Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] We are in the Book of Ruth.
[00:00:04] Ruth, chapter two.
[00:00:06] It's, you know, Ruth is one of those books that everyone. Not everyone, but there's been lots of book studies on. It's like. And everyone has their favorite book about Ruth that they like to study. And I'm going to throw my wife under the bus. She says, you better do this. Well, because, you know, Ruth is my favorite. My favorite book of the Bible.
[00:00:25] And so.
[00:00:28] But it's a great, great chapter. And let's pray before we get started. Father, we thank you so much for this day. It's the day that you have ordained. It's the day that you've given us, Lord, to come together, to worship you, to praise you, to express our love and gratitude toward you because of your faithfulness to us and your desire for us, Lord, that you provided the means for us to exist and live with you forever through Jesus Christ.
[00:00:54] And, Father, we just thank youk for this word, for this character, this woman who lived and just gave us a great example how we are to live today. So, Lord, by youy Spirit, help us understand. Lord, by youy Spirit, help me to teach. Proclaim, Lord, you, truth, so that we may grow and be more like Christ. Lord, we ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:01:21] So in chapter one, Pastor Duba last week presented a woman who was committed and faithful and as we will see today, I think a woman who was radically changed by her love for God.
[00:01:36] Ruth had a moment in time that fundamentally transformed her trajectory in life. Think about that. Where she was and what would have happened to her if. If Naomi didn't come into her life.
[00:01:49] What would have happened to her if the husbands didn't die and that she had to, you know, bind herself to Naomi and go back to a foreign land, a land that really hated her for who she was. As a Moabite, it changed her life completely because of God's providence. It wasn't by mistake, right? It wasn't by accident or by chance or by some strange stroke of luck that Naomi had come to that land in the famine and that she had this relationship with Ruth. It was all of God's providence because of his providence and pursuit of her. And Ruth's response to God's grace? She declared this last week. We read this in Ruth 1.
[00:02:33] She says to Naomi, do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you, for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge.
[00:02:43] Your people shall be my people. And then she says this, and your God will be my God.
[00:02:51] She Kind of changed the legions, didn't she?
[00:02:54] From whatever God she was worshiping in the land of Moab, she realized that the God of Naomi was much greater.
[00:03:05] And she confessed her allegiance, her love and devotion and faithfulness to the God of Naomi, which kind of speaks for the life of Naomi, too. Right? So you mean she had to have be an example and a testimony of this greatness of God for Ruth to want to have the same God in her life.
[00:03:26] And so, as Pastor Duber mentioned a passage in Matthew and that he told us to focus on, that in reality, Ruth died to her identity as a Moabite and embraced Naomi and her new life in God.
[00:03:46] So as Jesus says that we need to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow him.
[00:03:53] And we see a woman who denied her ethnicity as far as a Moabite denied her people, denied herself as that person, and she committed herself to follow a God of Naomi.
[00:04:08] And what was the result of that? We're going to look. And I think this chapter kind of epitomizes what happened to Ruth. What changed in Ruth's life once she committed herself to following God, and what was the result? It was a new life, a new life that we see in real time in this chapter.
[00:04:27] A new life that was faithfully lived out in a foreign land in the midst of people that hated her and hated her old identity.
[00:04:37] But at the same time, these people were nothing short of impressed with this new person that came into their land.
[00:04:44] And we see that right as we read this. We're gonna see a people that were like, wow, you're an amazing woman.
[00:04:55] And what made her so amazing was her love and devotion to God.
[00:05:02] Think about where she was coming from.
[00:05:04] She was poor in social stature, right? I mean, could she be any lower in social stature?
[00:05:11] She was a woman without a husband.
[00:05:14] She was a woman from the land of Moab, which was like almost like modern day New Testament. Know Samaria. They. There wasn't a whole lot of love for one another.
[00:05:23] And so she was probably on the lowest rung of the ladder in Bethlehem.
[00:05:30] She didn't have much, and she was in great physical need in this land.
[00:05:37] She, Ruth, was forced to glean in order to sustain herself. And Naomi, she was go out and do what the poor had to do and what the law mandated that they leave the fields, the edges of the field, for people to come and glean. She had to make herself like that so that they could live just as she humbled herself and gleaned.
[00:06:04] We need to humbly look at not only Ruth's example, but Boaz as well.
[00:06:12] And we need to glean as humbly as she did and recognize where we often fall short in our walk.
[00:06:18] Let us spiritually glean so that we too can bring glory to God.
[00:06:25] We often need to do that, right? Need to glean and just through his Word, glean from God's Word so that we can grow and be a testimony ourselves in this land. That really doesn't like Jesus, does it, as a whole.
[00:06:44] That we too can be a testimony of God's greatness. That we too can be an example of what God can do with a life by radically changing it to follow him, instead of the typical following ourselves and pleasing ourselves in this world.
[00:07:01] Let's look at chapter two verses. We're going to go through the verses. They're not up there.
[00:07:06] You can't cheat today. You got to open your Bible up, open up your app, and follow along in the passages today in Ruth 2. So first three verses, we'll take these in chunks. There's really three main events that happen. It's very simple outline as far as the major part of this. And we see here in verses 1 through 3 that Ruth gleans in the field of Boaz. And what does that mean for us? What do we see as Ruth gleans? Let's read these, these three verses here.
[00:07:34] Now, Naomi had a relative of her husband, a worthy man of the clan of Imalech, whose name was Boaz.
[00:07:43] And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him, in whose sight I shall find favor.
[00:07:55] And she said to her, go, my daughter.
[00:07:58] So she set out verse three. She set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was the clan of Elimelech.
[00:08:12] So just some things that we can glean from Ruth and her character, what she became.
[00:08:21] And we don't know what her life was before this. Right? There's no, there's, there's no scripture that says that Ruth was a horrible idolater and she had. We don't know that.
[00:08:31] But you figure, where is she coming from? She's coming from Moabite.
[00:08:35] And what do Moabites typically do? They have a host of gods and idols that they worship. And you think about the idols and idols in general are basically an idol, a God that you worship, that your life may be better. So. So in reality, you're worshiping yourself, aren't we?
[00:08:53] When it comes to idols, you had an idol for fertility, an idol for water, an idol for food, an idol for whatever. But all these idols always made your life better.
[00:09:06] It was all about you.
[00:09:09] So we can assume that her coming from Moab, she had this life she grew up in, steeped in idolatry, steeped in wanting to preserve and make her life better.
[00:09:21] It was all about her.
[00:09:23] Maybe that's a big, a big assumption. But think about idolatry and what idolatry is all about. And we kind of see a picture where she came from. So the first point here is that it's totally opposite of what she would have come from. But Ruth was humble.
[00:09:43] What do we see Ruth doing here?
[00:09:49] She's cheerfully kind of like stooping down and accepting her lot in life. We see that she's in this land and to glean means that you are, you're poor, you have nothing.
[00:10:10] And, and to go out and publicly put yourself in that position, she had to humble herself.
[00:10:18] We see her rejoicing in the Lord always, as Paul tells us to do in first Thessalonians, rejoice. Doesn't matter what you find yourself doing or where you find yourself at that God calls us to rejoice. Because in reality it's God's providence of why you are where you're at. It's no mistake.
[00:10:41] We're going to focus on that one word a little bit later on here.
[00:10:46] Rejoicing in the providence and the provision from God.
[00:10:49] No complaint. She wasn't grumbling about this. She was like, I'm going to go do this, Naomi. I'm going to go glean so that we can eat.
[00:10:58] This is where we're at. We have no food, we have no stature, we have no physical means to exist here. I have to go do this and I'm going to go do it.
[00:11:08] She's accepting what God and where God has placed her and she's going to live out her life there. There's no brooding.
[00:11:14] She's not complaining or arguing about what's going on.
[00:11:20] She's not brooding because she thinks that she deserves something better.
[00:11:26] And in reality, as a so called enemy of the state here, she deserved a whole lot worse, didn't she?
[00:11:33] But we see her life, we see her actions and her character, and it's really just the opposite. Even though she would be an enemy of the state, we see how the people there pretty much embraced her because of how she carried herself.
[00:11:52] Matthew Henry says that high spirits starve the stoop. Now, what does that mean?
[00:11:59] High Spirits starve, the stoop, stooping down, right?
[00:12:05] In reality, you could say pride does not enable us to be humble.
[00:12:14] Think about conditions in your life where our pride gets in the way of us being humble.
[00:12:20] Ruth doesn't allow her pride or high spirits to prevent her from accepting the the modest work of gleaning from the fields.
[00:12:29] Some people would rather starve than lower themselves, right?
[00:12:35] Even though it was typical task reserved only for the poor and needy.
[00:12:41] We see Ruth cheerfully stooping to her lot rather than letting her pride lead to her starvation and the starvation of Naomi.
[00:12:53] Think about a time where our pride kept us from doing something really simple that would have made our life better or made the situation better. Maybe a relationship better.
[00:13:06] A simple I'm sorry. A simple forgive me.
[00:13:11] A simple yes, I was wrong that we don't have the humbleness sometimes to say those words and basically preserve a relationship.
[00:13:24] People, I'm never wrong. You're the one that's wrong.
[00:13:28] I never make a mistake. It was your mistake.
[00:13:31] We say that sometimes.
[00:13:35] It illustrates this, the high spirits. This quote or this quote from Matthew Henry says it illustrates the contrast between a haughty individual that thinking so much of themselves, who would rather suffer in pride than humble themselves, and then someone like Ruth who demonstrates a more humbling spirit.
[00:13:59] And you think about the worst case scenario for pride.
[00:14:04] Think about that. What would be the worst case scenario for pride? And the results of that pride.
[00:14:13] What do you think?
[00:14:16] The worst case scenario for pride?
[00:14:21] Yes.
[00:14:22] Yes.
[00:14:25] If we never realize our lot in life, born into this lot, right? We're all born into the same lot, right? We've all sinned.
[00:14:32] We've all fallen short of God's perfection. Every one of us here, correct?
[00:14:38] Anyone here born perfect?
[00:14:40] There's only one, right? That's Jesus.
[00:14:43] Everyone else has been born into the same lot in life.
[00:14:49] The tragic thing is some are too proud to realize their spiritual bankruptcy and their need for Jesus Christ as their savior.
[00:15:01] That's the worst case.
[00:15:04] But we see pride affect us in a lot of ways that, gosh, if that person would just realize their need.
[00:15:14] But it's sad that pride can lead to a rejection of Jesus Christ.
[00:15:21] So we see Ruth was humble and she valued work and the same passage. It didn't take her long. We don't know the time frame here. We get chapters, but the narrative is here. But it doesn't take long for her to realize we need to eat. Naomi, somebody's going to have to go out and do this. We can't uber some food in. We can't do grubhub and just have it dropped at her door.
[00:15:47] Somebody's going to go have and have to actually do something so that we can eat. You're going to have to work, right? So we see her value of work here and the idea that idleness was not in Ruth's vocabulary.
[00:16:05] She was a new person. Maybe that was her in Moab. Maybe she had 100 servants that took care of her. Maybe, you know, the family was very wealthy and she didn't have to work. But now she realizes she has to.
[00:16:19] She has to put some effort into her life.
[00:16:22] She wasn't afraid of work.
[00:16:26] And this attitude is for us today. It bodes well for us today to have this idea that we need to work. We need to persevere in life.
[00:16:37] We need to put effort and be intentional in our walk with Jesus Christ.
[00:16:43] We just can't sit back and let ourselves grow, that God's going to grow us by us. No, we have to intentionally put some effort in. Correct.
[00:16:52] We have to make time for God. We have to make time to read His Word and to interact with him through His Word and pray to Him. It takes time for us to get up in the morning on a Sunday and come here and fellowship together. Right? That's intentional.
[00:17:07] And that's an effort that we all have. And it's not an effort that we can muster up by ourselves. An effort that is provided for us by the Holy Spirit.
[00:17:16] We can't take credit for being here this morning.
[00:17:20] We were prompted to be here, weren't we?
[00:17:24] And sometimes we, like, we push back against that prompt.
[00:17:28] You pull those covers up, leave them. Look, you know, we get a little cozy. Like, I can stay in bed a few minutes longer.
[00:17:34] I can look out and see the things I need to do for myself here at home.
[00:17:39] But we put the effort in a diligent work ethic, and we try to instill that into our children. Right?
[00:17:49] To not be afraid to put out some effort.
[00:17:53] I remember we did World Changers and we went on missions trip.
[00:17:57] And one year we went to, I think it was Wyoming, and this group from Alabama came up and the youth pastor was pretty snarky and he was like kind of chastising one of the youth, says, you guys don't know how to work. You guys got maids at home. They. They wash your clothes, they. They feed you. They do everything for you. Would you just do something here?
[00:18:19] As we were working on houses and painting and they were. They were just sitting under the shade tree because they didn't know how to Work, I think, as discipleship, as we grow together, that we are encouraging one another, showing one another how we are to pursue, persevere and to pursue Jesus Christ.
[00:18:41] And as A.W. tozer says, to pursue holiness, it takes work, it takes effort. To pursue holiness doesn't.
[00:18:50] Doesn't come naturally.
[00:18:52] It's a fight. It's an ongoing battle every day that we are pursuing this. And this is what we see in Ruth. She's diligent and not afraid to work, not afraid to be humble.
[00:19:06] Paul addresses this in First Thessalonians 5:14, as he's urging the church, or the church is like his trophy church.
[00:19:13] He was like, giving these guys kudos for being faithful, for loving one another, for hoping in God and salvation. But he says this at the end of the chapter, end of the book, he says, and we urge you, and the urge is a very strong word. Brothers, admonish the idol lovingly. Correct those who are not where they need to be in their pursuit and their pursuit of holiness. Basically, he goes on to say, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak and be patient with the moth. Just keep loving them.
[00:19:51] Third thing we see in this passage here is that Ruth realized the providence of God in the mundane.
[00:20:02] Think about that.
[00:20:06] It's not rocket science. It's just a fact of life. She went out and she was going to get some food.
[00:20:13] She had no idea where to go.
[00:20:18] Obviously, people will see. People were already talking about her, and we don't know how long she had gleaned. Was it the first day or the second day or. She's gleaning for a while, but she went to the field and it says she just happened.
[00:20:33] It's like, was it a stroke of luck that she went to that field?
[00:20:37] No, she was just going out, what she needed to do. It's like it was probably the most mundane besides needing to eat. It's like we do it all the time.
[00:20:47] We get up and we live an entire day.
[00:20:51] And did we realize that every moment of that day was ordained by God?
[00:21:00] Every breath we take each day is ordained by God.
[00:21:06] Val and I joke. We go to Costco, you know, on a Saturday, and it's like, parking lot is way back here. The door is way up there. She drives around, she drives around, and there's a spot right there. I go, you got lucky today. She goes, there's no luck.
[00:21:23] Did God ordain that spot? In reality, it's yes.
[00:21:29] The mundane, you guys, the. Everything we do, God is a part of that.
[00:21:36] And if we. More we realize that, we would Be like what Paul encourages in Thessalonians as well. We realize that God is provident in everything in our life.
[00:21:46] That would cause us to rejoice always, wouldn't it?
[00:21:51] Realizing that God is in control of every part of your life.
[00:22:01] You really can't take credit for anything.
[00:22:05] But we often do, don't we?
[00:22:08] We often take credit where we don't deserve to take credit.
[00:22:14] The word providence is the working of God's sovereignty, His complete and utter control right to continually uphold, guide and care for his creation. Think about this.
[00:22:29] We are his creation.
[00:22:32] The chairs that you're sitting on are his creation.
[00:22:36] The vehicle that you drove here in is his creation. From all the parts and, and elements, things that come together to make that car, that's his creation.
[00:22:47] He is in control of every aspect of his creation. Nothing goes unnoticed from God or Jesus Christ.
[00:22:57] The molecules that are keeping those chairs together are controlled by God. If he stopped controlling those molecules, what would happen to every one of us?
[00:23:07] You'd be flat on your back.
[00:23:11] So be thankful for these chairs today.
[00:23:14] Be thankful for God for controlling the molecules that are keeping you upright today.
[00:23:21] Thank God for the vehicle that you're gonna get in. And you turn that air on because it's blazing hot. That's God's control.
[00:23:29] Nothing goes without God's notice or control.
[00:23:35] That is providence.
[00:23:38] And we got to challenge the idea of chance. There is no chance.
[00:23:43] The Christian doctrine of Providence asserts that nothing happens by chance, but rather is guided by the will of God.
[00:23:55] Do you believe that? Are you living each day by that truth?
[00:24:01] That nothing happens by chance?
[00:24:06] We need to see God as the ultimate cause of everything, while human actions and secondary causes are real. Right? We do things, we make bad choices. Right?
[00:24:21] Can God still work with our bad choices?
[00:24:24] Yes, he has to. If he didn't, then we wouldn't be here today.
[00:24:30] He's been working with bad choices ever since Adam and Eve sinned.
[00:24:35] He's been working with sinners since the very beginning. And he's done a pretty good job, right?
[00:24:42] His will is still moving forward. Nothing's going to stop his plan for the reunifying with himself, the restoration of his creation to him, and Jesus coming back for his church. Nothing is going to stop that.
[00:25:02] And thank God that we don't see the whole picture because we would be scared.
[00:25:08] We could be thankful that God is in control of his own plan, that we can't change his will.
[00:25:18] The next set of passages, verses 4 through 16, as we work through this, the kindness of Ruth and Boaz. Kindness it's just a. We're going to spend some time on this as well.
[00:25:37] And we see here that word is kind of infuses itself all the way through these passages. We see that just blaringly come out.
[00:25:51] Verse 4, Yehoah, Boaz came from Bethlehem and he said to the reapers, the Lord be with you. And they answered, the Lord bless you.
[00:26:04] We could stop there and spend a whole lot of time there.
[00:26:08] A man that was well known, a man that the author described at the very beginning as worthy. He was a great man, an honored man, a powerful man, a rich man. He had his own field. And the first thing he does when he comes out is he basically prays for his helpers.
[00:26:27] Let the Lord bless you today.
[00:26:30] And what's the response?
[00:26:33] They love him. They love him. They say, well, the Lord bless you. There is a relationship there among the master and the servants, the same relationship that he calls us to be in. Today we see an unlikely master with an unlikely character, a character led to these mutual prayers for one another.
[00:26:58] This kind and humble language between Boaz and the servants shows that there were godly persons in Israel at this time, right? In a time where people were doing what they wanted to do.
[00:27:09] People were chasing after their own desires, doing whatever they wanted to. They thought was right in their mind that there was a man and some workers who loved God. That's refreshing, right?
[00:27:21] Today, in the midst of a crazy world, there is a lot of people who love God.
[00:27:29] That's encouraging. I hope you guys realize that we're not alone.
[00:27:36] It may seem like it, but the church is growing worldwide and people are coming to this understanding of a relationship of God is needed through Jesus Christ.
[00:27:53] But at the same time, this language in our culture is seldom heard, isn't it? When's the last time that your boss came in and said, God bless you, Lord be with you?
[00:28:07] When's the last time that you saw employees talk good things about their managers?
[00:28:18] What's usually the cubicle talk in the cubicles?
[00:28:22] Is it always good and uplifting?
[00:28:24] Or the water cooler talk? Right? You go to the water cooler, what is that? Conversation about fellow workers or about the managers, about what's going on? It's usually not good, right?
[00:28:35] Most often it comes down to the word gossip because we're just complaining to one another about what we don't like.
[00:28:41] It's seldom heard today.
[00:28:46] Most often we hear corrupt, immoral talk going on.
[00:28:52] Think about it. If a stranger walked into your field of work, your life, and they listened to the cubicle talk, they Listened to the water cooler talk, what impression would they have when they walked away? What kind of culture do you live in?
[00:29:10] Maybe emails, Someone just like were able to like look at all your text messages.
[00:29:19] What would they walk. What impression would they walk away with?
[00:29:25] If they hung out and just listened to our pre service talk and communication, what would they walk away with?
[00:29:36] That our life would bring glory to God is the goal.
[00:29:40] And we see this with Naomi, right? And Ruth, what was the talk about her?
[00:29:49] As we go on a little bit further then Boaz said to this young man who was in charge of the reapers, Whose young woman is this?
[00:30:01] And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, she is the young.
[00:30:06] Now he really. It's like Moabites, like, it's almost like a racial. I thought it's just a Moabite person.
[00:30:13] He labels her right as a Moabite. Is that a good label for anybody in Bethlehem?
[00:30:19] No, not a bit.
[00:30:22] But it doesn't go any further than that.
[00:30:26] Who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab? She said, please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers. So she came and she has continued from early morning until now except for a short rest.
[00:30:42] Anything negative about her besides that she's a Moabite?
[00:30:46] No, they're encouraged. They're saying she's a hard worker.
[00:30:52] She came back with Naomi. She didn't have to come back with Naomi. She did.
[00:30:57] And she's here to provide for her.
[00:31:02] She says, please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers. She came and she continued from early morning.
[00:31:09] It was basically, it was a lifestyle that she had the result. And Boaz said to Ruth, now listen, my daughter said. So he's addressed her now. He's heard the good news about her. He's heard that she is a good woman.
[00:31:25] So my daughter. And it's kind of a caring, not like you, Moabite person, right?
[00:31:32] My daughter.
[00:31:35] He's already kind of including her into his world.
[00:31:39] Do not go to glean in another field. Stay here, don't leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you?
[00:31:57] A lot of bad things could have happened, but Boaz stepped in by the good report from the servants. This woman needs to be protected because of her testimony, her character that she brought with her to this strange lamb.
[00:32:19] And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.
[00:32:24] What's her response then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner?
[00:32:38] But Boaz answered her, all that you listen to this, this is what this is why it's like, does it matter how we carry ourselves in this world? Does it make a difference?
[00:32:50] Do people notice that you are trying to imitate Christ wherever you are at, does it have an impact on their thoughts about you?
[00:32:59] Now if they treat you harshly, praise God, right, Because Jesus says they will persecute you because of my name.
[00:33:08] But those who don't persecute you and they see your good character, we see here the response.
[00:33:17] All that you have done for your mother in law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me in your native land and came to the people that you did not know before.
[00:33:29] It says, the Lord repay you for what you have done and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. It's not Boaz that's providing refuge, is it? It is God.
[00:33:45] It's the providence of God bringing her here.
[00:33:49] And we know the future because she is going to be the lion of Jesus Christ.
[00:33:56] It's God's plan.
[00:34:00] Are we any different? Being a child of God?
[00:34:04] Are you fully protected by his cover and his wings?
[00:34:08] Yes.
[00:34:10] Even when things are not good, are we fully protected by his wings?
[00:34:16] Yes.
[00:34:18] Real quick here. Psalm 91.
[00:34:22] I love this passage.
[00:34:28] It's inaudible.
[00:34:32] Psalm 91 Psalmist says, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
[00:34:49] I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust, for he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge.
[00:35:06] His faithfulness is a shield and a buckler.
[00:35:11] That's the God that we serve.
[00:35:14] That's the God that that Ruth was under the providence and protection because of her faith and love for him.
[00:35:22] It doesn't change.
[00:35:25] He's the same God for us today, providing the same protection, the same provision in life.
[00:35:33] No matter where he takes you.
[00:35:36] Right? And it's he who takes us. Right. We think we make choices, we do. But he works for those choices.
[00:35:43] It's his plan.
[00:35:45] And you don't have to be fearful where he takes you.
[00:35:56] We see character. That was talked about that's the next point.
[00:36:01] Not that we should always worry or we should never worry what people say about us, but when they do talk about us, what are they saying?
[00:36:11] That's a person who just walks with God.
[00:36:15] They love Jesus, they love me, even though I treat them like crud. They're nice to me. What's up with that? Why don't you like, talk back to me and be mean to me? Well, I just. I don't want to.
[00:36:32] Character that was talked about.
[00:36:34] The men of the field were talking about this woman.
[00:36:38] She was putting the interest of others above herself, wasn't she?
[00:36:42] She was putting the interest of Naomi above herself.
[00:36:45] She was looking out for her mother in law.
[00:36:51] Ruth was committed to taking care of her.
[00:36:54] Ruth was compelled, could not help but do what was right in the eyes of God.
[00:37:01] Unlike at that time, the rest of the culture. There they were doing what was right in their own eyes. She was different.
[00:37:09] Are we called to be different today?
[00:37:13] Are we called to be separate?
[00:37:15] Are we called to be Christlike today in a world that is not very Christlike? And if we do that, are we going to stick out?
[00:37:26] Are people going to talk about us because we are imitating Christ and the world is not Christlike? You better believe it all day long.
[00:37:38] What do we see here?
[00:37:40] We see character that is a testimony of new life.
[00:37:45] Aren't we all new creations in Christ Jesus?
[00:37:50] And we all have a testimony of this new life.
[00:37:54] We have the power by the Holy Spirit to live out this testimony.
[00:37:59] But we sometimes, as Paul says, we sometimes quench that spirit instead of feeding and fueling that spirit through his word, through fellowship and through teaching, through pursuing things that aren't really that important, concerned about things that can get us bogged down.
[00:38:19] Her character, Boaz, character is a testimony of new life. And so what was that character? Third point there in this section? Just kindness.
[00:38:32] Isn't that one of the fruits of the spirit? The big seven. Right.
[00:38:35] In Galatians 6, 22, the fruit of the Spirit. I'm not going to do it because I'll get them all wrong. But it's kindness is one of them.
[00:38:45] That because of the Spirit living in us, because of God, and as he says in Ezekiel, that I have placed in you my spirit.
[00:38:56] He's done that we didn't control that, that we have a spirit of kindness.
[00:39:05] It's there.
[00:39:08] Kindness seems to be everywhere these days. Right. What kind of kindness is it? It's posted on yard signs. Yeah, I think there's even a granola bar called the Kind Bar. Right.
[00:39:20] I mean, it's all about kindness. We have Kindness Week at our school, though kindness is not new. Be kind, as we say.
[00:39:31] It's kind of the unofficial slogan, this currency on which we as a culture make so steeped in.
[00:39:40] We're tolerant of something that's not good because we gotta be kind, right?
[00:39:44] It kind of mashes itself together. Be kind. Well, no. Be tolerant of who I am and what I am in the name of kindness. We call it affirmation. Affirm me, because this is what I choose to do. Even though it's wrong, even though it's against God.
[00:40:02] Be kind to me. Tolerate me, put up with me, because that's the right thing to do.
[00:40:10] And it causes us to acceptance of things that shouldn't be accepted.
[00:40:15] But for all the talk of kindness, our world is growing increasingly. What, unkind?
[00:40:21] It's divided.
[00:40:23] You're not kind to me. You don't tolerate me. You don't accept me. There's going to be division and hatred.
[00:40:31] If kindness is so popular, why is our culture so harsh?
[00:40:36] What is this type of kindness lacking?
[00:40:40] This kind of kindness is rooted in self, is rooted in promoting and accepting me for who I am.
[00:40:51] It's not rooted in love. Is it the love of God, the truth of God, the justice of God?
[00:41:00] God loves justice, God loves righteousness.
[00:41:04] And God will be just.
[00:41:07] It's kind of bland. Bland tolerance, the author that I was reading says.
[00:41:15] And at worst, it's hatred with a smile.
[00:41:20] Does that make sense?
[00:41:24] I can pretend to be kind to you, but I'm just.
[00:41:27] I really don't like you.
[00:41:32] True religion, Matthew Henry says, will teach a man to behave aright in all states of conditions. It will form kind masters and faithful servants and cause harmony in families. True religion, true faith in Jesus Christ. True faith in God will cause mutual love and kindness among persons of different ranks.
[00:41:52] As we see here.
[00:41:55] Kindness rooted in the love of God is unifying, it is not polarizing.
[00:42:06] Psalm 145, 17 says, he is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.
[00:42:13] Nehemiah 9:17. He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness. This word, lovingkindness, is the Hebrew word chest, which means lovingkindness is used to describe how God relates to his people.
[00:42:28] It's also loving kindness that desires from his people in response to his own.
[00:42:34] God desires steadfast love from us. Not sacrifice the knowledge of God. Rather than burnt offerings. He desires steadfast love.
[00:42:45] That's kindness, not niceness.
[00:42:52] Burnt offerings and sacrifices that go through the motions of devotion with love doesn't delight God.
[00:43:00] Brings us to a passage I read this morning. What does God really desire from us?
[00:43:07] With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come before him and burn offerings with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my sin, for my transgressions, the fruit of my body, for the sin of my soul?
[00:43:27] He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?
[00:43:39] We kind of see Ruth play this out, don't we?
[00:43:43] She was born in sin. She was a pagan woman worshiping herself and idols.
[00:43:48] She says, I'm going to follow your God.
[00:43:52] And because of that she walked humbly and was kind.
[00:43:57] What we are called to do as well.
[00:44:01] Real quickly, last few verses here, 17 through 23. Three things we're going to see here, things that we can apply today, every day.
[00:44:16] Verse 17 starts off, so she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned. And it was about an epith of barley. And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother in law saw that she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. And her mother in law said to her, where did you glean today, and where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.
[00:44:44] So she told her mother in law with whom she had worked, and said, the man's name with whom I work today is Boaz. And Naomi said to her daughter in law, may he be blessed by the Lord. Very similar language to what the servant said, right, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead. Naomi also said to her, the man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.
[00:45:07] And Ruth, the Moabite said, besides, he said to me, you shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all their harvest.
[00:45:16] And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter in law, it is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.
[00:45:25] Ruth, I mean Naomi, knew what would happen.
[00:45:28] She kept close to the young woman of Boaz, cleaning until the end of the barley and with the harvest. And she lived with her mother in law.
[00:45:37] Three things.
[00:45:39] New life doesn't cling to the past or to the self.
[00:45:44] New life is going to pursue God and cling to him.
[00:45:49] How easy would it have been for Ruth to return to her self centered life once she experienced this great kindness of Boaz like life is good here. I don't need Ruth anymore or Naomi anymore. I can go out and live my life. I don't need her.
[00:46:04] But she wasn't about that.
[00:46:07] She wasn't clinging to herself and what desired her, what her preferences are, her pleasures, her new life or our new life continues in service to our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ.
[00:46:20] New life as Christ did continues to look out for the interests of others above themselves.
[00:46:27] Ruth found satisfaction in what she gained through her own effort and made sure to keep it safe.
[00:46:33] In the same way, we should be careful not to lose what we have worked for in our own spiritual lives, the lessons we learn, the habits we gain, that we don't just be idle and let those fade away. We continue to grow and our Christlikeness each and every day.
[00:46:51] John tells us in second John 1:8, watch yourselves so that you may not lose what you have worked for, but may win full reward.
[00:47:02] A new life is not afraid of accountability.
[00:47:06] Like parents, we should take an interest in our children and one another as disciple makers. That we want to be accountable as well. That we are encouraged to continue our pursuit of Jesus Christ and how we are to do that.
[00:47:22] And when we are lacking that, there's someone there to gently admonish us and to correct us and to show us, you know what, that's not really bringing glory to Christ.
[00:47:33] What needs to be done here?
[00:47:35] We need to be accountable. Ruth was accountable to Naomi.
[00:47:42] We shouldn't question people.
[00:47:44] That scares or discourages them, causes them to resent home or life or maybe be tempted to lie because we think, oh, I'm scared to be honest and they're going to be mad at me, so I'm going to lie, say no, I really didn't do that.
[00:48:00] Relationships should be open and honest and loving and for the purpose and the goal of bringing glory to Christ. With their life finally, new life consistently self examines.
[00:48:15] It is a good habit to ask ourselves at the end of each day, where have I gleaned today?
[00:48:23] Where have I spent most of my time today?
[00:48:27] What have I spent most of my time doing today?
[00:48:31] There's lots of things the world offers us to glean from, doesn't it?
[00:48:36] There's a plethora of things that we can jump into and take part in and glean from.
[00:48:43] How have I grown in my knowledge and grace?
[00:48:46] What have I done that will bring lasting good?
[00:48:51] What conversations have I had today were good and honoring to other people.
[00:48:56] How was I bringing glory to God?
[00:49:02] Lamentations 3:40 says, Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.
[00:49:11] This connects this idea of self examination with repentance, restoration and returning to who we are in Christ Jesus.
[00:49:20] And that has to be done every day so that God would receive the glory. Just like Ruth and Boaz. This whole chapter is basically a testimony of the goodness of God and they show that in their lives in this one instant. Just a snapshot of what it means to bring glory to God. Let's pray.
[00:49:45] Father, thank you for this example. Thank you for this chapter, this section of the book of Ruth. Lord, that gives us a way in which we can imitate how we can just honor you with their lives each and every day.
[00:50:01] Thank you for your spirit that you've given us, Lord, to do so, that we have not been left alone to muster up any type of faithfulness. Lord, it is because of you, and we can rejoice in that and we can praise you for that spirit and Lord, that we can continue to encourage one another to live in such a way that honors your holy and wonderful name.
[00:50:28] Father, we thank you. We love you. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.
