Working Together

Good morning. It's my joy to be with you all again and bring God's Word to you.

A special welcome if you're a visitor, but welcome to all of you, whether you've been coming here for many years or this is your first time.

I'm glad you're here. And I'm glad you're here not because we're interested in filling seats or we want high numbers,

but I'm glad you're here because we are trying to follow after Jesus.

And we're convinced that there is no one so good that they don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it.

And so I'm glad you're here because I know that there is something that all of us need and all of us are here

because we have something to learn, to grow as we follow after Jesus, learning how to be disciples.

If you have been with us over the last several weeks, you know that we are in the book of Ruth.

And you'll remember I've been saying that the book of Ruth is a book about suffering.

It's a book about suffering because it's a book about widows.

And it's a book about suffering because it's a book about people who live in a country where they weren't born.

But we've also been saying the last couple of weeks that it's a book about redemption

because it's about God meeting and sustaining those very same people in the midst of suffering.

And ultimately, it's about God's chesed.

Remember we talked about the Hebrew word chesed, which means God's never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.

And so it's a book about first God's never stopping love to us, primarily.

And then secondarily, our never stopping love to those around us.

If you've been with us from the beginning, you know that we started out, we met a woman named Naomi.

Naomi originally lived in the land of Israel, but there was a famine in the land of Israel.

And so Naomi and her husband Elimelech and their two sons left Israel for the pagan land of Moab.

They left God's people in search of food.

And while they were there, Elimelech, Naomi's husband, passed away as well as her two sons.

And so we began to ask the question about suffering.

Is God still in charge? Is he still in control when tragedy strikes?

And we saw that even in the dark, God was preparing a way for Naomi and her two daughters-in-law to return to the land of Israel.

That at the very same time, God had visited his land with food.

So we saw them return.

And as they were going back, Naomi makes the best case she can to her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, that they should go back.

That they should not return with her to the land of Israel because that would only be to continue in her suffering.

But against all odds, we saw that Ruth committed to Naomi.

And so we learn that faith commits to those who are suffering, even when there's nothing to gain.

We continue to follow in chapter 1 the story of Naomi.

Naomi, she returned to Israel.

And despite all of God's provision around her, the provision of Ruth and the provision of food,

she believed that God was against her.

And so we asked the question, is God against us in the midst of tragedy?

And we saw again, know that God is working to sustain and redeem his people.

And so we kept going.

We saw that Ruth had to suffer the consequences or face the reality of living as a foreigner in the land of Israel.

And so we asked, how do we sustain the life of faith day by day?

And we saw that when God's people go on God's mission, God sustains them and holds them up.

And so then last week, we asked if God sustains his people when they go on his mission, what is that mission?

We'd seen before that it was the commitment of Ruth to Naomi.

But here in the example of Boaz, we saw that God's mission is a mission to the vulnerable, the foreigner,

those who are on the outskirts of society.

And now this week, we're going to ask if that is God's mission,

if God's mission is to the foreigner, to those who need a home,

to those who are helpless without God's grace,

then how does God accomplish that mission?

How does God accomplish his mission?

I'm going to give you two teasers as we start.

As I've done before, there's a few things that I did not highlight last week

in our passage that we are now going to look at.

So we talked about the concept of the Redeemer last week.

Remember that the Redeemer is someone who buys someone else out of slavery in the broad sense.

God had redeemed his people out of slavery as a great Redeemer.

And so he called on his people as little Redeemers to keep each other from slavery.

And so the Redeemer was a relative who, if someone in their family was sold into slavery,

they would buy them back.

They would buy their freedom.

If there was land that had been given up, they would buy that land back too.

But we did not talk about another responsibility of the Redeemer.

And the responsibility we did not talk about was the fact that sometimes Redeemer's job

was to continue the family line.

If a man died and he did not have any children,

then the Redeemer could marry the widow to continue that man's descendants,

to continue his name.

And the reason for that was because God had set up the world in such a way

that the family was its core unit.

And he also wanted to make sure that there did not come a situation in his land

where people were slaves, not maybe formally but informally,

where land became diluted,

where there were some people who had lots of land and some who had none.

And so he wanted to keep there from becoming this great disparity

between the rich and the poor.

And so sometimes a Redeemer would not just restore someone

in terms of their status as a slave or their status as someone without land,

but he'd restore them by continuing the family line.

And so in chapter 2, verse 20,

when Naomi tells Ruth,

this man is a close relative of ours, one of our Redeemers,

it raises the question,

not only could this man be generous to us,

not only could he redeem us out of poverty,

but would this be the man that would continue the line of Elimelech?

Elimelech's name was repeated multiple times in chapter 2

in reference to Boaz.

And so that also raised the question,

would Boaz play a role as more than just a generous man?

And then finally, in the very end of chapter 2, it says,

so she kept close to the young women of Boaz,

gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests.

And she, that is Ruth, lived with her mother-in-law.

In other words, the author of Ruth is teasing us.

The author has laid out these breadcrumbs for us, these hints,

and yet nothing has happened.

She's still living with her mother-in-law.

In other words, there is still not a man for either of them.

And so that lays the groundwork for chapter 3.

I'm also going to give you another teaser.

I'm going to test your memory a little bit.

All the way back on July 1st,

I told you that when we read the book of Ruth,

there were going to be a lot of words

that appeared only twice in the book.

I'm not going to ask for a show of hands,

but I am curious who remembers that

all the way back from July 1st.

Well, I told you that in preparation for today

because we are finally going to have a payoff.

We've seen the first occurrence of most of these words,

and the second occurrence for most of them

is going to occur in chapter 3.

So my challenge for you as we read

is to see if you can catch

what are the words that only appear twice in the book of Ruth,

in the second instance is in chapter 3.

So without further ado,

we're going to jump right into Ruth chapter 3.

Ruth 3 · chapter mention

Remember that this is God's word.

And God tells us that his word is more precious than gold,

even the finest gold.

And it is sweeter than honey,

even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

And so we're going to turn to it now.

We're in Ruth chapter 3, starting at verse 1.

Ruth 3 · chapter mention

Verse 4.

Verse 5.

Verse 5.

Verse 5.

Verse 5.

Verse 6.

Verse 6.

Verse 6.

And she answered,

I am Ruth, your servant.

Spread your wings over your servant,

for you are a redeemer.

And he said,

May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter.

You have made this kindness greater than the first,

and that you have not gone after young men,

whether poor or rich.

And now, my daughter, do not fear.

I will do for you all that you ask,

for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.

Verse 12.

And now it is true that I am a redeemer.

Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.

Remain tonight,

and in the morning,

if he will redeem you,

good, let him do it.

But if he is not willing to redeem you,

then as the Lord lives,

I will redeem you.

Lie down until the morning.

So she lay at his feet until the morning,

but arose before one could recognize another.

And he said,

Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.

Verse 15.

And he said,

Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.

So she held it,

and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her.

Then she went into the city.

And when she came to her mother-in-law,

she said,

How did you fare, my daughter?

Then she told her all that the man had done for her,

saying,

These six measures of barley he gave to me,

for he said to me,

You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.

She replied,

Wait, my daughter,

until you learn how the matter turns out,

for the man will not rest,

but will settle the matter today.

Please pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Dear Father in heaven,

we thank you

that you are a good and loving Father

who wants us to be wise.

And so you've given us this story in your word.

We ask that you would send your Spirit to help us.

Because without your help, we are dead.

But with it, we are alive.

And so we ask that you would help us understand

everything that you have written about yourself in your word.

We ask it in the name of your Son.

Amen.

Amen.

If you remember from the very end of chapter 2,

Boaz has not done anything about being a redeemer.

He's made no move.

He's done nothing except be generous.

And so in the middle of this question

about what's going to happen

with this final element of redemption,

the redemption of the family line,

there's not a single thing he's done.

And so we see here that Naomi decides to take action into her own hands.

Last week, we saw the first positive word from Naomi in the entire book.

In verse 20,

she blesses the Lord,

whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead.

And now we continue to see her progression as she is moving from...

Her original statement was that she had gone from full to empty.

And now she starts to move from empty to full.

And part of it is that she becomes an active player in the process.

She comes up with this plan.

My daughter, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you?

Verse 1.

She has found some information.

Somehow, Naomi has done gleaning of her own.

And she happens to know exactly what Boaz is going to be doing that night.

And so she comes up with a risky but well-calculated plan.

It's risky because Ruth is going to have to go down by herself to the threshing floor.

There's the potential of there being other women there,

the potential of being other threshers there.

But it's also calculated

because Naomi has thought through everything.

In verse 3, she makes sure that Ruth is going to be very careful and secret.

Do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

So Ruth is going to stay in hiding

until Boaz is at the optimal moment to be as generous as possible.

He'll be full of food.

He'll have had something good to drink.

And he'll be a man who's in a good mood.

But she doesn't just think of that.

But there's going to potentially be other people at the threshing floor.

And so how is she going to be able to guarantee

that only Ruth and Boaz are there together?

Well, there's this plan of uncovering the feet.

Go and uncover his feet and lie down and he will tell you what to do.

And we see as the plan is carried out that it works perfectly.

She goes down and does just as her mother-in-law had commanded her.

Verse 6,

Boaz eats and drinks.

He's feeling good.

He lies down.

And then we find out the brilliance of the foot plan.

Because it's going to serve as something of a time bomb here.

She's going to uncover his feet after he's gone to sleep.

Now think about this for a second.

You're outside.

We know this in Colorado.

What happens in the middle of the night?

It gets really cold.

Yeah.

The temperature drops.

And so his feet are waiting there for when the temperature drops.

At the right moment.

After everyone else has left.

And Ruth is just following the plan.

She's lying down at the feet.

I'm just going to pause for one second and say there are some people

who have suggested that there's some innuendo going on in this chapter.

I'm not going to go into all the details of the Hebrew right now.

I'd be happy to talk about it with you later.

All I'm going to say is this.

There is no innuendo.

When she uncovers the feet, she is literally uncovering his literal feet.

Okay?

And if you read something else, I'm happy to talk to you about it.

But we are told that Boaz is an honorable man and that Ruth is an honorable man.

We have no reason to believe otherwise here.

So this time bomb goes off.

It finally gets cold.

Boaz notices that his feet are cold.

And he wakes up.

What does Ruth say?

I've been waiting for this since July 1st.

I am Ruth, your servant.

Spread your wings over your servant.

For you are a redeemer.

When was the first time we saw the word wing?

It was in chapter 2.

I believe it was verse 9 or 10.

Excuse me, verse 12.

Who says wing in verse 12 of chapter 2?

It's Boaz.

He says,

The Lord repay you for what you have done.

And a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel,

under whose wings you have come to take refuge.

And so Ruth is telling Boaz,

Boaz,

I want you to answer your own prayer.

And more than that,

the author of Ruth is telling us this,

that as Boaz

lifts his hand

to cover Ruth with the wing,

God's hand

is there on top of it.

And so God

is working

through

Boaz

to

Ruth.

Remember, I asked,

how does God accomplish his mission?

And we see here that God

accomplishes his mission

through his people

to his people.

God accomplishes his mission

through his people

to his people.

That the hope,

that the sustaining,

that the provision that God has given his people

is not some pie-in-the-sky hope.

It's not some mystical,

magical hope,

but it's hope

in real time

and real space.

Oh, and that's not all.

Because I skipped

the first repeated word.

It's all the way back

in verse 1.

Then Naomi,

her mother-in-law,

said to her,

My daughter,

should I not seek

rest for you,

that it may be well with you?

Do you remember the first time

we saw the word rest?

It's in chapter 1.

Verse 9.

So we saw Boaz's prayer

before Boaz,

prayed that the Lord

would reward Ruth

and bless her.

Now we see Naomi's prayer.

Chapter 1, verse 9.

The Lord grant

that you may find

rest,

each of you,

in the house of her husband.

Then she kissed them

and they lifted up

their voices

and wept.

So Boaz

gets to be part

of answering his prayer.

And Naomi

gets to be part

of answering hers.

And so God

uses his people,

his provision,

his redemption,

his sustaining,

never stopping,

never giving up,

unbreaking,

always and forever love

is through his people

to his people.

And so we see

something even more

that God's presence

and God's power

come through God's people.

God's presence

and God's power

come through God's people

in real time,

in real space.

As they act,

as both Naomi

and Boaz do here,

they act with wisdom

and calculation.

Naomi figures out

an excellent plan.

They act with sacrifice.

Boaz has already

been generous

and we're going to see

later that he's going

to be even more generous

next week.

And so

the question for us

is this.

Do you want

to experience

God's presence

God's presence

and God's power?

Do you want

to experience

God's presence

and God's power?

Do you want

to experience

God's presence

and God's power?

God's presence

and God's power?

If you want

to experience

God's presence

and God's power,

then you have

to be

with God's people.

If you want

to experience

God's presence

and his power,

you must be

with his people.

Let me put it

another way.

If Ruth

had stayed

in Moab,

this would have

never happened.

If Naomi

had stayed

in Moab,

this would have

never happened.

That God's

faithfulness,

his love

to his people

is always

connected

to those

very same

people.

Now there's

a lot of

different answers

today about

where God's

power and his

presence come

from.

Some people

believe that

God's power

and his

presence are

primarily in

nature.

That we don't

need to be a

part of the

church.

We can actually

have a

spiritual

experience by

going on a

hike.

And that if

we can read

our Bible out

there at the

top of a

mountain,

then we don't

need to come

to church.

That might

work for some

people, it

might be good,

but that's not

necessary.

I mean, if that

works for you,

then great, you

do it.

You sit, you

know, on the

level plane at

the bottom of

the mountain

where there's

not a great

view.

You can hang

out with some

other people,

some of whom

are great,

some of whom

might annoy you.

But there are

other ways to

experience God's

presence.

And his

power.

Let me tell you

a story.

A few of you

know that a few

months ago, this

past spring, I

was, unexpectedly, I

had to go to the

emergency room.

I am fine.

I'm not going to go

into the

uninteresting details

of that.

But do you know

when I went into the

emergency room, who

came and visited me?

It's funny to think, you

know, I actually went

on a hike yesterday, and

I saw God's beauty and

his grandeur.

But not a single

tree, would you

believe it, not a

single tree came and

visited me.

There wasn't a single

rock that showed up.

None of the great

views from Garden of the

Gods came.

Do you know who

came?

It was Mark and

Maurice who got up in

the middle of the

night and came and

visited me in the

hospital.

It was God's people

who came.

And that emergency

room visit originally

was billed to be about

$8,000 and ended up

costing about $4,000,

which is a commentary

on our health care that

we can have at another

time.

And you know who

paid that bill?

I'm a part of a group

of Christians who

joined together to pay

each other's health

expenses, and so all of

that bill was paid by

other Christians who

sent me checks.

Now that's a small

example.

That's a small S

suffering.

I don't mean to

compare it to big S

sufferings.

But we could talk

about this in many

different ways.

But we see that God's

provision for his

people is through his

church.

It's the only enduring,

the only lasting

community.

And why is that?

Well, I haven't

finished telling the

story of chapter 3.

So where we left off is

Ruth had asked Boaz to

spread his wing over

her.

And we saw that she was

asking him to answer his

own prayer.

What does he say?

This, by the way, is

why we're not going to

find 12 ways to find

your Boaz.

It's because of verse

10.

And he said,

May you be blessed by

the Lord, my daughter.

You have made this last

kindness.

Remember, kindness is the

word hesed.

It's the word that means

never stopping, never

giving up love.

You have made this last

kindness greater than the

first, and that you have

not gone after young men,

whether poor or rich.

So there's something here

that Ruth is doing that's

self-sacrificial.

He's not saying,

Blessed are you.

You have chosen a very

fulfilling, romantic

relationship.

No, he says, not only is

this great love that you

are showing, but it is

even greater than the love

that you showed to Naomi.

It's greater than the

first, this last kindness.

Greater than your first

kindness of coming all the

way from a foreign

country.

And he tells us why.

You have not gone after

young men, whether poor

or rich.

There's something that both

Boaz and Naomi say to

Ruth.

They both call her my

daughter.

You don't have to be a

Hebrew scholar.

I don't know why.

It's that Naomi and Boaz

are most likely of a

similar generation.

And so Ruth is going and

proposing marriage to a

man who is probably old

enough to be her father.

And she's doing it.

Think about the risk here

for a second.

So Naomi has asked her to

go into this very risky

situation.

This could have gone very

badly.

But we see in verse 13

that it still might go

really badly.

She's committed herself to

Boaz and he says, if he

will redeem you, meaning

there's this other man who

might redeem you, good, let

him do it.

But if he is not willing to

do it, then as the Lord

lives, I will redeem you.

So Ruth at this point could

end up with Boaz, but she

might not.

She might just end up with

this other man.

But she's showing the never

stopping, never giving up

love because this is the

relative of a Limelech.

And so she's putting

herself in a position

that's going to be best

for Naomi.

And Naomi's looking for a

situation that's going to

be best for Ruth.

And Boaz recognizes that,

you know, we don't know

100% what to make of his

poor or rich comment, but

she hasn't headed after men

her own age.

And one person has

suggested that the poor

would be someone that she

was infatuated with,

someone she just had this

intense romantic love for.

So she was willing to

marry him because he's

poor.

And the rich would be

someone she's willing to

marry because he has lots

of money.

And so she's chosen

neither of those.

Instead, she's chosen

the man who's going to be

best for the good of her

and the good of Naomi.

And so this is a love

story.

But it's not an American

love story.

It's not a 21st century

love story.

It's not a self-fulfillment

love story.

You know, in other love

stories in the Bible, we

are told about the figure's

attraction to one another.

In Genesis, we're told

about how attractive

Rebecca is, for example.

In the book of Judges,

we're told about how

Samson is attracted to the

women that he is drawn to.

And what does Boaz say

about Ruth here?

Verse 11.

I will do for you all

that you ask, for all my

fellow townsmen know that

you are a worthy woman.

And so this is a self-sacrificing

love story.

A love story based not

necessarily on attraction,

but on character.

And so that's the reason that

God's presence and God's

power come through his people.

Because it's in God's people

that we find his chesed love.

It's in God's people that we

find the never stopping,

never giving up, unbreaking,

always and forever love.

It's the love that Ruth has

shown to Naomi.

It's the love that Naomi now

is trying to show to Ruth.

It's the love that Ruth is

showing to Boaz.

And we're going to find out

next week that this is going

to cost Boaz as well.

And so it's his love for Ruth

too.

There's...

All of us at some level

long for community.

We long for this kind of

never stopping, never giving up

love.

A place where people know us

and they'll meet us in our

need.

And so my question for all of

us for Christians and for

non-Christians is this.

Where are you going to find

true community?

We have all kinds of places

around us that claim to offer

it.

I go to a coffee shop that I

love here in town and their

slogan, one of their slogans is

they're building coffee through

community.

And they do a really good job of

it.

I love this coffee shop.

They know my name.

They give me free coffee

sometimes because I'm there a

lot.

But what if I'm anxious and so I

don't want to have any caffeine in

my body?

Are they going to be there for

me?

When I'm in the hospital, am I

going to call them?

I'm not.

The army wants to be a community

too.

It wants to be a family.

And it will be.

But what if you get a DUI?

Is the army going to show you

never stopping, never giving up

love?

It's only in God's people that God

gives his presence and his power.

And so friends, we have to commit

to God's people.

We have to commit to God's people

because that is the place that he

has designed for his presence and his

power to be.

That's the place that he's given us.

And it's only when we have a

self-sacrificing community that we

can have a true community, a full

community.

So as theologists talk about the

difference between thin and thick

communities, thin communities would

be ones like the coffee shop that I've

told you about.

It's a community.

But it's a thin community.

It's not going to be with me there

when I suffer.

It's not going to give me answers

to explain my experiences in life.

But people there are going to know

my name.

So it's a thin community.

A thick community is a place where

people do stick with us when we

suffer.

People do help us understand the

things that happen in life.

And we can only have a thick

community if there's something that's

self-sacrificing in it.

And if there's something greater

than us.

Now we live in a world where we're

told that we are the most powerful

thing.

We are the answer.

We are autonomous.

Our choices, our beliefs about

ourselves are the most important.

But the problem with that is that if

you are the end of everything,

you have shut yourself off from any

true community.

community.

As we've been going through this

book, I've also been reading a book

called Walking with God Through Pain

and Suffering.

And one of my favorite quotes is

this.

Community among persons is formed

only when there is something more

important than one's own interests to

which all share a higher allegiance.

Humanism suffers from the valorization of

the individual.

Now listen to this.

When I am the final authority for

determining right and wrong, and when

nothing is more important than my

right to live as I see fit, tight,

supportive community is eroded.

Perhaps even impossible.

And so if we want true community, we have

to be in God's community.

If we want true community, we have to be

in God's community.

There's one more word.

There's three of them here.

And it shows up at the very end of the

chapter.

Verse 17.

Boaz gives an extra measure of food.

To Ruth.

To take back to her mother-in-law.

Some people think this is some kind of

down payment.

Sort of like an engagement ring.

He's saying, I'm giving you this as a

sign of my commitment to you.

My generosity.

Naomi says, verse 17.

These six measures of barley he gave to

me.

For he said to me, you must not go back

empty-handed to your mother-in-law.

When's the last time we saw the word

empty?

It was on Naomi's lips.

Remember she said, I left full, but God

brought me back empty.

And so we see at the very end of this

chapter that God is working through his

people to his people to do what?

To take them from empty back to full.

He gave this to me so that you would not be

empty-handed.

And so we don't need just a religious

community.

It's not pick between the world's

religions so that you can find thick

community.

But we need a self-sacrificing community.

A community that's based on never stopping,

never giving up,

unbreaking, always and forever love.

Now, as some of you know, I started working at the

church here full-time in June.

And that means that I'm here at the church

building a lot more than I used to be.

And I've learned some things since I have

started just being here during the day.

You know, people use our parking lot a lot, for

example.

My favorite is when the police use it.

They'll park right under there under our

covering to talk to each other.

Just makes me feel good.

Sometimes people use it for, you know,

random meetings.

Sometimes people need to pull off this road.

They pull off the highway.

We're one of the first places they can stop.

But there's one kind of stopping in our

parking lot that I didn't expect.

I've been surprised by.

There was a time I was here a few weeks

ago and, you know, we've been having a lot

of hail recently.

And so the hail started and I thought,

okay, I don't want to run out in this hail,

but I also don't want to get my car to get

wrecked again by another hailstorm.

And so I finally put on my rain jacket and I

ran outside and I got in the car and I drove

it around here to this covering.

And I wasn't sure if I was going to be able

to find a spot.

Because when the hailstorm comes,

first place people run to is that covering

under our church.

And if you think about it, there's not a lot

of places here in this area to cover your car

if you don't have a house here.

There's an apartment complex over there.

They have parking spots.

Those are reserved for people who pay.

There is only one free offer of car covering

here on West Meadow.

And you know what?

When I pulled up there, it really doesn't matter

if your car is expensive or cheap.

If it's not under the covering.

And there are people who won't show up here

in our church parking lot until there's a storm.

This passage is telling us, this book of Ruth

is telling us that the church, that God's people

is the only shelter when there's a storm.

And it doesn't matter what kind of car you have.

It doesn't matter if it's cheap or expensive.

All that matters is whether you're hidden under the wing.

And so Jesus came to us who are people

who are interested in self-fulfillment,

not self-sacrifice.

He comes in real time and real space.

You know, part of the reason that Christianity

has survived as a religion and many others have not

is that ours is based in a historical event.

It's not primarily in an idea, but in a person

who came and lived a life in real time,

in real space, here with us.

And he gave up the shelter of God's wing

so that we could hide under it.

And so he invites you and he invites me.

The wing is there for anyone who is willing

to come and hide under it.

But you have to come and hide.

You have to commit to God and his people

because he is the only shelter in the time of storm.

Will you pray with me?

Dear Father in heaven,

we thank you that you cover us,

that you offer to be our protection

in the time of trouble.

We confess that we look to ourselves

and many other places,

but we ask that you would work in our hearts

that we would look to you.

And so we would commit to you and your people,

leaving behind our sin and our self-righteousness,

and instead hiding and finding shelter with you.

We thank you for your son,

who you sent,

that you took shelter away from him,

that you could give it to us.

We ask it in his name.

Amen.

Amen.