The Amazing Grace of God! - Ruth 4:9-22 - April 28, 2013
Series: From Heartache to Hope – The Redemption of Ruth - #10
This morning we’re going to wrap up our series on the book of Ruth. And if you’ve been with us through this ten week journey you know it’s not been a straight line to get to where we find ourselves today. I remember, as a child, a family vacation that took us out to Vancouver Island. Once there we drove from Victoria to Ucluelet – anyone ever driven that road before? You’d remember if you had – it’s not a straight line journey either. In fact the road has so many twists and turns in it that someone came up with a poem about it. It goes like this:
“Winding in, and winding out, fills my mind with serious doubt, as to whether the lout, who built this route, was going to hell, or coming out.”
I think perhaps that Naomi and Ruth could relate, in their own way, to the truth of those words. Theirs has been a journey of many twists and turns, filled with much heartache and brokenness, and when our lives are coming to pieces around us, we can begin to feel that life has become a living hell of sorts, can’t we?
You may remember Naomi’s words as she returns to Bethlehem. She says, “I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.” And because of that she is bitter. And that can happen when dreams are shattered and life becomes one never ending struggle after another – we can lose hope and become bitter-hearted.
Today we’re going to see Naomi come full circle. No longer is she going to be empty: God is filling her anew. He is going to bless her beyond anything she could have expected. So let’s open our Bibles, to Ruth, chapter 4, and we’ll begin reading in verse 9. And what we’re going to discover is the amazing grace of our God. And we’re going to find that God is the God of the impossibles of our lives. Because that’s what Naomi and Ruth have been discovering all along, isn’t it? That in the midst of the impossible situations of their story, God is at work behind the scenes to bring healing, hope and blessing. And that’s good news for us, because some of us have our own impossibles, don’t we? In our journey there are many twists and turns and some of them are filled with heartache and sorrow, despair and grief. But know this: you’re not at the end of the journey yet, and with God, you never know what might be just around the next corner.
Now last week we saw how Boaz wanted to marry Ruth but there was a problem that we hadn’t anticipated, wasn’t there? This is another one of those twists in the road. According to the laws of the people, there was a nearer kinsmen-redeemer who had first right of redemption ahead of Boaz. Boaz wants to do what’s right in God’s eyes and so he puts everything on the line to honor God and give this other fellow the first right of redemption. And I appreciate that about Boaz – all his dreams for the future hang in the balance, but above all he wants to honor God, and so he will do the hard things, even though it could cost him everything he had ever hoped for. That’s walking by faith and that’s what we’re called to do.
In return, we discover that God honors Boaz’s faithfulness, the nearer kinsmen-redeemer refuses to step up to the plate, and to do what he ought to have done, and so it falls to Boaz to act as kinsmen-redeemer. That’s where we pick up the story this morning, as his status as redeemer is being confirmed in front of the people. Let’s begin reading in verse 9 …
“Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!” Then the elders and all those at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son.” And they named him Obed.”
Have you seen the amazing touch of God’s grace throughout this book? Again, and again, and again, we see that God is at work behind the scenes doing the unexpected. Consider this: the book of Ruth opens with death and despair. It ends with new life and great joy! How is that possible? Because God is the God of our impossibles! For Naomi and Ruth, and perhaps even for Boaz, God has made a way for them where they could not see a way at all.
Naomi came back to Bethlehem thinking that her life was over. She comes back “empty” believing she has nothing left of any worth and nothing left to look forward to either. Her life has been hollowed out and all that’s left is to die. And she’s bitter about it.
Now, just about a year later, everything has changed! Why? Because she’s seen the hand of God at work. As early as chapter 2 she begins to praise God again saying, “He has not stopped showing His kindness to the living and dead.” (Ruth 2:20) She thought He had – but she began to see God really was at work all around her. And it’s here, in chapter 4, that her eyes are fully opened to God’s goodness and the fact that He really has been with her all along.
It turns out that she didn’t come back to Bethlehem empty after all. She came back with Ruth – a young woman of amazing character. And Ruth, the daughter she never had, becomes to her a tremendous blessing – better to her than “seven sons” the women say.
And Ruth, who comes to Bethlehem to care for Naomi, comes fully expecting to end her days an old maid, though she’s yet young. She has no prospects, no hope, and no expectations of a better future. But God is at work in the midst of her impossibles too! He has preserved for her this godly man named, Boaz. And through him she is going to experience the wonder of redemption, for he will be her redeemer.
‘Redemption’ is one of those biblical words that is rich in meaning. It assumes there is a problem, a need, a trouble that is bigger than you are and that is beyond your abilities to change. It assumes your need is great and that there is no way out. That’s where the redeemer comes in. The Redeemer comes and does for you, what you cannot do for yourself. The redeemer buys back your life and sets you free.
And that’s exactly what Jesus has done for us. Our stories start with death and despair as well. And maybe you’re thinking, “Mine, didn’t! Life has been pretty good. I’ve got no complaints and I’m not bitter.” It’s good that you’re not bitter, but I wonder if we really understand how our stories have started out? Because our stories start with death. Listen to what Scripture says: In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes these words …
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:1–3, NIV84)
It’s not that the people to whom Paul were writing were worse than any others – they weren’t. The point is that every one of us is by nature, an object of wrath – why? Because we are dead – spiritually dead – in our transgressions and sins. And our temptation is always to think that we’re not that bad. We know we’re not perfect but compared to others that we could name we come off looking pretty good. But that, right there, is the problem. The standard against which our righteousness, our goodness, is measured, is not that of our neighbour, nor of the worst of the criminals. We are measured against the best of the best – against the righteousness of Jesus. The Bible tells us that He alone was without sin. It also tells us that compared to that standard - we all – every one of us – falls short of the righteousness that God is looking for. The prophet Isaiah says it well when he says this: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (Isaiah 64:6, NIV84)
Our story begins with death. And like Naomi and Ruth, we are powerless to change that. We might try – we might even succeed a little to clean up our lives. But even the best we can do there is to change a few external things. That’s what the Pharisees did. Jesus says they’re like whitewashed tombs – they look good on the outside – because they’ve got the externals right – but inside they’re dead. See, God’s interested in the internals – in the heart - because the things we do and say, flow from the overflow of the heart. Generally speaking, what’s in your heart is what’s going to flow through your life. That’s where life flows from and it’s why we’re told to guard the wellspring of our heart as well. Jesus says that a tree will be known by it’s fruit and that a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. If we don’t get the heart right, we can’t get anything else right either. The Pharisees tried – but all they ended up doing was worshipping God with their lips – their hearts were far from Him. They lived by the letter of the law rather than the spirit of it.
And we can’t change the heart. That’s why God says, in the book of Ezekiel, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26, NIV84) We can’t do that. We need a redeemer. And that’s what God has given us in Jesus. The Bible says this: “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4–5, NIV84) Saved from what? Saved from the wrath of God that will justly be poured out against all unrighteousness. We start out dead in our sins and our transgressions, objects of God’s wrath. But by God’s grace and mercy, those who receive Jesus, receive new hearts if you will, they are no longer objects of wrath. They have been forgiven. The past with all it’s shame and sin is washed away in the blood of Jesus. And they receive new life. We have been redeemed, Scripture says, by the precious blood of Christ.
And so what Boaz has done in Ruth’s life becomes as a picture for us, of what God would one day do through Jesus. God is God of all the impossibles of our lives!
Now look down with me to verse 14 … When Obed is born, the women of Bethlehem go to Naomi. They praise God as they tell her that Ruth has given birth to a son. This is what they tell her, “He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” (Ruth 4:15, NIV84) Naomi, who came to Bethlehem feeling that her life was over, that it wasn’t worth living, finds new life in the birth of a child, and not only does she find new life, but she discovers a new hope for the future as well. And that’s what redemption does for us in a way too. Redemption transforms us, by renewing life, and providing a new hope for the future.
“Obed” is a name that means “servant,” or “worshipper.” As someone else once said, “he was born to be a servant of God’s redemptive purposes.” (Prime, J. (2007). Opening up Ruth. Opening Up Commentary (88). Leominster: Day One Publications.) And in that sense, though we don’t know much about him, he becomes something of a picture of Jesus for us, because Jesus came, not to be served, but to serve others and to lay down His life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)
And not only does he become a picture of Jesus, he becomes an ancestor of Jesus as well. Look to the middle of verse 17 … “And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.” (Ruth 4:9–22, NIV84)
Now let’s face it - genealogies tend to be boring. But Jesus’s lineage through Mary can be traced back to David. That’s why Jesus is sometimes called the “Son of David.” And from David it can be traced back to Boaz, and not just to Boaz, but to Boaz and Ruth. And we don’t think anything of that today. But we should, because it is evidence of God’s amazing grace and the reality that He deals in the impossibilities of our lives. Consider this: Ruth was not of God’s chosen people – she wasn’t Jewish. She was a foreigner, born among a people who were the enemies of God’s people. And yet her life was changed, her heart was transformed, as she sought refuge in the God of Israel. She experiences, and lives, amidst God’s amazing grace. And God, in His grace and in His mercy, sees fit to graft her into the bigger picture that He is working on to accomplish His redemptive purposes. And that part of her story can be part of your story as well.
The book of Ruth reminds us that God is at work behind the scenes of our lives as we seek refuge in Him, doing a work, not just in us, but building to something bigger that only He can fully see. For the one who walks with God in faith, life is always more than we realize. The ordinary events of life become a piece of the puzzle by which God is moving all of history along to it’s conclusion in Him! And we are reminded, that as we seek refuge in Him, as we discover in Jesus our redeemer, that the hand of a sovereign God, moves, not always with a flash of lightning and a resounding clap of thunder, but in the everyday events of life as well. That’s where we will meet with God, where we will experience His mercy and live in His grace, that’s where He’s working to shape in us the very character of Christ – in those ordinary moments of each day.
Romans 8:28 tells us this: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NIV84) God works in all things. And that’s not easy to accept because not all things are good things. Certainly Naomi and Ruth experienced many sorrows in their lives. And yet the book of Ruth is a tremendous example of how God, takes even those broken and shattered moments of our lives, and seeks to redeem them for our good, and for His glory. Like Ruth, we are to take refuge under the wings of the God of Israel. Like Boaz we are to step boldly forward in faith trusting God. And like Naomi we are to let God redeem the empty moments of our lives and breathe new life into the midst of each day.
Let’s pray …
This morning we also celebrate the Lord’s Supper and whenever we do so, what we’re doing, is remembering the act of redemption accomplished on the cross. Paul says that as we eat of the bread and drink of the cup we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes again. Redemption is costly. Jesus paid the price for our sin in His body, in His blood. He shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins and He did it for you. For, as Scripture says, “you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:18–21, NIV84)
And if you know that you have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus; if your faith and your hope are in God, we invite you to join in sharing this communion table with us this morning. I’ll ask the servers to join me up front at this time, please. In a moment or two they will pass these elements to you. I’ll ask you to hold on to them until all have been served and then we’ll take them together as we remember the reality of God’s amazing grace.
Let’s pray ….
[Pass out bread / cups]
There is an old hymn called, “And Can It Be,” that, in part, goes like this …
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died he for me, who caused his pain?
For me, who him, to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me.
(Prime, J. (2007). Opening up Ruth. Opening Up Commentary (82). Leominster: Day One Publications.)
As we eat and drink of these elements today, may we do so moved to gratitude to the God who has loved us so well!
Prayer of thanksgiving …
