How to be Blessed By God
(Ruth)
You may remember a few weeks ago
we did a survey and all of you got to vote for your favorite bible stories, the stories that you’d really like us to teach about on Sunday morning.
Well, this morning we’re starting a new series that we’ll do for the rest of this summer on the top ten stories you chose.
Today we’ll start with number 10, next week number 9, and so on up to number 1.
Now over the last few weeks I’ve had a bunch of people ask me if their favorite story made it into the top ten.
But that information is highly secret right now –
only pastor Chris and I know.
Even my wife and my daughter were asking me…
and I told them what I’ve told everyone else If I told you then I’d have to kill you.
So you’ll just have to come each week and find out if that’s the week for your favorite story.
But for this week, the number ten story, the one with the tenth highest votes is:
the story of RUTH.
So if you have your bibles,
turn to the book of Ruth.
Ruth 1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a man from Bethlehem in Judah left the country because of a severe famine. He took his wife and two sons and went to live in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. ….
During their stay in Moab, 3 Elimelech died and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her husband or sons.
6 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah. 8 But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back to your mothers’ homes instead of coming with me. And may the LORD reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. 9 May the LORD bless you with the security of another marriage." Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept. …..
skipping to verse 14,
and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth insisted on staying with Naomi. 15 "See," Naomi said to her, "your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same." 16 But Ruth replied, "Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 I will die where you die and will be buried there. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!" 18 So when Naomi saw that Ruth had made up her mind to go with her, she stopped urging her.
22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Ruth 2 Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech. 2 One day Ruth said to Naomi, "Let me go out into the fields to gather leftover grain behind anyone who will let me do it."
And Naomi said, "All right, my daughter, go ahead." 3 So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech. 4 While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. "The LORD be with you!" he said.
"The LORD bless you!" the harvesters replied. 5 Then Boaz asked his foreman, "Who is that girl over there?" 6 And the foreman replied, "She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. …..
8 Boaz went over and said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the women working in my field. 9 See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to bother you. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well." 10 Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. "Why are you being so kind to me?" she asked. "I am only a foreigner." 11 "Yes, I know," Boaz replied. "But I also know about the love and kindness you have shown your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. 12 May the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully." 13 "I hope I continue to please you, sir," she replied. "You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not as worthy as your workers." …..
23 So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she worked with them through the wheat harvest, too. But all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.
Ruth 3 One day Naomi said to Ruth, "My daughter, it’s time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. 2 Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his workers. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3 Now do as I tell you--take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished his meal. 4 Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do." 5 "I will do everything you say," Ruth replied. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law. 7 After Boaz had finished his meal and was in good spirits, he lay down beside the heap of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Around midnight, Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! 9 "Who are you?" he demanded.
"I am your servant Ruth," she replied. "Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer." 10 "The LORD bless you, my daughter!" Boaz exclaimed. "You are showing more family loyalty now than ever by not running after a younger man, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are an honorable woman. ….
Chapter 4
…….13 So Boaz married Ruth and took her home to live with him. When he slept with her, the LORD enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son…..
17 And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David….
When Benjamin Franklin was the Ambassador to France, he attended the Infidels Club, which was a group that spent most of its time searching for and reading literary masterpieces.
But this group contained a bunch of atheists,
so they really looked down on the Bible.
One time Franklin read the book of Ruth to the club, but changed the names so they wouldn’t recognize it as a book of the Bible.
When he finished, all the listeners praised the story and said that it was one of the most beautiful short stories they’d ever heard, and they demanded that he tell them where he found such a remarkable story –
until Franklin told them that it came right out of their Bible.
There’s something about stories where everything in life is falling apart, things look hopeless,
the situation is desperate,
but then somehow it all comes together and there’s a happy ending.
I think the reason we all like those kind of stories, is that, for all of us,
things at times feel hopeless,
things in our lives feel like they’re falling apart.
We keep working at our marriages,
but it feels like its never going to get better,
we keep trying to be great parents,
but our kids aren’t turning out like we thought they would,
we keep hoping the right job will come along,
so we can be fulfilled and happy in our work,
but it hasn’t happened yet.
So we all have this inner hope that
if we keep on keeping on,
and if we’re patient, and do the right things,
that maybe things will eventually turn around,
and we’ll reach the fairy tale ending we were hoping for.
But real life never has a fairy tale ending, does it.
Real life never turns out that well.
Or does it?
The truth is, it does sometimes.
In the book of Ruth,
we see a true story of where it does work out that way,
there is a fairy tale ending,
the poor wretched girl at the end of her rope
does find true love and end up rich and famous.
She even ends us becoming the great grandmother of King David,
and has a book of the Bible written about her.
I’d call that a fairy tale ending.
It does sound like she lived happily ever after.
But when you study this story,
you see that these good things didn’t come into Ruth’s life by pure chance.
These good things happened because she did several things right along the way,
and God blessed her as a result.
There’s some principles we can learn from this story.
There are things we can do in life
that bring God’s blessing on us if we do them,
but will actually prevent God’s blessing if we don’t do them.
So I want to look at those things today.
The first way to bring God’s blessing onto your life, is
Step out in faith.
Verse 14:
Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth insisted on staying with Naomi.
Why did Ruth stay, but Orpah went back home?
We don’t really know,
it doesn’t tell us.
The only thing we do know is that logically, Orpah did the smarter thing,
the less risky thing.
It made sense for her to stay in her own country,
with the people she knew,
where she had a better chance of getting remarried and being provided for.
That made more sense.
So why didn’t Ruth go back, too?
I believe that God was speaking to Ruth,
and telling her to stay with Naomi.
Now, Ruth may not have known it was God.
Many times, when God speaks to you,
you’re not sure its God.
You don’t hear an audible voice,
there’s no thunderbolt out of heaven,
you just have a strong impression that something is the right thing to do.
In fact, I believe that God speaks to all of us.
I believe that He’s spoken to everyone in this room,
whether you’ve realized it or not.
He’s told you something he wants you to do,
or a direction he wants you to go,
or changes that need to take place in your life.
I don’t know what he’s saying to you,
but I do know that he’s saying something,
he’s speaking to you somehow.
And I also know that
if you want to follow him, and be blessed by him,
and do the thing he wants you to do,
you’re going to have to step out in faith,
and take a risk.
Following God is always and continually a matter of stepping out in faith,
of taking the next step, of taking the next risk for God.
I don’t care if you’ve been a believer for 5 days or 50 years,
if you’re not stepping out in faith,
and taking risks for God somewhere in your life,
then you’re not growing, you’re stagnating.
Because the bible says,
without faith its impossible to please God.
Remember the story where the disciples are in the boat
and Jesus comes walking to them on the water?
Peter says, Jesus, I want to walk on the water too.
Jesus says, Then get out of the boat.
Faith is getting out of the boat.
If you want to walk on water
you’ve got to get out of the boat.
If you want to follow Jesus,
you’ve got to get out of the boat,
because Jesus isn’t in the boat,
he’s out on the water.
And Jesus is looking for people who will get out of the boat.
The water may look dark and dangerous,
but that’s where Jesus is,
out on the water,
he’s not in the safety of the boat.
Maybe you’ve been huddling in the bottom of the boat for years, fearful of taking that first step of faith.
God is calling you to take the step,
and even if you start to sink,
Jesus is there on the water,
he’ll take your hand and hold you up.
You see,
faith is not a feeling, it’s a choice.
You might get up tomorrow morning and say,
Oh no, its Monday,
I don’t feel like going to work.
But you do it anyway,
because it’s the right thing to do especially if you want to be able to pay the rent next month
and put food on the table.
We can choose to do things we don’t feel like,
just because it’s the right thing.
And Jesus says, you get to choose,
whether you want to act in faith.
Jesus always gives us a choice.
He tells us things like
If you want to follow me,
then deny yourself and take up your cross.
But he says if.
We have to choose.
When I was at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis,
I felt like in my senior year that I should start a bible study in my company.
(Live in 36 companies of about 120 guys, 25 or 30 each of fresh/soph/etc
I was in 2nd Company)
Now when I felt God telling me that I should start this Bible study,
I had all sorts of reasons why maybe this wasn’t a good idea.
For one thing, I’d never led a bible study before,
2nd, most of my classmates in my company weren’t exactly open to the idea of a bible study.
In fact, 2nd company had a reputation at the Naval Academy.
A bunch of the guys liked to say that they were part of the 2nd company Garden Club, because they went out every Saturday night and drank till they turned into vegetables.
So you can imagine the peer pressure from all my classmates,
when they hear that Ken Ritz is going to lead a what? A Bible study? In 2nd company?
3rd, I hadn’t always set a great example as a Christian, myself.
A couple years earlier I’d gotten caught drinking in town with 6 other guys from 2nd company, at a time when it off limits, and we all got a bunch of demerits and had to march early in the morning for weeks.
So there were several reasons why I had some serious doubts about this idea of starting a bible study.
But I felt like it was what God wanted,
so I stepped out in faith, and did it,
and I didn’t try to hide it or downplay it.
I asked that it be announced in front of the whole company every week on the day of the bible study.
and we had a regular group of about 5 guys that showed up.
But of course, no one from the Garden Club ever came.
Here’s the interesting part.
I went back to the Naval Academy for my 10 year reunion.
I hadn’t seen most of these guys since we graduated.
One of the guys from the garden club came up to me,
he said, Ken, I wanted to let you know that I’ve become a Christian.
Later, another guy from garden club talks to me, and he tells me he’s committed his life to Christ.
Then I heard of another, and another.
In fact, out of my 25 2nd company classmates,
about half are now living for Jesus Christ.
Now that’s certainly not all due to the fact that I simply started a bible study,
and invited everyone,
and was very open about it,
but I wonder what would have happened if I’d refused to step out in faith, decided not to take a risk?
When’s the last time you stepped out in faith,
and took a risk?
What is God telling you right now that he wants you to do?
The first way to have your life blessed by God, is to step out in faith.
Ruth took a risk in faith.
and God blessed her life.
In Ruth 2:11 Boaz is talking to Ruth and says,
I know about the love and kindness you have shown your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. May the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully."
Notice that last verse.
Boaz says, Ruth I know how you turned to God for help,
I know how you took refuge under his wings,
And so I ask God to reward you fully for your faith.
And that’s what God did.
He rewarded Ruth fully,
way beyond what she ever hoped for.
He blessed her life, because of her faith.
But not only does Ruth step out in faith
she goes farther.
She makes a radical commitment of her life to God.
And that’s the second step to having your life blessed by God.
2. Make a radical commitment to God.
Ruth says in verse 16
I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. I will die where you die and will be buried there. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!"
Ruth is not making a half-hearted commitment here.
She’s not saying,
Oh well, I guess I’ll go with you.
I don’t have anything better right now,
so, why not, I’ll go with you.
No, she is radically committed.
She says: I am leaving everything else behind.
Everything from my past, my country, all my relationships,
I’m leaving them all.
Because I want to go with you and serve the true God that you do.
And nothing, not even death, is going to stop me.
That kind of commitment reminds me of the Hank Williams song, called "Hey Good Looking" where he sings...
I’m going to throw my date book over the fence
And buy me one for five or ten cents
I’ll keep it till it’s covered with age
Because I’m writing your name down on every page.
When you’re radically committed to somebody,
you don’t hold onto your old date book
with some other options in case things don’t work out.
You throw out all other options.
You’re committed.
Ruth threw out all other options.
She says, I don’t care if it kills me, I’m committed.
That’s why this scripture in Ruth
is often used in weddings.
I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. I will die where you die.
Its not even talking about a marriage relationship,
yet the commitment is so strong that it describes a great marriage.
If you have that kind of commitment in a marriage,
that marriage is going to work.
Its gonna be good.
Now you need to understand
the story of Ruth is not just a nice story about King David’s great-grandmother and how she got blessed by God.
Everything in the Bible is there for a purpose,
and this story is a picture put there by God
to show us something.
You see, in Chapter 3 verse 9 it tells us that
Boaz was Ruth’s family redeemer,
or (most translations) kinsman redeemer.
Now, some of you are saying, what is that?
Redeemer is a word you don’t hear much,
and some of you probably don’t have any clue what that means.
That’s because you probably never collected S&H Green stamps.
Anybody here ever collect those?
When I was growing up my mother would get these green stamps at the grocery store and we’d lick them and paste them into a little book,
and when the book was full,
and we’d take them to a redemption center to redeem them for cool stuff like toasters or egg beaters.
By the way, they still do S&H in some parts of the country only now they’re called green points,
and you can earn them by shopping online,
or you can even get an S&H Visa card.
But the point is that a redeemer is someone who cashes these things in for something else.
To redeem means to free up something
by paying for it.
Its like you’re freeing that toaster from the redemption center
when you redeem it.
The word redeem in the bible is used to describe
paying-off someone’s debt – or buying someone from slavery so they can be free.
You see, at that time in Israel,
every family owned some of the land.
and God gave the Israelites a kinsman redeemer law that did two things.
First it protected poor families from losing their land
and not being able to get it back.
2nd this law protected widows from poverty.
If a man died and he left a widow with no sons and no means of support, then according to this kinsman redeemer law,
his nearest relative had the responsibility to buy his land back, and marry his widow
and support her.
If the nearest relative refused, then the next closest kin would take on the role of the redeemer.
There was a catch. The kinsman-redeemer couldn’t make the decision to redeem on his own. He had to be asked by the widow to buy back her husband’s land.
So that’s what the widow Ruth did in this story.
She asked to be redeemed.
The amazing thing is,
This is just an old testament picture of exactly what Jesus does for us today.
He is our redeemer, just like Boaz was Ruth’s redeemer.
Now Ruth’s redeemer had to be a relative
related by blood.
And in the same way,
Jesus came to earth as a human being
and took on flesh and blood so he could redeem us.
How?
Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
Jesus redeems us through his death on the cross,
where he paid for all our sins,
and bought us with the price of his death.
But just like Ruth had to ask Boaz to redeem her,
we have to ask Jesus to redeem us,
he doesn’t do it unless we ask.
You see, this whole story of Ruth,
was put in the Bible by God,
to show us a picture of how we could be redeemed by Jesus.
Of how,
No matter where we are in life,
even when we’re at the end of our rope,
and we are guilty and ashamed of all we’ve done,
or maybe other people have hurt us and let us down,
when we are stressed out and frustrated with life,
and our relationships are trashed,
No matter what’s happened in our lives,
Jesus is willing to redeem us,
and bring huge blessings into our lives,
just like Boaz redeemed Ruth and brought a huge blessing to her life.
This story is also a picture of how our relationship with Jesus is like a marriage.
When we commit our life to Jesus,
its sort of like being married to him.
That’s why the church is called the bride of Christ.
All of us in the church are married to Christ.
just like Ruth got married to Boaz.
But this marriage is a little different from our customs.
In the US, traditionally,
the man asks the woman to get married
(though that’s not necessarily how it works anymore)
But in this story of Ruth, she was the one asking to get married.
And it’s the same with you and me.
Jesus won’t make us part of his bride,
or his church,
He won’t make us a Christian,
unless we ask him.
Now, when you get married to somebody,
you commit your life to them,
you leave everyone else behind,
that person becomes the most important person alive, to you.
Same thing with your relationship to Jesus.
you commit your life to Him,
He becomes the most important person alive, to you.
and nobody, or nothing else
comes between you and Jesus.
That’s the radical commitment he asks for.
And when you give him that kind of commitment,
he brings blessings into your life.
But the key here is,
you’ve got to ask,
in order to be redeemed, just like Ruth had to ask Boaz.
Think about it.
Where was Orpah in this picture?
You know something?
Boaz was the kinsman redeemer of Orpah too.
Orpah could have had what Ruth had,
Orpah could have been blessed by God too.
We could have had a book in the Bible called the book of Orpah.
But we don’t.
Orpah turned and went back to her own people and to her own gods, she is never heard from again – she has no part in the inheritance. Orpah didn’t get blessed by God.
Why?
Because Orpah didn’t step out in faith,
Orpah didn’t make a radical commitment to God.
And Orpah didn’t asked to be redeemed by her redeemer.
Let me ask you something.
Are you living your life like Orpah?
Do you look around and see other people’s lives being blessed by God,
but not you?
You have a redeemer who wants to bring blessings into your life.
Your redeemer, Jesus,
wants you to be happy and fulfilled.
But he also wants you to live a life of faith,
and he wants you to be radically committed to him,
so that he can bless you.
I don’t know about you, but that’s how I want to live my life.
I don’t want a half-hearted commitment,
because people like that never get anywhere in life.
Like the kamikaze pilot who flew 27 missions.
If you’re only committed half-way,
you’re just wasting your time.
I want to be like the guy who went after Moby Dick in a rowboat,
and took along the tartar sauce.
I love stories about pilots, since I used to be one.
There’s a true story about a Chinese fighter pilot back in the 1930’s when Japan attacked China.
and the Chinese military at that time was being overwhelmed by Japan’s military might.
But the Chinese were fighting for their homeland,
so they were radically committed.
One day this Chinese pilot named Art Chen, was flying
and he got into a battle with 3 Japanese fighters.
Well, he managed to shoot one of them down,
but then he ran out of ammunition,
and so he rammed into another one,
knocked it out of the sky, but also wrecked his own plane,
so he bailed out.
He landed near the wreckage of his plane,
went over and managed to salvage one of the machine guns, and carried it 8 miles back to his base.
Then he went up to his commanding officer and said,
Sir, can I have another airplane for my machine gun?
I love that kind of radical commitment.
Those are the kind of people that change the world.
And those are the kind of people that God loves to bless.
Let me talk about one last thing we see in Ruth,
that brought God’s blessing into her life.
If you want to bring God’s blessing into your life,
you need to HUMBLE YOURSELF.
In fact,
The absolute easiest way for you to stop God from blessing your life,
is just get prideful.
God hates pride.
He detests it.
It is number one on his list of what he hates,
and he will not bless a prideful person.
Over and over again in the bible God says things like,
If you humble yourself,
then I’ll exalt you,
but if you exalt yourself,
then watch out buddy, because I’m going to bring you down,
I’m gonna humble you,
and you won’t enjoy it.
God hates pride,
but he loves humility.
We see evidence all through this story
of how humble Ruth was.
She was humble in several ways.
First in her actions
In Verse 2 Ruth said to Naomi, "Let me go out into the fields to gather leftover grain behind anyone who will let me do it."
She was basically going out as a beggar,
By doing this she was letting the whole world know,
I don’t even have enough food to eat,
She was humbling herself.
She didn’t have to do this.
Naomi didn’t.
But Ruth humbled herself.
She was also humble in her words.
13 "I hope I continue to please you, sir," she replied. "You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not as worthy as your workers."
Finally she was humble in her obedience.
She obeys Naomi,
when Naomi tells her how to ask for Boaz to redeem her.
You see, its obvious from reading this story,
that Boaz was older than her,
and Ruth could have chased after one of the young handsome dudes in the town,
but instead, she humbly obeyed Naomi.
Ruth 3:10
"The LORD bless you, my daughter!" Boaz exclaimed. "You are showing more family loyalty now than ever by not running after a younger man.
If she hadn’t humbled herself to obey Naomi,
Ruth wouldn’t have been blessed by God.
And if you are prideful and don’t humble yourself,
then I can guarantee that you’ll limit God’s blessing on your life.
The problem is that,
pride is an area we’re all blind to.
You don’t think you have a problem with pride.
None of us in this room think that.
We can’t see it ourselves.
So here’s how you can find out where it is
in your life.
I challenge you to go ask a couple of the people who know you the best,
What areas do you see pride in me?
If you’re married and really brave,
you’ll ask your husband or wife
because I guarantee, they’ll let you know.
But don’t ask them,
am I proud? That’s too general a question.
You need specifics.
So ask them,
What areas do you see pride in me?
You may be very surprised to hear the response.
We’re going to close in a minute,
but I want to point out again,
that the story of Ruth doesn’t end with Ruth and Boaz.
Because they have a son named Obed,
who has a son named Jesse,
who has a son named David,
who becomes the greatest king of Israel.
But the story doesn’t end there either,
because David has children,
and they have children,
and then one day, one of David’s descendants named Mary has a son named Jesus,
who becomes the kinsman redeemer for the whole human race.
That’s why the story of Ruth is so important.
Now some of you may not have been redeemed yet.
Because you haven’t asked Jesus to redeem you.
You see, you were born just like Ruth,
an outsider, a foreigner to God’s family.
But he’s willing to redeem you if you ask him.
So I’m going to give you an opportunity to pray a simple prayer,
and you can ask him this morning.
Lets stand for prayer – (Band come up)
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for all you’ve done for us. Thank you for putting this story of Ruth in the Bible so we can see a picture of how much you love us, and see how you planned out from the very beginning a way for us to be redeemed, and have our sins paid for and washed away, so that we can be a part of your family without guilt or shame, and so we can have eternal life with you.
Now if you’ve never given your life to Jesus, you can just pray along with me right now.
Pray this silently, in your heart ---
Jesus, thank you for becoming my redeemer, thank you for paying for all the wrong things I’ve done, and thank you for forgiving me. I want to give my life to you now, and make you the manager and boss. I ask you to put your Holy Spirit in me so that I’ll have the desire and the strength to live for you and do the things you want. I thank you for loving me enough to redeem me, thank you for giving me a great inheritance that lasts forever, and thank you for making me a part of your family.
