"Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not."--RUTH
2:15.
COUNTRY friends need no explanation of what is meant by gleaning. I hope
the custom will never be banished from the land, but that the poor will
always be allowed their little share of the harvest. I am afraid that
many who see gleaning every year in the fields of their own parish are
not yet wise enough to understand the heavenly art of spiritual
gleaning. That is the subject which I have chosen on this occasion, and
my text is taken from the charming story of Ruth, which is known to
every one of you. I shall use the story as setting forth our own case,
in a homely but instructive way. In the first place, we shall observe
that there is _a great Husbandman_; it was Boaz in Ruth's case, it is
our heavenly Father who is the Husbandman in our case. Secondly, we
shall notice _a humble gleaner_; the gleaner was Ruth in this instance,
but she may be looked upon as the representative of every believer. And,
in the third place, here is a _gracious permission given_ to Ruth: "Let
her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not," and the same
permission is spiritually given to us.
I. In the first place, the God of the whole earth is A GREAT HUSBANDMAN.
This is true in _natural_ things. As a matter of fact all farm
operations are carried on by his power and prudence. Man may plough the
soil, and sow the seed; but as Jesus said, "My Father is the
husbandman." He appoints the clouds and allots the sunshine; he directs
the winds and distributes the dew and the rain; he also gives the frost
and the heat, and so by various processes of nature he brings forth food
for man and beast. All the farming, however, which God does, is for the
benefit of others, and never for himself. He has no need of any of our
works of husbandry. If he were hungry, he would not tell us. "The cattle
on a thousand hills," says he, "are mine." The purest kindness and
benevolence are those which dwell in the heart of God. Though all things
are God's, his works in creation and in providence are not for himself,
but for his creatures. This should greatly encourage us in trusting to
him.
In _spiritual_ matters God is a great husbandman; and there, too, all
his works are done for his children, that they may be fed upon the
finest of the wheat. Permit me to speak of the wide gospel fields which
our heavenly Father farms for the good of his children. There is a great
variety of these fields, and they are all fruitful; for "the fountain of
Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop
down dew." Deut. 33:28. Every field which our heavenly Father tills
yields a plentiful harvest, for there are no failures or famines with
him.
1. One part of his farm is called _Doctrine field_. What full sheaves of
finest wheat are to be found there! He who is permitted to glean in it
will gather bread enough and to spare, for the land brings forth by
handfuls. Look at that goodly sheaf of election; full, indeed, of heavy
ears of corn, such as Pharaoh saw in his first dream--ears full and
strong. There is the great sheaf of final perseverance, where each ear
is a promise that the work which God has begun he will assuredly
complete. If we have not faith enough to partake of either of these
sheaves, we may glean around the choice sheaves of redemption by the
blood of Christ. Many a poor soul who could not feed on electing love,
nor realize his perseverance in Christ, can yet feed on the atonement
and rejoice in the sublime doctrine of substitution. Many and rich are
the sheaves which stand thick together in Doctrine field; these, when
threshed by meditation and ground in the mill of thought, furnish royal
food for the Lord's family.
I wonder why it is that some of our Master's stewards are so prone to
lock the gate of this field, as if they thought it dangerous ground. For
my part, I wish my people not only to glean here, but to carry home the
sheaves by the wagon-load, for they cannot be too well fed when truth is
the food. Are my fellow-laborers afraid that Jeshurun will wax fat and
kick, if he has too much food? I fear there is more likelihood of his
dying of starvation if the bread of sound doctrine is withheld. If we
have a love to the precepts and warnings of the word, we need not be
afraid of the doctrines; on the contrary, we should search them out and
feed upon them with joy. The doctrines of distinguishing grace are to be
set forth in due proportions to the rest of the word, and those are poor
pulpits from which these grand truths are excluded. We must not keep the
Lord's people out of this field. I say, swing the gate open, and come
in, all of you who are children of God! I am sure that in my Master's
field nothing grows which will harm you. Gospel doctrine is always safe
doctrine. You may feast upon it till you are full, and no harm will come
of it. Be afraid of no revealed truth. Be afraid of spiritual ignorance,
but not of holy knowledge. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of your
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Everything taught in the word of God is
meant to be the subject of a Christian's study, therefore neglect
nothing. Visit the doctrine field daily, and glean in it with the utmost
diligence.
2. The great Husbandman has another field called _Promise field_; of
that I shall not need to speak, for I hope you often enter it and glean
from it. Just let us take an ear or two out of one of the sheaves, and
show them to you that you may be induced to stay there the live-long
day, and carry home a rich load at night. Here is an ear: "The mountains
shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart
from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed." Here is
another: "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest
through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame
kindle upon thee." Here is another; it has a short stalk, but a heavy
ear: "My strength is sufficient for thee." Another is long in the straw,
but very rich in corn: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in
God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it
were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you; and
if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you
unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." What a word is
that!--"I will come again." Yes, beloved, we can say of the Promise
field what cannot be said of a single acre in all England; namely, that
it is so rich a field that it could not be richer, and that it has so
many ears of corn in it that you could not insert another. As the poet
sings:
"What more can he say, than to you he hath said,--
You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?"
Glean in that field, O ye poor and needy ones, and never think that you
are intruding. The whole field is your own, every ear of it; you may
draw out from the sheaves themselves, and the more you take the more you
may.
3. Then there is _Ordinance field_; a great deal of good wheat grows in
this field. The field of Baptism has been exceedingly fruitful to some
of us, for it has set forth to us our death, burial, and resurrection in
Christ, and thus we have been cheered and instructed. It has been good
for us to declare ourselves on the Lord's side, and we have found that
in keeping our Lord's commandments there is great reward. But I will not
detain you long in this field, for some of our friends think it has a
damp soil: I wish them more light and more grace. However, we will pass
on to the field of the Supper, where grows the very best of our Lord's
corn. What rich things have we fed upon in this choice spot! Have we not
there tasted the sweetest and most sustaining of all spiritual food? In
all the estate no field is to be found to rival this centre and crown of
all the domain; this is the King's Acre. Gospel gleaner, abide in that
field; glean in it on the first day of every week, and expect to see
your Lord there; for it is written, "He was known of them in the
breaking of bread."
4. The heavenly Husbandman has one field upon a hill, which equals the
best of the others, even if it does not excel them. You cannot really
and truly go into any of the other fields unless you pass into this; for
the road to the other fields lies through this hill farm; it is called
_Fellowship and Communion with Christ_. This is the field for the Lord's
choicest ones to glean in. Some of you have only run through it, you
have not stopped long enough in it; but he who knows how to stay here,
yea, to live here, shall spend his hours most profitably and pleasantly.
It is only in proportion as we hold fellowship with Christ, and
communion with him, that either ordinances, or doctrines, or promises
can profit us. All other things are dry and barren unless we are
enjoying the love of Christ, unless we bear his likeness, unless we
dwell continually with him, and rejoice in his love. I am sorry to say
that few Christians think much of this field; it is enough for them to
be sound in doctrine, and tolerably correct in practice; they care far
less than they should about intimate inter course with Christ Jesus,
their Lord, by the Holy Ghost. I am sure that if we gleaned in this
field we should not have half so many naughty tempers nor a tenth as
much pride, nor a hundredth part so much sloth. This is a field hedged
and sheltered, and in it you will find better food than that which
angels feed upon; yea, you will find Jesus himself as the bread which
came down from heaven. Blessed, blessed field, may we visit it every
day. The Master leaves the gate wide open for every believer; let us
enter in and gather the golden ears till we can carry no more. Thus we
have seen the great Husbandman in his fields; let us rejoice that we
have such a great Husbandman near, and such fields to glean in.
II. And now, in the second place, we have A HUMBLE GLEANER. Ruth was a
gleaner, and may serve as an illustration of what every believer should
be in the fields of God.
1. The believer is a favored gleaner, for he _may take home a whole
sheaf if he likes_; he may bear away all that he can possibly carry, for
all things are freely given him of the Lord. I use the figure of a
gleaner because I believe that few Christians ever go much beyond it,
and yet they are free to do so if they are able. Some may say, Why does
not the believer reap all the field, and take all the corn home with
him? I answer that he is welcome to do so if he can; for no good thing
will the Lord withhold from them that walk uprightly. If your faith is
like a great wagon, and you can carry the whole field of corn, you have
full permission to take it. Alas, our faith is so little that we rather
glean than reap; we are straitened in ourselves, not in our God. May you
all outgrow the metaphor, and come home, bringing your sheaves with you.
2. Again, we may remark, that the gleaner in her business _has to endure
much toil and fatigue_. She rises early in the morning, and she trudges
off to a field; if that be closed, she hastens to another; and if that
be shut up, or gleaned already, she hurries farther still; and all day
long, while the sun is shining upon her, she seldom sits down to refresh
herself, but still she goes on, stoop, stoop, stoop, gathering the ears
one by one. She returns not to her home till nightfall; for she desires,
if the field is good, to do much business that day, and she will not go
home until she is loaded down. Beloved, so let each one of us do when we
seek spiritual food. Let us not be afraid of a little fatigue in the
Master's fields; if the gleaning is good, we must not soon weary in
gathering the precious spoil, for the gains will richly reward our
pains. I know a friend who walks five miles every Sunday to hear the
gospel, and has the same distance to return. Another thinks little of a
ten miles' journey; and these are wise, for to hear the pure word of God
no labor is extravagant. To stand in the aisle till ready to drop,
listening all the while with strained attention, is a toil which meets a
full reward if the gospel be heard and the Spirit of God bless it to the
soul. A gleaner does not expect that the ears will come to her of
themselves; she knows that gleaning is hard work. We must not expect to
find the best field next to our own house, we may have to journey to the
far end of the parish, but what of that? Gleaners must not be choosers,
and where the Lord sends the gospel, there he calls us to be present.
3. We remark, next, that _every ear the gleaner gets she has to stoop
for_. Why is it that proud people seldom profit under the word? Why is
it that certain "intellectual" folk cannot get any good out of our
soundest ministers? Why, because they must needs have the corn lifted up
for them; and if the wheat is held so high over their heads that they
can hardly see it, they are pleased, and cry, "Here is something
wonderful." They admire the extraordinary ability of the man who can
hold up the truth so high that nobody can reach it; but truly that is a
sorry feat. The preacher's business is to place truth within the reach
of all, children as well as adults; he is to let fall handfuls on
purpose for poor gleaners, and these will never mind stooping to collect
the ears. If we preach to the educated people only, the wise ones can
understand, but the illiterate cannot; but when we preach in all
simplicity to the poor, other classes can understand it if they like,
and if they do not like, they had better go somewhere else. Those who
cannot stoop to pick up plain truth had better give up gleaning. For my
part, I would be taught by a child if I could thereby know and
understand the gospel better: the gleaning in our Lord's field is so
rich that it is worth the hardest labor to be able to carry home a
portion of it. Hungry souls know this, and are not to be hindered in
seeking their heavenly food. We will go down on our knees in prayer, and
stoop by self-humiliation, and confession of ignorance, and so gather
with the hand of faith the daily bread of our hungering souls.
4. Note, in the next place, that what a gleaner gets _she wins ear by
ear_; occasionally she picks up a handful at once, but as a rule it is
straw by straw. In the case of Ruth, handfuls were let fall on purpose
for her; but she was highly favored. The gleaner stoops, and gets one
ear, and then she stoops again for another. Now, beloved, where there
are handfuls to be got at once, there is the place to go and glean; but
if you cannot meet with such abundance, be glad to gather ear by ear. I
have heard of certain persons who have been in the habit of hearing a
favorite minister, and when they go to another place, they say, "I
cannot hear anybody after my own minister; I shall stay at home and read
a sermon." Please remember the passage, "Not forsaking the assembling of
yourselves together, as the manner of some is." Let me also entreat you
not to be so foolishly partial as to deprive your soul of its food. If
you cannot get a handful at one stoop, do not refuse to gather an ear at
a time. If you are not content to learn here a little and there a
little, you will soon be half starved, and then you will be glad to get
back again to the despised minister and pick up what his field will
yield you. That is a sorry ministry which yields nothing. Go and glean
where the Lord has opened the gate for you. Why the text alone is worth
the journey; do not miss it.
5. Note, next, that _what the gleaner picks up she keeps in her hand_;
she does not drop the corn as fast as she gathers it. There is a good
thought at the beginning of the sermon, but the hearers are so eager to
hear another, that the first one slips away. Toward the end of the
sermon a large handful falls in their way, and they forget all that went
before in their eagerness to retain this last and richest portion. The
sermon is over, and, alas, it is nearly all gone from the memory, for
many are about as wise as a gleaner would be if she should pick up one
ear, and drop it; pick up another, and drop it, and so on all day. The
net result of such a day's work in a stubble is a bad backache; and I
fear that all our hearers will get by their hearing will be a headache.
Be attentive, but be retentive too. Gather the grain and tie it up in
bundles for carrying away with you, and mind you do not lose it on the
road home. Many a person when he has got a fair hold of the sermon,
loses it on the way to his house by idle talk with vain companions. I
have heard of a Christian man who was seen hurrying home one Sunday with
all his might. A friend asked him why he was in such haste. "Oh!" said
he, "two or three Sundays ago, our minister gave us a most blessed
discourse, and I greatly enjoyed it; but when I got outside, there were
two deacons discussing, and one pulled the sermon one way, and the
other the other, till they pulled it all to pieces, and I lost all the
savor of it." Those must have been very bad deacons; let us not imitate
them; and if we know of any who are of their school, let us walk home
alone in dogged silence sooner than lose all our gleanings by their
controversies. After a good sermon go home with your ears and your mouth
shut. Act like the miser, who not only gets all he can, but keeps all he
can. Do not lose by trifling talk that which may make you rich to all
eternity.
6. Then, again, the gleaner _takes the wheat home and threshes it_. It
is a wise thing to thresh a sermon, whoever may have been the preacher,
for it is certain that there is a portion of straw and chaff about it.
Many thresh the preacher by finding needless fault; but that is not half
so good as threshing the sermon to get out of it the pure truth. Take a
sermon, beloved, when you get one which is worth having, and lay it down
on the floor of meditation, and beat it out with the flail of prayer,
and you will get bread-corn from it. This threshing by prayer and
meditation must never be neglected. If a gleaner should stow away her
corn in her room, and leave it there, the mice would get at it; but she
would have no food from it if she did not thresh out the grain. Some get
a sermon, and carry it home, and allow Satan and sin, and the world, to
eat it all up, and it becomes unfruitful and worthless to them. But he
who knows how to flail a sermon well, so as to clear out all the wheat
from the straw, he is it that makes a good hearer and feeds his soul on
what he hears.
7. And then, in the last place, the good woman, after threshing the
corn, no doubt _winnowed it_. Ruth did all this in the field; but you
can scarcely do so. You must do some of the work at home. And observe,
she did not take the chaff home; she left that behind her in the field.
It is a prudent thing to winnow all the discourses you hear so as to
separate the precious from the vile; but pray do not fall into the silly
habit of taking home all the chaff, and leaving the corn behind. I think
I hear you say, "I shall recollect that queer expression; I shall make
an anecdote out of that odd remark." Listen, then, for I have a word for
you--if you hear a man retail nothing about a minister except his
oddities, just stop him, and say, "We have all our faults, and perhaps
those who are most ready to speak of those of others are not quite
perfect themselves: cannot you tell us what the preacher said that was
worth hearing?" In many cases the virtual answer will be, "Oh, I don't
recollect that." They have sifted the corn, thrown away the good grain,
and brought home the chaff. Ought they not to be put in an asylum?
Follow the opposite rule; drop the straw, and retain the good corn.
Separate between the precious and the vile, and let the worthless
material go where it may; you have no use for it, and the sooner you are
rid of it the better. Judge with care; reject false teaching with
decision, and retain true doctrine with earnestness, so shall you
practise the enriching art of heavenly gleaning. May the Lord teach us
wisdom, so that we may become "rich to all the intents of bliss;" so
shall our mouth be satisfied with good things, and our youth shall be
renewed like the eagle's.
III. And now, in the last place, here is A GRACIOUS PERMISSION GIVEN:
"Let her glean among the sheaves, and reproach her not." Ruth had no
right to go among the sheaves till Boaz gave her permission by saying,
"Let her do it." For her to be allowed to go among the sheaves, in that
part of the field where the wheat was newly cut, and none of it carted,
was a great favor: but Boaz whispered that handfuls were to be dropped
on purpose for her, and that was a greater favor still. Boaz had a
secret love for the maiden, and even so, beloved, it is because of our
Lord's eternal love to us that he allows us to enter his best fields and
glean among the sheaves. His grace permits us to lay hold upon doctrinal
blessings, promise blessings, and experience blessings: the Lord has a
favor toward us, and hence these singular kindnesses. We have no right
to any heavenly blessings of ourselves; our portion is due to free and
sovereign grace.
I tell you the reasons that moved Boaz's heart to let Ruth go among the
sheaves. The master motive was _because he loved her_. He would have her
go there, because he had conceived an affection for her, which he
afterward displayed in grander ways. So the Lord lets his people come
and glean among the sheaves, because he loves them. Didst thou have a
soul-enriching season among the sheaves the other Sabbath? Didst thou
carry home thy sack, filled like those of Joseph's brothers, when they
returned from Egypt? Didst thou have an abundance? Wast thou satisfied?
Mark; that was thy Master's goodness. It was because he loved thee.
Look, I beseech thee, on all thy spiritual enjoyments as proof of his
eternal love. Look on all heavenly blessings as being tokens of heavenly
grace. It will make thy corn grind all the better, and eat all the
sweeter, if thou wilt reflect that eternal love gave it thee. Thy sweet
seasons, thy high enjoyments, thy unspeakable ravishments of spirit are
all proofs of divine affection, therefore be doubly glad of them.
There was another reason why Boaz allows Ruth to glean among the
sheaves; it was because he was her _relative_. This is why our Lord
gives us choice favors at times, and takes us into his banqueting-house
in so gracious a manner. He is our next of kin, bone of our bone, and
flesh of our flesh. Our Redeemer, our kinsman, is the Lord Jesus, and he
will never be strange to his own flesh. It is a high and charming
mystery that our Lord Jesus is the Husband of his church; and sure he
may well let his spouse glean among the sheaves; for all that he
possesses is hers already. Her interests and his interests are one, and
so he may well say, "Beloved, take all thou pleasest; I am none the
poorer because thou dost partake of my fulness, for thou art mine. Thou
art my partner, and my choice, and all that I have is thine." What,
then, shall I say to you who are my Lord's beloved? How shall I speak
with a tenderness and generosity equal to his desires, for he would have
me speak right lovingly in his name. Enrich yourselves out of that which
is your Lord's. Go a spiritual gleaning as often as ever you can. Never
lose an opportunity of picking up a golden blessing. Glean at the
mercy-seat; glean in private meditation; glean in reading pious books;
glean in associating with godly men; glean everywhere; and if you can
get only a little handful it will be better than none. You who are so
much in business, and so much penned up by cares; if you can only spend
five minutes in the Lord's field gleaning a little, be sure to do so. If
you cannot bear away a sheaf, carry an ear; and if you cannot find an
ear, pick up even a grain of wheat. Take care to get a little, if you
cannot get much: but gather as much as ever you can.
Just one other remark. O child of God, never be afraid to glean. Have
faith in God, and take the promises home to yourself. Jesus will rejoice
to see you making free with his good things. His voice is "Eat
abundantly; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." Therefore, if you
find a rich promise, live upon it. Draw the honey out of the comb of
Scripture, and live on its sweetness. If you meet with a most
extraordinary sheaf, carry it away rejoicing. You cannot believe too
much concerning your Lord; let not Satan cheat you into contentment with
a meagre portion of grace when all the granaries of heaven are open to
you. Glean on with humble industry and hopeful confidence, and know that
he who owns both fields and sheaves is looking upon you with eyes of
love, and will one day espouse you to himself in glory everlasting.
Happy gleaner who finds eternal love and eternal life in the fields in
which he gleans!