Sermon at All Saints’s Church Parish Church, Whiteparish – 7th Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 19th July 2026
Ruth 2:4-12; Matthew 5:14-16,
May I speak in the Name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may these words of yours be a joy and
blessing to all who hear them. Amen
[This Sermon is split
into to 2 short homilies or reflections – one on each of the readings as part
of the Celebration of Rural Community Sunday in praise of all those who provide
a Christian presence in the village of Whiteparish].
Ruth 2:4-12
This passage from the wonderful Old Testament
story of Ruth was chosen specifically for today’s service because it has a
rural theme and beautifully illustrates a healthy rural community. It is particularly appropriate as we are now,
here in rural Wiltshire, in the middle of an early harvest with the air full of
the dust from the combine harvesters as they gather up the cereal grains. We can so easily, therefore, take ourselves
back to those days described in the Old Testament passage in rural Bethlehem at
the beginning of the barley harvest.
However, first, a quick reminder of where
this passage fits in with the whole story of Ruth. Naomi, together with her
husband and two sons living in Bethlehem, had left that rural town a number of
years earlier, when the land was struck with a terrible famine, and went to
Moab. Whilst there, her two sons married
Moabite women but both the sons and her husband died there in Moab. Naomi decided to return to her homeland and
home town of Bethlehem taking with her, one of her Moabite daughters-in-law,
Ruth (the other daughter-in-law stayed in Moab). Ruth, not being a Jew, was therefore an
alien, a foreigner, a stranger back in Bethlehem.
We learn that Naomi had a kinsman, Boaz, in
Bethlehem who took pity and compassion on her and Ruth and gave strict
instructions to his workers to let the women glean from his field and not to
molest the women – giving them opportunity not only to glean barley for their
own needs but a bit extra to sell and have a comfortable lifestyle whilst under
his protection. As we know, later on,
Boaz married Ruth, had children and in due course their descendants were Kind
David and through Joseph, Jesus.
The moral for us today is that we should
notice vulnerable newcomers into our community and make them feel welcome.
Recently, for example, I know that here, and in several other villages in our
Deanery, we have welcomed many Ukrainian families to share with us in our
homes, meals and churches. You have shown true Christian hospitality. It also reminds us to care for and protect
others behind the scenes who work untiringly and often “unsung” to provide that
welcome and protection. The story of Ruth
is a lesson and a blessing to all, especially in these smaller communities, and
I heartily recommend you read the whole book – it’s only 4 chapters! There are
so many examples of humility, love and compassion to be found there.
Matthew 5:14-16
Following on from my short homily on Ruth,
our gospel reading this morning takes the theme of goodness and hospitality
further. In this passage, which is part of His great Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
is telling the Crowds attending that as followers of Him they are “the light
of the world”. This pronouncement is
coupled, in the same section of the Sermon as his proclamation that they are
also “salt of the earth” meaning, in metaphor, that they give taste to
an otherwise bland and tasteless world.
This reading, therefore, directly underpins
the theme of our previous two readings reminding us that small, local acts of
goodness, such as hospitality and friendliness towards others, especially those
who are different from ourselves, have an immense, illuminating impact on rural
life.
When I first thought of moving into the rural
environment of Winterslow in 1999, after living in Brighton, London, Liverpool
and being brought up in a large northern town, I was struck by the wonderful
friendliness of those in the village and especially in the church – so much so
that I still live in rural Wiltshire some 27 years on and have no intention of
leaving. I have experienced much salt
and light from those church communities here in our Deanery.
I would like to share one thought, though,
which I had, when I first read those words in Jesus’s sermon – how do we
actually shine that light out? What is
it that we must do? At the time I first came to Wiltshire my own life was in a
state of brokenness and change; and during my time here there have been many
occasions when I have felt broken and not able to shine out any light.
Then I went to the Christian conference
(Spring Harvest) where this topic was discussed. It was as though Jesus himself
was talking to me. From memory the speaker was Jeff Lucas, who wrote a
wonderful book entitled “There are no Strong People” who reminded us
that most of us, especially Christians, are broken or, as he put it, we are
like “cracked pots” – not “crack pots” I hastened to add although sometimes I’m
not so sure. But, if we have the light of Christ within us, if we have what Jesus
called the light of the world then even though we feel unworthy or unholy or
whatever, that light will still shine through those cracks and sometimes,
because we are cracked, the light will shine through those narrow cracks with
even more intensity. By following Jesus we can shine that light by the way we
act, speak and treat others in our community and the world at large.
Amen MFB/237/16072026
