R T H E generosity V O U T I O N L E GIVING & RECEIVING WITH DIGNITY RESOURCE FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH MINISTRIES
CONTENTS 1. Training for leaders 2. Week 1 - Harvest of my life 3. Week 2 - It s about the person 4. Week 3 - First do no harm 5. Week 4 - All made in God s image 6. Youth reflections 3 4 7 9 11 14 2
TRAINING FOR LEADERS LESSONS FROM RUTH Here are a few of the things we can learn from this story of loyalty, love and generosity: When Ruth and Naomi returned to Israel, they could depend on the fact that the people of Israel, who were God s own people, would keep to the law that said they were allowed to glean, or gather in anyone s field. However, it is clear that Ruth may not be safe in another person field as both Naomi and Boaz warn her to stay in his field This teaches us that we must be very careful not to just stick to God s laws and forget all about God s heart at the same time it s almost no good to just keep the rules if we have forgotten that God wants us to do it with kindness and carefulness. This is a story where no one person is better than the other. Just because Boaz is rich and owns a field, does not mean that he is better than Ruth who is from another country and has lost her husband. Boaz treats her as an equal and makes sure that she is well looked after, even eventually agreeing to marry her so that he can look after her for the rest of her life. Also, even though Boaz is the one with more money, it seems as if he may have been a little bit lonely and so he is grateful to Ruth for choosing him to marry! In this case, the one who started out being the giver becomes the recipient of the gift. In God s big story- we are all givers and all recipients. We are all designed to receive God s love and therefore must be open to receiving love from and gifts from each other. AND we are all designed to be God s generous people, giving out his love and whatever gifts he has given us to share. 3
WEEK 1 - THE HARVEST OF MY LIFE (Note to leader: Story wall to be up every week from week one onwards) Read The Story Right in the beginning, God created the world and all the people who were given life, breath, names and families. They discovered that God loved them and had hopes and plans for them on this earth. God made a special promise to a group of people, who were called God s people, and with this promise they were given careful instructions on the best way to live. They were meant to be a blessing to others and to the whole world to make sure that there was fairness, kindness, hope and well-being for all the people of the earth, locals and foreigners, man and woman, rich and poor, old and young. Many instructions given by God are written in the Old Testament of the Bible. One of the books where these rules are found is called LEVITICUS and it can be quite a job to read through the whole book to try and understand what they mean for us, the people of God, these days. The instructions and laws were written to make very sure that there was fairness and equality- to make sure that everyone, no matter how hard life had treated them, had enough food to eat and a safe way to live in the world. One of these laws the Gleaning Law told the people not to take all of the good food they had grown in their fields or on their grapevines, but to leave it for other people who may not have enough food to eat. They called this law the gleaning law because to glean means to gather or collect something. How about we read a short story that will help us understand this better? I think, the best way to learn something isn t by just reading a rule book... but by hearing the story of people who loved God and tried to live faithfully respecting God s rules, even if its a story from a long time ago. So...this is the story of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz: 4
In a place called Moab there lived a nice family. A man called Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two sons moved there because they needed food, as there was not enough where they used to live in the land of Israel. After a while Eli died but Naomi wasn t alone, she still had two sons. Her two sons got married but after about ten years they died too. At least Naomi still had her sons wives to keep her company; their names were Orpah and Ruth. Naomi called her sons wives and told them, I am going to go back to where I used to live in Israel and I would like you to go back to your family where you used to live. May God show you kindness as you have shown me. All the women cried and hugged each other because they were such good friends. But no matter what Naomi said, one of her sons wives, Ruth, would not leave. Don t ask me to leave. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your friends will be my friends and your God will be my God. So Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem together. It was a good thing Ruth went with Naomi because Bethlehem was very far away and Naomi couldn t have traveled all that way by herself. Ruth never complained but was a good friend to Naomi. She wasn t expecting anything in return, she just wanted to help. When they got there Ruth decided that she should do some kind of work. It was harvest time, so she worked in the fields following behind the harvesters and picked up any barley that they had dropped. Reveal The Meaning We have now learnt the law of gleaning [which means gathering] in the way God taught it to people thousands of years ago, and we have seen that Naomi and Ruth were able to receive food because of this law. Let us now see if that can teach us how to live as God s people in....... [enter place] in...... [enter month and year]. Reflect On their Thoughts What do you think is the harvest of our lives and how do we use it? This could be the stuff that we have or own, the places where we live, the relationships that we 5
have, the time we have in our days or the special skills that God has blessed us with. This law teaches us that while we may think that all those things are given to us just for us to enjoy - God tells us that they were given to us so that we can share them kindly and carefully with others. God created a world with enough food, enough families and enough time in it so that everyone could have what they need. It is therefore up to everyone who loves God to look at what they have and what they are able to share. In this way, God s love is expressed and spread evenly. Respond With an Activity Have the kids each draw or create wheat sheaves reflecting their answers to stick up on to the story wall in the week one section. 6
WEEK 2 - IT S ABOUT THE PERSON Read The Story Re-read the story up to the end of week one, asking the kids this time to notice and look out for the people in the story. Read the verse from Leviticus 19, which says that the law of gleaning goes something like this and it is written so that the people of that day could understand it best for their lifestyle, which was mostly farming: When you harvest your crops, do not collect the food at the edges of your field, but leave this aside for people who have had to leave their home in their own country and have no home here in this country, and for the children who have lost their parents, for the women whose husbands have died and for anyone who needs looking after. Another way of looking at this is...think about when you go to the fruit tree and shake the branches to get the fruit to eat- don t shake the branches a second time. Rather leave the fruit for someone who doesn t have their own fruit tree - they will come along and shake it the second time so they can take home some fruit for their family to eat. Reveal The Meaning Remember that God teaches us rules and laws so that everyone can be looked after. This law was written like this because most of the people reading it were growing their own food to eat. Reflect On their Thoughts Questions to ask: Who are the main characters or people in the story? How do they know each other? What might Ruth be feeling? What do you think Naomi was thinking? Who are the widows, the orphans and the foreigners in our lives? Most of us don t rely on fruit trees for our food. What do we have that we can leave for those who have less than we do? What could this look like? 7
Respond With an Activity Ask the kids to draw the people in the story, or have pictures of each character up on the story-wall. Allow them to write up their answers to the questions, including any conversations or thought bubbles for the individual characters, on the story wall under the week two section. 8
WEEK 3 - FIRST DO NO HARM Read The Story Recap where you left off last week. Then continue with the story: The owner of the field, a man called Boaz, came by to greet the harvesters and noticed Ruth in the field. He asked one of the harvesters who she was. She came back from Moab with Naomi, that s all I know. And now she has been gleaning in your field since the morning. Luckily for Ruth, Boaz was a kind man who believed in God. He was also family of Naomi s husband that had died. Boaz went to talk to Ruth. He said to her, Don t go work in any other field but stay here with the other servant girls. I have instructed my workers not to hurt or embarrass you. I will make sure you are safe and whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars. When Ruth heard this she bowed down to Boaz and asked, Why are you being so nice to me, I m not even from this country? Boaz replied, I know what you ve done for Naomi, you left your family and home country and moved to a place you ve never been. May the Lord reward you for your kindness. Ruth thanked Boaz and continued with her work in the hot sun. Boaz even ordered his workers to drop extra barley so Ruth could have more for herself. Ruth took the barley home and shared what she had with Naomi. Naomi exclaimed we are blessed to have been shown this kindness by Boaz. In the fields belonging to someone else you may have been hurt and badly treated, but in his field you will be safe. So Ruth stayed close to Boaz s young women, gleaning in the fields daily. And she continued living with Naomi. Reveal The Meaning This part of the story talks a lot about keeping Ruth from getting hurt or embarrassed as this makes them scared and vulnerable [explain he word vulnerable]. Boaz is very good to protect Ruth! 9
Reflect On their Thoughts Questions to ask: Who are the vulnerable people in your life who might need helping or protecting? How can we defend and look out for the vulnerable? Respond With an Activity Ask the kids to volunteer ideas of how vulnerable people are sometimes harmed AND can be protected. These can be written up on the storywall with big red No Entry signs over them. This will be a visual reminder that God does not want us to do these types of things to anyone else. Alternatively, depending on the age group, ask the kids to put together and act out a 5 minute long play depicting how we can protect the vulnerable people we know. 10
WEEK 4 - ALL MADE IN GOD S IMAGE Read The Story One day her mother-in-law Naomi said to Ruth, My dear daughter, isn t it about time I arranged a good home for you so you can have a happy life? And isn t Boaz our close family member, the one who is responsible for our safety? Ruth and Naomi decided that it would be good if Ruth and Boaz could marry, even though he was quite a bit older than her. Ruth shared this idea with Boaz. She said she would like to marry him in order to have continued security and safety for the rest of her life. Boaz responded like this, he said GOD bless you, my dear daughter! What a wonderful expression of your kindness! And when you could have had your pick of any of the young men around. And now, my dear daughter, don t you worry about a thing; I ll do all you could want or ask. Everybody in town knows what a courageous woman you are. You and Naomi are right, I am responsible for your safety, I will make sure that it is right for us to marry. So Boaz married Ruth and after a little while they had a son. That son grew up to eventually have a son of his own, and many generations down the line of Ruth and Boaz family, there came a family that eventually were the parents of Jesus, our Lord. Reveal The Meaning Isn t it funny how things change so much at the end of this story? All the way through the story, Boaz is the one who gives help to Ruth but when, at the end: Ruth tells him that she wants to marry him, he is so happy! She is helping him by loving him and marrying him. God is like that. He loves to give us help AND he loves to know that we love him too! And God has made us just like him: created to GIVE LOVE and GET LOVE. There is no-one on earth who does not need help from someone else and no-one who has nothing to give. 11
Reflect On their Thoughts Questions to ask: how do we give to and receive from God? How do we give and receive from others? Why should we do this? Do you prefer giving or receiving? Respond With an Activity Create an invitation template for each child to complete. The invitation will help them to identify what they are being invited to give and what they are being invited to receive from God. See template on opposite page. Ask the kids to draw their answers on the story wall. 12
To You are being invited to give [think about things, time, money or something you can do]. I hope you will be blessed as you give this to someone else and that it helps them to see a little bit more of what God s love is all about. You are also invited to get from God. [what does God want to give you think about his love, his time, his blessing, OR even a hug from someone else]. I hope that you feel God close to you as you receive what he offers whether during prayer or by the actions of someone else. Lots of love! 13
YOUTH REFLECTIONS He cares? Ever feel like there is so much wrong in this world, or in your own life? What is going on in your life or the world around you that seems far from perfect right now? Nobody needs to tell us that we live in a broken world! There is so much that is unfair. What do you think God thinks about injustice and suffering? Does he even care? Psalm 10:17-18 says, LORD, you listen to the desires of those who suffer. You steady their hearts; you listen closely to them, to establish justice for the orphan and the oppressed Does God care? Yep, he is a caring, compassionate, just God. Who cares? God cares about those who suffer because of this broken world. Does he want us to care too? God does not miraculously appear to fix things on earth (well, most of the time anyway), because he has chosen to use us to show his heart and do his stuff on earth. God uses people to show us his love, and he wants to use us to show his love to others. Each one of us is God s masterpiece, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10). It seems we have been created to do things for God on this earth as part of our design and make up. It s who we are! Do we care? The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. Proverbs 29:7. Whoah, you might be saying, I am not righteous I make mistakes all the time! Yep, like the rest of us. We are not righteous as in perfect, but we are righteous because we have decided to be Jesus followers. People who are Jesus followers, care about those suffering. Don t panic if you don t care A LOT yet. I know things changed in my heart when I asked God to show me the things that break his heart in our world. He answered that prayer. Anything you want to ask God today? 14
A little salt? Have you ever had pizza without the topping? Or popcorn without salt? Not so tasty, in my opinion! I love how Jesus used things we can all relate to when he was making a point. In Matthew 5:13 he said, You are the salt of the earth, but if salt loses its flavour, how can it be made salty again? What is the point of salt if it does not add flavour? What Jesus is telling us here is to be the real deal and make a difference to the world we live in. What do you think being salty looks like for you and your friends this week? Is anyone listening? When injustice goes on and on, and nobody seems to be listening, it can lead to lots of unrest and discontent. What has been going on in the news this week? There are lots of people who are saying Enough is enough! and are tired of being paid very little for a lot of hard work, while others get richer and richer. People are angry and tired of feeling unheard, and sometimes acts of violence (not great) are simply a way to try and get people to listen. How do you think we can handle this in a way that pleases God in our country? Just say yes Does thinking about the injustice of this world make you feel down or helpless? It is important to remember that we cannot change the entire world but we can be obedient to the small (and big) things that God invites us to be a part of in our communities. Jesus tells us that when we serve others, we are actually serving him (Matthew 25:40) that is a really cool thought! Did anything come to mind this week that you want to be involved in or get your friends involved in with you? Is there anything you need to do to make this happen? It s infectious! I love how one good, kind act of justice or compassion leads to another! When someone is kind to you, it usually makes you want to be kinder to those around you too. Lawrence Lovasik, a wise Catholic priest, said it well: No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves. What kindness can you show today? 15
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