RUTH THE CAREGIVER – SERMON IV: A CAREGIVER WHO WAS BLESSED
Ruth 4:13-17
God blesses those who care for others. Today we honor mothers, for who can measure up to a godly mother’s care for her family? If your mother or if you as a mother were anything like my mother, you spent the earlier years of your life nourishing and nurturing the gifts God gave you, among them your children. Of all people on earth, good mothers are to be praised!
This is the fourth devotional message that I have shared with you from the Book of Ruth. In the story of Ruth’s journey of life, we have focused not on her mother but her mother-in-law Naomi.
The special relationship between those two women is unparalleled in the biblical accounts of women in the Bible. Yes, of course, there was Mary the mother of Jesus; aren’t we grateful for her role in giving birth to our Lord and Savior! There was Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist; aren’t we grateful for her encouraging words to cousin Mary when it was learned that both of them were expecting; Mary knew that she was still a virgin, yet Elizabeth assured her that her pregnancy was of God and that her son would be someone special sent from God.
Then there were other mothers too numerous to mention - mothers of the prophets, mothers of the apostles, mothers of those who became founders of the first Christian church, the mothers who opened the doors of their homes so that followers of Christ would have a place to gather for remembering Jesus, and for fellowship and prayer.
One of the most well-known mothers of the modern Christian Church was the mother of John and Charles Wesley – often referred to as the mother of Methodism. Charles Wesley once expressed appreciation for his mother by acknowledging that the credit for his training . . . his recognition as the founder of the Methodist Church . . . the doctrines he enunciated would have to go to his mother. His upbringing by a strict disciplinarian and devout believer made him who he was – and for that he was eternally grateful.
Most of us would agree that our mothers were the prime movers in our lives . . . the primary reason why we tried as hard as we did . . . the first persons we called or went to see after being away for awhile; we felt true love by our mothers; we, in turn, loved our mothers - and still do!
As mothers, most of you can be sure that your children arise and call you blessed as suggested by the writer of Proverbs:
“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the gate of heaven.”
Naomi in the Bible was Ruth’s mother-in-law but she became like a mother to Ruth – and Ruth responded accordingly. Both women suffered losses in their lives; they shared their grief with each other; yet, they were determined to make the most of the rest of their lives to the best of their ability; and Ruth went so far as to swear an oath before God that she would go with Naomi wherever she went and see that her needs were met.
Ruth’s commitment to Naomi was so strong that when Naomi made the decision to return to her home town of Bethlehem – going back there from the land of Moab where Naomi’s family had moved when famine struck Palestine – Ruth made the decision to go back with Naomi, even though Ruth would be going to a strange land and be known as a foreigner.
Nevertheless, Ruth went with Naomi to the small town of Bethlehem where she gleaned in the fields to provide for Naomi as well as herself. Then, while gleaning in one of the fields outside of Bethlehem, Ruth met the owner of the field. His name was Boaz; he and Ruth became very attracted to each other – so much so that Boaz wanted to become caregiver for both Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi.
Boaz made a promise to Ruth that, if he could work out the details of taking on responsibility for two women, he would do so. He made a promise to marry Ruth; also, as a part of their new husband-wife relationship, Boaz promised that he would assume responsibility for Naomi. Boaz wasted no time. He worked it out legally for becoming their redeemer.
“So,” the Bible says, “Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife.”
What a blessing! You would have to say that this was a providential act of God. One of the godliest, yet wealthiest, landowners in the land of Israel, engaged in a new relationship with one of the godliest, most caring women in the Bible. This was indeed a marriage made in heaven!
Ruth the caregiver was blessed, not only with the mother-in-law of all mothers-in-law; not only was she blessed with one of the finest of husbands; the scripture tells us that this caregiver of all caregivers was then blessed by God with the greatest blessing of all. She became the mother of a son who became the father of Jesse, who became the father of David, who became not only the greatest king Israel ever had, but was in fact the earthly king of kings who became ancestor to THE King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
Naomi’s friends in the small town of Bethlehem were so elated that they praised the Lord for providing a kinsman redeemer for Naomi. What a blessing Naomi received in that she was rewarded with the privilege of serving as the newborn child’s nurse. She knew that this child was special and that he too, like Boaz, would be a kinsman redeemer and so on down the line until THE Redeemer sent from God would be born in their lineage in their little town of Bethlehem!
As we conclude this amazing story of God’s grace, you will recall that Naomi returned to Bethlehem feeling bitter toward God because of her tragic circumstances. Now Naomi’s heart was filled with gratitude and praise to God for bringing good out of tragedy.
God used Ruth to be like a daughter to Naomi. “Ruth loved Naomi and was better to her than seven sons.” God used Boaz to become their redeemer. He was good to his wife; he was good to his mother-in-law.
God used Naomi to be a loving grandmother to the son born to Ruth and Boaz. God used the three of them together to set the stage for the coming of THE Redeemer of all mankind!
So, all three characters in this story were used by God to care for one another at one time or another during their lifetime. In the end, all three were rewarded; but the world was blessed because the grandson of Ruth became the grandfather of David, which means that David and Ruth were among the ancestors of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
God cared enough for you and me to send the very best He had to offer. Are we willing to be the best caregiver we can be to those who need our friendship and our devotion?
Let our prayer of commitment be: “Lord, thank you for caring for me; help me to be a caregiver to others.” Amen.
