SPEAKER_02: Garmin's on vacation again, so uh hope you'll enjoy another time without him.
SPEAKER_02: Look forward, he'll be back next week.
SPEAKER_02: But you're more than welcome to join in with Let It Be or just listen or look at the art.
SPEAKER_03: When I find myself in times of trouble, other Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
SPEAKER_03: In my outer darkness, she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be, oh, let it be, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
SPEAKER_03: Speaking of squares, let it be Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be, speaking as will some, let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
SPEAKER_03: Whisper as twist, let it be.
SPEAKER_03: Praise for them, spring, fresh from the sweet from him.
SPEAKER_03: Sprung in company swearing speech.
SPEAKER_03: Praise for the sick name, praise for the mood, praise for them springing, fresh from the word.
SPEAKER_02: Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and blessed be God's family now and forever.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_02: Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.
SPEAKER_02: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy name through Christ our Lord.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be worked with men.
SPEAKER_03: The Lord be with you.
SPEAKER_02: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_02: Almighty God, who has given thy only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life.
SPEAKER_02: Give us grace, that we may always most thankfully receive that, his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavor ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life.
SPEAKER_02: In the same thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: After being seated, our children are invited to children's chapel with Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Alex in the back.
SPEAKER_01: A reading from Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, am I not seeking respite for you that will be good for you?
SPEAKER_01: Now is not Boaz our kin, with whose girls you have been.
SPEAKER_01: Look, he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor tonight.
SPEAKER_01: Now bathe and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor.
SPEAKER_01: Do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
SPEAKER_01: When he lies down, note the place where he lies, and go and uncover his thighs and lie down, and he will tell you what you should do.
SPEAKER_01: Ruth said to Naomi, all that you tell me, I will do.
SPEAKER_01: Then Ruth went down to the threshing floor and did just as our mother-in-law commanded her.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Then Ruth came in secret and uncovered his thighs and lay down.
SPEAKER_01: At midnight the man trembled and turned, and right there was a woman, right there a woman was lying at his side.
SPEAKER_01: And Boaz said, Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: And she said, I am Ruth, your slave woman.
SPEAKER_01: Spread your cloak over your slave woman, for you are a kin redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, May you be blessed by the most high, my daughter.
SPEAKER_01: Your most recent act of fidelity is greater than the first.
SPEAKER_01: You have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
SPEAKER_01: And now, my daughter, fear not.
SPEAKER_01: All that you have spoken, I will do for you.
SPEAKER_01: For all the assembly of my people know you are a warrior-hearted woman.
SPEAKER_01: And now it is true that I am a kin redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: There is a kin redeemer closer than I.
SPEAKER_01: Spend the night tonight, and when morning comes, if you will redeem as you as kin, good.
SPEAKER_01: Let him redeem you.
SPEAKER_01: If he does not want to redeem you as kin, then as the age of Scott lives, I will redeem you as kin myself.
SPEAKER_01: Lie down until the morning.
SPEAKER_01: So Ruth lay in his thighs until morning, but got up before one person could recognize a neighbor.
SPEAKER_01: For Boaz said to himself, Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing for.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out.
SPEAKER_01: So she held it, and Boaz measured out six helpings of barley, and put it on her back.
SPEAKER_01: Then he went into the city.
SPEAKER_01: And Ruth came to her mother-in-law, and Naomi asked, Who are you, my daughter?
SPEAKER_01: And she told her all that the man had done for her.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: The word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks be to God.
SPEAKER_01: We will read responsibly by the half verse.
SPEAKER_01: To you, silence is praise, God in Zion.
SPEAKER_01: To you who answer prayer.
SPEAKER_01: When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, happy are those whom you choose and bring nearer to dwell in your account courts.
SPEAKER_01: Through wondrous deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation.
SPEAKER_01: You establish the mountains through your might.
SPEAKER_01: The one who silences the roaring of the sea.
SPEAKER_01: They who live at the farthest reaches are honored by your signs.
SPEAKER_01: You attend the earth and water.
SPEAKER_01: You enrich her greatly.
SPEAKER_01: The river of God is full of water.
SPEAKER_01: Irrigating the earth thorough, smoothing her ridges.
SPEAKER_01: You crown the air with your goodness.
SPEAKER_01: The pastures of the wilderness overflow.
SPEAKER_01: The meadows are clothed with flocks, the valleys are raiding rain.
SPEAKER_00: And the one who sows in abundance in abundance will also reap.
SPEAKER_00: Each one must give as decided in your heart, not out of reluctance or under pressure, for God loves a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_00: And the power of God is able to grant you all, every gift abundantly, so that always having enough of everything, you all may abound in every good work, as it is written.
SPEAKER_00: God scatters generously and gives to the poor, but God's righteousness endures for ever.
SPEAKER_00: The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Enriched in every way for every kind of generosity, which will yield through us a thanksgiving to God.
SPEAKER_00: For the offering of this ministry does not only supply the needs of the saints, but also overflows with many thanksgivings unto God.
SPEAKER_00: Through the character of this ministry, you all glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ, and by the generosity of your companionship with them and with the Lord Christ be alive, shine in our heart, shine through the darkness, Christ be alive, shine in your church gather today.
SPEAKER_03: Shining a heart shine to the darkness.
SPEAKER_03: Christ fee a light, shine in your church, gather today.
SPEAKER_02: Glory be to thee, Lord Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Now after a woman anointed his feet, Jesus went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the reign of God, which were over with him.
SPEAKER_02: There were also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven unclean spirits had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's servant Cusa, and Susanna and many others who provided for them out of their resources of the gospel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: I am sure that I have shared this poem with you before, but I aim to share it with you twice, and hopefully it'll make sense to you like it does in my head.
SPEAKER_02: This poem is called Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.
SPEAKER_02: You do not have to be good.
SPEAKER_02: You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
SPEAKER_02: You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
SPEAKER_02: Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
SPEAKER_02: Meanwhile, the world goes on.
SPEAKER_02: Meanwhile, the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers.
SPEAKER_02: Meanwhile, the wild geese, I in the clean blue air, are heading home again.
SPEAKER_02: Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting, over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
SPEAKER_02: This is our fourth Sunday on the book of Ruth, and I don't want to insult you by reminding you there's one pen on which the whole book turns that is really weird.
SPEAKER_02: And that's the concept called leverite marriage.
SPEAKER_02: You can find this described in the book of Leviticus.
SPEAKER_02: And look, we don't do anything like it today, although I will tell you it's how we ended up with the Episcopal Church, because Henry VIII did it.
SPEAKER_02: Here's how it goes.
SPEAKER_02: Be prepared.
SPEAKER_02: It's super weird.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not advocating for the practice, but if you don't understand it, the book is nonsense.
SPEAKER_02: In the ancient world, land is more important than anything because land, even more than name, is how generations identify themselves.
SPEAKER_02: Now, the way land and name both are passed down is through the firstborn male son.
SPEAKER_02: So maybe you know this already.
SPEAKER_02: If the firstborn male son dies without having a child, there's a major problem because the firstborn son's the one who matters.
SPEAKER_02: So if he dies without having a child, it is the next of kin's responsibility to have a child with his widow.
SPEAKER_02: That child becomes the dead son.
SPEAKER_02: This is very strange.
SPEAKER_02: So just to make sure you hear it in this story, Naomi had two boys.
SPEAKER_02: Their names were weak and sick.
SPEAKER_02: And two verses later they were both dead.
SPEAKER_02: They took foreign wives, Orpa and Naomi.
SPEAKER_02: And when I say took, I mean like put a bag over them and carry them away.
SPEAKER_02: They both die without sons.
SPEAKER_02: Naomi's supposed to give them another son who can give them a baby who will replace their dead husband.
SPEAKER_02: She doesn't have any more sons.
SPEAKER_02: So she sends them home.
SPEAKER_02: One of them goes home, Ruth stays.
SPEAKER_02: And now Naomi is making a plan.
SPEAKER_02: How is it that Ruth can have a son that will replace her dead husband?
SPEAKER_02: If that sounds weird, it's because it is.
SPEAKER_02: So this guy Boaz, you heard last week, Boaz was generous in sharing the reapings so that she could glean from the field and eat and not starve, right?
SPEAKER_02: Because a widow had two choices, live with her dad or be a prostitute.
SPEAKER_02: So she gleans, Boaz is preventing her from both things.
SPEAKER_02: And now Naomi hatches an interesting plan.
SPEAKER_02: Since Boaz is related, he can help Ruth have a baby who will become Naomi's new son.
SPEAKER_02: Are we all on the same page?
SPEAKER_02: If it's weird, it's because it's weird.
SPEAKER_02: But it's important that you hear that because otherwise the book doesn't work.
SPEAKER_02: Now, the plan is, are you following this?
SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't talk about this publicly except we just read it, so I feel like I'm obligated to do this.
SPEAKER_02: The plan is go into the threshing floor.
SPEAKER_02: The threshing floor in the ancient world is a place where you work hard and then you play hard.
SPEAKER_02: Hint, hint.
SPEAKER_02: Boaz has worked really hard.
SPEAKER_02: He has made himself merry with wine.
SPEAKER_02: Do you notice this?
SPEAKER_02: And Naomi says, here's how you're gonna get Boaz to make sure you have a new son for me.
SPEAKER_02: That will not be your son.
SPEAKER_02: It will be your dead husband.
SPEAKER_02: You're going to go and uncover his thighs and lay down.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Hebrew has 10,000 words in the whole language.
SPEAKER_02: English has 600,000 words, just to put that in perspective.
SPEAKER_02: And Hebrew, kind of like our Judeo-Western heritage, is a little prudish, uses a lot of euphemisms.
SPEAKER_02: Like in Hebrew, uh, when a couple gets together, it's called getting to know each other.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes that means getting to know each other, and sometimes that means really getting to know each other.
SPEAKER_02: And only the interpreter can decide based on context how they render.
SPEAKER_02: I hope I'm not losing you here.
SPEAKER_02: And again, I wouldn't talk about this except we just read it, so I feel like I better talk about it.
SPEAKER_02: So it turns out that the word Hebrew, in the word in Hebrew, now this isn't true in Greek.
SPEAKER_02: Greek has a hundred thousand words, right?
SPEAKER_02: So a lot more words.
SPEAKER_02: And Greek isn't shy.
SPEAKER_02: It'll just go ahead and use profanity, it'll use body parts, all of that.
SPEAKER_02: Hebrew is shy.
SPEAKER_02: In Hebrew, the word is feet.
SPEAKER_02: Uncover his feet and lay down at his feet.
SPEAKER_02: And it does not mean take his socks off.
SPEAKER_02: So she tells Ruth, uncover his feet, lay down.
SPEAKER_02: Then notice he'll tell you what to do.
SPEAKER_02: The assumption is, don't you see, that she is going to trick her nearest person of kin into helping her have a baby which will replace her dead husband.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this is interesting because, as you know, probably most people on the threshing floor don't need much help.
SPEAKER_02: They probably don't need any trickery, but this is the case.
SPEAKER_02: What's interesting about this is this is a little bit, well, not how I was taught in Sunday school, though girls are supposed to act.
SPEAKER_02: Can we agree on that?
SPEAKER_02: Also, please notice, God doesn't give Naomi an imperative.
SPEAKER_02: Please also notice that Ruth will not benefit at all from this.
SPEAKER_02: The baby will not be hers.
SPEAKER_02: It will be her mother-in-law's.
SPEAKER_02: It won't even be her baby.
SPEAKER_02: This is not how good girls act.
SPEAKER_02: Can we agree on that?
SPEAKER_02: But it is how women survive in a man's world.
SPEAKER_02: Please hear that.
SPEAKER_02: And if you're a woman, you probably get that better than I do.
SPEAKER_02: Virtues like chastity are really convenient when you control them.
SPEAKER_02: But when you can't hold property, drive a car, own a credit card, own land that was your husband's because you're a woman, you don't always get luxury of social virtues.
SPEAKER_02: Your luxury is survival.
SPEAKER_02: I don't think I'm wrong about that.
SPEAKER_02: Which, by the way, thank God women can own credit cards.
SPEAKER_02: Thank God for prenuptial agreements and child support in these things that we now rely on, right?
SPEAKER_02: That allow women to leave when they need to leave.
SPEAKER_02: Ruth didn't get any of that stuff.
SPEAKER_02: So this is way before we have options as women.
SPEAKER_02: But I do hope you're here.
SPEAKER_02: Naomi and Ruth aren't good little girls.
SPEAKER_02: Then we get to hear, flash forward up to Jesus and the kind of people he spends time with.
SPEAKER_02: Now we know he's got the 12 guys around, right?
SPEAKER_02: We know that.
SPEAKER_02: But did you notice he's followed by disreputable women?
SPEAKER_02: Disreputable women, like ones that have unclean spirits, like seven.
SPEAKER_02: That may literally mean seven, but seven in the Bible is like a number for completeness.
SPEAKER_02: So she was like not just a little disreputable, she's like really disreputable.
SPEAKER_02: What kind of women are disreputable?
SPEAKER_02: I think we all know the answer to that, don't we?
SPEAKER_02: Because if we're honest, women live in a double bind, and they uh you don't be too prudish or you're too good, but if you sleep with somebody, you're a prostitute.
SPEAKER_02: So, what mistakes these women made, we don't know, but please hear, they're not good little girls.
SPEAKER_02: And not only do they follow Jesus, they fund him.
SPEAKER_02: Like they make Jesus, they empower Jesus to do what he does.
SPEAKER_02: Without them, he wouldn't have time to teach because he'd have to be day laboring to earn his income.
SPEAKER_02: I hope you get what I'm going at, which is that there is this phrase I learned, and I didn't just learn it at home, I learned it in church, and I have some ambivalence about it, so I'm gonna push hard on it, and then I'm gonna say how I value it, and then hopefully we get somewhere good, which is that I was raised in a church that taught me how to be a good little boy.
SPEAKER_02: It turns out I'm a bad boy.
SPEAKER_02: It turns out I'm doubly a bad boy.
SPEAKER_02: Because so often we use the word good boy and good girl as social control when it has nothing to do with identity or righteousness of love or God or your neighbor.
SPEAKER_02: Good girls don't wear short shirts, shorts.
SPEAKER_02: Good girls don't show their midrift.
SPEAKER_02: Boys can do whatever they want.
SPEAKER_02: Good girls don't wear makeup until they're married.
SPEAKER_02: You fill it in.
SPEAKER_02: Good boys don't move in church.
SPEAKER_02: They are still.
SPEAKER_02: Isn't that interesting?
SPEAKER_02: Only God is good.
SPEAKER_02: But think about how we even talk about God being good.
SPEAKER_02: I got pulled over by the police and he gave me a warning for speeding instead of a ticket.
SPEAKER_02: God is so good.
SPEAKER_02: My home flooded in barrel and the fence blew over, but the insurance covered it.
SPEAKER_02: God is so good to me.
SPEAKER_02: I got pulled over and I got a ticket.
SPEAKER_02: What is God doing to me?
SPEAKER_02: We use good as an evaluative term.
SPEAKER_02: And to be honest, what good means is they did it the way I wanted it done.
SPEAKER_02: God is good when I get my way.
SPEAKER_02: That's when God is good.
SPEAKER_02: God is good when God hates the same people I do.
SPEAKER_02: God is good when people make their daughters dress the way I was told they're supposed to dress.
SPEAKER_02: God is good when we check the morality boxes that are part of my culture or the way I grew up.
SPEAKER_02: That is when God is good.
SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
SPEAKER_02: You better be good.
SPEAKER_02: Because if you're not good, God's making a list and checking it twice.
SPEAKER_02: And if you're naughty, well, there's hell to pay.
SPEAKER_02: Anybody else grow up like that?
SPEAKER_02: You do not have to be good.
SPEAKER_02: You do not have to crawl through the desert repenting on your knees.
SPEAKER_02: Now I gotta tell you, the word good is still of primary importance to me.
SPEAKER_02: Like the thing I want to be in my life is a good man.
SPEAKER_02: Let me tell you what good men look like to me.
SPEAKER_02: Good men do not make jokes at other people's expense.
SPEAKER_02: That is goodness.
SPEAKER_02: Good men do not give employees feedback unless doing so gives them room to grow and improve.
SPEAKER_02: They don't rant, they don't snip, they don't go off, but they target what they say to help the person they're talking to.
SPEAKER_02: I want to be a good man.
SPEAKER_02: Fortunately, there are a lot of them here right now.
SPEAKER_02: Good women.
SPEAKER_02: God, this room is full of good women who not only manage their social and their church and their family expectations, which is more than I can imagine bearing, they do it without becoming bitter.
SPEAKER_02: Good women.
SPEAKER_02: Has nothing to do with how they dress.
SPEAKER_02: Has nothing to do with whether they're made up.
SPEAKER_02: Has nothing to do with how loud they say the creed.
SPEAKER_02: I think sometimes we put such a premium on the wrong kind of goodness that we forget the goodness that God invites us to, which is really, isn't it, all about, well, compassion and empathy, and God's version of justice.
SPEAKER_02: Our version of justice is being about a good boy and a good girl that fits the norms.
SPEAKER_02: Our version of justice is about obedience.
SPEAKER_02: God's version seems to be about honor, which is really different from just doing what we're told, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes.
SPEAKER_02: I know I'm talking about some ambiguity, but I hope you're following me that we're invited to really consider being good like God is.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know how God dresses you.
SPEAKER_02: I know that sounds crazy, but why do we get worried about those things when we have no idea about what God does?
SPEAKER_02: What I know is that God is generous.
SPEAKER_02: Do you hear this scripture today from 2 Corinthians?
SPEAKER_02: God loves a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_02: Do you know that God also loves a stingy giver?
SPEAKER_02: Do you know God loves a non-giver?
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and part of what the scripture says is each one of you should decide to give according to what's in your heart, not under compulsion or manipulation.
SPEAKER_02: And so look, the lion's chair of my church life, I've been told, if you give generously to the church, God will see it and God will reward you.
SPEAKER_02: So really, tithing is the best financial investment you'll ever make.
SPEAKER_02: Because the more you give, the more you'll get.
SPEAKER_02: And that's how we operate.
SPEAKER_02: But that isn't how God operates at all.
SPEAKER_02: Because God understands something we don't.
SPEAKER_02: I know you've heard me say this before.
SPEAKER_02: God understands the difference between gifts and investments.
SPEAKER_02: And God has chosen to give us love, which means God doesn't ever pull it off the table.
SPEAKER_02: It is ours.
SPEAKER_02: If we accept it, if we enjoy it, if we resent it, if we spit on it, it still is ours.
SPEAKER_02: Good little girls don't get more of God's love.
SPEAKER_02: Neither do good little boys.
SPEAKER_02: But because God is able to give us love regardless of how we receive it.
SPEAKER_02: Because God understands, I think, that that is what giving from the heart means.
SPEAKER_02: Regardless of what you do, I was delighted to give it.
SPEAKER_02: Because I loved you.
SPEAKER_02: Now, I like being a good gift giver, which means if I give somebody a thing and they don't use it the way they were supposed to, I'm not going to give them that thing again.
SPEAKER_02: That's a good gift giver, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02: Because you don't want to enable people to have bad behavior.
SPEAKER_02: Really, what that is, is a shrewd investor.
SPEAKER_02: But God delights in a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_02: Can't you ever waste generosity?
SPEAKER_02: No, other people can choose not to enjoy your generosity.
SPEAKER_02: Generosity is never a waste when it comes from your heart.
SPEAKER_02: Even if people spit on it and resent it.
SPEAKER_02: What did you get?
SPEAKER_02: You got to give it.
SPEAKER_02: So I think this week, more than anything, I hear us having this opportunity to really think twice about what is good.
SPEAKER_02: Good socially.
SPEAKER_02: And what is actually a praiseworthy good.
SPEAKER_02: And yes, we will always conflate those two terms, but I think the reason we get to do this at our ordinary time is to unwind them a little bit.
SPEAKER_02: Unwind them a little bit so that we start to say something is good precisely when it's authentic, when it's holy, when it's just, when it's compassionate instead of when it's ordinary.
SPEAKER_02: You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
SPEAKER_02: You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
SPEAKER_02: Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
SPEAKER_02: Meanwhile, the world goes on.
SPEAKER_02: Meanwhile, the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers.
SPEAKER_02: Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again.
SPEAKER_02: Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world, God offers itself, God's self to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting, over and over announcing your place in the family of things.