Sharing God's Grace With Others Series

SHARING GOD'S GRACE WITH OTHERS

Ruth 2:17-23

Brady Singer is a Kansas City Royals pitching prospect who was the 18th overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft. His contract with the Royals included a 4.25 million dollar signing bonus. Upon receiving this bonus, Singer decided to do something very special for his parents. The 22 year old Florida native wrote them a letter and said "the money you both spent on traveling, gear, hotels, food, and all those Gatorades I drank is much more than I could ever give you, but there is something I want to give to you, I paid off the loan from the bank and I paid (off the rest of) your debt as well". I can't imagine what a wonderful feeling this must have been for this young man.

It is very exciting to be able to give something to the people that you love. As Christians, we possess something special that we can and should share with others, especially those who mean the most to us. You may not have the money to pay off their financial debt, but you can show them that their sin debt is actually paid in full. You may not be able to provide them with an early retirement, but you can tell them how to receive eternal life. You may not be able to buy them a house, but you can tell them how to receive a clear title to a mansion.

We who are "in Christ" have received the gift of God's amazing grace. It is our responsibility to share that gift with others. In our selected text Ruth has received grace from a man named Boaz. Ruth responded by sharing this grace with her mother-in-law, Naomi.

- I would like to walk through this passage and preach on the subject "Sharing God's Grace With Others".

Ruth and Naomi had left Moab and returned to Naomi's homeland of Bethlehem. The famine that had plagued Bethlehem was over and God was giving His people bread (Ruth 1:6). Ruth and Naomi were poor lonely widows with no one to care for them. So Ruth decides that she is going out to seek someone who would show her grace. She was hoping to glean in the fields and collect enough food to sustain herself and Naomi. By God's divine providence Ruth came to a field owned by a man named Boaz. Ruth went out into the field and began to gather grain behind the harvesters. When Boaz arrived, Ruth immediately caught his eye. Boaz approached Ruth and invited her to abide in his fields. He then instructed his laborers to treat her kindly and not to take advantage of her. He also had them leave behind handfuls of grain so that Ruth would have more than enough to eat.

Ruth was overwhelmed by the grace she had received from Boaz. Verse 10 shows us how she responded to this grace - v10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? There was nothing Ruth had done that would make her worthy of all that Boaz was going to do for her. Ruth experienced grace simply because of who Boaz was. There is no way that we could be worthy of the grace that has been extended to us. But we can experience grace simply because of who Jesus is! Once we have experienced His grace, we should share it with others!

- This passage shows us at least 4 things about God's grace that we should share with others. The first thing we see is that:

I. WE SHOULD TELL OTHERS ABOUT THE SOURCE OF GRACE

v17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.18 And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. 19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz. 20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.

After gleaning in the field all day, Ruth gathered about an "ephah of barley". An "ephah" is about a half bushel, this was enough to sustain these women for a week. When she returned home with this bounty Naomi said "where in the world did you get all of that?" Ruth responded by telling Naomi about the source of grace. She said "I met a man today who showed me grace. He was kind to me and gave me all of this barley." Naomi said "what is his name?" and Ruth said his name is "Boaz".