Fort Lee, which is now Charleston, West Virginia was
under attack in 1791. Colonel George Clendenin assembled
his men to ask for a volunteer to ride to Lewisberg over 100
miles away to get powder. They were almost out, and their
survival depended upon a renewed supply. No one
volunteered, for it was a suicide mission. Then a high
pitched voice cried out, "I will go!" It was the voice of
Anne Bailey. She was no ordinary lady. The Indians called
her mad Anne because she took so many risks. She fought
the British and the Indians, and would roam the
countryside alone to learn the ways of the Indians. She got
so good at being a scout that she was often able to outwit the
Indians. This is she did it again. She got through and
brought back the powder, and Fort Lee was saved.
If you go to Charleston, you will find a museum and a
main thoroughfare named after this brave woman who took
risks that no man was willing to take. Women have been
risk takers all through history, and there are volumes filled
with their exploits. Quite often their risks are related to
their romance. Isabella of Castille defied her half brother
King Henry IV of Spain. He wanted to marry her off to an
old reprobate for his advantage. She threatened to kill
herself before she would do it. She was only 18, but she out
witted the king. She smuggled 17 year old Ferdinand into
Castille disguised as a mule driver. They were married Dec.
19, 1469. Henry did all he could to make them miserable.
He cut off all funds so they had to live in poverty. But their
romance so captured the minds of the people that when
Henry died the nobles united in declaring Isabella the
Queen. She went from poverty to riding a white steed to
receive her crown. The risk she took for romance changed
the course of history.
Pocahontas took the risk of being the first Indian to
marry a white man. Her husband John Rolfe took her back
to England. Their wedding brought peace to the settlers
and Indians in America, and she became the belle of
London, as people were fascinated with her uniqueness and
charm. She contracted pneumonia, and she died, but her
risk for romance gave her a place in history. Women have
been daring, brave, and courageous in all the battles and
conflicts of history. It was a woman by the name of Emily
Bronte who wrote the famous lines-
No coward soul is mine;
No trembler in the world's storm troubled sphere.
I see heaven's glories shine,
And faith shines equal, arming me from fear.
Females who have had an impact on history usually have
to take some sort of risk, and such is the case with Ruth.
She also took a risk for romance. If you look at the radical
differences between Ruth and Boaz, you will be better able
to see the risks involved.
1. Boaz is a Jew, and Ruth is a Gentile. This is a radical
form of intermarriage.
2. Boaz is an Israelite, and Ruth is a Moabitess. These two
nations were bitter enemies.
3. Boaz is middle aged, and Ruth is quite young.
4. Boaz is rich, and Ruth is poor.
5. Boaz has deep roots, and Ruth is a stranger and an
outsider.
The potential for problems is great. Any marriage
counselor today would look at these elements and rate this
relationship as high risk. What we need to see, however, is
that the encourager of this risky romance is a risk taker.
Naomi risked leaving Bethlehem to go to Moab with her
husband, and it was a costly gamble. She took the chance of
letting her two sons marry Moabite girls. That too was a
high risk, but it did pay off as Ruth became a committed
believer in the God of Israel. She took the risk of going
back to her hometown in emptiness and defeat. She faced
the risk of ridicule and rejection. Naomi is one of the most
courageous women of the Bible. Her courage and risk
taking is what motivated Ruth to be a risk taker. The lives
of these two women teach us some valuable truths about
risk. First let's look at-
I. THE REALITY OF RISK.
It is a part of every life, and there is no escape from risk.
If you think you can just do nothing, and, thereby, escape it,
that can be the greatest risk of all. This epitaph illustrates
the point-
Here lies the body of Lester Lee
Underground.
He couldn't decide which side of the tree
To ski around.
Any decision can be risky, but no decision can be the
highest risk of all.
Naomi could see the risks of indecision. The harvest was
over, and Ruth would no longer be going to the field daily to
glean. She would no longer be taking her break with Boaz.
Boaz could get so involved in his work that the romance
between him and Ruth could fade. There was always the
risk of someone else coming into the picture, and there was
the risk of another relative deciding he would take over,
and Ruth then would miss the chance to be with the one she
really cared about.
There is always the risk of procrastination, which is not
only the thief of time, but of all potential values from the
trivial to the treasured. Richard Armour has put into
poetry what we have all experienced in some way.
One day a button's slightly loose,
The next its somewhat more so.
It loosens just a little bit
Each time I move my torso.
It hangs now by a single thread;
Its perilous, let's face it.
This button is a special kind;
I doubt I could replace it.
I ought to pull it off, I guess.
My wife should sew it on.
I wear it slightly longer, though
That is, until its gone.
Waiting until it is too late is not wise, and so we are often
forced to take risks to make things happen, and that is
where Naomi is coming from. This was the day of the
Judges, and life was a risk because you never knew when
someone could come and invade the land and enslave you.
Even the everyday life of ordinary people was surrounded
by risks. The reality of risk is especially evident in
relationships. Love is always a high risk, for you invest a lot
of yourself in a relationship of love, and that investment can
pay off with great dividends, but it can also cost you a
broken heart. It is just part of the reality of risk in life.
Naomi and Ruth both risked loving and getting married,
and both lost their mates, and had to go through the agony
of grief. Naomi had children, and saw both of her boys die
fairly young. It is risky to become parents, for it is costly,
and children, like everything else you love, can be lost.
Every time you choose to love, or to develop any
relationship, you are taking a risk. Chuck Swindoll said he
has a woman in his church who was married for 48 years.
She was planning their golden wedding anniversary
already. She came home one day and found a note telling
her that her husband had gone off with another woman.
This may be rare at that age, but it is the risk of the real
world we live in.
There is much we can do to minimize the risks of
shattered relationships, but the fact remains that you
always stick your neck out to some degree when you open
your heart to anyone. That is the vulnerability of love.
Mental health and stability can only be achieved by
recognizing the risks of reality, and being able to pay the
cost. In Journey Out Of Nowhere, Nancy Covert Smith
describes how she, as a Christian and good church member,
ended up in a mental hospital. While there she came to
realize that the doors are locked, not primarily to keep the
patients in, but to keep the world out. She says that 50 to 60
percent of the healing process, which takes place, was due to
the fact that the world was locked out. The mentally ill
need protection from the reality of a risky world. They
need to feel safe and free from risks.
Only when they are ready to face up to the reality of risk
again are they ready for the real world. Naomi and Ruth
are amazing examples of strong healthy women, for with all
of their sorrow, grief, and loss, they have not crawled into a
cave to hibernate, and let the world pass them by. They are
in there planning how to go out onto another limb, and risk
getting hurt again. Healthy people recognize that the only
way you can be happy in the kind of world we live in is to
keep on risking, and sticking your neck out for the sake of
love. The most realistic thing we can do in life is to face the
fact that risk is a part of reality, and so we must go on
loving and developing relationships. Ruth is no glutton for
punishment, but she does relish the thought of being loved
again, and so she is willing to face the reality of risk. Next
let's look at-
II. THE RELATIVITY OF RISK.
Not even all reasonable risks are equal. Ruth took a risk
going out to be a gleaner in the fields. She could have been
rebuked, and run off as a stranger, or told to go elsewhere,
and this would be demeaning. But the risk she took in
boldly coming to Boaz requesting the role of the wife in his
life was a radical risk. She could have been rejected, and
had her heart broken. Boaz liked her, and he respected her,
but he had not approached her with an offer of marriage.
Her assertive behavior could have the effect of turning him
off, and the whole thing could backfire, and leave her
crushed.
Ruth had a high capacity for risk. She risked her whole
future to stick with Naomi. She risked her all to go into the
unknown rather than take the low risk of going back to
Moab. Now we see her ready to put all of her eggs in one
basket again, and go out on a limb to win the man she loved.
I have seen Christian women lose the man they love because
they were not willing to take the risk of being bold like
Ruth, and letting him know how she felt.
What we need to see is that risk is relative to the value
that is to be gained. The higher the value the greater the
risk we should be willing to take to gain that value. Love
and marriage, and family were the highest values there
were to Naomi and Ruth. This means the risk was one that
was reasonable to them. A risk is an exposure to loss or
injury. Nobody wants to suffer loss or injury, but if there is
a reasonable chance the risk will lead to gain, then it can be
wise to take that risk.
This means that the reasonableness of risk is relative to
the values of the individual taking the risk. Like the man
who was arrested for speeding. He was asked by the judge
if he had an excuse. "Yes your honor," he said. "My wife's
church was having a rummage sale, and I was hurrying
home to save my other pair of pants." That was a
reasonable risk for him, and if we only had one other pair
of pants, we might consider it reasonable for us as well.
Ruth considered her risk very reasonable for her. She had
faith in Naomi's mature wisdom, and her insight into
human nature, and her grasp of the situation.
This was not a haphazard hair-brained scheme of a
couple of emotional women. Emotions were, no doubt, at a
high pitch, but the whole thing was well thought out. The
close she was to wear for this encounter, the perfume, the
timing of it, every detail was rehearsed to minimize the risk
of blowing it, and to maximize the chance for success.
When we look at this account with our Western eyes we see
the risk as being somewhat risqué, and hazardous from the
point of view of being inappropriate. To slip under the
covers of a man asleep in the middle of the night all alone is
not the kind of risk any mother, or mother-in-law, would
encourage a girl to do in our culture.
Preachers and Bible commentators spend a lot of time
trying to justify this whole female scheme. All we need to
recognize is that you cannot justify what is a custom in one
culture by trying to make it acceptable in another culture
where it is not the practice. There is no point in trying to
make this an acceptable way for a young woman to
approach a man in our day. In the first place, it is not a
custom in our culture for farmers to sleep out by their
harvest, nor is it a part of our culture that a relative has any
obligation to marry a widow to produce seed in order to
keep the name of his deceased relative alive.
There is no comparing of apples with oranges, and so all
we need to do is recognize that what was happening was
perfectly consistent with the godly people involved. Naomi
would do nothing that would risk Ruth's reputation, or
bring disgrace on the family name. Boaz was shocked to be
awakened in the night, and to find a woman at his feet.
This was not a routine occurrence, but he was pleased with
the gesture, and the whole method of their approach.
It was risky, for there was affection between them, and
this approach could have led to premature intimacy. That,
of course, is the risk in developing any relationship. Naomi
had confidence, however, that Boaz would treat Ruth with
respect, because he did love her. His very love for her was
the reason he would not lose the chance to be a gentleman,
and be worthy of her love. He was deeply impressed by the
need to get the legal questions settled so as to be free to have
Ruth as his own. He would not violate the laws of the land.
He had to respect the right of his near relative to redeem
Ruth if that was his will. Ruth did not have the freedom to
be his until he worked out an arrangement with the nearest
relative.
Knowing Boaz as a gentleman, and a man in love, and a
man who would not break the law and injure his relatives,
make this far less risky than it appears to us. Naomi knew
what she was doing, and Ruth took the risk of faith in her
guidance. It was a reasonable risk. Ruth was not going
after a raise or better working conditions. She was going
for a partnership in the whole estate by marriage.
When she said to Boaz as he woke up, "Spread the
corner of your garment over me," she was using familiar
language of that day. It was, in fact, the same that God used
to take Israel as his wife. In Ezek. 16:8 we read God saying,
"I spread the corner of my garment over you.....and you
become mine." At a Bedouin wedding, even today, the
groom will say, "From now on nobody but me will cover
you." To cover one with your garment is to possess that
person intimately. It is the equivalent of a marriage
proposal to ask one to cover you with their garment. Ruth
was asking Boaz, "Will you marry me?" This was bold
action based on confidence that he loved her.
It was a relatively safe risk, for she had plenty of reason
to believe that Boaz loved her, and would be happy to have
her for a wife. There were the complications with the
nearer relative, however, and because he had the first
chance to claim her, there was some risk involved. Ruth is
putting all her cards on the table so Boaz can see and know
where she is coming from. This gives him the motivation to
fight for her with the assurance it is what she wants. The
greater risk would have been to let him operate in the dark
not knowing her true feelings. You are almost always on
the right path when you risk letting people know that you
like them or love them. Next let's look at-
III. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF RISK.
Since risk is inevitable, and the greatest risk may be in
trying to avoid all risk, we have a responsibility to be risk
takers. That is, we are obligated to have values and goals
worth taking risks for, just as did Ruth and Naomi. Had
they not been risk takers their story would not exist, and
God's plan would not have been what it was. God's plan,
and their place in that plan depended on their being risk
takers.
They were risk takers for what was right, wise, and
reasonable, and they were richly rewarded for their risks.
Their very success, however, can lead us to a very wrong
conclusion about risks. We can jump to the false conclusion
that risks that are right will always pay off. If we mean by
this, we will always have a happy ending like Ruth if we
take risks, we can be very disappointed. Risks are just that,
they are risky. If risks never led to loss, they would not be
risks. Many times we can risk doing what is right and lose
by it. In the play Gloria II by the Refreshment Committee
we see her take a risk and refuse to compromise her loyalty
to Christ, and it all turned out to her advantage, and she
had a happy ending.
The fact is, however, that there is a good chance that
your loyalty may cost you a heavy price. It is a risk many
have taken around the world that has led to persecution.
The more you apply the truth of God's Word to everyday
life, the more you risk the offence of the world. Jesus did
not avoid rejection and hostility by His uncompromising
stand against the legalism of the Pharisees. It cost Him his
life. Many have risked their life to obey Jesus.
We are responsible to take risks for God's Will in life,
and not just when it is going to pay off. We are not called to
a risk free life, but to a risk full life. We are called to love,
and love is loaded with risk. If it doesn't work, you are
facing the risk of rejection, and this can hurt. If it does
work, you face the risk of disappointment and loss of that
love, and that hurts too. There is no escape of being hurt in
this life. If you don't care, you suffer the hurt of not being
loved. If you do love, you suffer the hurt of loving, and the
hurt of loss of love. You will hurt one way or the other, but
the Christian is called to take up the cross, and this means
to take on the responsibility of risking the hurts of love.
Ruth and Naomi aided each other in being responsible
for love. They took the risks necessary to see each other
have fulfilled lives. The story has a happy ending because
they took this responsibility of risks on themselves. In every
story with a happy ending somebody has to take risks. God
honors the risk taker. Look at Peter. He was the only
disciple that denied Christ outright. He was the disciple
who sank into the water, and needed to be rescued by Jesus.
He was the only disciple who had to be rebuked by Jesus,
and told to put his sword. Peter made more mistakes, and
suffered more rebukes than any other disciple. Why in the
world would Jesus make him the leader?
The answer is simple. Peter was the only one who would
risk his neck to follow Jesus into the place of His captivity,
and then have to face the risk of denial. Peter was the only
one who would take the risk of leaping out of the boat to
come to Jesus on the water. Peter was the only one who
would take the risk of drawing his sword to fight for the
protection of Jesus. Peter was a risk taker, and though it is
true that they reveal the reality of Murphy's law, his
mistakes, because he was willing to take risks, make him the
kind of person Jesus needed, and so it was with Ruth. She
pushed open the door into the life of Boaz, and by her
assertive risk taking pushed herself into the blood line of the
Messiah. Ruth is only famous, and was only used of God,
because she was a risk taker.
