Well it is great to have you all here with us today. Jesus is kind of an interesting guy. Some of you may know the story of Jesus, some of you may not be as familiar with it. So let me recap to get us all on the same page.
We know that Jesus lived some 2000 years ago. He was born in a dumpy, rural hick town. We know that he was born to a teenage virgin mother. We know that Jesus lived a very simple life until he was about 30 years of age. He never traveled to a major city, he never wrote a book, he never held political office, he never made a great deal of money. He was a man that lived in relative obscurity in so far as we can tell. Working with his adoptive father Joseph, likely swinging a hammer working a blue collar job for most of his life.
We know that at about the age of 30, Jesus began his public ministry which included teaching and preaching and healing and service. We know that Jesus’ ministry spanned a few short years, roughly 3.
Yet, out of this simple, marginal Galilean peasant is a legacy that is absolutely astonishing. That literally no one has impacted human history to the degree that Jesus Christ has.
We denote our history and time around his life. B.C. before Christ. And Jesus Christ is the most famous person in all of human history. More songs have been sung about him, more paintings have been done of him, and more books have been written regarding him than anyone who has ever lived in the history of the world.
It is interesting that even today, Jesus remains to be hip and kind of in, in our world. Two of the top grossing movies in recent years have been about him in different ways, The Passion of the Christ and The Da Vinci Code. And Jesus remains as culturally hot as ever. Jesus is now the subject of pop culture. I will give you some examples.
He routinely shows up in the television show The Simpsons. For those of you have cable. If you don’t, repent. And you will see that Jesus is on the simpsons. And Jesus also shows up on south park, often fighting satan. And Jesus also shows up in the comedy sketches of Carlos Mencia on Comedy central. And a few years ago he appeared on the cover of popular mechanics and they were trying to discover the real face of Jesus. And the magazine decided that he wasn’t a guy who wore product in his hair, or wore a dress and that he didn’t look like a girl, which I was glad to find out. Because in my mind, it is hard to worship a guy on Sunday that you can beat up.
Additionally, we see that even rappers like Kanye West still talk about Jesus. His song, which was a huge hit called Jesus walks and if you saw the rolling stone cover about a year ago, it had Kanye West on it with a crown of thorns around his head and the title was the passion of Kanye West.
Jesus also appears on a hot air balloon that is 110 feet tall and 750 pounds. Jesus also appears on a monster truck for a redneck outreach. Which, I know we want all people in heaven, but I don’t know if we want a lot of those people. I’m kidding, that was a joke. But there is a monster truck for Jesus.
Lots of people have Jesus tattoos. I saw a guy once with an ultimate fighting jesus tattoo. How many of you saw Talladega nights, the legend of Ricky Bobby? You heard Will Ferrell pray to the 8 pound, 6 ounce baby Jesus in the golden fleece diaper. And he prays to that baby Jesus, thanking him for his hot wife. And he really likes to pray to the baby Jesus.
You may have noticed as well shirts that say Jesus is my homeboy that have been worn by Pamela Anderson, Madonna, Ben Affleck and Brad Pitt. Jesus seems to be cooler than ever now appearing in fashion statements for the rich and famous.
The most curious thing is that the symbol that is associated with Jesus, the cross is the most famous symbol in all of human history. Recently on the MTV music awards, old school rocker Axel Rose was wearing a cross. And so was the rapper 50 cent. That even the cross of Jesus has become a popular cultural icon.
I am sure most of you didn’t make it for Madonna’s confession tour last year, she should have confessed for having the tour. But anyway, on her confessions tour which grossed almost 200 million dollars. At the conclusion of each show they would have a large disco cross and she would be symbolically crucified before the crowd. And she ended her shows with a mock crucifixion.
I think many of us can relate to the video clip and to the song we just heard. In the song, the band asks some interesting questions about Jesus. Asking questions like whether or not Jesus can save, what happens after I die and an interesting line, what did you do those 3 days you were dead because this problem is gonna last more than the weekend.
Maybe you were able to relate to the video clip and think like Darth Vader it is too late for me. That maybe the things in your life make it impossible for you to connect with God in a meaningful way.
If you have a bible you can open to the book of Ruth. We have been hanging out for the past 3 weeks in our series called Finding God’s Hand. For the past 3 weeks, we have been talking about how to find God in our world. We started off by talking about how we see God in pain and tragedy and the picture we have been using is this: while everything doesn’t come from the hand of God, everything does have to pass through the hand of God.
Ruth is one of the most beautiful stories written in the entire bible. It is a beautiful love story filled with pain, happiness, and hope. The story starts off by telling us that during the darkest time in Israel’s history a famine hit the nation. A family, an ordinary family decides to move to another country to avoid the famine. After arriving the father dies, the sons get married, then the sons die. This is as dark as life can be. Naomi, the mother decides that after burying her husband and two songs, she is moving home. One of her daughter in law’s, Ruth goes with her, while the other one Orpah goes back home.
After arriving back in her hometown, which is a completely foreign town to Ruth. And this is important, Ruth is a Moabite, which from the an Israelite’s perspective at this time is lower than pond scum. But Ruth moves with Naomi anyway.
In Chapter 2, we meet a guy named Boaz. We are told that Boaz is a wealthy man of great influence. He is also related to Elimelech, Naomi’s dead husband. We are not told how, but this is important as we talk about this idea of redemption. In verse 20 of chapter 2 Naomi says to Ruth that Boaz is one of our redeemer’s.
This is an interesting statement. We don’t often think of people redeeming other people do we? But this was huge 3000 years ago when this story takes place. Boaz has been taking care of these 2 widows, giving them food and providing for them in this way.
The story picks up in chapter 3, verse 1: 1Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak (which is another way of saying, put on your hottest pair of jeans) and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do." 5And she replied, "All that you say I will do."
So Naomi creates this plan to get Ruth and Boaz together. There is no way of knowing how this will turn out. The possibility that this could turn out bad is there. Boaz could take advantage of the situation. He could accuse Ruth of being after his money or even accuse her adultery.
Verse 6: 6So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8At midnight (we have no idea what time Ruth got there. But she is laying there thinking, will he just wake up so I can ask him. You can feel the tension here). the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9He said, "Who are you?" And she answered, "I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings[a] over your servant, for you are a redeemer."
Let’s stop here an unpack this idea of being a redeemer. The symbolism within the book of Ruth is incredible. It seems that there is symbolism in almost everything that happens, and the person of Boaz is no exception as we will see.
In the book of Deuteronomy, God creates a law known as levirate marriage. In the event that a man dies without children, the ‘name’ of the dead man is to be perpetuated through the widow’s marriage with another man (for example the man’s brother), and through her having his children ‘for’ the dead man.
Another way of thinking about a redeemer is the word protector. When Ruth says, “spread your wings over me” she is asking Boaz to not only redeem her but to protect her. She is proposing to him. The romance here is incredible.
Verse 10And he said, "May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
Boaz is saying, you could have picked anybody, which means Ruth did not have to marry her dead husband’s closest relative. Instead Boaz is saying, you chose me.
11And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. 12And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.
Boaz is saying, there is a closer relative than me, he has the first right to be the redeemer, not Boaz. So the excitement builds in the story, and then it feels like it comes crashing down. There is somebody else. We don’t want somebody else, we want Boaz to be with Ruth.
13Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the LORD lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning." 14So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, "Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor."
Because if it was suspected that anything happened between them sexually, the law also stated that Boaz would be restricted from being her redeemer.
15And he said, "Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out." So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city.
Verse 16: 16And when she (Ruth) came to her mother-in-law, she said, "How did you fare, my daughter?" Then she told her all that the man had done for her, 17saying, "These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ’You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’"
This is a great play on words because in chapter 1, when Ruth and Naomi came back from Moab what did Naomi say she was? She said she returned empty, nothing, alone, hollow. This one word shows the reversal in the life of Naomi. So Naomi is starting to be redeemed, along with Ruth.
18She replied, "Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today."
In chapter 4, we start to learn the heart of Boaz and how slick he is. This is what it says in verse 1: 1Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer (we are never told his name, on purpose I think), of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, "Turn aside, friend; sit down here." And he turned aside and sat down. 2And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down. Boaz needed witnesses to this whole thing.
3Then he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ’Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you[b] will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." And he said, "I will redeem it."
If this were a romantic movie, at this moment the women would be standing on their couches with tears running down their cheeks, kleenex’s in their hands screaming, “no. he can’t redeem it. Boaz has to end up with Ruth.” Right? We are cheering for Boaz.
5Then Boaz said, "The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth[c] the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance." He’s good. He pulls him in by telling him about the land, the redeemer say yes, and then Boaz happens to mention Ruth. He is slick.
6Then the redeemer said, "I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it."
To buy the land, it would be a significant hit to the financial world of the redeemer. Also, if he and Ruth had a son, that would hurt the inheritance of the kids he had already. Even though, being a redeemer did not mean you had to marry the woman. Boaz did not have to marry Ruth to be her redeemer.
7Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8So when the redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself," he drew off his sandal. 9Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day." 11Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, 12and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman."
This is a prayer for Ruth and Boaz because remember, Ruth did not have any children after 10 years of marriage with her first husband. In those days, the people probably thought it was impossible for Ruth to have children.
Verse 13: 13So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. Remember, Ruth wasn’t able to have children earlier, so I think the author is trying to show how God is providing in this way for her as well. The author is giving the credit here to God.
14Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him." 16Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi." They named him Obed.
Why would the women say that a son has been born to Naomi? To show that God is in control, that even when everything fell in on Naomi, God was still, he still redeems. Ruth was written to help us see the signposts of God in our lives, and to help us trust him even when the clouds are so thick that we can’t see the road, let alone the signs on the side of the road.
As I said before, there is so much symbolism in the book of Ruth. Boaz is a symbol Jesus. As the redeemer, Boaz is accomplishing the same thing that Jesus when he walked on this earth, ultimately going to the cross, dying and rising from the dead 3 days later so that we can have a relationship with him. Ruth symbolizes us, an everyday sort of person. Boaz doesn’t have to redeem her, Ruth doesn’t have to ask to be redeemed, but they both walk through the process of redemption anyway.
I think it is the same way with God. He doesn’t have redeem us, and we don’t have to accept his invitation of redemption. We can choose our own path.
We, like Ruth take a huge risk, just as Boaz takes a risk. Our risk is we have to believe that God is who he says he is, and will do what he says he will do. Boaz puts himself out there, because what if Ruth didn’t want to be redeemed? He couldn’t force it on her. What if Boaz didn’t want to redeem her? What if he didn’t accept her? We have this fear often when it comes to God, we think, will he take me? And that is the beauty of redemption, you don’t have to be good enough to get it. Just willing to take the risk and accept God’s risk.
C.S. Lewis said this about redemption, “It is not an abstraction called humanity that is to be saved. It is you, …your soul, and, in some sense yet to be understood, even your body, that was made for the high and holy place. All that you are…every fold and crease of your individuality was devised from all eternity to fit God as a glove fits a hand. All that intimate particularity which you can hardly grasp about yourself, much less communicate to your fellow creatures, is no mystery to him. He made those ins and outs that He might fill them.”
So what did God redeem in the life of Ruth and what does he redeem in our lives?
Verse 17: They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
This is what he redeemed in Ruth and in us. He redeemed her story, her story in the past and in the future. The last name on the list is David. David is considered to be the greatest king in the history of the nation of Israel. Remember, Ruth is a Moabite. Moabites were a despised people among the nation of Israel. Imagine, that from this despised person comes the most revered king in their history. Ruth was the great grandmother of the greatest king in the history of Israel.
Not only that, if you look in the book of Luke in the New Testament, we are given the genealogy of Jesus, do you know what names you will find there? Obed and Boaz. Ruth ends up becoming not only part of the family of David, but Jesus as well.
God takes this normal, everyday woman named Ruth, redeems her story and makes it part of his larger story. This grand story that he has been writing since the creation of the world, his story that is still being written through us. This story that he invites Ruth into and invites us into. This story that redeems our past and says, it doesn’t matter where you came from, but I will redeem your future story as you join mine. That is the story of redemption.
All of us here today are at different spots in our journey. Maybe today, you find yourself doing pretty good in your relationship with God. You don’t have everything together, but you know that you have been redeemed. Today is the day to get back on track and get back to writing God’s story instead of our own.
Maybe you have been dragged here today by a family member. You didn’t want to come, but there is something that is grabbing you right now, something that is pulling you inside. You don’t know what it is but something is happening.
Maybe you have been checking things out for awhile. Asking questions, having conversations, getting some answers. Maybe right now you need to take a step and say, I believe. I want God to redeem my story.
Regardless of where you are today, whether you have been a Christian for years or not, you can have your story be redeemed and join the story that God is writing in this world. That is the invitation of redemption, to stop living the life that you are living and live a fuller life.
As the band comes back up. We are going to head into communion. We take communion every week, and this is just a time for us to remember what God did for us, the love that he had for us through his son, Jesus.
The band is going to play several songs and you can sit and listen, stand and sing, take communion. This time is for you to use.
Here is what I want you to think about though. Where do you stand in the story of redemption? Do you need to spend some time celebrating the redemption you have experienced with God? Do you need to take the step and say, God, redeem my story? Make my story part of yours. It is that simple.
If you have any questions, or if there is anything we can help you with in your journey, please don’t hesitate to grab me or someone else you see up on stage. We would love to help you in your journey.
