The Perfect Freedom of Ruth and Boaz
A Sermon by Andrew Colman based on Ruth 4:1-22
O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
This is the Collect for Peace we find at the end of the Morning Prayer service in the Book of Common Prayer.
I'm wearing white tonight because it is the Sunday of the Reign of Christ.
This prayer encapsulates what it means to have Christ as our King. While each line is worth a meditation of its own, One of the lines that is at the heart of what this sparked the establishment of this feast is this "To serve you is perfect freedom."
The Feast of the Reign of Christ is quite new to the life of the church. It was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925. It was a time after World War I when the world slowly turned its face towards a second.
The pope saw what was happening and wanted to do something! He wanted to remind the Christians of the world that our first allegiance is to Christ and teachings. Which Jesus summed it up as “Love the Lord your God and Love your Neighbour as yourself.” Everything else comes in a far distant second.
Pope Pious saw, remember this was written during a time of Christendom, that “ the evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of people had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives." So as a way of bringing Jesus back into focus, he established today's Feast so the church would have a moment to explicitly focus on what it means when we say “Jesus is Lord/ Christ is King.” And for us what it means when we say “To serve him is perfect freedom.”
In so many of our feasts like Christmas, we are all comfortable in speaking about Jesus as God coming to us in our most vulnerable state- as a child born where the animals sleep in a manger.
Or on Trinity Sunday as the Second person of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Or Jesus is the Word of God, he One through whom all things were made, who meet in Genesis and John Chapter One.
In so many of our gospel readings, we read about Jesus walking down a busy road and hearing a blind man call to him, turn to him, and give him his sight, sit with those whom the wider society despises and break bread with them, or restore dignity to people who have been humiliated by the religious elites.
We read these things and ascribe the titles of healer, redeemer, sanctifier, and liberator.
Maybe sometimes we think of him as a judge, as when he spoke to the rich man. Jesus cut through his inflated sense of self, showing him that he was not living the life he thought he was.
But rarely do we think of these moments and think /King/.
Ruler - may be the ruler of the universe but not the ruler of our day-to-day lives.
Maybe as shepherd because these are acts of mercy and grace after we’ve gone astray.
But not as leader of the flock. The one who goes ahead and walks the path that he wants his children to walk.
But why not? Are these not the acts that we most desperately desire from our Kings, rulers, and leaders? Are these not exactly the headlines we wish to see in our newsfeeds every morning? Are these not exactly the behaviours we pray would come from, well, everyone, but especially those who call Jesus their Lord and Saviour? These acts are what we need from those who are in any kind of leadership, let alone those who are “kings.”
Scores of studies and books have been published on the power of leadership on culture.
Where there are leaders who act unjustly, self-serve, and spew hatred, the people who see that person as their leader will feel more empowered to act in the same way.
But thanks be to God, the opposite is also true. When a leader fosters a culture of vulnerability, compassion, mercy, openness, and grace, those who see that person as their leader also feel empowered to act in ways that mirror those blessed actions.
That is what Pope Pious XI wants us to remember.
He wanted us to remember this man born in a manger who walked the streets healing, redeeming, liberating, judging, sanctifying, bringing life, defeating death everywhere he went
is our King.
Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of Mary and Joseph, Brother to James, friend to the dead man Lazarus for whom he wept and then raised from the dead,
is our King.
Our King is the one who one who lived like no other king.
Jesus had exactly one person during his lifetime who swung a sword on his behalf. As soon as the stroke fell, he condemned that act and healed the wounded with his next breath.
Instead of ruling with a sceptre, which is basically a bejewelled mace as a symbol of opulent might, he chose the tools of bread and wine on a plate and in a cup to do the work of his Kingdom.
Instead of guarded card access, only fortified buildings with bulletproof glass, he made the place of his rule the kitchens and dining room tables of those who needed him most.
Instead of a throne, a cross. Instead of comfort and a projection of power over others, nails and a death on behalf of all those whom he loves.
That is the Jesus who is our King.
What this day calls us to remember is shown with stunning clarity in the concluding chapter from the Book of Ruth this evening something of a Good News story during the time of the Judges—a time that, as Bishop Don referred to our own time now, looked pretty grim.
It was during that time that we met these two characters, Ruth and Boaz, who shone light into that grim time by following the Torah, the Word of God.
In brief, Boaz acknowledged Ruth's call to care for her and Naomi, considering the fact that they are family.
But instead of quietly taking Ruth and Naomi into his home and supporting them, he went through a whole procedural process, publicly making them a part of his family to dispel any question as to their status in the community.
The importance of good, robust processes of accountability could not be more relevant in the life of the church right now after the last few week’s revelations in the Church of England. To say the very least.
Boaz sat at the Gate, where these kinds of procedures would happen, and waited for Naomi's next of Kin to walk by; when he did, Boaz called him over to present his offer of purchasing Naomi's land, thus making her and Ruth a part of the family.
However, the next of Kin had first right of refusal on the land, and on first blush, he jumped at the chance to increase his property.
What he either forgot or chose to ignore was that in taking on that land, he was also taking Naomi and Ruth into his family and, as a part of the Torah which required to continue his Kin's family name—in other words to have a child with Ruth.
Now, before any of this started, he made sure that ten elders were present to hear their exchange. That way everything said would be heard, and so if any of the conditions were not met, the whole community would be there to hold the person accountable.
Boaz was a man who followed not only the Law but also the Spirit of the Law. When Ruth came to glean from the edges of his field, he offered her more grain than she would have been "allowed" to glean that day.
He continued to follow the Spirit of God, making sure that Ruth and Naomi would not be tossed aside after the next of Kin acquired the land.
He followed the Spirit of God by making sure that Naomi and Ruth were properly recognized as full members of the community, Moabite notwithstanding.
Ruth and Boaz lived in perfect freedom by following the Law that God had set out for them.
Neither of them had any hidden agenda that they needed to keep secret. They could be forthright about what they were working towards.
And because they had seen each other's faithfulness to God's Law, it gave them the confidence to be bold in their work.
Light begets light. Trust begets trust.
As we live our lives with Jesus as our King, the one to whom we look for guidance and love, we can do so with perfect freedom in our actions.
When we live in perfect freedom through actions, we will also live with freedom of mind and conscience.
Of course, none of us do off all the time, exhibit A. Which is why we have our confession and absolution each week. It's why we come to the table to be filled each week.
Because living the Christian life is hard. Being kind to those with whom you really disagree is hard. Loving your enemies is really, really hard. But it is a choice that we can make freely that will lead to freedom what is lived out and called for by our King.
Our King, the one who lived a perfect life and died for us on the cross - to set us free - like no other king could ever do.