Grant wisdom, compassion and strength to our leaders.

In this time of great anxiety, we pray that people will turn to you, our faithful God, sovereign over all.

In our Saviour and Lord Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen.

Sing

Here are some videos that I hope will help you to sing worship to God at home today.

Thanks for joining me again today. We’re continuing in our new series on Ruth as we look at chapter 3. I’ve included resources (including a video sermon and script) which I hope will help you read, pray and sing as you worship at home.

Read

Naomi returned to her hometown accompanied her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth. They were both widows and it seemed that all was lost. But God was already at work to restore Naomi and bring her blessing again. The young foreign woman at her side with remarkable loyalty would be the channel of God’s restoration in Naomi’s life. Ruth had come to seek shelter under the wings of God and she had lovingly committed herself to her mother-in-law. Ruth shows an example of the kind of love that God has for his people. It is a tenacious hardworking, faithful love that we see must perfectly displayed by God to his people. In my son’s “Jesus Story Book Bible”, the author Sally Lloyd-Jones describes God’s love as his “Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love”. That’s the kind of love Ruth has for Naomi and we see in today’s passage that this love has inspired more of its kind. Boaz commits to loving Ruth. But let’s start at the beginning of this chapter and not get ahead of ourselves.

The sweetness has begun to creep back into Naomi’s life through the actions of Ruth and Boaz. She’s beginning to wake up a little. She was bitter in chapter 1, she saw no hope, no prospect. The suggestion that Ruth go out and glean in the fields to provide for them came from Ruth herself, not Naomi, who would have known the area better. Naomi was depressed, her husband and her sons had died, it’s understandable. But now, gradually, the light is beginning to dawn and Naomi is seeing possibilities where before she had seen only the bitterness of her life. She’s seeing hope.

She hatches a plan and tells it to her daughter-in-law:

There’s a tension here. What exactly is Naomi suggesting? She is telling Ruth to make herself look available. But how “available” are we talking here? She’s instructing her to go to the threshing floor and meet a man. She says “uncover his feet”? Wait, just his feet or more? What’s she planning exactly? The wording in Naomi’s plan is full of double entendres and potential interpretations that could go either way.

Imagine hearing this story told in ancient Israel. We know it’s set in a “dodgy” time in Israel’s past. Stories from that time are full of imperfect characters. You’re listening and you get to this bit and you think “Oh, I see where this is going.” or perhaps you might think, “Oh no, I thought this was going to be a sweeter, nicer story of genteel courtship and here they are on the threshing floor.” So, there’s a sense of suspense as we go into the next scene. What’s going to happen? Just when you’re thinking “What kind of story is this!? I brought my kids!” we get to what actually happens.

Ruth sneaks over to Boaz when he’s asleep after a long day of working hard, feasting and drinking. This is the best kind of sleep and he’s out like a log. She uncovers his feet and lies down. At this point the tension is still there. What does it actually mean by “uncovered his feet”? Because that was a double entendre sometimes. It could mean that she literally uncovered his feet, but sometimes in the Bible “feet” is used as a euphemism for the whole lower body from hips to feet.

But then we read that she just lies there. Boaz doesn’t even wake up until some time in the middle of the night. He’s surprised to see a woman there at his feet. So, she was just literally lying at his feet that whole time, nothing else. He asks who it is and it’s here that the tension truly dissolves, or perhaps the listener is surprised, because the quality of Ruth’s character shines even brighter here where we may have been expecting something dodgy to happen. Ruth surprises us by not waiting for Boaz to tell her what to do first. She tells him what to do, and she makes it absolutely clear what kind of a meeting this is.

Ruth makes it absolutely clear why she’s there. This is not the illicit encounter under cover of darkness that we might have expected or feared. This is a marriage proposal. That phrase “Spread the corner of your garment over me,” can also be translated “spread your wings over me,” and harks back to the previous chapter where Boaz described Ruth as taking refuge under the wings of God (Ruth 2:12). She’s not come to seduce him. This young widow has come to ask him to shelter her, to be refuge for her. The phrase also occurs in Ezekiel, when God poetically describes how he entered into a covenant with the people of Israel, committing himself to them like husband to a wife:

And if there’s any doubt, Ruth also gives the reason “you are a guardian-redeemer of our family”. A guardian-redeemer could marry a widow and raise a family with her, and with that, the widow’s deceased husband’s line would continue on. Why mention Boaz being a guardian-redeemer if marriage is not what she’s talking about?

And just as the potential dodginess of this night-time scene highlights the purity of Ruth’s character, Boaz also shines in the darkness as a thoroughly decent man. Boaz responds not with lustful, physical action, but with the longest speech in this book:

He calls her daughter. He’s older than her, but also wants to her to know that he’s not going to take advantage of her now, and he displays a proper protective affection towards her. He knows what she’s asking. Ruth’s asking him, and not one of the younger men, to be her husband. He readily agrees and praises Ruth’s noble character. You can see in verse 10 that Boaz in fact sees Ruth’s daring proposal as a continuation of the kindness that she showed earlier. This is another display of Ruth’s astonishing faithful love. She could have gone after younger men, but she chose Boaz, a guardian redeemer in the family of her late husband, and in doing so she ensures that the line of Naomi’s husband and her son will not die out. Her faithful love inspires his own faithful love in return, he will do everything she asks.

it’s interesting that it seems Boaz has been thinking about this. He’s worked out exactly who is most closely related to Ruth’s deceased husband, perhaps making enquiries, discussing family trees. I think Boaz had been thinking about this. Daydreaming maybe. This is a man in love, he’s fallen for this strong, loyal, woman of noble character. And it looks like he’s woken up to see his dreams are coming true!

After saying all that, he doesn’t want Ruth to walk home in the dark on her own, so she stays there until morning.

In the morning (Ruth 3:15) Boaz sends Ruth off with 6 measures of grain bound up in her shawl. It was heavy enough that Boaz had to place the bundle on Ruth. Again, God’s kindness flows to Naomi through Ruth and through Boaz. Leaving Ruth, Boaz heads straight into town.

Naomi, when Ruth comes home and reports back to her, knows that Boaz is not going to rest until he’s sorted this matter out (Ruth 3:16-17).

Ruth’s committed, faithful love has inpired the same kind of commitment in Boaz. Really Ruth shows us a little bit of what God is like. That’s part of what human beings are made for you know? To reflect the glory of God. You see, this kind of faithful love that Ruth shows in keeping the promise that she made to Naomi is a big feature of the book of Ruth. I mentioned it at the beginning of this sermon. This kind of love is called chesed which is a word which doesn’t really have a good direct translation into English. It’s love, but not romantic flighty love — it’s a faithful, loyal, hardworking love, a love that does, a love that works, a love that will not give up or let go. This is the love that Ruth showed Naomi and it shows us what God’s love is like. God loves His people with a chesed love. A love that will not let them go. A love that doesn’t depend on mood. A faithful love.

Ruth’s faithful love points the way to Jesus, the Rescuer, who be born many years later in that same town of Bethlehem, Jesus is the living flesh-and-blood proof of God’s chesed love. A love that would not let his people go but came to rescue us from sin and death and bring us back to God. Jesus died in our place because God loves us with a love that will not give up on us. On your worst day, the promises of God to love his people and not give up on us, still apply.

May we who follow Jesus have this kind of love for each other. As we grow in our faith that this is how God loves us, we will love like he loves. God’s love is not fickle, God’s love does not give up. God’s love does not waver based on emotions or circumstance. May we reflect God and his love. May we show, in the lives that we live and the way we treat one another, that the faithful God, the God of Ruth, the God of Naomi, the God of Jesus, is our God.

Pray

Lord God we pray that you would help us to be committed to one another. To our brother and sister Christians, to our families, to our friends, to our neighbours. Help us to work for the good of each other, and may we always be guided and empowered by the faithful love you have for us in Christ.

As we look forward to the easing of some restrictions tomorrow in the fight against Coronavirus, help us to still be careful for the sake of each other, especially our most vulnerable.

Help us, Lord, to have hope that there is light at the end of this tunnel, there will be sweetness after these bitter days.

We pray for your comfort for all those who mourn the death of their loved-ones.

We pray for healing for the sick. For strength for those in recovery. For protection, energy and great skill for those fighting to cure, treat and care for people and for those who continue to keep us going providing essential services.

We pray especially for those who are struggling financially, emotionally or physically in these dark times. Help them Lord.

We have learned how important community is. How much we can miss one another. How fragile normal life is. May we come out the other side of this thing with greater kindness and love for one another.

In Jesus’ name we pray,

Amen.

Sing

Here are some videos I hope will help you in singing praise to God.

Thanks for joining me again today. We’re continuing in our new series on Ruth as we look at chapter 2. I’m including the video overview of the Book of Ruth by the Bible Project again, in case you might find it helpful.

You can find the text of Ruth, chapter 2 by clicking on this link.

Here is the video of my sermon, which I have also included in text to help you share it or read along if it’s difficult to hear me in the video.

Read

Welcome back to our series on the book of Ruth. This week we will be reading chapter 2, so without any further delay, let’s read that together.

Many of you know that Sarah and I were blessed to welcome our new baby Anna into the world in March. We’re adjusting to life as a family of four, on top of all the other adjustments that we’ve all had to make during this time of pandemic. We have to parent our two children differently of course. If Anna cries and needs something, we rush to get it for her. Clean nappy, milk, winding. Whatever she needs, right away! It’s different with Timothy. Often, Timothy will ask us for something, and we’ll say, “Okay, you go get it,” or “Yes, after you tidy up your toys,” or, sometimes, “No.” It’s not because we love Timmy any less, not at all! It’s just that Timothy’s nearly four now, so a big focus of our parenting is trying to develop good character in Timothy. We do of course still do a lot for him, because he’s still quite young, but the reason we’ve stopped babying Timothy is because one day he will – God willing – be a man. We want him to be a good man. We want him to be a man who takes responsibility and who is not afraid of work. We don’t want him to be a man of bad character, spoiled and selfish because his parents pampered him all his life. We love him, so we want to develop in him a good character. Personally, I find it hard sometimes. I kind of want to just give him the world. I would quite easily spoil him, but good character is important, so I deny that instinct most of the time.

Character is a big theme in this chapter of Ruth, and it’s also where we get introduced to the final main character: Boaz.

Boaz is introduced to us as “a man of standing”. Now that phrase doesn’t necessarily mean anything in English other than that he was an influential person. A big deal in Bethlehem. However, the phrase can also be translated as “a mighty man of worth”, or “a mighty man of valour”. That could possibly give us a good indication of the kind of man we’re dealing with here, right at the first mention of his name.

Now look at the first words that Boaz himself speaks in this book:

The first words out of his mouth are “The Lord be with you,” in an era in Israel’s history that is famous for the people falling again and again back into apostasy and faithlessness this is a faithful man. Boaz is a man of God and that’s evident from even the way he says hello to his workers.

Saying hello to his workers is not what we remember Boaz for, but good character is evident in small and mundane things just as it is in big heroic things.

Boaz spots the new woman in his field and asks about her:

We’ve already seen the remarkable character of Ruth in chapter 1, when she chose to stay with Naomi even though it meant leaving her homeland, and we see here that that wasn’t an anomaly. This is just part of who Ruth is, it’s character. Her act of loyalty and goodness wasn’t just a once off, it’s evident in daily life as Ruth humbly asks if she can glean, and then works hard to do so, only taking a short rest in the shelter out of the sun. Ruth asks if she can glean even though it’s written into God’s law that she’s entitled to do so. God’s law forbade his people from gathering right to the edges of their fields or going through the field a second time to gather anything they had missed. That was to be left for the poor. As a widow with nobody to provide for her, Ruth was entitled to this and yet she has no sense of entitlement, but humbly asks and then works hard to provide what she can for Naomi and herself.

Ruth even took the initiative to provide for her and her mother-in-law. Right at the beginning of the chapter we can see Ruth’s love for her mother-in-law displayed in her initiative:

She’s taking a risk in going out to glean. She’s an outsider, a foreigner, on her own. She doesn’t know what type of people she’s going to encounter. Thankfully she goes to a field that happens to belong to Boaz.

So, Boaz and Ruth meet:

Again, we see the noble character of both Boaz and Ruth.  Boaz instructs her to stay in his field, it keeps her safe and he’ll be sure to look after her. Ruth, still not showing any sign of entitlement, is commended by Boaz for sacrificing so much to take care of Naomi. It’s clear now that people have been talking about Ruth, Boaz has heard all about what she’s done.

Boaz continues to show grace and kindness to Ruth. Ruth continues to work hard to provide for her mother-in-law and herself. The grace and compassion of Boaz meets with the selfless hard work of Ruth. And the result? At the end of the day Ruth not only has leftovers from her lunch thanks to Boaz, she has about an ephah of grain too. That was about 22 litres of grain and would do herself and Naomi for about 2 weeks. It’s a testament to her hard work and Boaz’s kindness.

Now. Wait a minute. I hope you don’t stop watching or reading there. Whether you know it or not, we’re in a dangerous place at this point! It would be very easy to look at this passage and think it’s just about personal character and take it as a lesson in morality. You could leave thinking that the message of this chapter is that you’re to go out there and work hard and make something of yourself, or to be generous with the wealth and power you have. That might do for some motivational talk but I’m not a motivational speaker. If I take you down that road, I wouldn’t be handling the word of God rightly. What you must remember is that the Bible is about God. The Book of Ruth is about seeing God working in and through the lives of ordinary people in the kind of situations that happen in normal life.

You could look at this chapter and think “Wow! Ruth is so dedicated and hardworking!” or “Wow! Boaz is so gracious!” and completely miss God in all this.

So now, let’s see God at work. Ruth didn’t know where she was going that day. She went to a field to gather leftover barley. She just so happened to go to the field of Boaz. Boaz, a faithful man of God during a period of biblical history infamous for the faithlessness of God’s people. Boaz just so happens to be a guardian-redeemer of Elimelech’s people – someone who was able to recover the losses and the dignity of the family of Elimelech and make sure that his family continued on. Of all the fields she could have gone to it was Boaz’s field. God is at work here.

God works in the lives of these people and through them. What is it that makes Boaz so gracious? What is it that makes him humble enough that, despite being a big deal, he takes notice of the new face among the needy that have come to his field? Where does his good character come from? Boaz embodies the teachings of God’s law. His character has been shaped by God’s law. He is reverent. He cares for the widow and the foreigner. Boaz belongs to God and God works in and through him.

What about Ruth? She left everything of her homeland to stay with Naomi, but not just that. Remember from last week. She said, “Your people will be my people and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16). Boaz heard about all that Ruth had done, leaving her homeland and people and her tireless work in the field to provide for herself and Naomi and he describes it like this:

Taking refuge under the wings of God like a little chick in search of shelter. That’s Ruth. And God is sheltering Ruth who has sought refuge with him. She finds the right field. She finds the right man.

This is our relationship to God, little chicks seeking refuge. We bring nothing. We earn no credit. We can boast of nothing. And God gives us shelter. He rescues. That’s who God is. The Rescuer. The Redeemer. We see that nowhere more clearly than in the cross of Jesus. If you come to Jesus as your Saviour and Lord, you know that there is nothing that you can boast of in terms of your salvation. Your sins are paid for by Jesus on the cross, not by your own good behaviour. You are sheltered in Jesus, covered by his righteousness and faithfulness on our behalf. You’re a little chick who has been given shelter under the wings of God.

But when we come to God we are changed. He changes us to be who we were meant to be, to reflect him, to become godly. Come to God through Jesus and you will receive the Holy Spirit. God himself will set up camp in you and begin changing you from the inside out. You will reflect God as he works in and through you.

The grace, faithfulness, and love of God is reflected here through Ruth and Boaz.

When Ruth returns home, Naomi is shocked at how much food she has:

Ruth tells her about Boaz, still not knowing who he is. And Naomi rejoices. She tastes the sweetness come back into her life.

I love the ambiguity of that phrase: “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” Who is Naomi referring to here, Boaz or God? It could be either. I think it’s intentionally ambiguous and it kind of sums up this chapter and indeed this book. Who is being kind to them? God or Boaz? Yes. Both!

God works in and through normal people. Forget kings, great warriors and miracle workers for a moment. They’re fine but forget about them for a moment. A farmer. A widow. The setting of this great work of God is not a battlefield but a barley-field. People noticing each other and caring about each other. Normal stuff. It happens all the time. And God is powerfully at work in all this “normal stuff”. He is powerfully at work in your life too.

Pray

It’s Christian Aid week this week. Normal fundraising cannot go ahead due to the Coronavirus pandemic, so this year Christian Aid week is moving online. In the video below, Michael from Christian Aid Ireland will lead us in prayer. Please see caweek.ie for more information or to make a donation to Christian Aid Ireland.

Sing

Some videos (including one recorded specially by Christian Aid Ireland) which I hope will help you to sing worship to God today.

Thank you for joining me again today. Hopefully you will find the resources below helpful as you worship in your own home. There is a section for each of the three core elements in home worship: reading, praying and singing.

Today we begin a new series on the book of Ruth so before you watch my regular sermon video I thought the following video by The Bible Project might be helpful to you.

Read 

Good news! My sciatica has eased up enough for me to be able to sit up for the duration of a video. Thank you for your prayers, here is the first sermon video in our series on the Book of Ruth:

We’ve been spending a lot of time in the New Testament this year. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that at all, but I am aware that, for many people, the Old Testament can seem a lot more intimidating. The whole Bible points us to Jesus, but you have to look a bit harder for him in the Old Testament. The Old Testament’s also bigger, and it has some big books in it that can be tough to get through. It’s hard to relate to Leviticus when it’s describing all the laws concerning rituals that we don’t practice anymore and it’s hard to see the relevance for your life when you’re reading through the bits in Exodus that are giving precise instructions on how to build the tabernacle. Even if you’re Bible nerd like me and you love to study the Bible, it can be hard going sometimes. I want to show you that even though it’s older and even though it’s set long, long ago, in a culture very different to ours, the Old Testament is brilliant and relevant, with stories that speak to your life today. It is the word of God, it is living and powerful. 

So, today we begin a new series on the Book of Ruth. Ruth is a brilliant little book. You can read it all in about 20 minutes, it’s just four chapters, so I thought that for four weeks we could go through this book together. And read chapter 1 today. So please read with me, or listen carefully to Ruth, chapter 1. 

The story of the Bible is huge. It’s quite literally the biggest story! It begins at “the beginning”, before creation, and it concludes with the renewal of creation and God’s people dwelling with him in joy for eternity (so in a way you could say it tells a story that never ends!). It’s full of huge events. The creation of the stars and planets, the creation of every creature. Angels and demons. Miraculous wonders. The sick healed instantly, the dead raised, seas parted! Wars and famines and floods! The phrase “biblical proportions” is never used to describe something small, or personal, or intimate. But, you know, this is your story too. You, the person listening to (or reading) this. You’re in this story. You’re part of it. 

In all these huge stories of battles and miraculous wonders it can seem like maybe the stuff of normal life isn’t important. Maybe you think you and your day-to-day life isn’t so significant to a God who deals in such biblical proportions. We can struggle to see how this huge story is also our story, the story of ordinary people living normal lives. 

But Christians believe in a God whose greatness does not make him distant. In fact, the opposite is true. God is great enough, and powerful enough to be attentive not only to each one of us and our lives, but to the tiniest details that we can’t even notice. It’s like the author of a book, he can spend as long as he wants thinking all about one character, one iine, one word. One tiny dot of punctuation can receive his focus. The Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper famously said, “there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!'” There is nothing in your life which does not concern God. There is nothing so small or trivial that God doesn’t care about it. He is big enough to care about the tiniest little things. 

The first verse of Ruth gives us our historical setting. 

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 
(Ruth 1:1, NIV, Anglicised)  

The story of Ruth is set during the same time period as the book of Judges. A time of dark, epic tales of war, and here we have a little story. Here we are given a pastoral story of decency and love among ordinary people.  

What the Book of Judges shows us is the downward spiral of God’s people. The same pattern keeps repeating throughout the book: 

1. There is peace for a bit while Israel serves God. 
2. Israel falls into idolatry. 
3. Israel is invaded and enslaved. 
4. Israel cries out to God and He raises up a judge to rescue them from their oppressors. 
5. Israel is delivered, peace is restored, back to step one. 

This keeps happening again and again until the point where you get to the end of the Book of Judges and the people of Israel are living in ways that are utterly sinful. The judges themselves, beyond serving the purpose of freeing the people from oppression, are not good leaders.  

During this time of faithlessness in Israel we have a story of the loyalty of Ruth, a Moabite. An outsider. During a time of great battles and epic adventure we have the story of the decency and kindness of a farmer, the loyalty of an outsider and the struggles and mourning of a widow.  

We meet Ruth and Naomi, her mother-in-law, at their lowest. Naomi and her family moved to Moab to weather out the famine in Israel. Her husband died. Her two sons died. She’s left widowed, away from home with her two daughters-in-law. She encourages her daughters-in-law Orpah and Ruth to go back to their families. They are still young enough to marry and have a life. Orpah leaves, with Naomi’s blessing. She’s perfectly entitled to leave; she has no obligation to stay. But Ruth will not be parted from Naomi. If Naomi is to endure hardship, then Ruth will endure it with her: 

They return to Bethlehem, where Naomi came from, because she had heard that God had provided food there. Two widows in a small town in a society in which widows don’t really fare too well. Ruth is young enough to remarry and have a family, but she’s chosen to go to Israel where she’s an outsider. She’s from Moab, Israel’s ancient enemy. 

When she returns her old neighbours and friends and relatives remember Naomi, but she is hurting. Even the sound of her own name seems to taunt her. Naomi’s name means pleasant, lovely, sweet – but life has been too hard for her to stay sweet and cheerful. She’s bitter and she sees the irony in this: 

‘Don’t call me Naomi,’ she told them. ‘Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.’ 
(Ruth 1:20-21, NIV, Anglicised) 

Naomi says God has afflicted her, she tells them to call her Mara, which means bitter. But God hasn’t abandoned Naomi, in fact the answer to her lamentation is found in that daughter-in-law, Ruth, who wouldn’t let go of her. She sticks with Naomi, because she’s found herself tied up with her and with her people and her God and out of faithful love, she won’t let go. Ruth has no obligation to stay with Naomi, but she loves her and is loyal to her. 

Although Naomi sees the hand of God in her suffering, she nevertheless still leans on him for her salvation. She goes to Bethlehem because she still believes in the mercy of God, she still believes that, even though he disciplines his people when they sin against him, he also provides and restores those who turn to him. She heard the God had provided food in Bethlehem and so she goes to receive from God. 

The answer to Naomi’s grief isn’t in some spectacular miraculous sign, but in her daughter-in-law, who won’t leave her side. This story shows us how that can be just as important and powerful. 

Ruth is a curious book. The characters discuss God and react to how they perceive God at work and they show themselves faithful to God and his law, but the “narrator” never tells us that God did something, neither does God speak. This is very much a story of ordinary life. There’s no massive supernatural events, no visitations or visions, just people getting on with life. And that’s what most of us experience too. I’ve never heard a booming voice from heaven. I’ve never (to my knowledge at least) been visited by an angel. I read the Bible, I pray, and I try to live the way God wants me to live and treat people with decency and love.  

God is indeed present in this story, but you must see him moving in the “just-so-happened” circumstances. Much like your own life probably. God is at work. Can you notice him? Ruth and Naomi just so happen to arrive back in time for the barley harvest. We’ll see how that plays out. Ruth just so happens to be a woman of such loyal and noble character that she will selflessly stick with Naomi instead of going back to her people. We’ll see how that plays out too. This is a dark chapter but there are already faint glimmers of light. 

We remember the spectacles, the parting of the Red Sea, the raising of the dead, but God works just as powerfully through love and loyalty. God is at work is at work in ordinary lives. God is even at work and in control in the dark times. Even on the darkest day, when Jesus died this was all part of God’s plan, part of his rescue mission. He was at work and in control rescuing his people as Jesus took our sin so that we could return to God. And if you come to Jesus he will not turn you away. 

This first chapter is a story of bitter and sweet. Naomi has experienced so much sorrow that she can’t even bear to be called her own sweet name anymore, she wants a name more fitting to the bitterness of her life. Ruth’s loyalty is exceptional, it’s remarkable, but in many ways this is still a story of the ordinary, there’s no miraculous signs here, no supernatural events, no seas parted, no angels visiting in this story. Just a woman and her loyalty and love. And we will see just how powerful that is. Through Ruth, God can bring sweetness back into the life of Naomi, and a story that begins with death and sorrow and bitterness will conclude with life and joy and sweetness again. 

Through this story God shows us that he works in the ordinary as well as the extraordinary. He shows us that there are no insignificant people and that each of us can be used by him and see him move in our lives. 

Many people spend so long looking for big spectacular miracles or waiting to hear God’s voice booming from the heavens that they fail to see all the ways God is working in and through the people and circumstances in their lives. Take a look at your life. What do you have to be thankful for? Where can you see God’s hand in the ordinary? Where are the glimmers of light in the darkness. Or perhaps you are feeling called to be that glimmer of light for someone else? Give thanks, pray for guidance and put your trust in God who is very much interested and involved in all of our ordinary lives whether we notice him or not. 

Join me next Sunday and we’ll read chapter 2 and see a few more “just-so-happened” circumstances and how God works in the ordinary. 

Pray 

Sovereign Lord, help us to see you in our daily life. Help us to trust that you are in control and help us to depend on you and your provision.  

We thank you for that example of faithful love that we see in Ruth, but Lord, we know that your love for us is the ultimate example. You will never let your people go from your love. We have been purchased by Christ’s blood shed for us on the cross. You loved us even before we loved you. You are working in our lives to redeem us and make us holy. We thank you Lord. 

Lord we pray for all of those who mourn this week. All of the homes that death has come to in the past few days. Be with them Lord, in the darkness and bring them light and comfort. 

We pray for our country as we look to the road out of this strange and anxious time. Protect us, Lord. Give us wisdom and help us to do things right. Give those in positions of leadership and authority wisdom. 

We pray for those who are sick, please heal them. We pray for those who work to care for and treat people, protect them and bless their work. 

We pray all these things in the name of Jesus, our Saviour and Lord. 
Amen. 

Sing

Here are some hymns about the faithfulness of God that I hope will help you to sing at home:

Read

It hurts to be apart from someone. It’s sad. Irish people are not strangers to the pain absence. It used to be the case decades ago that, if someone emigrated to America, Canada or Australia for example, their family here would likely never see them again. You’d exchange letters, but that would be it really. Even in this modern age, pre-pandemic, with modern air-travel and the ability to come home for the holidays, people still cry at the airports saying goodbye to their loved-ones. All that anxiety and worry, hoping they’ll be okay and that they’ll be happy. And the quietness of home without their presence.

We’re feeling the absence of family and friends here in the manse. Baby Anna has yet to meet all her grandparents or any of her aunts, uncles and cousins. We wonder how old she’ll be, how big she’ll be, how many milestones will have passed by before we can properly welcome her into the family. All together. The video calls and picture sharing are great, but they’re no substitute for the real presence of loved-ones.

At the last supper, Jesus spoke to his disciples about how he would be leaving soon and they were sad and worried. After that meal he was arrested and then he died horribly and they were devastated. Their hero, their leader and the whole focus of their life for the last three years was gone. But on the third day they were amazed by something completely unexpected. Something that none of them thought would happen. He rose from the dead, not just revived, but resurrected. He defeated death! That meant that all of the things he was saying about himself and the kingdom of God were true, it wasn’t just a dream or wishful thinking.

But now in today’s passage we read about Jesus leaving again. Not even death could take him away from his disciples… but now he’s leaving anyway. And what’s stranger is that the disciples don’t mind. The last two verses in the gospel of Luke (which kind of overlaps with today’s reading from Acts) says that after Jesus ascended, the disciples weren’t sad at all when they returned to Jerusalem without him:

Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
(Luke 24:52-53, NIVUK)

Even though they just got him back — literally back from the dead — they were not sad once he left. They rejoiced!

We normally feel sad when we say goodbye to somebody, but what if their leaving meant that everything was changing for the better? 

This passage is about the ascension of Jesus Christ. I don’t think we make a big enough deal of the ascension of Jesus. What does it mean? What difference does it make? What does it tell us about God and what does it tell us about ourselves? Those are the questions I want to try to answer today. 

As much as they loved him and had built their whole lives around him… even though they had just received him back from the dead, the disciples were not sad when Jesus left them to ascend into heaven, because they knew what it meant. And I want you to know what it means too.

Let me read today’s text, Acts 1:6-12, which is about the ascension of Jesus:

Jesus had spoken a lot about the kingdom of God. A kingdom where things were set right. A kingdom where the poor, the hungry and those who weep are blessed. A kingdom whose citizens love their enemies, forgive those who have hurt them and give freely of the blessings God has given them. A kingdom with values so different than this violent and greedy world that it appears to be upside-down. It must have looked to them like that movement died along with Jesus on the cross. That the kingdom of this world was just too big and powerful. 

But now Jesus is risen he has proven that his way — the way of the kingdom of God — is the real way of things. It has real power. It is the kingdom that God is building and it will take over the broken ways of this broken world. So the disciples want to know when. Is the kingdom going to come in all its fullness now?

But it’s not their job to know when that will happen. It will happen when the Father has chosen. In the meantime, the role of the followers of Jesus in the building of the kingdom is this:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’

(Acts 1:8, NIVUK)

Our lives here in this world are about the kingdom of God and our job right now is to be Jesus’ witnesses. And the power and the ability that we need to do this job comes from the Holy Spirit. Christians are empowered by God the Holy Spirit, to witness to the risen Lord Jesus, God the Son until the kingdom comes in all its fullness at the time chosen by God the Father.

And it’s at that point that Jesus leaves them. He ascends into heaven. This time they weren’t sad because they knew what was happening. Jesus rising from the dead proved that he was who he claimed to be. He is the Messiah, God’s true chosen King. When Jesus leaves them this time he is not leaving them to die, but to ascend to heaven to as the King of all creation. 

When Jesus ascended he was returning to the Father who had sent him. He was returning to reign from heaven as God’s chosen King. He was returning to send the Holy Spirit to the church, so that he would be with them in power wherever they go. So the disciples rejoiced after Jesus ascended because their King is ascending to his throne, has given his people the job of carrying on his work and is sending the Holy Spirit to work in and through them.

Ten days later they would receive the Holy Spirit. From chapter two:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
(Acts 2:1-4, NIVUK)

Just as Jesus said, the Holy Spirit came upon the church and it gave them what they needed to do their job of being Jesus’ witnesses. Jesus said they would start in Jerusalem and so, that day when Jerusalem was full of people speaking different languages, the disciples were given the ability to speak to the crowds: to be Jesus’ witnesses to the people in Jerusalem no matter what language they spoke.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs – we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’
(Acts 2:5-11, NIVUK)

The church is doing its job. They’re doing exactly what Jesus said they would do. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,” he said on the day he ascended, and ten days later he church poured onto the streets of Jerusalem in the power of the Holy Spirit, speaking about God’s deeds of power. Telling people that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s chosen King and that he has risen from the dead. The church is doing its job but really it is God working through them: the Holy Spirit is giving them the ability to witness and to speak in different languages so all the crowd could hear the gospel.

What do we learn from this story of the risen and ascended Lord Jesus and of the church filled with the Holy Spirit. How can we have the kind of passion and life that the church did that day. How can we do our jobs as witnesses for Jesus? Because that is our job you know. And it’s still our job. Church isn’t on pause during this lockdown. The mission continues and it’s why the church exists: to be Jesus’ witnesses in the world.

Knowing that Jesus is risen and ascended and that he sits at the right hand of the Father will change how we live our lives. We know that Jesus is King. We know that he is in control and we know that he is coming back one day — so when he comes back will he find a faithful and obedient church doing the job he gave us to do?

Knowing that Jesus is king will change your priorities. When you realise that the King of the universe is the Prince of Peace, a former prisoner, a victim of the violence of this world for our sakes it will change the way you look at the world and the way we treat one another. The King of everything knows what it’s like to be beaten up. The King of everything knows what it’s like to be abandoned. The King of everything knows what it’s like to be tortured and killed. So in this violent world, whose side do you think the True King is on?

Knowing this story changes the way you view the church. Jesus has told us what our job is: to be his witnesses. And he’s told us how we’re going to do that job: in the power of the Holy Spirit.

No longer would the mission of God be focussed on one little area as Jesus worked to tell people about the kingdom, to heal and bless — now God the Holy Spirit works through all who have faith in Jesus to follow him, and that blessing and power and witness can spread all over the world with the followers of Jesus.

Knowing this story will also tells us where the church’s power comes from. The Holy Spirit made it so that these ordinary disciples could talk to all of the different people in the crowd in their own languages. God will help us to do the job he has given us to do. If God has called you to do a job, he’ll give you what you need to do it. Maybe that will be the confidence or the words to speak to someone about Jesus. Maybe that will be the grace and the love that you need to befriend people and show them in a very real way what it is like in the kingdom of God. With friendship and grace. Maybe it will be the courage you will need to speak out against injustice. If God has called you to do something God will give you what you need to do it.

Your options might seem limited at the moment. How can we witness when we can barely interact with others lest we spread infection. It may seem bleak to have church on your own at home, watching a screen, listening to my voice or reading along. But look at it this way, Facebook and Youtube have never had so many sermons on them before. The internet can be a very dark place and now little lights are coming on all over. Share the message. Chat about it. People who were curious about church and too intimidated to walk in the doors of a strange building now only have to click a link to have their introduction to what we believe. 

We don’t have Sunday school now, but if you have kids and suddenly find yourself at home more than you’ve ever been before, this time can be used to discuss faith with them, to practice family worship together. Read God’s word together, pray together, sing together. If you are Christian parents that’s your calling, your job for the King, and as intimidating as it might seem, God will empower you to do it.

We serve the same King as the apostles did and we can serve him in the power of the Holy Spirit, just like they did. Same King. Same power. So today, know who the King is and know what your job in his kingdom is: to live here and now in this world as witnesses of the true King and his Kingdom until the King returns. 

Pray

Lord God, help us to be witnesses for Jesus Christ wherever it is you have placed us, among the family, friends , neighbours and colleagues you have given us. Help us to trust you to provide the power that we need to answer your call, follow Jesus and point others to him. We pray for all of the sermons and services that are now online, may they be a blessing to the church and may many people, who would have otherwise not heard the good news today, hear it. Help us to know that our worship at hope is so important and to know that you will give us the power that we need to do the job that you have called us to do. We pray in the name of Jesus, our King and our Saviour.
Amen.

Today please also remember in your prayers:

• The bereaved
• The sick
• The lonely
• Those working to keep us supplied with essential supplies
• Those working in medicine and caring
• Those working to develop vaccines and treatments
• Those in leadership

May God be near them in their pain and suffering and strengthen them to meet the challenges that they face.

Sing

Some songs celebrating Christ our King.

Dear friends I want to now offer some help and encouragement for the third and final part of home or family worship: singing. Just to recap, family worship comprises of three parts that you can all do at home with your families, or on your own: reading, praying and singing. As I said before, this is something that it has always been very important for us to do, but its importance is highlighted now in the current situation, a bit like hand-washing! You’ll find some help on this website for reading and praying, but now look at singing.  

A Singing People 

God’s people are a singing people. We have been singing praise in response to God and his works since the beginning and we will be singing his praises for eternity. 

When Adam met Eve for the first time, after God had created her from his own rib, he responded with a joyful, lyrical exclamation: 

‘This is now bone of my bones 
    and flesh of my flesh; 
she shall be called “woman”, 
    for she was taken out of man.’ 
(Genesis 2:23, NIVUK) 

When Moses and Israelites escaped from Egypt, crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground and saw Pharoah and his soldiers defeated by God, they responded in song. 

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: 

‘I will sing to the Lord, 
    for he is highly exalted. 
Both horse and driver 
    he has hurled into the sea. 
(Exodus 15:1) 

Their life of slavery was over, the people who sought to kill them have been defeated, they’ve been rescued by the true and living God, and they respond with song. 

The entire book of Psalms is poetic prayer, many of them specifically described as songs in their titles. Many of these psalms were written by King David, who liked to praise God with music. 

In the New Testament we see God’s people continue to sing in response to his works. Luke’s gospel is rich with song as people respond to the coming of the long-awaited Messiah: Mary’s song, the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55, Zechariah’s song the Benedictus in Luke 1:67-79, the angels’ song, which has come to be known as Gloria in Excelsis Deo, in Luke 2:13, and Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis in Luke 2:29-32. Matthew records that Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn together at the end of the last supper (Matthew 26:30). Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, uses poetry (or possibly an early church hymn) to describe the self-giving love of Jesus: 

When John was imprisoned on the island of Patmos, isolated, separated from the church he loved so dearly, he was visited by the risen Lord Jesus and given a glimpse into heaven. What did he see in heaven? Singing! 

When God spoke to the prophet Isaiah to describe that day when all things will be made right and new and God’s kingdom will come to earth in all its fullness he poetically describes nature itself rejoicing in song. 

You will go out in joy 
    and be led forth in peace; 
the mountains and hills 
    will burst into song before you, 
and all the trees of the field 
    will clap their hands. 
(Isaiah 55:12, NIVUK)

God’s people and his creation rejoice in song in response to the redemptive work of God. 

We are Called to Sing 

We are not just given examples of singing in the Bible, we are also instructed to sing: 

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 
(Colossians 3:16, NIVUK) 

We can sing praises in response to God and what he has done. We can sing for joy. We can sing in lamentation. So many of the psalms are broken-hearted cries to God. Our singing is not a performance, we do not do it to show off, but to praise God and direct our souls to turn to him.  

I know some of you may feel uncomfortable singing. I write this with love and a pastor’s heart, so please don’t take it the wrong way: unless you have some serious trauma or psychological hang-up, if it is merely self-consciousness preventing you from singing, then the solution here is simply to get over yourself. It’s not about you. It’s about God and God deserves our praises. However, what we find when we dedicate ourselves to praising God is that we are doing what we have been made to do and in that we can find a deep and lasting joy. So don’t deny yourself the joy of worship!

Perhaps you are not a very emotionally expressive person. Welcome to the club! Neither am I! Sometimes I have to remind myself to smile so people don’t think I’m mad at them! Perhaps you don’t really feel moved to sing. I suggest singing anyway, you would be surprised how moved you can be once you get things started. I am not a great singer, but I sing, because it’s not about me, it’s about God. 

If you can sing a football chant or happy birthday to your friends or children, then you can sing to God. And when you do so you are never alone. We join the choir of angels and saints in heaven, praising God.  

There are some great online resources to help you to sing. All you have to do is Google or search on Spotify or YouTube and you can find the lyrics or the music for you to sing any hymn or worship song you like. I try to find appropriate hymns to post up alongside my Sunday sermons, but if there are any that you would particularly like included, please let me know.

Hello everyone! Here I have presented some more resources for you to celebrate this Lord’s Day and worship at home, with the three core elements of family/household worship: reading Scripture, praying, and singing God’s praise. I am sorry that I don’t have a video for you today. I am currently in too much pain to record a video, but have recorded my sermon as an MP3 for you to play. Please share these resources with others if you can. I always put up the text of my sermons and reflections so that people who can’t play MP3s or videos might still be encouraged and helped by reading.

I hope you have a wonderful time of worship at home. Just remember, you are not alone. When we worship God, we join in with our brothers and sisters in the church all over the world and even with the heavenly choirs who are always praising the Lord.

Love,
John.

Read
Today we begin by reading John 20:19-31

Today we’re going to look at Thomas, or “doubting Thomas” as he’s sometimes called, and his journey to faith.

I don’t think Thomas really deserves the nickname he’s been given. Yes, he doubted. Who hasn’t? I don’t think he was an especially sceptical or cynical man. He returned to his group of friends and heard the good news. News that must have sounded too good to be true: “We have seen the Lord!” The same gospel the church proclaims today. We don’t preach that we’ve personally seen the resurrected Jesus in the flesh, but we preach the good news that Christ is risen.

Thomas was absent when Jesus appeared to the disciples earlier. They were all huddled in the room with the door locked. And Jesus appeared and blessed them, showed them his wounds and commissioned them to go and spread the gospel of forgiveness… and poor Thomas missed it all. So all Thomas has to go on is the message that he’s heard from the others. It’s many hundreds of years later now, but still today we proclaim the same message passed down from the original eye-witnesses. So in a way Thomas is like a person who hears the good news of Easter today — “Christ is risen!” — and he reacted like many do today. Thomas doubted in the same way that many people today doubt. I mean I believe now, but I doubted for a long time. For years! Much longer than a week, like Thomas did! And yet he’s called Doubting Thomas?!

Many people will doubt and dismiss the claims of Christianity, but while Thomas doubted, I don’t believe he was ever dismissive. Thomas stuck around. Even though it was a dangerous time when they had to keep the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders. Thomas admitted what it would take for him to believe and he stuck with the other disciples. He’s still there a week later, seeking, waiting, wrestling with his doubt, hoping to see Jesus for himself. And no doubt hearing the message again and again from his friends the whole time he was there. Thomas showed honesty and courage and a commitment to engage with the extraordinary claims of the gospel. And we call him “Doubting Thomas”, like we’re in any position to scoff!

“We have seen the Lord!” is a bold claim. Jesus is risen. Most Jews believed that God was going to redeem creation one day and that meant a physical resurrection. They believed in and hoped for the resurrection, but they expected it to be in a new age when God set all things right. That resurrection had happened now with Jesus, while the rest of the world continued on as it had done, was something completely unexpected. Jesus rising from the dead would mean that something from the new age of resurrection had broken into this age. People weren’t expecting that.

Peter once said to Jesus “We’ve left everything to follow you!” (Matthew 19:27). So when Jesus was crucified, died and was buried… then what? Left everything to follow him and now he’s dead. These people must have been feeling like their lives were over too.

So maybe the good news just seemed too good to be true. Thomas was no more doubtful than the other disciples. They all thought Jesus was dead too until they met him. Thomas just hasn’t had that experience yet. Thomas, like the women on the way to anoint the dead body of Jesus, was still in the place of mourning. He was still crushed.

Thomas was honest about his disbelief. Even if it meant that he’d be the odd one out amongst his friends he wouldn’t pretend. And Thomas, right at that moment, was different to them. Belief in the risen Christ is essential to the Christian faith. It’s at the heart of our faith. A faith that denies the resurrection is not Christianity.

You might believe that Jesus was a wise teacher or a good example, but if you believe he is not risen then whatever you believe it’s not Christianity. It’s not the good news of Jesus Christ. Thomas is to be commended for his honesty. There are many in Christian circles today — and even in positions of church leadership — who will either claim that the real resurrection of Jesus doesn’t matter, and there are many who will claim to believe in it when they don’t. Give me an honest unbeliever any day over a pretend Christian. That I can respect! Thomas was upfront and honest and he stuck around to wrestle with his doubts.

A week later Thomas received an answer to his wrestling and no doubt his prayers. Jesus entered the room even though the doors were locked. His body is a resurrection body, not just the old body revived but changed now so that the old limitations no longer affect him. He comes bringing the blessing of peace to all there, including Thomas. And it looks as though he may well have come just to give Thomas that experience that he needed to move him from doubt to belief. He shows thomas the exact things he said that he needed:

Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’”
(John 20:27, NIV, Anglicised)

He shows Thomas the wounds and invites him to touch them. I wondered why it was that Thomas thought it was so important to see and touch the wounds of Christ. Perhaps it was because the other disciples got to see them. Thomas goes further, he wants to touch them. He wants to see if this is really the one who died. Not an illusion or a lookalike, but really and truly the one who died and rose again. It’s interesting that we’re reminded in verse 24 that Thomas is also called Didymus, which means “twin”. Perhaps Thomas was used to being mistaken for his twin brother growing up and the thought entered his mind as he heard his friends say “We have seen the Lord!” that it was just someone who looked really like Jesus.

But no this is the real Jesus, the one whose hands were nailed to the cross and whose side was pierced with a spear. And he keeps those scars in his resurrection body. In those scars he shows us that God knows pain, God suffered and he is not ashamed of it. God paid a price to redeem his people and he doesn’t regret it. Seeing the scars brings joy to his disciples and moves Thomas from doubt to faith and to his most beautiful confession:

Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’
(John 20:28, NIV, Anglicised)

Thomas believes now and look how he believes! He leaps from doubt to the most beautiful true praise. Jesus is Lord! Jesus is God! My Lord and my God!

And Jesus accepts this worship because he is indeed Lord and God. His response is not to say “Oh no, you’ve gone too far there, Thomas!” He recognises this statement as a sign of Thomas’s true belief. Thomas says “My Lord and my God!” and Jesus responds:

This is belief, to know the crucified and risen Jesus as Lord and God.

Thomas has come to believe now because he heard the message and had the experience. Jesus says that those who have not seen, like Thomas and the other apostles have, and yet come to believe, are blessed. He’s talking about us. He’s talking about the original readers of John’s gospel who were not eyewitnesses to the resurrection and still came to believe. And modern readers too, like you and me.

And so John goes on to say why this book was written. The eyewitness accounts are there so that you might have the blessing of faith in Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, and have life in his name. This book was written so that you would have that message, so that you would know who Jesus is and believe in him and have life — true life — in his name. You are not second-class to the apostles and the eyewitnesses, you are blessed.

But what about those of us who have heard the message, and like Thomas, we doubted? You might be tempted to wonder why you can’t get a house call from Jesus like Thomas did. But I think that in a way we do have the same two things available to us as Thomas had, although not in quite the same way.

We have the apostolic witness and we have experience. Thomas received that apostolic witness from his friends the apostles. We can read it in the Bible. It’s the same message.

Thomas’s experience was to see for himself the wounds of Christ as he appeared to him and spoke to him. Where is our experience?

I can only speak for myself. The word of God is my authority, but I didn’t always believe it. I had to see for myself how the good news of Jesus Christ was true. I decided I wouldn’t dismiss the Bible as just some old religious book, but would take it seriously. I mean if it is true then that changes everything, so it deserves to be paid attention to, it deserves to be wrestled with. I began to read it for myself and, as I did so, I prayed to a God I didn’t really know and I asked him, if he was there, if he was real, to help me to find him, to show himself to me.

And he did. He showed himself in the people that I encountered who shared their lives with me, who showed me what difference their faith made in their lives. They really lived like it was true. They lived like they were committed to grace because God had shown grace to them. And as I trusted in God and his word I began to live like it was true too. And as I did so I found that it was. I took steps of faith and found God right there, supporting me, growing me, changing me, challenging me to take the next step. I had prayers answered and the word of God coming to life to me, speaking to me, changing me

But you’ll never know the experience if you dismiss the message. Doubt it, okay I kind of expect that, but don’t dismiss it or you’ll miss out on seeing that this isn’t just some story about a wise and kind teacher who lived long ago and preached about love. This is the story of the One who is God, who was in the beginning, through whom all things were made, who came into the world to save us, to die for us. This is the story of the One who died for us and rose again. He is risen indeed and he offers life, true resurrection life, to all who will believe in him. This is the story of God’s redemption breaking into this world in the resurrection of Jesus.

I pray that even if you doubt, you would have the honesty to admit it and the courage to seek after Jesus anyway. That you would wrestle with it, listen to the message, pray for Jesus to show himself to you. If it’s true you can’t just let this pass you by. Thomas knew that and so he stayed with the other disciples in that room in Jerusalem, despite the danger, despite being the odd one out. He stayed and he wrestled and he prayed until he saw for himself that Jesus is risen indeed, and he believed and confessed him as his Lord and God. I pray that those of you who doubt would do the same.

For us who believe, do not forget the importance of our role. We are charged by God with delivering this message and living in such a way so through us people might come to know and experience God for themselves. The Spirit of Christ dwells in you and empowers you to witness to the gospel and manifest God to one another and to the world.

Pray

Lord Jesus, we thank you that you come to meet us where we are. Even when we lock ourselves up out of fear, you can enter into our lives and bring peace. We thank you for the blessing of faith and that we can know and worship you. Fill us now with your Holy Spirit and may he make us bold to share the gospel.

In times of darkness and doubt may we, like Thomas, refuse to give up and keep searching. May we press on and keep wrestling, and like Thomas may we know the reality of our risen Lord and God in our lives.

We pray for all those now who feel fear and those who feel doubt. Come and meet them Lord and turn their fear into joy and their doubt into praise.

Amen.

Sing

Some videos which you might find helpful to sing along to at home as you worship.

A very strange Easter Sunday since we all have to be at home. I have provided here some resources which I hope will help you to worship at home on your own or with your family. Below I hope you will find something to help you read and reflect on the Bible, something to guide you in your prayers, and something to encourage you to sing God’s praises today. We still have the most amazing reason to celebrate today, so rejoice! Christ is risen!

Love,
Rev. John.

Read

Today I invite you to read and reflect along with me from John 20:1-18. I will be reading it in the video below, but if you would like to read it in advance here is the full passage:

Easter Sunday is the biggest celebration in the Christian calendar. This year we must celebrate it at home. This is a dark and uncertain time. We cannot ignore the seriousness of our situation, but we must also not forget our hope. One of the mottos of the reformation, especially dear to Calvinists, was the phrase “Post tenebras lux”. After darkness, light! 

Even now we have reason to celebrate. Because light has dawned. A light that will never go out. Our hope rests on what happened that first Easter Sunday morning. Our entire faith hangs on what happened that morning – if Jesus isn’t risen then none of this matters. But if Jesus is risen, then that changes everything, and we have a hope that nothing in this world can put out.

If Jesus is risen then what he taught about himself is true and his way is the way of true life. If Jesus is risen then something new has happened. New life and new creation has begun to creep into this world.

Let’s read the text of John 20:1-18, together. Stopping to reflect as we go. Verse 1:

In the dark of the early morning, Mary Magdalene gathered her spices together and went to the tomb to anoint a dead body. Jesus, who she had followed to Jerusalem. Jesus, who had given her peace from her demons. Jesus who had promised so much. Jesus, who she had seen cruelly mocked and murdered in the foulest, most humiliating way the Romans had to kill a man. Jesus, who, for all of his teaching, all of his power, all of his promise, hung on the cross until he died – just like any other man would. Mary went to anoint a corpse, of that she was sure. She had seen his death with her own eyes.

Crucifixion was designed not only to kill a man, but to publicly humiliate him as he died slowly and painfully. Jesus died this death. He died slowly and painfully, naked and exposed to the mocking of the crowds. Mary saw this. 

He was dead. This was the cold, hard truth that Mary was sure of in the dark of the early morning. She gathered her spices to anoint the corpse of her beloved friend and teacher, the man who had changed her life. Her dreams were crushed, her Jesus was dead.

Most Jewish people at the time held to a belief in the resurrection. They believed that there would come a day, at the end of this world, when creation would all be made new and God would raise up all of his people. They believed that the physical things of this world were made by God and therefore mattered, and so that meant a bodily resurrection for God’s people on the last day.

But that day had not yet come. This was the first day of another week and it looked like it was going to be a very hard week. Whatever God might have in store for the future, the here and now looked bleak. Reality appears to move on, unstoppable, uncaring, moving over Jesus and his band of radicals. Whatever might happen on the last day, today was a sad day for Mary. 

There was no expectation in Mary’s mind that Jesus could have been resurrected. That would mean that something of the last day had been brought forward to the present day. Unthinkable. It would mean that the new creation had started to creep into this world. It would mean that heaven and earth were coming together. 

When Mary sees that the heavy stone covering the entrance to the tomb has been rolled away, she doesn’t think that Jesus is risen. As if it wasn’t bad enough that they have killed Jesus, now it looks like they have stolen his body! Verses two and three:

Mary’s cry is not a celebration of the resurrection, it’s a cry that Jesus’ body has been stolen, because the thought hadn’t entered her mind that resurrection might be possible.

Christians make a very bold claim: we believe, and have believed and proclaimed since the beginning of our faith, that Christ is risen. Not that he continues on in our hearts in some sentimental way, not that he just “went to heaven”. We believe that something happened, on this first day of the week, that has never happened before. We believe that Christ rose – physically, actually, really – from the dead.

The resurrection was unexpected and unprecedented, but it happened and the church has proclaimed it from the beginning – Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

The resurrection may have been inconceivable to Jesus’ disciples on that first Easter Sunday, but it was not unexpected to Jesus. Jesus knew that he would be crucified and that he would rise again in three days. Jesus even spoke about his death and resurrection. Sometimes he spoke about it in metaphor, but Jesus also spoke very plainly. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 20, it says:

You can’t get much more plain and explicit than that. Jesus knew what would happen, he was prepared for it. But to the disciples, Jesus’ resurrection was so inconceivable that they didn’t think that he could possibly mean that he would be raised from the dead.

But the beloved disciple, John, when he sees the graveclothes lying there in the empty tomb, things begin to dawn on him. Verses 3-10:

John, the beloved disciple, crouched looking into the tomb and he must have remembered the last time he stood before a tomb. Just days earlier he was in front of the tomb of Lazarus when Jesus raised him from the dead. Lazarus’ resurrection was not the same as Jesus’ resurrection. Lazarus was revived, returned to this present life, where he would again one day die. Lazarus was brought back from death, Jesus went through death and out the other side. When Lazarus was raised he stumbled out of the tomb and Jesus called for those present to unbind him from his linen. This time though, the grave clothes lie where Jesus lay. Grave robbers don’t take time to unwrap the body and leave the linen neatly back in place. The linen lays there as if Jesus had just passed through it.

The text doesn’t say that Peter believed yet, but John has come to believe that Jesus has risen like he said he would. That belief would go on to grow and develop as he met the risen Jesus, learned more about the nature of Jesus’ resurrection, and as he understood the predictions of Jesus’ death and resurrection in the Old Testament and saw that this was always the plan.

We’re seeing different stages of belief in this text. John has come to believe based on the empty tomb, that Jesus has risen like he said he would. Peter, we’re not too sure about. The passage doesn’t say that Peter came to believe then and there, but it does say that he went home, perhaps he went to think, to let things settle in. What Peter didn’t do is stick around to try to find the body. Mary however, is still convinced that Jesus is dead and that his body has been taken.

Verses 11 to 13:

Those “men” hadn’t been there before, or had they? Mary, in her grief, does not seem to realise what’s going on. She doesn’t realise that this is a new and special thing, that what was unthinkable, unprecedented and unexpected has happened. Jesus is risen. The new creation has begun to creep into this world and heaven is touching earth at this place.

There’s someone behind her. Verses 14 to 16:

Mary doesn’t recognise Jesus at first, possibly because she just gave a quick glance and couldn’t make Jesus out through her tears. Seeing Jesus standing there was the last thing she expected. Whatever reason she didn’t recognise him at first, when she heard him call her name, her eyes were opened.

Snapped out of her grief and into belief, Mary was overjoyed and clung to her teacher. But she can’t continue to cling to him, she can’t hold onto the way things used to be. Jesus has given Mary a job – she is now the apostle to the apostles, sent to deliver the good news to them.

Verses 17 and 18:

Pay very careful attention to the message Jesus gives Mary, because in this we can see that everything has changed because of what Jesus has done. Up until this point Jesus has referred to God as “the Father” or “my Father”, but now it is “my Father and your Father” and “my God and your God”. Something amazing has happened.

Jesus is risen and that means everything has changed!

Jesus’ crucifixion has dealt with our sin – the thing that separates people from God. He was punished in our place for our sins. He took the brokenness of his people upon himself and he rose again because God’s love is bigger than our brokenness. 

Whatever you think you have done that stops you from coming to God, the resurrection is proof that the damage has been dealt with, payment has been accepted and the battle to free us has been won. This is proof that God’s love is bigger than your biggest mistakes.

Jesus’ death in our place has repaired our relationship with God. Now to know and believe in Jesus and his sacrifice is to return home to our Father who loves us.

In the first chapter of this gospel, John writes:

Those who, through faith, follow Jesus have been adopted by God. Jesus refers to the disciples, not just as disciples, or even just as friends, but as “my brothers”. God is not just “the Father” anymore, he is our Father, your Father and my Father.

New life, new relationship, the new creation has broken into the present world. God is doing a new thing. Sin and death are defeated and we have a living Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.

After darkness, light! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! From that first morning on, this message has gone out and the church has proclaimed it ever since.

May you all hear Jesus call you by name and may you, like Mary, proclaim the wonderful news that Christ is risen, in your words and in the life that you live, in the hope that you have. May the resurrection give you the courage to follow Jesus in the most difficult of circumstances, knowing that this world is not all that there is, knowing that even death is not the end. Knowing that the damage has been dealt with, the debt has been paid, the battle has been won and the tomb is empty.

Pray

Loving God, we praise and thank you for our great hope and the reason we celebrate today and every Sunday: Jesus Christ is risen! Thank you, Lord, that because of what Jesus has done we have been brought into fellowship with you. You are our Father in Christ and because of what he has done.

Even in dark times we have this hope, that you Lord are at work redeeming your creation and your people. Death has been defeated!

We pray that you would draw near to and comfort those who are finding these days especially difficult.

For those who are unwell we pray for healing and for strength.

For those who work to treat and care for others please protect them, continue to bless them with great skill and energy for their work.

For those who are working hard at finding new treatments please bless their work and grant them success.

For our leaders, please give them wisdom, courage and compassion.

For the most vulnerable people we pray for your protection.

Lord, help us to hold on to this bright hope that we have in Jesus during these dark days. May we never forget the wonderful truth of the gospel: Christ is risen!

In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.

Sing

Here are some Easter songs to help you to worship God this Easter Sunday