Harvest

Meeting Boaz at the Threshing Floor – Part 2

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Picking up where we left the story of Boaz and Ruth, today we fast forward to the end of the harvest. One night as they are sitting in their home Naomi comes to Ruth with some very interesting advice. Naomi knows that the men will be partying that night because their work is done. They have received their wages, maybe even with a little bonus because of the good harvest and they will hold a celebration down at the threshing floor. So, Naomi tells Ruth to clean up, put on her best dress and don’t forget the perfume. Like any good Jewish mother, she is determined to leave nothing to chance! Then she sends Ruth out just as it is getting dark to the threshing floor and tells her to wait till after the men to finish eating and drinking and are finally lying down to sleep.

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Following her instructions exactly, Ruth, tiptoes in between the stacks of grain to the spot where she finds Boaz is sleeping. Now before you think she is about to do something sketchy; the Bible makes it clear that all she does is lie down at his feet. This was no indecent proposal which Ruth has in mind, instead, it was a custom, rooted in the culture of Ancient Israel> She has come to appeal to Boaz to redeem her. Now, he is eligible to do this, not just because he was a rich single guy, but because he was a family member to Naomi’s late-husband. From that culture’s point of view, Boaz’s right to redeem most importantly was about, buying the land and home of Naomi. Of course, we know from the story that Boaz cared a whole lot more about marrying Ruth than any fields! And just like Boaz, Jesus waits for us. Though He has loved us enough to have given His life to pay for our redemption, He will never stride down to our house and demand our allegiance. Instead, Christ waits to hear our proposal, though long ago He has determined what His answer will be. And when we come and lie at His feet, He gives us a promise that He will redeem and tells us it is our turn to rest until morning. Then just like Boaz, Jesus is on the move! He leaves us with His promise of redemption, and we can trust that He will not stop until finally and forever we are His!

Winter Work in the Orchard

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Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 2 Timothy 4:2

When the average person hears the word apple, they picture a bin overflowing with ripened fruit at the farmer’s market, but for me, having pruned, sprayed, and harvested apple trees for more than a few years, it brings back memories of Wintertime in the orchards. I remember again that it takes four seasons to grow a single apple. In today’s verse, Paul tells us to be ready to do God’s work “Out of season”.  We need to live and love and serve, not only when the sun is warm and things are sweet, but also when the snow drifts stand around us and our sap is hidden deep underground. In an orchard there is always something to be done, and Winter is actually even busier than Fall. Trees that are left to themselves in the off season, produce smaller, more diseased and fewer apples each year. Winter is the time to cut out fire blighted branches, before they spread their deadly bacteria to the rest of the tree. Then, we must cut out the tall sucker growth that saps energy from the hard-working fruit wood. Last, and perhaps saddest of all, we have to saw off once fruitful limbs that have succumbed to age, disease or damage done by storms. In the same way that Paul tells Timothy about his work with the church, this activity is not just something to keep us busy in the off season. It must sometimes be performed regularly and in the worst possible working conditions. Even on days when temperatures barely creep above 0˚ Fahrenheit, we reprove uncontrolled selfish growth, rebuke the diseased limbs and exhort and encourage faithful fruitful branches. And on the day we finish an orchard, there is no sight more beautiful, than looking out over orderly stands of well-trimmed trees and seeing with eyes of faith the harvest to come.  Yet, even as we walk away with relieved smiles, we know that there will always be a next Winter when someone must patiently return. We remember that without our, “Out of season” work the harvest will never make it to market.

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Far More Than We Deserve

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This parable of the vineyard had always held for me the mystery of sunlight shining through fog. I was sure something wonderful was there but couldn’t quite make out exactly what. I once figured that the owner of the vineyard kept retuning for more workers because he didn’t want to lose his harvest. It reminded me of working a hayfield with six of my friends till 2 am. A thunderstorm was rolling in and hay left in the field might be spoiled so we labored till the first drops of rain started falling. But the story of this man returning over and over to the town square till almost quitting time just seemed odd.

Why did he hire men even when it was almost quitting time and why pay them the same as the others? After all the guys who only worked one hour certainly weren’t producing enough to even cover their wage. But then I remembered that when the owner hired those fellows he asked why they were standing around all day and they told him ,”because no one hired us.” They had stayed because they clung to hope even as the afternoon shadows grew longer.

And isn’t that the wonderful depth of the grace of Jesus? He doesn’t come until even the final hours because he cares about hay ruined in his field or grapes left on the vine. He comes over and over looking for us. The lostness of people who no one else wants, who stand abandoned in the town square stirs God’s heart to action! So with whatever few hours we have in His field let’s work with joy, knowing that from the depths of His grace we will receive far more than we deserve on the day we stand before Him!