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The Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Almighty and everlasting God, who in Christ hast revealed thy glory among the nations: Preserve the works of thy mercy, that thy Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of thy Name; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 24)
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The Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost
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Scripture citation(s): Ruth 1:1-19a
A Sermon by
Fr. Mead
on
Ruth 1:1-19a
✛
A Sermon for the Visit of Prince Andrew
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And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Let me begin by thanking His Royal Highness The Duke of York for honoring us with his presence this morning. It was Saint Thomas’s privilege to offer the September 20 Prayer Service for the several hundred British Nationals who suffered or were lost in the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. We have received many gracious words from our British friends, from the Prime Minister and the Archbishops to many, many ordinary British people. Today’s visit by Prince Andrew symbolizes that graciousness. May Almighty God bless and protect Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and all her subjects who are the dearest and best friends of the United States, and may God bind us together, together with all nations of good will, in the struggle to defend civilization against the scourge of terrorism.
How providential that the lesson read this morning by Prince Andrew should be the beginning of the Book of Ruth. Ruth was not Hebrew but a Moabite woman. Her Hebrew husband, from Bethlehem, had died. But Ruth refused to leave Naomi her mother-in-law. “Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God,” she declared. “The Lord do so to me and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.”
Ruth’s loyalty and friendship resulted in her momentous marriage, later on, to a kind nobleman, Boaz, of Bethlehem. It is a beautiful story. We don’t often hear the biblical genealogies read in our church services, but this is a time to hear one, in this case, from Saint Matthew’s Gospel. Just a portion: “…and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; and Jesse begat David the king…” (Matt 1:5-6) Ruth is one of four extraordinary women mentioned in that genealogy, which concludes, “…and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” (Matt 1:16)
So Ruth was the great grandmother of King David, the “man after the Lord’s own heart.” Her decision to be loyal to her family by marriage is one of the grace-notes in the lineage of God incarnate, our Lord Jesus Christ.
This morning I want to speak about the virtues of our Matriarch Ruth, about courage and friendship.
This December, there will appear in the movies a new production of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. I have been re-reading it to get ready. It is a saga of the battle of good against evil, in this case, in Middle Earth, where the Free Peoples, wizards, elves, dwarves, men, and hobbits, struggle against domination by the Dark Lord Sauron, who rules from the desolation of the Land of Mordor. The Dark Lord’s long arm seems to reach everywhere, bringing fear into hearts and homes.
There is a critical moment in the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring. Destiny brings a terrible duty to the hero, the young hobbit Frodo Baggins, who must deliver the deadly Ring of Power back to its source in the Cracks of Doom deep in the land of Mordor. Two striking things are said, when Frodo realizes he must do this, during a great Council held in the palace of the old and wise elf, Master Elrond.
First, after a long, almost prayerful, silence in the council, Frodo says, “I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way.” Elrond consents, understanding what a momentous act of courage has just been voiced. Second, Frodo’s simple but utterly devoted gardener and friend, Sam Gamgee, cries, “But you won’t send [Frodo] off alone surely, Master?” Sam, who was not supposed to be at the Council, had been hiding and eavesdropping, and he could not contain himself any longer. “No, indeed!” said Elrond, turning toward Sam with a smile. “You at least shall go with him. It is hardly possible to separate you from him, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.” Blushing and muttering, Sam sat down. “A nice pickle we have landed ourselves in, Mr. Frodo!” he said, shaking his head. (Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, pp. 263-264.)
Sam reminds me of Saint Thomas himself, our flat-footed but heroic patron saint. When Jesus made it clear to his apostles that he was not to be deterred from his dangerous destiny in Jerusalem (in spite of their attempt to dissuade him), it was Thomas who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (Jn 11:16)
Whatever else is necessary in the struggle of good against evil, courage and friendship are crucial.
Courage is the one virtue which propels all the other virtues into action, which puts flesh onto such things as honesty, kindness, love, justice, mercy and self-control. Courage is not fearless or rash. Courage faces its fear and knows it must nevertheless act, on account of everything it holds dear, including its own integrity. Courage realizes that everything sometimes comes down to doing something here and now, no matter what. We may have landed ourselves in a “nice pickle,” but sometimes we have no choice but to get on with it. Hobbits were peace-loving, domestic, lovers of simple comforts and pleasures. Hobbits are like the English! But in the end, Frodo and Sam delivered the Ring and broke the spell of the Dark Lord over Middle Earth.
Friendship binds people of sound mind and good will together. In comfortable times, friends enjoy the blessings of peace. They enjoy the good life, they share movies and books and sports and tastes. They have friendly rivalries; they poke fun; they fall in love; they enjoy families and raise children; they have a drink, they smoke pipes and cigars, they dine out. But in wartime, true friends they are the ones we want next to us.
There are many other things that are necessary to the battle of life, needful for the promotion and defense of civilization, of course. Resources, intelligence, wisdom, prudence, strategy, good timing and fortune, inventiveness. But at the heart of everything, there must be courage and friendship.
Jesus called his disciples his friends. He was not being sentimental. “You are my friends, if you do what I command you; this I command you, that you love one another.” Love is the substance of genuine Christian fellowship, and it is the essence of all that is good in Christendom and in all civilization. But these communities are despised by the Evil One and the forces of darkness. Courage and friendship are what are needed to stand up to the evil powers and principalities, the forces of wickedness and their attacks, their terrorism.
Dearly beloved, we — our city, our nation, and our friends around the world (beginning with our brave British friends) — are now called to look deep within ourselves. We are called to rediscover the things that really matter, the things that we have too often and too long taken for granted. There is evidence everywhere that we are all doing this very thing; that we are reviving.
May God give us all the grace to have faith, to take courage, to find our true friends, and to be good and loyal friends ourselves. Great good can come out of these trials and adversities. Ruth and Frodo (and Sam) and Saint Thomas the Apostle were all brought very low, faced with a hard and dark day. But it was their finest hour, and they took part in the glory of God. Now it is our turn.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
