Love
Ruth • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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So last week we started the conversation about Ruth. Remember last week we discussed the first chapter, and the quick over view was everyone died, and Naomi went back to Jerusalem, but in this we discussed how it could apply to us. I mentioned we needed to be honest about our pain, to choose to be loving, and finally was to do the best thing. Today we are going to jump into chapters 2 and 3 of Ruth as we discuss Love.
If you really break down what the story of Ruth is, its a love story. Not one of those terrible love stories that make you want to puke, but one of selfless devotion to another, and we will see that again tonight. Last week we were talking about the devotion that Ruth had to Naomi. This week we will take a look at someone showing that devotion to Ruth, but this story may not quite start out the way you would expect.
Ruth worked hard
Ruth worked hard
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
Ruth and Naomi still had no source of income and so the way that they would feed themselves is by gleaning in the fields.
video of wheat field
The way this would work in Jewish culture is that any stalks of wheat that the harvesters would accidentally drop would be left behind, so that anyone that was hungry and did not have access to food, could come and collect the dropped wheat. This was a difficult task, because partly the harvesters were good at their jobs. It would take almost the full day in order to pick up enough wheat for a days worth of food for a person. However Ruth was gleaning not just for herself but Naomi also. So she had to make sure that she was working hard.
Ruth took a chance
Ruth took a chance
Not only was Ruth a hard worker but we also see that she took a chance.
Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?” The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
Now you may be thinking that doesnt sound like much of a chance, she is doing what is expected. However when most people were gleaning they would wait until all the harvesters had cleared the area, and collected all of the wheat, and carried them off to be processed. However Ruth decided that if she was going to gather enough wheat she had to do something different, and so she took a chance. She asked the workers if she could glean right behind the harvesters. As they were cutting and bundling the wheat.
Most farm owners in this time would not be willing to accomodate such a request, however Boaz was different. Boaz not only told his workers to allow her request, but he also told Ruth that she could have access to any of the water that his men had brought with them from the well.
Again this is a huge change in culture, as it was normally expected that women were to draw the water for the men, not the other way around. So by taking this chance she was able to receive so much more. Next we see Ruths response
At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
We can see here that Boaz saw Ruth not just as a young woman that he was attracted to, but as we can see he saw her character. He was impressed with the way that she took care of Naomi, and the sacrifices that she made for her. And in fact he was so impressed with her, and her sacrifice instead of only taking home a single days worth of grain, Boaz instead sent her home with 28 pounds of grain. Now each pound of grain can translate into about 4 cups of flour. So that would be like him handing her approximately 112 cups of flour. Now I know we used to go to our neighbor and ask to borrow a bit of sugar, but 112 cups is a lot of flour for someone to just give away.
Now here is where the story of Ruth gets real interesting.
Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”
So Naomi now tells Ruth that this guy is actually a relative and if you remember the social security of that time was that the closest relative would marry them, and then would give them a son. So Naomi here told Ruth to go and make herself look good. However she wasnt just telling her to look nice like a date, but what she was describing was what a bride would do to prepare for her wedding.
Then to lay down at Boaz’s feet and pretty much let him figure it out. Now I will be honest, this is a whole God thing, because guys are terrible at taking hints, or at least I am. So for this plan to work, Boaz would have to take a pretty big hint at what she was implying, which was that she wanted him to be her kinsman redeemer.
In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet! “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.”
Well first of all, if I wake up in the middle of the night and some strange person is sleeping at my feet, I have questions. A lot of them. Starting with, who are you, and why are you here?
Well thankfully Ruth decided to not beat around the bush and to just be straight forward with why she was there. No hints needed. Now again this was Ruth taking a huge chance because this was Ruth basically proposing to Boaz, which is not common today, but then it was unheard of. Boaz could have easily had her removed and no one would have ever heard of her again, but lets take a look at what he says.
“The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.
Here we see Boaz was not upset, but was even more impressed with her than he was before after seeing her work ethic. And basically told her, you dont have to worry about a thing, I am going to make sure that Ruth was going to be taken care of. However it wasnt quite that easy, because as Boaz looked into the matter of being the kinsman redeemer, he found that there was another relative that was closer to Ruth, and he must be given the option to marry her before he could, and we see chapter 3 close out with these words from Naomi.
Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”
So we can see now that the story of Ruth is more than just a great hallmark movie. Its the story of someones sacrificial love the story of people willing to give everything to care for another. There are a couple of things I want to point out about this kind of love.
Loving Kindness is Intentional
Loving Kindness is Intentional
All throughout the story of Ruth we see that she had to make intentional decisions. First she made the decision to stay with Naomi,. Then she decided to glean, then to ask to stay with the harvesters, finally telling Boaz that he was the kinsman redeemer. She understood that she had to be intentional to help take care of Naomi. She also showed amazing courage at each of those points. She could have lost everything any time she took that intentional step, but to her the risk was worth it.
Loving Kindness is Patient
Loving Kindness is Patient
Next we see that this whole story takes time. It didnt happen in the course of a day, a week, or even a month. It took months of hard work to help Naomi, before she even realized that marrying Boaz was a possibility. She simply worked every day patiently to take care of Naomi.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
There are people around you that you need to show patience to. Maybe its a friend, maybe a teacher, maybe a parent. Part of loving others, includes being patient and trusting God to be the one to work things out.
Loving Kindness Sacrifices
Loving Kindness Sacrifices
We see so many sacrifices in this story, first the sacrifice of Ruth for Naomi, now we see the sacrifices that Boaz made for Ruth. Gave up portions of his harvest, which meant gave up money, and finally committing to marry her which we will hear more about next week.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James reminds us that the point of Religion, is not to make ourselves feel better but to help look after others, and care for others. In order to do this it will require sacrifice. Boaz showed this type of love, the love for the widows of Ruth and Naomi. In the end there was nothing that they could do to give him any value and yet he sacrificed for them. That is true love.
Who in your sphere of influence do you need to show that kind of love to. A love that is willing to sacrifice to make others better.