Our Redeemer

morning. It's my joy to be with you all again and bring God's Word to you. If you've been with us

over the last several weeks, you know that we are in the book of Ruth. And we're in Ruth chapter 2,

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

kind of at the middle point. We're going to be starting at verse 14 this morning.

Now as we start, if you live in Colorado Springs, I'd imagine that like me, you see a lot of cyclists

on the road. And they're usually doing one of two things. They're either going up or they're going

down. Because that's most of the options. In fact, that's not just cyclists. That's most of us here

here in Colorado Springs. We're either going up something or down it. And I'm not saying

completely there. There are some flat places. But if you're a hiker, you're probably not hiking flat.

You're going up. You get to see a beautiful view. And then you go down. And I've been telling you

for the last several weeks that Ruth is a book about suffering. And I've told you that it's a book

about suffering because it's a book about widows and because it's a book about those who live in a

country where they weren't born. But that is just one half of the story. I've been holding back on you

a little bit. That has just been the uphill climb. It's not just a book about suffering.

It's also a book about redemption. And it's a book about redemption because it's about God

caring and sustaining people who are in the midst of suffering. And so for the last several weeks,

we've been doing the very hard work of hiking uphill on a steep grade. We've had to talk about

very serious suffering week after week after week. And I'm here to tell you that we are now

at the glorious view that we've been waiting for. We've made it to the lookout. And if you're a

cyclist and you make it to the very top, you know that the steeper the climb is, the more frightening

and fast the descent. That sometimes you have to hold on to your handlebars and make sure to see if

you can actually make it down without wrecking. At least if you're an inexperienced cyclist like me.

Grant doesn't do that. He takes his hands off the wheels when he's going downhill.

And so we've done this uphill climb all the way up of seeing this intense suffering through chapter

one and part of chapter two. And now we're going to get to see the payoff. We're going to get to see

not just the Ruth and Naomi of chapter one, but the Ruth and Naomi of chapters two and three and four.

And as one of my friends puts it, when we're in chapter one in our lives, we have to remember the rest of

the book. We have to remember chapters two and three and four. If you've been with us, then you're

familiar with the story. You know that at the beginning we met a woman named Naomi. Naomi lived

in the country of Israel, the land of Israel. And there was a problem. There was a famine. So Naomi

and her husband, the Limelech, and their two sons moved from the land of Israel to the land of Moab.

Now the land of Moab was not God's promised land. It was not filled with God's people. And so

they left God's people for a land where there was worship of other gods, the worship of Baal and

Chemosh. But they left there because there was a famine. While they were there, both their sons

were married to two women, Ruth and Orpah. And after 10 years without any children, all the men die.

Elimelech dies as well as his two sons. And so Naomi and her two daughters-in-law are left to

return from the land of Israel, or excuse me, from the land of Moab to the land of Israel because they

hear at that very time God has finally visited his people with food. On the way back, Orpah and Ruth are

both going with Naomi, but Naomi urges them as strongly as she can not to stay with her. So Orpah chooses to

return, but Ruth, making an incredible vow in chapter 1 verses 16 and 17, says that she will stay with

Naomi no matter what. When they return, Naomi is filled with her own grief and bitterness. And despite

all the ways that God has been caring for her and sustaining her, she accuses God of making her empty

when she had been full. And in all of this, more than suffering and redemption, we have seen

God's love. Remember I told you about the Hebrew word hesed, which roughly translated by the Jesus

Storybook Bible means God's never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.

And so what we've seen up to this point could be broken into two things. God's hesed towards us,

God's unbreaking, unstopping love towards us. We see that love towards Ruth and Naomi as he provides food

in their homeland for them. We see it to Naomi specifically as he provides Ruth. We see it as they come to

the land of Israel right at the time of harvest, at the exact time when they need to come to be able to eat.

But we don't just see God's steadfast love to his people, we also see his people's steadfast love to each other.

We saw Ruth's commitment to Naomi.

We saw that faith commits to those who suffer even when there's nothing to gain.

And we saw Ruth's continued commitment at the beginning of chapter 2. Remember last week,

we asked a question, how do we sustain the life of faith?

How do we keep up our love towards other people?

And we saw that it just so happened that Ruth came to the right field at the right time.

We saw that the way that we sustain our faith is that God sustains us.

That when God's people go on God's mission, he is the one who motivates and sustains.

We've been focusing heavily on Ruth, and even with last week's reading, I didn't point out many things about Boaz.

But now we're going to be turning from Ruth to Boaz.

And we're going to ask the question, what does it mean to go on God's mission?

If God supports his people when they go on his mission, then what is that mission?

We've seen part of it with Ruth, we've seen her commitment to Naomi who was suffering.

And now we're going to continue with this character called Boaz.

Now, I'm confident that some of you are disappointed at this point in the series on Ruth.

Because I have not addressed an incredibly important topic.

And it's this.

What are the 12 ways to find your Boaz?

You can laugh. It's a joke.

We are unfortunately not going to be discovering 12 ways to find your Boaz.

But we are going to look at Boaz as part of our answer for this question.

What does it mean to go on God's mission?

If it's true that what we learned last week, if it's true that God's people have God's support when they go on God's mission,

what is that mission?

So we are in Ruth chapter 2.

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

We're picking up at verse 14.

Remember that this is God's word.

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

Even the finest gold.

And that 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 2, starting at verse 14.

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

Verse 16.

Verse 16.

Verse 17.

Verse 22.

And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law,

It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.

So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests.

And she lived with her mother-in-law.

And she has been with her husband, lest in ut店.

And she bleeds into their ziehen.

And she even healed.

And so we said to you,

God's word.

Dear Father in heaven,

we thank you that you have given us

the gift of your word

and that it is for our good

and your glory.

We ask that you would help us

because when we open your word,

we are trying to do something

that is impossible without you,

which is to hear you speak.

And so we ask that you would speak to us today,

that you would open up our ears

so that we can hear.

You'd open our eyes so that we can see,

that you would soften our hearts,

that we would be willing to hear

and believe everything

that is written in your word.

We ask this in the name of your son.

Amen.

Remember, we're asking the question of

what does it mean to go on God's mission?

And we're focusing on the character of Boaz.

We saw a little bit from Boaz last week,

if you remember in verses 8 and 9,

he showed this incredible generosity

to Ruth as she was gleaning.

He says to her in verse 8,

Now listen, my daughter,

do not go to glean in another field

or leave this one,

but keep close to my young women.

He gives her special status as a gleaner

and has her keep close to his personal staff

so that she can have the first pick

of the gleanings.

And then in verse 9,

And so he doesn't just give her special access

to the gleanings,

but he gives her special protection as well.

And he gives her a special water source

that instead of being a woman

who draws water for men,

men are going to draw water for her.

This same generosity continues even more.

If that were not enough,

it grows in this section that we just read.

In verse 14,

he invites her to the company lunch table.

And so she's not left for

what she may have brought on her own.

And not just that,

she gets to take a doggy bag home with her.

Did you notice that?

They pass her the roasted grain in verse 14,

and she ate until she was satisfied

and since she had some left over.

And then you'll notice later on,

she gives that to her mother-in-law.

So verse 18,

She also brought out and gave her

what food she had left over

after being satisfied.

And so Ruth is not just gleaning

an excessive amount.

She also gets a free lunch

for her and Naomi,

who isn't even there.

So Boaz's generosity here is overflowing.

In fact, he gives her even greater access

in verse 16 and 15.

It says,

Let her glean even among the sheaves

and do not reproach her.

Remember that the practice of gleaning

was one where someone would follow

after the reapers during the harvest,

and what was dropped,

they would be able to pick up.

They were essentially the cleaning crew.

But here he's saying,

she doesn't have to just be

the cleanup crew behind the reapers.

She can come after the sheaves have been stacked.

She can have a second go through,

something that none of the other gleaners

would be given access to.

And they're even going to pull out

extra for her.

So it's not just going to be

what's been accidentally dropped,

it's going to be what's purposefully dropped.

And so if Boaz's generosity

seemed large last week,

it's even more this week.

It's even greater.

It's almost too much to believe.

And so that's why Naomi

has the response that she does.

So what does it mean

to go on God's mission?

We saw several weeks ago with Ruth

that she had nothing to give

but her commitment.

And so that's what she gave.

She committed to Naomi no matter what,

even though she had nothing to gain from it.

But now Boaz models to us

incredible generosity.

Boaz models incredible generosity

and it's not just generosity to anyone.

Remember I pointed out last week

that Ruth had a new name.

In chapter one, she was just Ruth,

but all throughout chapter two,

she is Ruth the Moabite.

Because now that she's in a new land,

she is a foreigner.

And she's a foreigner

with all the liabilities

that come along with it.

And so Boaz,

he's not showing generosity

to his daughter.

He's not showing generosity

to his neighbor.

Boaz is showing generosity

to one of the most vulnerable women

in all of Israel.

She's vulnerable

because she has a widow.

She doesn't have a husband

to care for her.

Her father-in-law has died.

Her brother-in-law has died.

There is no man to stand up for her.

And on top of that,

she is a foreigner.

There are certain things

she probably doesn't understand,

certain things she doesn't get.

This is all what we talked about last week.

And Boaz,

of all the people

he could show generosity to,

he shows generosity to her.

So my question for us this morning

is this.

Who is gleaning from us?

Who is gleaning from you?

What type of person

is gleaning?

Who, because of your,

whether it's your power

or your wealth

or your ability

or your status,

how are those things

helping those

who are the most vulnerable

and the most marginalized?

Because what Boaz is showing us

is that God's mission,

it's so big

that it's not just

the commitment

that Ruth models,

but it's the generosity

that he models.

And it's not just

any generosity,

but generosity

to remember our New Testament

reading this morning

from James.

True religion is what?

To care for orphans

and widows

in their distress.

And so we get to continue

to turn the diamond

of Ruth

and see all the different

aspects of God

and his love towards us

and our love for others.

Now I'll give some caveats here.

She's gleaning, right?

This is not a handout.

But Boaz has provided her

with work in his fields.

You know, I found out

a few weeks ago,

I continue to find out

things about you all,

things about our congregation,

and brings me joy

when I do.

I found out a few weeks ago

that people in this congregation

have made jobs for each other

when they needed it.

People who own businesses

and establishments

created opportunities for work

for people who are like Ruth,

who are vulnerable,

who are on the margins.

It's the reason why

we have a diaconate here

as a church.

Because we want there

to be gleaning from us.

We're not just here

for our own sake,

for our own edification.

We're here

as part of God's mission.

And that's not all

of God's mission,

but it's a large part of it

that God wants us

to care for the widow

and the orphan,

for the foreigner,

in generous,

in shocking ways.

And so God wants us

to ask not

how much do I have to give,

how much am I able to give?

Not what's the lowest amount

that I can give,

but what's the greatest?

What's the greatest amount

that I can give

to help those in need?

Because the gospel,

it's for us to use

our resources

to lift other people up

rather than to push them down.

And we live in a world

where we're told

that as we are given

resources and ability

and power,

we're able to use it

to push ourselves up.

We've had a lot of scandals

in our society

this last year

from people who

took their power

and they used it

to push other people down

rather than to lift them up

in all kinds of ways.

You see what Naomi says

in verse 20?

Naomi has her first positive word

in the whole book of Ruth.

And Naomi said

to her daughter-in-law,

May he be blessed

by the Lord

whose kindness

has not forsaken

the living or the dead.

Remember,

it's that word kindness

that we translate

as God's never stopping,

his never giving up,

unbreaking,

always and forever love.

And so Naomi,

for the first time,

through Boaz's generosity,

is able to praise God.

And for the first time,

she's able to finally see

a glimmer of hope

that what we've been seeing

all along,

Naomi finally sees

that God has been

at work in the dark

and God has been at work

behind the scenes for her.

And so would our generosity

have the same result

that people would be able

to say like Naomi,

may he be blessed

by the Lord.

What kind of Lord?

The Lord whose kindness

has not forsaken

the living and the dead.

And his kindness

that forsakes

not the living

nor the dead

in practical ways

through God's people.

We'll see this more next week,

but God ministers

through his people

to his people.

He ministers

through his people

to his people.

And so Boaz here

is the instrument

of God's redemption.

Then we find out

in verse 20,

the man is a close relative

of ours,

one of our redeemers.

What does it mean

to be a redeemer?

Well, if you remember

the Old Testament story,

you know that God

delivered his people

from slavery in Egypt.

And he tells them

in Leviticus chapter 25

Leviticus 25 · chapter mention

that because he delivered

them from slavery,

he never wanted them

to be slaves again.

And so if there was ever

an Israelite

who was in trouble,

if they had to sell

their property,

if they had to sell

themselves into slavery

because they were destitute,

that there should be

a relative,

a redeemer,

who would come

and pay the price.

That redeemer

would buy back

the land,

they would buy back

their relative

from slavery,

and so that God,

because of his great

redemption of his people

by bringing them

out of Egypt,

wanted his people

to act as lesser redeemers,

redeeming each other

out of slavery.

That he had redeemed

them out of slavery

and he wanted them

to stay that way.

And so a redeemer

was simply someone

who paid the price

for another person's freedom.

Someone who paid the price

for another person's freedom.

You might think of

some examples today,

just to help us understand,

redemption might be

if your car is impounded,

you are going to have

to redeem that car

from slavery.

slavery.

You have to pay the price.

If someone gives

a piece of property

to a pawn shop

because they need

the money,

that has to be redeemed.

Someone has to pay

the price

to bring it out

of the slavery

of the pawn shop.

And so we see here

that Boaz

doesn't just fulfill

the office

of a redeemer,

he overflows it.

We find out

in verse 20

that he's a redeemer,

but in a sense

we already knew that.

We already knew that

just by his actions.

He was willing

to sacrifice

his own resources

to buy people

out of slavery

to help Ruth

and Naomi.

Now we could

end the sermon here.

I could say,

Boaz models

generosity for us

so go and be generous.

And some of you

would be able to do that

for a little bit

and you might

become incredibly proud

in all the ways

you've been able

to be generous.

And some of you

would go out here

and you wouldn't

be able to do it

and you'd be crushed

because you wouldn't

be able to meet

this great expectation,

this thing that God

is telling us

about generosity

to people who are

on the margins.

And so what do we

do with that?

Why was Boaz

of all the men

in Israel,

why was Boaz

the one that showed

generosity to Ruth

and Naomi?

Do you think

he just happened

to be a worthy man

as we found out

in chapter 2,

verse 1?

Why was it Boaz

and not someone else?

Do you know

who Boaz's mom

was?

Boaz's mom

was Rahab.

Rahab,

if you remember

from the story

of Israel,

was a prostitute

and she was a pagan.

And she lived

in the city

of Jericho.

She was someone

who was vulnerable

and destitute.

She was a foreigner.

And when the spies

came in

to look into

the promised land,

they met Rahab

in the city

of Jericho

and they made

a deal with her.

They said,

if you'll betray

the city of Jericho

and leave it behind,

you can come

and be a foreigner

who joins God's people.

And so Rahab

is a scandalous

prostitute

in a pagan city

who comes

and joins

God's people.

Who does that

sound like?

Ruth's not

a scandalous woman,

but she is

a foreigner.

She has come

to join God's people.

So Boaz

is not just

some rich man,

but he's

a rich man.

If there's

any man

in all of Israel

who's going

to know

anything,

something

about what

it's like

to be a foreign

and helpless

woman among

God's people,

it's probably

Boaz.

I don't know

for sure,

but I would imagine

as Boaz

grew up,

his mother

must have told him

something about

her past

and her history.

Hopefully she

shared some

of her struggles

joining God's

people with

her past

in a different

nation,

a foreigner.

And Boaz

himself

carries her

blood.

And so this

isn't just

a rich man

showing

generosity.

This is a

foreigner

helping a

foreigner.

foreigner.

And this

is a man

who knows

from his

mother

that God

is a

God with

a heart

for the

foreigner,

who welcomes

foreigners into

his people.

He knows

that this is

a God

of never

stopping,

never giving

up,

unending,

unbreaking,

always and

forever love.

love.

And so

because Boaz

knows he's a

foreigner who's

been brought

in,

I would

imagine this is

why he of all

the men in

Israel is the

one who shows

this incredible

generosity.

generosity.

And so

how do we

avoid

being proud

because we

can show

generosity

or broken

because we

can't?

What

motivates us

to show

God's

never stopping,

never giving

up,

unbreaking,

always and

forever love?

We have

to understand

when we

understand that

we are

foreigners

that have

been brought

in to

God's

family.

And we

are foreigners

that have

been brought

with a

price.

Imagine that

not many of

us here

today are

Jews.

We're not

part of

some of

us perhaps

but most

of us

not.

We're not

part of

God's

original

people.

We're not

part of

the nation

of Israel.

And yet

part of

God's

plan was

to bring

us in

as well.

Not only

that but

we're people

who have

been redeemed

and bought

with a

price.

It cost

God

something.

It's not

just that

we're

foreigners

who've been

brought into

a family.

We got to

see a

beautiful

picture of

that today

with Doug.

But what's

true of

Doug is

true of

all of

us who

have joined

this church.

That we

were not

originally

part of

God's

family but

that he's

brought us

in.

And so

when we

understand that

we are

foreigners that

God has

redeemed,

then we

can show the

kind of

generosity that

Boaz shows

here, not

with pride,

not with

being crushed,

but because we

know what it's

like.

And out of

thankfulness and

joy and

gratitude for

what God

has done

for us.

There's one

man who

describes the

gospel this

way, that

it's one

beggar asking

another beggar

for bread.

We can think

of our

generosity in

this way, it's

one foreigner

giving another

foreigner what

they need.

Because we've

all been brought

in to God's

family.

We all have,

in a sense,

Rahab as our

mother.

And so we

can show mercy

to Ruth.

I'll close

with this, we

sang about this

just a little

bit ago, and

we sang grant,

O Lord.

Grant, O Lord,

that we may

hear your people

be a witness to

your faithfulness,

faithfulness that

we've known and

seen.

Skip down to the

third verse.

Grant, O Lord,

that we may ever

faithful be to

you whose gift to

us is life, and

in whose service

we are free.

It's when we

understand,

that we are

free in the

service of God,

and that his

gift to us is

life, that we

can be faithful

to him.

It's when we

understand that we

are foreigners,

that Jesus, in

Hebrews 2, we

find out he calls

us his brothers.

In Romans 6, we

find out that we're

free from the

slavery of sin.

God's mission of

generosity, because he

has brought us in as

foreigners and his

family.

Please pray with me.

Dear Father in

heaven, we thank you

for your great

provision in Christ,

Christ, that he, as

your firstborn son, was

willing to bring us

in, that you adopted

us, even though we

were foreigners from

you.

You tell us in Romans

that it's while we were

still sinners that

Christ died for us, not

when we were part of

the family, but that

because he died, he

brought us in.

We ask that you would

move in our hearts that

we would not become

proud or crushed, but we

would be confident in

your love for us, humble

in your grace, and

motivated by that

towards generosity

towards each other,

because you have been

generous towards us.

We ask all these

things in the name of

your son.

Amen.

Please.