Seasons of Life
(Ruth 4)
Introduction:
When I was much younger, I used to marvel at the change of the seasons. My heart was filled with wonder and excitement as the leaves would change various colors in the fall. Joy would fill my heart at the first flakes of snow that fell in the winter. My heart would soar at the first signs of spring that brought budding new life from the ground; and oh the smells in the air. When summer arrived I couldn’t wait to play outside in my shorts and short-sleeved shirts; leaving my winter coat behind which was packed away until the next season.
But times have changed. As I’ve grown older I view seasons differently. Though I try to enjoy each season as I did when I was a child, my adult mind and attitude tends to take over. I’m realizing that with fall and winter comes the cold. And now that I’m older my body is beginning to creek and moan at the first signs of the frigid season’s change. With spring and summer I know there are thunderstorms and smoldering hot days on the horizon. Rather than seeing the summer sun as welcoming me to come out and play, I see it as a trap for sunburn. And though I need not be overly cautious, I have become more of a prude in my adult years.
Just as my perspective of the seasons has changed, so has my perspective on life (sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad). I long once again for that childlike faith and wonder at the creation of God; I long to take in every season with a renewed sense of adventure and joy.
It’s when I really stop and take stock of my life that I have come to understand that there are seasons in life. Now I’m not talking about seasons brought on by age and different life stages. I’m talking about seasons of life that are brought about by life circumstances and situations. I’m talking about experiences that either lead us into the summer of contentment or the winter of disappointment. I’m talking about experiences that lead us into either the fall of hard times or the spring of renewal. Whatever the case, there is one thing I’ve come to know full well, and that is: The change of seasons in life always brings new life.
As we conclude the story of Ruth today, we are able to see how she came through each of these seasons, and I want us to take a look at each of these seasons in Ruth’s life.
If you remember last week, Ruth took some major risks in winning over Boaz. She sought him out for the purpose of marriage, and God blessed her as a result. Last week we left Ruth, in what I call, the spring of renewal. As we close out her story today, we find that she is in the summer of contentment.
So, let’s pick up where we left off…
Ruth 4:1-22 (NLT)
So Boaz went to the town gate and took a seat there. When the family redeemer he had mentioned came by, Boaz called out to him, "Come over here, friend. I want to talk to you." So they sat down together. [2] Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses. [3] And Boaz said to the family redeemer, "You know Naomi, who came back from Moab. She is selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. [4] I felt that I should speak to you about it so that you can redeem it if you wish. If you want the land, then buy it here in the presence of these witnesses. But if you don't want it, let me know right away, because I am next in line to redeem it after you."
The man replied, "All right, I'll redeem it."
[5] Then Boaz told him, "Of course, your purchase of the land from Naomi also requires that you marry Ruth, the Moabite widow. That way, she can have children who will carry on her husband's name and keep the land in the family."
[6] "Then I can't redeem it," the family redeemer replied, "because this might endanger my own estate. You redeem the land; I cannot do it."
[7] In those days it was the custom in Israel for anyone transferring a right of purchase to remove his sandal and hand it to the other party. This publicly validated the transaction. [8] So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal as he said to Boaz, "You buy the land."
[9] Then Boaz said to the leaders and to the crowd standing around, "You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. [10] And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today."
[11] Then the leaders and all the people standing there replied, "We are witnesses! May the Lord make the woman who is now coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you be great in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. [12] And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah."
[13] So Boaz married Ruth and took her home to live with him. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. [14] And the women of the town said to Naomi, "Praise the Lord who has given you a family redeemer today! May he be famous in Israel. [15] May this child restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you so much and who has been better to you than seven sons!"
[16] Naomi took care of the baby and cared for him as if he were her own. [17] The neighbor women said, "Now at last Naomi has a son again!" And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.
[18] This is their family line beginning with their ancestor Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron.
[19] Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Amminadab.
[20] Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
[21] Salmon was the father of Boaz.
Boaz was the father of Obed.
[22] Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David.
Though Ruth and Naomi both ended up in the summer of contentment, they had come through some hard times to get there. Let’s briefly take a look at their journey…
• The Fall of Hard Times:
Ruth 1:3-5 (NLT)
Elimelech died and Naomi was left with her two sons. [4] The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, [5] both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her husband or sons.
When we started this series, Ruth and Naomi were in the fall of hard times. With the death of their husbands, and Naomi’s sons, difficult times had set in, and things looked pretty grim. Nevertheless they continued to press on.
What Naomi and Ruth had a difficulty recognizing (and many of us do too) is that it’s during the autumn months that seeding takes place. With autumn comes a strange beauty that entices us to slow down, and though we may not realize it at the time, with autumn, a process has begun which is intended to bring new life.
Parker Palmer in his book, Let Your Life Speak, says,
“In the autumnal events of my own life experience, I am easily fixated on surface appearances – on the decline of meaning, the decay of relationships, the death of a work. And yet if I look more deeply, I may see the myriad of possibilities being planted to bear fruit in some season yet to come.
“In retrospect, I can see in my own life what I could not see at the time – how the job I lost helped me find work I needed to do, how the ‘road closed’ sign turned me toward terrain I needed to travel, how loses that felt irredeemable forced me to discern meanings I needed to know. On the surface, it seemed that life was lessening, but silently and lavishly the seeds of new life were always being sown” (Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak (Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, California, 2000), 98-99).
Ruth and Naomi didn’t know it at the time, but God was working behind the scenes to plant seeds of new life in spite of their tragic loses. God was at work bringing about good during the fall of hard times. God was at work preparing them for the winter of disappointment that was soon to come.
• The Winter of Disappointment:
The fall of hard times, ended up leading to a winter of disappointment in both Naomi’s life and also in Ruth’s. They had lost everything. Their lives had been turned upside down. There was no where else to turn but down the lonely road toward home where only memories of a distant past awaited to remind them of what once was. It was in this winter of disappointment that Naomi said to the women in her hometown of Bethlehem,
Ruth 1:20-21 (NLT)
"Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. [21] I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why should you call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy?"
What most of us neglect to understand is that it’s in winter that we are able to see life with new clarity. Palmer claims that winter brings with it several gifts…
“One gift is beauty, different from the beauty of autumn but somehow lovelier still: I am not sure that any sight or sound on earth is as exquisite as the hushed descent of a sky full of snow. Another gift is the reminder that times of dormancy and deep rest are essential to all living things. Despite all appearances, of course, nature is not dead in winter – it has gone underground to renew itself and prepare for spring. Winter is a time when we are admonished, and even inclined, to do the same for ourselves.
“But for me, winter has an even greater gift to give. It comes when the sky is clear, the sun is brilliant, the trees are bare, and first snow is yet to come. It is the gift of utter clarity. In winter, one can walk into the woods that had been opaque with summer growth only a few months earlier and see the trees clearly, singly and together, and see the ground they are rooted in” (Let Your Life Speak, 101).
It was in the winter of disappointment that Ruth and Naomi were given greater clarity into life. Little did they know that just beneath the surface of the cold hard ground, the spring of renewal was beginning to take root.
• The Spring of Renewal:
Though Ruth and Naomi had come through the fall of hard times and were nearing their exodus of the winter of disappointment, before long they began to take heart and find hope.
After they settled into their new life, Ruth decided to start gleaning in the fields for food. But little did she know at the time her gleaning would lead to a time of renewal and new life.
Ruth 2:8-12 (NLT)
Boaz went over and said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don't go to any other fields. Stay right behind the women working in my field. [9] See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to bother you. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well."
[10] Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. "Why are you being so kind to me?" she asked. "I am only a foreigner."
[11] "Yes, I know," Boaz replied. "But I also know about the love and kindness you have shown your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. [12] May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully."
One thing must be said at this point, though springtime brings beauty and new life, it always begins ugly. In order for spring to be spring, April rains must come, and this makes the ground soft and muddy; large dark, and sinister clouds loom on the horizon with storms that can bring torrential winds, hail, thunder and lightening, and even tornadoes. But in spite of all this it’s in spring that we find hope of new life.
Palmer reminds us that,
“Spring teaches [us] to look more carefully for the green stems of possibility: for the intuitive hunch that may turn into a larger insight, for the glance or touch that may thaw a frozen relationship, for the stranger’s act of kindness that makes the world seem hospitable again.
“Spring in its fullness is not easy to write about. Late spring is so flamboyant that it caricatures itself, which is why it has long been the province of poets with more passion that skill. But perhaps those poets have a point. Perhaps we are meant to yield to this flamboyance, to understand that life is not always to be measured and meted as winter compels us to do but to be spent from time to time in a riot of color and growth” (Let Your Life Speak, 104).
Spring beckons us to run barefoot through the fields of God’s grace and mercy that has guided us through the hard times and the trials of disappointment. Spring becomes the precursor for the summer of contentment; a time of life when there is joy unspeakable and full of glory.
• The Summer of Contentment:
Let me read for you again, Ruth and Naomi’s summer of contentment:
Ruth 4:13-17 (NLT)
So Boaz married Ruth and took her home to live with him. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. [14] And the women of the town said to Naomi, "Praise the Lord who has given you a family redeemer today! May he be famous in Israel. [15] May this child restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you so much and who has been better to you than seven sons!"
[16] Naomi took care of the baby and cared for him as if he were her own. [17] The neighbor women said, "Now at last Naomi has a son again!" And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.
It’s in summer that we find abundance and fullness. Naomi and Ruth had a long way to go, but had finally made it to the fields of abundance. They had found their summer of contentment, and life was even sweeter than before.
The reality is, God had brought Naomi and Ruth from a life of desolation and aloneness to a life of abundance and community. And it was only through this community that either of them found their summer of contentment.
Palmer writes,
“In the human world, abundance does not happen automatically. It is created when we have the sense to choose community, to come together to celebrate and share our common store. Whether the scarce resource is money or love or power or words, the true law of life is that we generate more of whatever seems scarce by trusting its supply and passing it around. Authentic abundance does not lie in secured stockpiles of food or cash or influence or affection but in belonging to a community where we can give those goods to others who need them – and receive them from others when we are in need…
“Here is the summertime truth: abundance is a communal act, the joint creation of an incredibly complex ecology in with each part functions on behalf of the whole and, in return, is sustained by the whole. Community doesn’t just create abundance – community is abundance…
“Summer is the season when all the promissory notes of autumn and winter and spring come due, and each year the debts are repaid with compound interest. In summer, it is hard to remember that we had ever doubted the natural process, had ever ceded death the last word, had ever lost faith in the powers of new life” (Let Your Life Speak, 107-109).
Naomi and Ruth found their summer of contentment, but little did they know at the time how abundant this summer would be. For you see, Ruth became the great-grandmother of David who would in turn be the family line by which the Messiah would come. Ruth and Boaz’s union together brought not only abundance to them specifically, but brought abundance of new life for generations to come through the birth of Jesus. Though Naomi and Ruth would have a family-redeemer in a man by the name of Boaz, God would inevitably bring forth a family-redeemer for all generations and all peoples in a man name Jesus.
Conclusion:
So, what season of life are you in right now? Has the autumn of hard times come knocking at your door? Is it difficult to comprehend the pain and sorrow you feel? Maybe you find yourself in the winter of disappointment. Life has dealt you some tough blows, and you feel cold and alone. You wonder if there’s more to life than this, and you’re hanging on for just one small glimpse of hope. Or maybe you’re in the spring of renewal. Like a newborn fawn you’re just learning to gain your footing. Though it’s an uphill climb you can see new life on the way up. Hope is springing forth fresh and new, and you feel that you’re going to make it. Or what about the summer of contentment? There may be some of you who have come out on the other side of tragedy with a renewed sense of who you are. You may have a better understanding about life, and God’s bountiful blessings may be overwhelming you with joy.
Whatever the case – whatever your season of life – we must always remember that… the change of seasons in life always brings new life.
As we consider the change of seasons within life, I’m reminded of a story by Max Lucado as I close…
“A little boy is on the beach. On his knees he scoops and packs the sand with plastic shovels into a bright red bucket. Then he upends the bucket on the surface and lifts it. And, to the delight of the little architect, a castle tower is created.
“All afternoon he will work. Spooning out the moat. Packing the walls. Bottle tops will be sentries. Popsicle sticks will be bridges. A sandcastle will be built.
“Big city. Busy streets. Rumbling traffic.
“A man in his office. At his desk he shuffles papers into stacks and delegates assignments. He cradles the phone on his shoulder and punches the keyboard with his fingers. Numbers are juggled and contracts are signed and much to the delight of the man, a profit is made.
“All his life he will work. Formulating the plans. Forecasting the future. Annuities will be sentries. Capital gains will be bridges. An empire will be built.
“Two builders of two castles. They have much in common. They shape granules into grandeurs. They see nothing and make something. They are diligent and determined. And for both the tide will rise and the end will come.
“Yet that is where the similarities cease. For the boy sees the end while the man ignores it. Watch the boy as the dusk approaches.
“As the waves near, the wise child jumps to his feet and begins to clap. There is no sorrow. No fear. No regret. He knew this would happen. He is not surprised. And when the great breaker crashes into his castle and his masterpiece is sucked into the sea, he smiles. He smiles, picks up his tools, takes his father’s hand, and goes home.
“The grownup, however, is not so wise. As the wave of years collapses on his castle he is terrified. He hovers over the sandy monument to protect it. He blocks the waves from the walls he has made. Salt-water soaked and shivering he snarls at the incoming tide.
“‘It’s my castle,’ he defies.
“The ocean need not respond. Both know to whom the sand belongs…
“And I don’t know much about sandcastles. But children do. Watch them and learn. Go ahead and build, but build with a child’s heart. When the sun sets and the tides take – applaud. Salute the process of life, take your Father’s hand and go home” (Max Lucado, More Stories for the Heart (Multnomah: Sisters, Oregon, 1997), 224-225).
