"BIG IDEA"One family’s story in the Book of Ruth shows us that God’s love for his people is steadfast even in the darkest of times.
NOTE: Also used in preparing this sermon is a chapel message delivered by Dr. Zach Eswine at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis
[BEGIN SERMON SHOWING PICURES OF FAMILY PHOTOS]
You may not recognize the people in these photos but more than likely someone in your family has pictures like these. They may be in a cedar chest at your parent’s house, in a shoe box under your bed, or in the attic of a cousin or uncle you don’t see very often.
Pictures, scrapbooks, and genealogies seldom mean much to people outside a family but they are an important part of keeping a family’s story alive. In the case of my family, pictures like these, and the stories that go with them help me understand how families from Germany, the UK, Native-American tribes converged in Eastern Nebraska where my grandfather, father, and I were born and raised.
The Book of Ruth is like a scrapbook. It tells a small but important part of the story of a Jewish family from the tribe of Judah.
In this story we come across customs that are foreign to us. And yet even though we don’t fully understand these practices—the story allows us to have a sense of what they meant to the people of that time. A time which in some ways is like our own but in other ways is not.
And yet, this book speaks to our lives and to our families because . . . one family’s story in the Book of Ruth shows us that God’s love for His people is steadfast even in the darkest of times.
TRANSITION: The story begins with the passing of years in taking place in the span of a few verses. As the first chapter unfolds the scenes begin to slow to allow us to understand the thoughts of two of the main characters in this story. READ Ruth 1
How do feel when you hear Naomi’s words? They are blunt; they are angry; and accusatory against the Lord. The ten years covered in this chapter leads Naomi to conclude that the Lord is against her!
EXPLANATION: This is expressed not once but twice in this chapter.
First in her words to her daughters-in-law. When her daughters-in-law protest, Naomi tells them again not to come and underscores her words by saying, “No, my daughters, for it is more bitter for me than for you, for the hand of the Lord has gone out against me” (Ruth 1:13b).
You also see the pain and distance from God that Naomi feels even more strongly in her words to the women of Bethlehem. Naomi sees it as an insult to be called “pleasant” after all that has happened to her! She says And to underscore her feelings, her rebuke continues: “I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?” (Ruth 1:21).
APPLICATION: Perhaps there are times in our own lives when painful circumstances have made us feel the same way as Naomi. But the book of Ruth as a whole comes to a different conclusion than Naomi, a conclusion suggested Ruth’s actions in this chapter.
This book does not explain the problem of evil; it does not explain why bad things happen to good people. It teaches instead, in the midst of the brokenness, the Lord does not abandon His steadfast love for His covenant children. A message that Naomi is unable to see at this junction.
A ray of the Lord’s steadfast love beams down onto the field of Naomi’s life. Ruth clings to Naomi and says, (Ruth 1:16-17).
Ruth’s expression of steadfast love parallel’s God’s expression of steadfast love. I’m with you through it all.
In Chapter 1, God reveals His Steadfast Love in the Promise of Ruth.
TRANSITION: As the story continues we are introduced to the third main character in this story. The scene is really a common one if you think about it. People need to eat, Ruth comes up with a plan to address that need. READ 2:1-12
As the chapter begins all we are told about Boaz is that is he a relative. By the end of the chapter we learn much more.
It’s important that we understand what happened during the barley harvesters. Harvesters would walk through the field cutting the stalks and binding them into sheaves. The poor were then allowed to follow behind the harvesters and gather stalks that were lying on the ground.
As we read the text the word “happened” may sound at first as though it was blind chance—it’s exactly the opposite. We know that from the nature of the story as an expression of God’s steadfast love for His people
Boaz recognizes fully the steadfast love that Ruth has shown for Naomi, and now wishes the same steadfast love to be shown to her. He goes on to say, “May 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!” (Ruth 2:13).
APPLICATION: The whisper of God’s steadfast love is growing louder, isn’t it?
The daily need for food is addressed.
We are reminded of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount that tell us to make the Kingdom of God our highest priority and trust him for what we need.
It is not a call to inaction, Ruth still needed to go the fields. It is a call to not be consumed by temporary things and to trust that God’s steadfast live will be demonstrated each and every day in the common things of life (shelter, family, nourishment, friendships)
In Chapter 2, God reveals His Steadfast Love in the Provision of Boaz.
TRANSITION: In chapter 2 Ruth is the planner. In chapter 3 Naomi is the planner. We might say that Naomi becomes "matchmaker" in this chapter. Ruth 3:1-11
These events sound odd to our ears. This is before the days when we came to realize that the way you find a husband or wife is to be on a TV show and hand out roses every week until you find someone you think you might want to marry!!
This story doesn’t speak of physical passion, we’re not told whether either Ruth would be a beauty pageant winner or whether Boaz was handsome. The character of both people is woven through this story. Actions are motivated by how they help someone else.
APPLICATION: Don’t get me wrong
I’m not suggesting that God has not created men and women to be attracted to one another.
But can’t we at least observe that the things highlighted in this passage are things like character, sacrificial love, responsibility to family, etc.
At this point the voice of the Lord is more than a whisper. What is happening goes beyond the union of two people in marriage—it is the restoration and preservation of a family (Kinsman Redeemer)
In Chapter 3, God reveals His Steadfast Love in the Protection of Boaz.
TRANSITION: We are not told exactly how much time passes between the conversation between Naomi and Ruth in chapter one and the events of chapter 4. What we can know is that it is a short period of time. Days perhaps weeks. Ruth 4:1-6, 13-22
Like chapter 1, this chapter has a "conversation" between Naomi and the woman of Bethlehem. The same women who greeted Naomi in chapter one and whom she rebuked now bless the name of the Lord and make one thing crystal clear: the Lord is not against Naomi; He is for Naomi.
APPLICATION: It is important to emphasize what the book of Ruth is and is not teaching.
It is not teaching that the provision of this child, or the provision of Boaz, or the provision of Ruth, simply makes things all better. When Naomi’s husband and children died, a piece of Naomi died with them, and not even a grandchild can erase that loss.
But the book of Ruth is teaching that even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . . that even there the Lord will be our Shepherd of steadfast love.
When the Lord places another child on the lap of Naomi, He is not saying, “See, it’s all better now.” What He is saying – to Naomi and to all who feel like the Naomi of chapter one – is, “I have not forgotten you.
In Chapter 4, God reveals His Steadfast Love in the Birth of a Child.
[USE SLIDES OF JESUS BIRTH, MINISTRY, CRUCIFIXION, AND RESURRECTION]
Conclusion?
As we read the closing verses of the Book of Ruth we realize that this family’s story has many more stories recorded in the pages of Scripture.
If we were to turn ahead many years we discover some echoes from this story. In the writings of a doctor named Luke we read about the descendents of Ruth and Naomi returning to Bethlehem. We read about a mother who treasured memories of her son’s life in her heart--sort of like a scrapbook of the heart. Like this story we read about some joyous times . . . and we read about some very dark times.
As we look at these "family photos" we realize that these pages of the family scrapbook hold the same message. God’s steadfast love is always present.
And that when God demonstrates his love in a single life he sends a message that He wants everyone to see and hear. A message expressed by the Apostle John when he wrote, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him (John 3:16-17).
DECISION QUESTION: Is Ruth’s Story part of your story? We each need to ask ourselves, "Am I part of God’s Story? Am I part of God’s family?
TO THOSE GOD SEEKS: God wants you to be part of his family. He has already done what is needed for that "adoption" to happen. We become part of God’s Story when we choose to follow Christ. To confess Him as Lord, to be buried with Him in Christian baptism. Sharing in his death and his resurrection.
TO THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY A CHILD OF GOD: Sometimes we are like Naomi. Dispair, needing to be reminded that God’s steadfast love is always present. Other times we are like Ruth and Boaz, remembering that seemingly small expressions of loyalty, obedience, sacrificial love touch lives around us and beyond us.
