A young couple who had just gotten married, and who
had received many valuable wedding gifts, established their
home in the suburb. One morning they received in the mail
two tickets for a popular show in the city. A note said,
"Guess who?" The couple were amused as they tried to find
the identity of the donor, but they could not find out who
sent them. They used the tickets, and they had a delightful
evening. On their return home, late at night, still trying to
figure out the mystery, they found their house stripped of
every article of value. On the bare table in the dinning room
was a piece of paper on which was written- "Now you know!"
Crooks have so many clever ways of robbing people that
it has given the word clever a bad name. Vincent Teresa in
his book My Life In The Mafia tells of numerous clever schemes
he used to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars
from innocent people, and sometimes not so innocent people.
One that shows the thought and planning of these people is
one I want to share. There was a big horse race called the
Constitution Handicap. They put a fortune on Flauntless
Light to win. Non-clever people would give their horse
drugs to help him win, but the Mafia knows the winner will
be tested for drugs, and so they bribed the stable boys of the
other five horses in the race. They juiced those five with a
depressant. Their horse won by 7 links, and they made a
hundred and sixty three grand. There was a big stink over
the race, but the only horse that was checked was their
horse, and he was clean. Clever schemes like this enabled
them to rip off billions of dollars a year.
Because history is full of the clever schemes of con men,
and because the fall of man began with the clever, cunning,
and crafty scheme of that old serpent the devil, we have a
tendency to put cleverness in the category of vice rather than
virtue. The Jews did not do so, however, but recognized
cleverness as a great virtue, and one of the most powerful
weapons in the cause of righteousness. Yes,
they said, evil is clever but it is the task of the righteous to
outwit the evil. The book of Esther is about a very clever
man named Haman, who out of personal pride almost
succeeded in getting the Jewish people exterminated. He
was only foiled in his plot because Mordecai and Esther were
even more clever, and they were able to turn the tables on
him, and he was hung on his own gallows.
The whole theme of wisdom in the Old Testament deals
with the virtue of being clever enough to outwit the clever
appeals of evil. The fool falls for the wiles of the devil, but
the clever stay one jump ahead of him. After all, what is the
battle of life all about? It is about outwitting all the clever
ways of the evil one to keep us from fulfilling the will of God.
Cleverness is part of the image of God in us. He is the most
clever of all Persons in the universe. His wisdom is a marvel
as we study His creation. His cleverness in figuring out how
to outwit Satan, and save a lost world, when Satan seems to
have all the advantages of a fallen free willed creature who
tends toward evil.
Jesus faced the clever tempter, but He was more clever
than the first Adam, and He outwitted the old serpent and
all his agents. No trap set for Him by the Pharisees could
ensnare Him. Jesus said that we are to be wise as serpents
and harmless as doves, and He practiced what He preached.
He lived His whole life outwitting the devil, and He died a
spotless Lamb of God for the sin of the world.
He was, without question, the most clever man whoever
lived. He was a perfect man, and a perfect man by definition
is clever. There are few, if any, who become key links in the
plan of God who are not in some way clever, and this goes
for both Ruth and Boaz. They were just ordinary people,
but they were clever people, and from their story we can
learn why it is important for us to strive at being clever. By
their cleverness they got themselves into the blood line of the
Messiah. The first thing we want to see is that-
I. COMPLEXITY DEMANDS CLEVERNESS.
Boaz and Ruth had something of a romance going, but it
was not what you would call a whirlwind romance. He
watched her labor in the fields, and they ate lunch together.
They both found it pleasant, but this was not going
anywhere. Ruth was dressed in her old work clothes, and
after a hot morning in the sun she probably did not have an
attractive aroma about her. The point is, Boaz had never
really seen Ruth at her feminine finest. She was just one of
the gang.
A woman has to be clever in such a situation. How can
she ever convey her feminine charms while dressed like a
farmer, and smelling like the farm? This is where the clever
female mind has to be creative to overcome the obstacles to
true romance. When two women like Naomi and Ruth put
their heads together to figure out how to entice a man into a
relationship, you can count on it, he is as good as hooked.
Fishing for men was a female practice long before Jesus
called His disciples to the task with a whole new slant.
You will observe that carrying scrolls of Moses to the field
was not one of their ideas. In fact, there is nothing spiritual
about their plot at all. They sound as secular as Hollywood
hussies trying to entice their third husband. It seems so
worldly clever to be getting Ruth all dolled up and perfumed
to go and entice Boaz. The clear command of Paul was to
not be conformed to the world. But if the world uses
common sense and cleverness to attain evil goals, does this
mean the Christian is forbidden to use common sense and
cleverness to reach godly goals? Of course not. The Bible
describes the temptress out to entice men into sin, and she is
bathed and perfumed, and dressed to kill.
Here we see two godly women trying to make a big
impression on a godly man, and they are using the same
strategy as the temptress. The reason, of course, is that
godly men are just as attracted to nice clothes and pleasant
perfume as are the ungodly. These two ladies are not trying
to get Boaz to give them a loan so they can set up a shop in
Bethlehem to sell perfume and women's clothing. They are
out to make Ruth look and smell so attractive that Boaz will
say, "I must be out of my mind risking the lose of this
beautiful creature by not taking action." Their clever
scheme of giving Boaz a vision of Ruth in all her loveliness,
in the middle of the night, so that she was like a pleasant
dream, worked like a charm. The next day Boaz was up
bright and early resolving the legal issue that kept him from
having Ruth with him as his wife every night. Now that was
clever work even though it added to the complexity of their
lives.
How can God bless this seemingly secular scheme? Many
Christians feel that all attractive dress is worldly, and some
go so far as to forbid their men to wear ties. It is a sign of
spiritually to be plain, drab, and the opposite of the world
where diamonds are a girls best friend, and mink is a close
second. Some have learned to be clever in just the opposite
way from Ruth and Naomi. Amy Charmichael was the first
missionary to be appointed by the Keswick Convention.
For 55 consecutive years she served in India. Before she
went to India she went to Japan for training, and there she
learned a valuable lesson on clothing that changed her whole
life. She went with a fellow worker to visit an elderly lady
who was ill. She listened to the Gospel, and seemed ready to
turn to the Savior. Then she noticed the fancy gloves Amy
was wearing, and she was distracted from the message. Amy
went home saddened, and she removed her English gloves,
and put on a simple Japanese garment, and never again
wore anything but simple clothing lest they detract from the
Gospel.
Her life was blest of God, as was Ruth's, yet they were
being clever in such opposite ways. One wore clothing to be
attractive, and the other used clothing so as not to be
attracting away from the Gospel. There is no contradiction
in these two beautiful lives. They were each doing what was
clever in a complex world to achieve goals God had called
them to reach. It is time to focus on definition. What is
cleverness? It is the showing of great practical intelligence. It
is being resourceful in attaining goals in spite of obstacles
and difficulties. Ruth and Amy had different goals, and that
is why each was being clever even though they were doing
just the opposite thing.
Ruth's goal was to marry and bare a child. That was
God's calling and purpose for her life. The use of all her
femininity was wisely used to achieve that goal. Amy never
married, and never had any reason to try to be attractive to
the opposite sex. Her calling was totally different, and she
achieved it fruitfully by giving up the need to show any
feminine charm. Not all people are called to the same goals
in life. Many are called to remain single. Our goal is to be as
clever as possible in fulfilling our calling, and not to judge
those who have a different calling because they approach
some things from an opposite perspective. I have always
been middle class, but I once heard the testimony of a man
who lived and worked among the upper class. He did things
I would never do because he had to in order to be a part of
his circles, and be a witness there for Christ. He wore
clothing and ate in places I would never dream of doing,
because it was a part of his culture. It made sense, and so we
need to recognize people have to be clever in different ways
to do the will of God in their circumstances.
Mary Liu was sold as a slave girl to a Chinese women,
and after much abuse she was thrown out on a trash heap to
die. Throw away people have always been a part of our
tragic world. A missionary walking passed heard the
smothered sobs of this pathetic creature. She reached in the
pile and found this mutilated mass of misery. Both of her
feet had been burned off. Her life was saved, however, and
in the mission hospital a pair of wooden feet were made for
her. Her mangled fingers had to be amputated, but one
thumb was saved. The long story of her recovery and
redemption in Christ leads to her becoming the editor of two
Christian magazines for women. The two were The
Messenger, and The Star.
When the Japanese took over her town she had to use her
wits to preserve her precious stock of paper. She took all her
trash and the junk she could afford to lose, and she stacked
it all in carefully arranged bundles in a conspicuous place.
Her valuable paper she threw in a dark corner, and made it
look like worthless stuff. It was made to look sloppy, and
with no care or order. When the inspectors came they saw
how she treated the trash with concern, and they ordered it
carted away immediately, and they left all her good stuff.
The World Day Of Prayer Committee marveled that
Mary Liu went on publishing her Christian literature month
after month, and year after year, when all others in China
had ceased for lack of paper. Her cleverness kept her in
business for the Lord. It is not everyone's calling to be
deceptively clever toward those who would hinder your
ministry, but it was Mary's calling, and who would want to
criticize her for outwitting her enemies, who would have
shut down her ministry? David faked madness when he
might have been killed, and his life was saved. She faked
concern for junk, and indifference to valuables, and her
ministry was spared. It is a complex world, and cleverness is
sometimes essential to the achieving of good goals.
The world recognizes this. They have to deal constantly
with obstacles to good profit making goals. A major oil
company built 5 pilot gas stations near Los Angeles, and 3
near Philadelphia, which require no human attendant. The
motorist puts his credit card into an outdoor computer
terminal. If the card is valid, the customer pumps his own
gas. The computer issues a receipt, and later tallies a
monthly total. That is clever enough, but the added touch is
what makes it great. If the card is listed as stolen, or lost,
the computer swallows it, and gives the motorist no gas.
Even the world is in constant battle with the evil forces
that hinder good and honest goals. If you are not clever, you
are a sucker for the clever schemers who will rob you blind.
Cleverness is vital to godliness simply because ungodliness is
so clever. If you are not clever you will not be very effective
in overcoming evil with good. It you are not victorious over
evil, you will be a victim of it, and so you have to be more
clever then evil is.
Let's look at Boaz for awhile, and see his cleverness in a
situation where there is really no evil foe, but there is
competition. The competition here is not between good and
evil, but between the good and the best. It would be good
for the nearest of kin to redeem Ruth, but in the light of the
fact that Boaz and Ruth were in love, this good would be
bad in comparison to Boaz having the right to marry her. It
is sort of like, it is good to lose one eye compared to losing
both of them, but that does not make it the best alternative.
The best is to lose neither eye. The best in this setting is for
the good not to happen so the best can.
We know that is just what did happen, but it could have
been different had Boaz not been clever. He had to so
present the whole issue in such a way as to be an
un-salesman. I don't know if there is such a word, but that
is what Boaz was doing. He was not trying to sell his relative
on a deal. He was trying to unsell him. This called for the
clever use of psychology, just as selling does. I had to be an
unseller myself with my grandson. We were talking about
good guys and bad guys, and he said he wanted to grow up
and be a bad guy. I could see he was testing my reaction. I
calmly accepted his statement and proceeded to look at
whether this was a goal he really wanted to aim for. I
pointed out that bad guys often have to spend a lot of time in
jail, and they often lose the love of the people they care
about, and they make God angry at them. He agreed it was
not the best way to go. I had to unsell him on the idea of
being a bad guy.
Boaz had to unsell his relative on the idea of being the
kinsman-redeemer of Ruth. He does this by first being a
seller, and telling him the good news. He tells him that he is
first in line to buy the property of Elimelech. Boaz suggests
that he use his option of nearest relative, and he talks as if it
is a matter of indifference to him. He is as cool as cool can
be. He says, "I'm next in line, but only if you don't want to
buy it, I will. Why don't you go ahead?" It all seems like a
mere matter of business, and the nearest kin says, "It sound
good to me. I will redeem it."
Now Boaz uses his shock strategy, and he throws in the
bad news. His relative is thinking this is a good deal for me.
I will have more property, expanding income, and greater
status. Boaz says, "I just thought you ought to know that on
the day you buy the land you also acquire the widow of the
man who owned the land, in order to maintain his name."
J. Vernon McGee says, "He was using some of the wisdom of
the serpent here." Right away the man felt the pressure of
this demand. He was frightened to think how close he was to
making a deal that would back him into more complexity
than he could handle.
When it was only land it was all to his advantage, but if
he has to take Ruth and raise up a child for her deceased
husband, then that child will eventually get the land anyway,
and not his own children. So he backed out of the deal, and
he gave Boaz the right to redeem. Boaz was really doing his
relative a favor by presenting the case in such a way as to
unsell him on the idea. He was clever because he got what
he wanted, but he did it, not by deception, but by a shocking
and overwhelming presentation of the truth with all of its
implications. It was too much for the man to absorb, and
the complexity made it look too risky, and so he backed out.
Cleverness is the ability to skillfully work your way
through complex circumstances to a goal that is your aim to
reach. Godly cleverness is aiming for a goal that is pleasing
to God. Boaz was blessed with godly cleverness. This is a
virtue that has changed the entire world in which we live.
The example of one man's life that is astounding in its
cleverness is that of Cameron Townsend, the founder of
Wycliffe Bible Translators. He died in April of 1982 at the
age of 85. His career in missions started in 1917 as a Bible
salesman in Guatamala. He discovered that 60% of the
people could not read the Spanish Bibles he was selling, and
so he, with no linguistic training, just settled down in a small
Indian village, and translated the New Testament into the
Indian language. He spent 11 years doing that. His
philosophy was, "Do one thing and do it well." As he
learned more about the fact of hundreds of languages with
no Bible, he founded a school called The Summer Institute
Of Linguistics.
He learned another lesson in Guatamala, and that is to
cooperate with the local authorities. He was dragged before
the mayor of a town for distributing Bibles without
permission. He apologized and never forgot that
missionaries are guests, and the government is the host. We
must get their approval. This became a distinguishing
characteristic of his organization. The first copy of the New
Testament he sent to the president of Guatamala. He spent
hours waiting to see officials to get them involved in his
projects. There is no other mission movement like Wycliffe.
It reports to the government, and not the national church.
He gets contracts with the government, and so he is serving
them.
He got into Mexico where other missions were being
rejected, and he even got the government to pay for part of
the work. His workers had special favors not granted to
other missionaries. There visas were made permanent when
all others had to get theirs renewed every 6 months. This
pattern continued all through South America and the
Philippines. While other missions were fighting for survival,
they saw pictures of Townsend in the paper with the
Presidents, generals, and leaders of the land. Other
missionaries became jealous of this special treatment, but it
was his clever strategy that enabled him to achieve his goals.
In 50 years he went from one employee to 4,255 people,
and became the largest Christian mission in history. At the
beginning of the 20th century there were only 67 languages
that had the Bible. Now, some portion of the Bible exists in
over 2000 languages. All because of his cleverness in doing
what others did not see as the key to reaching goals.
Cleverness got the Word of God into the language of
millions, and cleverness got Ruth and Boaz into the Word of
God. Cleverness committed to God is one of the most
powerful tools in history. We need to ask ourselves about
what we are doing to love God with all of our minds. What
are we doing to use our minds and cleverness to achieve
goals for the glory of God and the good of His people? May
God motivate us to learn from this clever
