WEBVTT 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:59.920 Blessed be God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and blessed be God's family now and forever. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:00.879 Amen. 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:02.480 Let's pray together. 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:10.719 Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:23.039 Cleanse thoughts in our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:24.080 Amen. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:23.839 Let us pray. 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:26.480 God recalled with mercy. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:31.279 Grant that by your inspiration may be right. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:44.560 By your merciful guiding the Jesus Christ our Lord and in the Holy Spirit, what God will represent as you can church over to the great eye. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:19.120 Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, am I not seeking respite for you that will be good for you? 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:24.079 Now is not Boaz our kin with whose girls you have been? 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:28.240 Look, he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor tonight. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:35.040 Now bathe and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:40.639 Do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:50.879 When he lies down, note the place where he lies, and go uncover his scythes and lie down, and he will tell you what you should do. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:56.240 Ruth said to Naomi, All that you tell me I will do. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:02.480 Then Ruth went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law commanded her. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:10.319 Now Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was content, and he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:15.680 Then Ruth came in secret and uncovered his scythes and lay down. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:22.000 At midnight the man trembled and turned right where a woman was lying at his scyth. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:24.639 Then Boaz said, Who are you? 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:28.000 And she said, I am Ruth, your slave woman. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:32.959 Spread your cloak over your slave woman, for you are a kin redeemer. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:37.839 And he said, May you be blessed by the most high, my daughter. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:42.160 Your most recent act of fidelity is greater than the first. 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:47.040 You have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:49.439 And now, my daughter, fear not. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:57.839 All that you have spoken, I will do for you, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a warrior-hearted woman. 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:01.360 And now it is true that I am a kin redeemer. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.399 There is a kin redeemer closer than I. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:12.560 Spend the night tonight, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you as kin, good, let him redeem you. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:20.959 If he does not want to redeem you as kin, then as the ageless God lives, I will redeem you as kin myself. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:23.680 Lie down until the morning. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:37.120 So Ruth lay at his sides until morning, but got up before one person could recognize a neighbor, for Boaz said to himself, Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:41.920 Then he said, Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:49.600 So she held it, and Boaz measured out six heaping, six helpings of barley, and put it on her back. 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:51.680 Then he went into the city. 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:57.519 And Ruth came to her mother-in-law, and Naomi asked, Who are you, my daughter? 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:02.560 And she told her that the man what that the man had done for her. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:13.040 Ruth explained, He gave these six helpings of barley to me, for he said, Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:24.240 She replied, Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter will shake out, for the man will not rest, but will conclude the matter today. 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:26.959 The word of the Lord. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:46.879 The reading for the second Sunday after Pentecost is Psalm 65, we'll read responsibly by the half verse. 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:53.919 Through wondrous deeds, you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation. 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:01.919 You establish the mountains through your might. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:07.840 The one who silences the roaring of the seas. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:16.480 They who live at the farthest reaches are awed by your signs. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.759 You attend the earth and water her. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:25.519 You enrich her greatly. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:05.600 So the shadow I shadows in house. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:33.919 Jesus laid out another parable before the crowd. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:40.559 The realm of the heavens is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in their field. 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:53.039 Indeed, it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown, it is the greatest of the plants, and it becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make their nests and its branches. 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:55.600 Then Jesus told them another parable. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:10.320 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables, without a parable, he said nothing to them. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:13.440 This was to fulfill what had been spoken to the prophet. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:20.399 I will open my mouth and speak in parables, and I will declare what has been hidden on the foundation of the word. 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:23.200 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:05.360 And hey, maybe you remember two weeks ago it was Pentecost. 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:14.080 Does anybody remember what we typically call this season, and it's the longest one of the year, what we call this season after Pentecost? 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:15.840 Ordinary time, right? 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:16.960 Ordinary time. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:20.159 So I just want to make sure you hear what that means. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:22.879 We often think ordinary means plain. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:24.879 Like it's just ordinary. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:26.240 There's nothing special about it. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:29.759 And I want to remind you where that word ordinary comes in the church. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:37.519 You probably know that the bishop's right-hand person is called the canon to the ordinary. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:40.559 So who is the ordinary? 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:57.279 The bishop is the ordinary who orders, like doesn't give commands, but sets order for the vision of the diocese and what it means under his or her leadership to grow into the fullness of Christ. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:01.679 So when you hear ordinary time, it doesn't mean it's regular. 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:22.879 It means that we have a long season to reorder our lives, having just experienced the miracle of resurrection and the miracle of Pentecost, in which the Holy Spirit jumped over every possible conceivable boundary, including language, that we could put up as human beings to exclude where God is and isn't. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:25.919 You will need this again next year. 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:28.240 Which is why we will do it every year. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:30.559 I will need this again next year. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:35.519 But our solemn duty with ordinary time is not to say nothing special. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:42.639 It's, oh my God, we had a vision of how you act in the world, and we want to reorder ourselves. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:47.679 It always starts the Sunday after Trinity Sunday. 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:49.440 We always start with parables. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:55.440 And I just want to name this that parables seem to be a form of teaching unique to Jesus. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:59.200 Jesus' ethics or nothing new. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:02.559 John the Baptist said everything Jesus is going to say. 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:04.559 Go back and read the scriptures. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:06.240 But parables are different. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:10.319 Parables are this thing that you have to decide what they mean. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:14.079 A lot of times we say, oh, look, parables are like analogies. 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:15.440 We use analogies a lot. 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:19.599 It's where we compare a thing we understand to a thing we don't understand. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:22.559 That way we can understand the thing we don't understand, right? 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:24.640 Similes are analogies. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:26.160 He ran like the wind. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:27.359 Yeah, you know this? 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:30.240 So let me give you an example of an analogy. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:34.319 Faith starts really small. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:36.640 And over time it goes up big. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:38.880 That's not really a parable. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.559 I could just say it that way. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:42.079 And Jesus didn't. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:46.240 That's because parables are doing something different from analogies. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.200 And I don't know if your teacher taught you this in high school. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:50.240 I didn't learn this in high school. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:51.599 I had to go to grad school to learn. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:58.319 Literary charism to learn that metaphors, unlike analogies, compare two things that are not comparable. 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:02.079 They compare things that are not comparable. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:07.119 In such a way that you have to re-understand both of them. 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.119 I mean, really, what are we going to compare the kingdom of God to? 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:14.160 The way we do stuff? 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:20.960 Sadly, we do that more often than we realize, to our peril. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:25.200 Which is again why we're in ordinary time, because we need to reorder this. 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:29.039 Does God love transactionally because we do? 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:31.039 Hell no. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:33.599 So welcome to ordinary time. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:35.200 And welcome to what parables do. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:39.599 So look, okay, it's fair to say that faith starts small and grows big. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:41.519 But sometimes it starts small and it dies. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:42.799 You might be saying that. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:45.200 Sometimes faith doesn't go anywhere. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:53.680 So maybe it's helpful to know, and this is why they send us to seminary, because truthfully, this is like an old book, old customs. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:58.319 You're going to hear a doozy of one in a second, but agriculturally, I don't know if we get it. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:01.680 I mean, Jesus is doing a little bit of exaggeration here. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:04.000 The mustard seed is not the smallest of seeds. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:05.920 A poppy seed is a lot smaller. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:07.519 They have those. 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:11.119 The mustard seed does not grow into the greatest of all plants. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:12.400 It's a bush. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:18.799 The greatest of all plants is like a sequoia or a redwood or a cedar of Lebanon. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:21.519 So there's a little bit of exaggeration going on here. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:32.799 Now, what if I told you, and most of us don't realize this, because we don't have gardens like this, that it's against the Jewish customary law to plant mustard seed in your garden. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:34.400 It's against the law. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.279 But the kingdom of God is like that. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:39.839 Why is it against the law? 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:42.079 Because mustard is invasionary. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:47.839 Like mint, it will send out roots and overturn all the other stuff. 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:59.359 And mint is a good analogy because if you plant mint next to a strawberry, and then a couple weeks later you have one of those strawberries, it's going to taste a little unique. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:00.960 Like mint. 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:05.200 It's an invasionary weed. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:14.400 And you know, the other thing about gardens, the last thing you want in your garden, and this is why we thought of scarecrows, is birds. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:16.640 Because they're going to eat all your produce. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:26.160 So the kingdom of God is like an illegal weed you plant on purpose in your garden, which will attract predators for the fruits you are looking forward to eating. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:29.519 If that's an analogy, God help us. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:33.519 Clearly, this is meant to stretch us somehow. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:36.640 The kingdom of God is like a weed. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:43.920 Oh, well, okay, analogically, maybe the kingdom of God wants to invade my life so that everything tastes like it. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:45.680 Maybe. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:54.079 But I think we're called to reorder ourselves a little bit a little bit more firmly than that, if you don't mind. 00:20:54.240 --> 00:21:07.359 You see, the truth is, I often find myself spiritually and especially morally thinking about who are the threats to my faith, my way of being, and my way of life. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.359 I often think about who the birds are. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:14.960 And you know what I want to do is I want to get the birds away. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:17.759 I don't just want to scare them, I'd just rather go hunt them. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:18.559 Right? 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:20.640 I'd like to shoot those birds dead. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:25.680 If this sounds like politicians in America right now, it's because they're like me in that way. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:28.559 But there's nothing about the gospel in that. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:36.000 The kingdom of God is like us courting those folks that are weedy. 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:40.960 Well, that's really hard to think about. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:44.400 Who are the weeds in your life? 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:52.000 Now, my dad was a botanist, and he had a nursery, and he told me, and I like this one, he said, a weed is a plant you don't want. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:54.720 So just think about this. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:59.119 If you've got a pear orchard, a rose is a weed. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:04.880 So a weed is any plant you don't like. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:08.160 I think that Ralph Waldo Emerson said this a little bit better. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:13.519 He said that a weed is a plant whose virtue is yet unknown. 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:19.759 A weed is a plant whose virtue is yet unknown. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:23.599 The kingdom of God might be in the weeds. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:27.279 Now that's interesting for me. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:34.400 It's something I could cognitively say, but very rarely do I embrace that. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:37.119 Because here's the thing about that Acts reading that we read. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:38.880 The disciples did these wonderful things. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:42.400 Peter's shadow cured people and drove out unclean spirits. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:43.839 That doesn't sound like really weedy. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:45.680 That sounds like the power I want. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:50.240 I mean, don't you want God to like heal your foot without surgery? 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:52.079 Well, I did two weeks ago. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:57.119 Don't you want God to take those parts of you that drive you crazy and just make them go away? 00:22:57.680 --> 00:22:59.039 I mean, listen. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:03.039 I really wish exorcism was real. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:06.880 Like you're an alcoholic and I drive it away and you'll never drink again. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:08.960 I wish that was real, but it isn't. 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:10.160 That's not real. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:11.920 That does not happen. 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:15.359 That way of thinking takes us right back to the bottom. 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:21.519 So there's that way of thinking, the miraculous and the amazing. 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:24.960 But most of my life is the daily grind, isn't it yours? 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:29.759 And in the daily grind, it is full of weeds. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:35.839 Which we might be tempted to say, you're not what I want, so let's pull you up. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:42.079 But instead, I hear Jesus saying, the kingdom of God is in weeds. 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:45.119 And it's in herbs, too. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:47.039 What about this yeast business? 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:53.440 I mean, look, you probably know that if you're Jewish, you can't have yeast one week out of every year. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:56.000 That's a preparation for Passover, right? 00:23:56.240 --> 00:24:01.519 It's not because yeast is dirty, it's because it's ordinary. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:08.960 And on the holy night of the Passover, there wasn't time for the yeast to get in the bread, so it didn't have time to rest. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:11.200 This is not about bad and good. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:14.880 It's about what's holy and what's regular, and yeast is regular. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:16.319 You know what else is regular? 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:22.000 A woman being ceremonial unclean one month, one week out of every month because she's on her period. 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:27.440 So here's the story about a woman doing real ordinary stuff. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:31.839 And those three scoops of flour, that's like 55 pounds of flour. 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:33.119 And what do you know? 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:37.200 The kingdom of God might not be in just the things we consider holy. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:46.799 It might be in the real, ordinary stuff that sometimes, at least a quarter of a month, well, might even be unclean. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:49.920 Now that's hard to think about. 00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:54.880 Because the church that raised me taught me to know right from wrong. 00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:59.519 And I wonder if you'll journey with me for a second to Ruth. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:03.599 If this isn't here on purpose to make us really question this. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:09.279 So, look, I don't normally want to talk about things because of our sort of puritanical tradition. 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:13.119 I don't really want to talk about sex, but I'm just gonna have to because we read it. 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:13.759 Okay? 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:22.480 And I want to be really clear that the story of Ruth is about a custom we don't have anymore for which I thank God every day, although it is the reason we have the Episcopal Church. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:24.799 It's called leverite marriage. 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:50.400 In the old days, if a lady died and didn't have a son, sorry, not the lady, if a man died and he didn't have a son, his next in kin, who probably is the next younger brother, was supposed to impregnate his wife with a son, not a daughter, those were no good, with a son who would replace his elder brother. 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:52.480 I want to make sure you hear this. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:26:00.799 Brother number two has a son with wife number one, and the son is now brother number one. 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:03.759 That sounds weird, doesn't it? 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:04.319 Because it is. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:05.519 Like we don't do that anymore. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:06.640 Again, thank God. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:10.640 But this was the expectation, by the way, I told my wife, do not. 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:14.799 My brother is not involved with you, and she's like, don't worry. 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:17.200 Anyway, so and vice versa, right? 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:18.160 This is a little bit of a joke. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:22.640 I don't know if you know this, but Henry VIII married his brother's widow. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:28.079 Henry VIII married Arthur, his elder brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:30.480 How did he justify that with the Pope? 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:32.240 He said, it's biblical. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:36.079 Arthur and Catherine never consummated the marriage. 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:37.200 They didn't have a kid. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:43.920 So, Pope, I'm willing to marry Catherine, and the son will be Arthur. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:45.680 It didn't work out. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:46.559 I don't know if you know this. 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:49.759 Like she only had girls and she had a lot of miscarriages. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:53.440 But that's where the Episcopal Church came from, leverite marriage. 00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:55.680 And I want to make sure how weird it is. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:58.960 And I want to make sure you hear why people didn't want to do it. 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:04.880 If you're son number two, you're supposed to replace son number one. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:11.519 Now, I don't know if you know how an inheritance works, but the oldest kid gets 90% of goods. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:16.240 The second oldest kid gets 10%, and the remainders get nothing. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:18.640 So your older brother died. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:19.920 Now you're getting 90%. 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:28.799 But you're gonna have a baby with your brother's widow, which is weird, and then that baby is now gonna get 90%, and you're back to 10. 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:30.960 Who wants to do that? 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:36.079 Hence the tension in the story. 00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:41.920 So Ruth's husband in chapter 1, verse 2, his name is weak in Hebrew. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:42.880 It means weak. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:44.799 And he has a brother named Sick. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:47.440 And weak and sick, they die a verse later. 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:53.200 So now there's two widows and there's no male to claim the line, and Naomi says, I'm lost. 00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:57.519 And Ruth says, I'm gonna stick with you anyway, even though I'm not Hebrew. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:27:59.519 They move into town. 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:04.559 Now, options for women were scant before Ruth Bader-Ginsburg allowed women to have credit cards. 00:28:04.720 --> 00:28:05.839 I hope you know this. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:08.559 So not a lot changed for a long time. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:15.359 Women could rely on their fathers for charity, or they could become prostitutes, or they could glean in fields. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:19.920 Ruth has been gleaning in fields, like picking up the berries that didn't get picked. 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:21.279 What kind of berries are those? 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:22.640 The gross ones. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:27.279 Boaz has been giving her extra berries, as it were. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:31.759 He's been leaving her extras so that she can scrounge for food. 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:33.279 But you know what he hasn't done? 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:42.000 He has not impregnated her so that she can have a son who will take all of Boaz's possessions. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:46.799 So they decide to take matters into their own hands. 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:49.039 By the way, I'm not making this up. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:49.839 We just read the story. 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:51.039 I want to make sure I'm really quick. 00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:53.680 So, what does Naomi do? 00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:57.680 She says, Ruth, I want you to put on some Chanel number five. 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:01.359 I hope you see where this is going. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:03.920 And I want you to put on your best clothes. 00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:06.559 Maybe even put the fish net stockings on. 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:12.319 Then I want you to go to the threshing floor where Boaz has worked all day, but wait till he gets drunk. 00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:13.200 You see that? 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:17.119 Wait till he's eaten and had something to drink. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:26.559 Then I want you to, now this is gonna sound a little graphic, because it is, but it's, I mean, I want you to uncover his thighs, and I want to make sure you understand what that means. 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:28.079 This is a euphemism. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:30.880 It's even more coded in Hebrew. 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:33.519 Hebrew is a language that only has 10,000 words. 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:35.759 Greek has a hundred thousand words. 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:40.880 And oddly enough, Hebrew does not have words for, well, our bits. 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:41.359 You know? 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:44.079 And Hebrew also doesn't have words for intercourse. 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:47.440 It says, you knew somebody or you lay down with them. 00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:50.079 You, I mean, I got to know you. 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:53.759 I could have laid down next to one of my dogs. 00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:56.880 So there's this double entendre happening. 00:29:56.960 --> 00:30:00.240 And the real double entendre is in Hebrew is the word feet. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:04.240 The word feet seems to be a double entendre for genitals. 00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:14.400 So when you hear that the cherubim and the seraphim have three sets of wings, one with which they cover their face, one with which they fly, and one with which they cover their feet. 00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:16.160 It's not their feet. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:18.319 It's their thighs. 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:19.680 Is that okay? 00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:22.000 So I want you to imagine this. 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:27.359 This is not the morality that I learned in church for my daughter. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:31.039 Ruth gets dolled up and she uncovers his feet. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:32.400 And what does she do? 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:34.799 She lays down next to them. 00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:38.000 And then he'll tell you what to do. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:40.400 What do you think he's going to tell her to do? 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:47.519 Clearly, Boaz has been stalling and not doing his duty. 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:50.720 So, women do what they've always done. 00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:59.920 They say, here's what it takes for us to survive, and frankly, here's what it takes for our family name, which wasn't even ours, it belonged to our father. 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:05.440 We are serving our father and the God of our father by having boy children take on the name. 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:08.160 Now, why did I say, thank God this doesn't exist? 00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:10.000 I hope you know why. 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:13.119 This is why we need things like women's rights. 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:16.880 But that's not the world they lived in. 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:29.920 Now, if this sounds kind of weedy to you, it sounds real weedy to me, but understand that without Ruth doing this, there's no King David and there's no Jesus. 00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:32.640 Because they come from this. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:42.960 From a woman forcing a man to do what God had commanded, and he chose not to do because it would have impoverished him. 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:47.519 Again, this is why I think we need government, protecting our rights. 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:48.400 I hope you're there. 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:49.759 I said it in a sermon. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:54.960 Because if you leave it up to people to do when it's convenient for them, what do you know? 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:57.759 We don't like doing things that are convenient for us. 00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:03.119 That's why we have regulations, and that's why we hear how we need to reorder our lives. 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:07.599 You see, being faithful to God is not contingent on whether I want to do it. 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:14.400 That's why I come back to church week after week, because it's not about what I want. 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:18.480 We say this in the Lord's Prayer Thy will be done. 00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:24.079 Usually what we mean is, God, as long as you want what I want, we're good. 00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:30.480 And that's why I think maybe we're being really asked to consider what's weak. 00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:35.680 Now, am I going to tell my daughter, hey, when push comes to shove, let me give you a strategy. 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:37.440 Put on the channel number five. 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:39.200 And then wait till they're drunk. 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:41.359 No, I'm not going to do that. 00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:52.240 But I also want to recognize there's something so immoral about this that is incredibly faithful. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:33:06.240 And I think until we can do that, we live in really, really tight guarded plots that look exactly like we want them to look, and nothing like the kingdom of God. 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:13.359 You ever looked at somebody else and said, you clearly did the wrong thing? 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:18.480 So you have sinned against God and you deserve what you get. 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:22.880 I mean, I'll tell you, that's the substance of the movie Les Rod. 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:28.240 It's about a poor man who steals bread because he's starving and he goes to jail for 14 years. 00:33:28.319 --> 00:33:29.519 Do you know this play? 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:31.200 And who is the weed? 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:32.400 It's the bishop. 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:35.680 The bishop gives him all the silver so he can start a second life. 00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:36.880 I mean, that's crazy. 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:38.319 I'm not doing that, by the way. 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:39.759 I'm not doing that for you. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:43.680 And yet that's the redemptive moment of the story, right? 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:47.839 Is that all of this stuff exists not for its own. 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:50.079 It exists to bring us to God. 00:33:51.359 --> 00:34:00.640 Weedy, sorry, controversial, which maybe means extraordinary, which maybe means we better reorder what's ordinary for us. 00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:04.960 Now, one other thing I want to I want to give you, two other things I want to give you. 00:34:05.119 --> 00:34:06.880 Because maybe you don't know what the takeaway is. 00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:12.480 I don't know if there is a takeaway, other than what we settle for might not be what God settles for. 00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:16.320 The truth is there are parts of myself I don't like very much. 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:21.760 All of us, I don't know if you realize this, you're not just one person, you've got a lot of parts in you. 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:28.239 Some of those parts have names, like the taskmaster, the one who's like, get off your butt, stop being lazy. 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:32.239 Or the accomplisher, like, hey, you're only worthwhile if you do stuff. 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:35.519 Or even the critic that's like, you will be no good, so don't do that. 00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:37.119 Anybody know about these parts? 00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:39.199 You got them, I guarantee you. 00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:43.280 You can hate those parts and you can tell them to leave, and guess what? 00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:44.559 They'll never do. 00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:45.760 They'll never leave. 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:46.480 Do you know why? 00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:47.599 Because they're part of you. 00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:50.800 And all that stuff they're doing is trying to help you. 00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:55.519 They exist because they're trying to protect you from being hurt. 00:34:57.039 --> 00:34:58.639 That's why they say don't try that. 00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:00.480 They don't want to see you try and fail. 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:06.800 That's why they say, keep going all the time, because then no one can call you out for being lazy. 00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:08.559 Those are parts of you. 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:15.519 They might be weedy in your eyes, but that's because you haven't understood their virtues. 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:22.639 What I'll tell you is trying to kill those parts of ourselves means killing parts of ourselves. 00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:24.400 First of all, it won't even work. 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:27.199 And second of all, God loves you just like you are. 00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:33.519 So we either become reconciled to our parts or we're always at war with ourselves. 00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:34.800 I hope you hear that. 00:35:36.559 --> 00:35:41.679 What's great is it's a school of therapy called Internal Family Systems. 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:44.239 And they say, hey, you know, do you want to change? 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:46.000 Do you want to change those parts of you? 00:35:46.159 --> 00:35:48.960 You meet them and you appreciate what they've been trying to do. 00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:51.599 You say, Oh man, I see what you're trying to do. 00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:55.119 I was scolded when I was a kid, and you're just trying to protect that. 00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:55.679 And guess what? 00:35:55.760 --> 00:35:57.599 We're grown up now, we've got more resources. 00:35:57.760 --> 00:35:59.679 So what if I gave you a different job? 00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:04.880 What if instead of saying, don't try it, you were like, come on, let's try it. 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:09.119 Usually those parts that you were like, that sounds really fun, let's give it a go. 00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:10.559 Right? 00:36:11.679 --> 00:36:16.079 This is not a gospel of annihilation that Jesus is preaching. 00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:18.320 It's a gospel of reconciliation. 00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:28.559 And the truth is, I think if we can't be reconciled to those parts of ourselves we're not comfortable with, how can we be reconciled with somebody who drives or boats or dresses differently from us? 00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:31.840 When we hate them, we're actually just hating ourselves. 00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:34.800 I don't hear any gospel in that, friends. 00:36:34.960 --> 00:36:35.760 I don't. 00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:40.079 This is where I think Jesus might be inviting us to consider what's in the weeds. 00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:43.679 Now, here's my weed story, and I tell it probably annually. 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:47.760 I want you to hear why I'm an Episcopalian, because it has to do with weeds. 00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:58.159 I attended church in downtown Elkahoma, which is like uh inland from the coast in San Diego, and it used to be a real nice white neighborhood. 00:36:58.239 --> 00:37:07.360 Everybody was white, and everybody had good white values, and then there was this demographic shift, and what do you know, they built a prison like three blocks away from the church. 00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:12.559 So, you know, all of a sudden there was a lot of economic and socioeconomic diversity. 00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:22.159 And beyond that, at the time, San Diego had more refugees per capita and per total than any city in the U.S. 00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:26.800 That's Houston now, by the way, more refugees than anywhere, including New York City. 00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:28.480 But it was San Diego. 00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:33.199 So I attended this church, and you know, some of the people, some of the white flight, they didn't flee. 00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:36.320 I mean, they moved out, but they still came back to church because it was their church. 00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:38.880 The lady in front of me, I always sat in the second room. 00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:47.440 The lady in front of me was about 85, and she was dressed like a steel magnolia, and her hair had probably been permed the day before, and it was immaculate. 00:37:47.599 --> 00:37:52.719 She wore pearls, and every time she came to the rail, she put on white gloves. 00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:54.880