Nowhere does history repeat itself more often than in the
realm of romance. James Madison was the forth president
of the United States, and he was the chief framer of the
Constitution. He was the greatest scholar among the
Founding Fathers. But when it came to romance he was no
big gun. In fact, he was the smallest of all the presidents.
He was so thin and frail that he weighed only a 100 lbs. at
his heaviest. He was very slow and he was not magnetic.
He was jilted twice. He was 43 and still single when he
met Dolly who was 24. At that young age she was already a
widow because her husband died in an epidemic. She was
taller and heavier than James, and there was just so much
about them that was different. They were a highly unlikely
pair to ever become a couple. But they did, and it was one
of the happiest, most celebrated, marriages in the history of
the White House. They were ideal for each other, and Dolly
Madison added a flare and dignity to the White House that
it never had before. James lived longer than any other
president who served two terms until Truman came along
and topped him by 6 years. His romance made his a story
with a happy ending.
Thomas Jefferson, the third president also married a
widow who was considerably younger than himself. History
is filled with this theme, for if love does not make the world
go round, most agree it does make the trip more enjoyable.
So it is in the book of Ruth. Romance plays a major role
in God's plan. I don't what God would have done had
Adam not fallen for Eve, for the whole plan of God revolves
around romance. Ruth is a story of romance, and there are
so many parallels with her and Boaz, and numerous couples
in history. Boaz was older, and he had status and security.
Ruth was a lonely young widow. The potential for cupid is
great if these two could only meet, but it seems so unlikely.
Boaz is a big shot, and Ruth is not even on the social
register. She is not only a poor nobody, she is not even a
Jew.
People have a way of meeting, however, and sometimes
it is by accident. In Oslo, Norway a motorist struck a young
woman at a busy intersection. He wasted no time in getting
her to the hospital, and he visited her everyday during her
recovery. Eventually he asked her to marry him, and she
said yes. They went on their honeymoon in the car that
brought them together by accident. Verse 3 hints that it
was by accident that Ruth and Boaz met. The KJV says,
"And her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging to
Boaz." The RSV says she happened to come there, and the
Living Bible says, as it happened. The NIV says, as it
turned out. The point is, there was no plot or plan. Later
on the plot thickens, and Naomi does deliberately plan for
Ruth to entice Boaz into a relationship. But here at the
start there is no plan. It is just what happened as Ruth
went out to work to keep from starving.
The Hebrew word here is MIQREH, which means a
chance event, or an accident. It would be a fascinating
diversion to study the subject of chance here, but for now
we will pursue romance, and just point out that most people
in our culture who meet and fall in love do so by chance, as
did Ruth and Boaz. No one but God could have known of
the series of events that brought them together.
I am always impressed by the events that brought
Lavonne and I together. Three of my friends and I were at
a drive in on the edge of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We
were waiting for a girl to come and take our order for root
beers. It was a hot summer night and the service was very
slow. We were restless and decided to take off down the
highway to the nearest little town to see what we could find.
Who would ever dream that that decision would lead to
three of us marrying three girls in the small town of Dell
Rapids. It was all because of slow service at a root beer
stand. We just happened to be at the right place at the right
time. So it was with Ruth and Boaz. One of God's most
useful tools in history is chance.
Chance does not mean that God is not in it. Margaret
Hese, a writer for Scripture Press tells of how her happily
married sister of 30 years met her mate. She was on a train
when a soldier on leave sat down beside her. In the course
of the conversation she noted that one of the buttons was
almost ready to fall off his coat. She took out a needle and
thread and sewed it on. They kept in touch over half a
continent apart for several years, while dating others. He
found that he could not forget her. That sewing on of his
button strongly touched him. This act of kindness changed
their whole lives. The door of love is huge, but it so often
swings on such a small hinge. Had he not by chance had
that loose button the opportunity for her act of love would
not have existed, and their first meeting may have been the
last as well. Chance and romance are often partners. It put
Ruth in the field of Boaz, and the first thing Boaz asked his
foreman was, "Whose young woman is that? Romance
almost always starts with
I. THE EYES.
We can't say this was a case of love at first sight, but it
was a case of interest at first sight. Sometimes the eyes do
not like what they see, and it takes other factors to develop
a relationship. John Keats thought Fanny Browne was
awful looking, but after knowing her for awhile he thought
she was the most beautiful creature he knew. Everyone else
still thought she looked awful, but love is not blind, it just
develops a vision of beauty that non-love never sees.
Alexander Dumas thought Sarah Bernhardt had the
body of a broom stick, but when he fell in love with her he
said, "If nature had somewhat neglected her body, it had
richly endowed her mind." He saw the beauty of inner
being, and he loved her. We do not know what attracted
Boaz to Ruth so rapidly, but he wasted no time in making
her acquaintance. Christopher Morley said, "Fifty per cent
of the world are women, yet they always seem a novelty."
Boaz thought so about this new young woman in his field.
We do not know what Boaz was doing before this. Maybe
his philosophy was, the proper study of mankind is man,
but all of the sudden he changed his major to the study of
woman, and especially the one out in his field.
The Hebrew does not even have a word for bachelor, for
seldom did one even exist in Israel. But here is Boaz who is
a middle age man of means, and he is single. We don't
know why, but we know he rapidly reversed his no romance
state when he saw Ruth. Robert Louis Stevenson said, "A
wet rag goes safely by the fire; and if a man is blind, he
cannot expect to be much impressed by romantic scenery."
For some reason Boaz spotted Ruth, and immediately he
saw something romantic he had not seen before. She may
not have been his first love, but more important, she was his
last love, and that is true romance. The New York library
has over 2,000 books on love, but man knows more about
the rocks on the moon than he does about what makes
certain people fall in love. Ruth and Boaz were not unusual
people. They were just ordinary pleasant loving people,
and they represent the majority of the romances of history.
The entire book of Ruth revolves around the romance of
ordinary people. That is one of its purposes for being a part
of the Bible. It is God's stamp of approval on the ordinary
person as an instrument of His plan of history. It magnifies
its significance of the commonplace people. From the
moment Boaz meets Ruth the rest of the book is the story of
how their romance developed and led to marriage. This is
an everyday story, and has been from the day Adam saw
Eve. Ruth is considered to be a beautiful woman, and not
because there is any description of her, but because the
more you know of her total character the more attractive
she becomes. People become attractive to the degree that
you know them.
The reason most foreigners do not seem attractive to us
Americans is because we do not know them. We see only
the external form and face, and it is different and unusual.
If we could know them, and hear their experience, their
feelings, and their ideas, we would see more and more of
their beauty. Romance is simply getting to know people
well enough so that the eyes can see their beauty. The
Gospels are the revelation of the life and beauty of Jesus in
His attitudes and actions. It is by what we see in those
accounts that we come to love Jesus. If there is anything
lovely, Paul said, think on these things, for when you see
loveliness of any kind you are in a state of romance.
Romance begins with the eyes, but then it continues with
the-
II. THE EARS.
Few things in life are more appealing to either males or
females then hearing pleasant things about themselves.
Listen to this lover's conversation.
Do you think I am beautiful? You bet.
Are my eyes the loveliest you have gazed into? Shucks yes.
Is my mouth like a rosebud? Sure is.
Is my figure divine? Uh-huh.
Oh, Elmer, you say the nicest things!
Most women would prefer less prompting and more
spontaneity. This is what we see in Boaz. His immediate
response in discovering who she was, was to go to her, and
like a gentleman, make her feel as welcome and secure as
possible. She was his guest, and not a lonely isolated
stranger. She was to make herself at home and feel safe, for
he had given orders that she was to be treated with respect.
He made it clear that the men were not to touch her. A
woman alone was open game, and had no protection unless
she came under the care of a man with some power. Boaz
gave Ruth that protection.
She is, of course, overwhelmed by this sudden good
fortune, and she asks why he has shown her such favor.
Boaz had done his homework. He knew all the good things
about Ruth that were matters of public knowledge. The
story of Ruth and her commitment to follow Naomi, and to
leave her family and homeland had spread all over
Bethlehem. The news traveled fast, and Boaz, who had
never even seen Ruth, knew the whole account.
We need to pause here, and point out that talking about
people is not the same as gossip. Gossip is the spreading of
information, or disinformation, that in some way injurious
to the people talked about. The talking and sharing of facts
and information about people, and the events that are
shaping their lives is both legitimate and good. Here we see
that the spread of the story of Ruth enabled him to have the
ammunition he needed to penetrate any defensiveness she
might have. He told her he knew just how wonderful a
person she was, and he asked the Lord to richly reward her
for her faithfulness.
Ruth responds to these pleasant words with pleasant
words of her own. She expresses appreciation, and she
acknowledges that Boaz has been a great comfort to her,
even though she is nobody to him. Here are two people who
recognize the ears as keys to romance. It is true we have to
beware of the smooth talker who uses words to entice rather
than to build up. Some guys really have a line, like the guy
who said, "I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before. I've
been to all the Miss America contest."
We need constant reminders that the abuse of anything
is never an adequate reason for ceasing to use it properly.
Smooth talk can be a virtue, and pleasant complimentary
words can be the greatest source of encouragement we give
to those we love. Spurgeon said, "I have no doubt that
much sorrow might be prevented if words of
encouragement were more frequently spoken...., and,
therefore, to withhold them is sin." James said that when
we know to do good and don't do it it is a sin. If you think
you get through a day without the sin of omission, forget it.
Not a day goes by but what we could have said something
pleasant and complimentary that we didn't say.
The ears are a great source of romance. God gets His
will done in history by people who know this and use it to
kindle romance, or to keep and old fire burning. If someone
you love is not encouraged through the ear gate today, you
have cast a vote against romance. The eyes with their
seeing are basic to romance, and the ears with their hearing
are also basic, but there can be doubt that any successful
romance will very soon involve-
III. THE MOUTH.
Boaz had just met Ruth, and they had a brief friendly
encounter. His next move was to invite her to join him for
lunch, and he provided the lunch. This was their first date.
We say that the way to a man's heart is through his
stomach, but it works for women as well, especially if they
are as poor and hungry as Ruth. She kept part of her lunch
to take home to Naomi. Ruth may be the first person on a
date to ask for a doggie bag. Boaz was obviously interested
in more than employer-employee relations. He was really a
fast mover.
He was not as fast as the famous Dr. Wilfred Grenfell
the medical missionary to Labrador. In 1908 at the age of
43 he was returning from a visit to England. On the deck of
the Mauretania he saw a lady that charmed him. A few
hours later he proposed to her. She said, "But you don't
even know my name!" He responded, "It doesn't matter. I
know what its going to be!" That was truly love at first
sight. Boaz took the more traditional approach of at least
having a meal together before the wedding.
Food and love are linked together from birth. Being
given food is the first expression of love that a child
understands. It is his introduction to love, and all his life he
will celebrate the love of family and special events by eating
together. It is perfectly natural then that romantic love will
quickly led to two people eating together. Dating and
eating, and marriage and eating are inseparable. This is not
to say there is never any unpleasantness connected with
eating and romance.
Former president Lyndon Johnson tells of the time he
invited Billy and Ruth Graham to the White House for
dinner. He describes the scene: "I asked during the dinner
if Billy would give me the name of a good vice-presidential
candidate. Instead of answering my question he shot out of
his chair and yelled, "Ruth, why did you just kick me under
the table?" She winced in embarrassment. Then she took a
deep breath and said quietly, "Bill, shouldn't you limit your
address to spiritual matters?" There could have been
conflict, but Billy recognized what she was saying was true.
He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. He did
not always heed Ruth's advice, and he came to regret some
of his political involvement's.
The mouth gets involved in romance, not just because of
the pleasure of eating, but the mouth is the key instrument
by which people give guidance to those they love. Boaz gave
such guidance to Ruth, and in chapter 3 the words of Ruth
to Boaz, which she had received from the mouth of Naomi,
led to his determination to win Ruth as his wife. The
mouth, or tongue, is a source of great blessing or cursing.
In romance and marriage it plays a major role. Again we
use Billy Graham as an illustration. He had constant
temptations to go other directions than his ministry. He
was once offered great financial support to run for
president, and a Hollywood director offered him a star role
in an epic extravaganza. A major TV network offered him
a million dollar a year contract to host a talk show. Ruth
said to him on each occasion of these tempting offers:
"You're bounded duty to the Lord is elsewhere."
We are to live by every word that proceeds from the
mouth of God, and sometimes these words come through
the mouth of those who love us best. Romance and the plan
of God are not just linked in the book of Ruth. It is a part
of all of history. Romance and redemption are inseparable.
God makes the male-female relationship the symbol of His
relationship to man. Christ is the groom, and the church is
the bride. We are Ruth, and Christ is our Boaz. He is
coming again to take us to the mansion He has prepared for
the everlasting honeymoon.
Heaven will begin with a great wedding and the
marriage supper of the Lamb. The eyes will see what none
have ever seen before; the ears will hear what has never yet
been heard, and the mouth will be filled with praise as
never before, and we will enjoy eating like no gourmet as
ever known. Joni, who is paralyzed and cannot use her legs,
says she will dance with endless romance in heaven. And
that is what heaven will be, an endless romance. Ruth's
romance was just one of many that led to the coming of
Jesus into the world to complete the romance of
redemption, and the greatest love story ever told. All of us
can be a part of the world of romance by a wise use of our
eyes, ears, and mouth in relation to those whom we love.
These are all involved in the Gospel that leads to the eternal
romance, and to the romance we enjoy in time. We need to
pay attention to how we use them, and be more romantic in
this world that always needs more love.
