Wings Of Refuge

it's my joy to be with you again and bring god's word to you today if you have been with us over

the last several weeks you know that we're going through the book of ruth and you'll remember that

the book of ruth is a book about suffering it's a book about suffering because it's a book about

widows which is many of us here today and it's a book about suffering because it's also a book

about people who live in a land that they weren't born in which is also many of us here today but

you'll also remember that it is a book for those who don't suffer as well because if we're not

suffering now we will one day if we live long enough in this world and if we're not suffering

now we are surrounded by people who are and so all we have to do is look in front of us and behind us

and beside us and see people who are going through things that are very similar to the story that's

here and so remember that god as a wise and loving father wants us to become wise as well and so he's

given us this story in his word if you're with us from the beginning you'll remember it three weeks

ago we met a woman named naomi naomi lived in god's land in the land of israel and yet there was a famine

and so she and her husband elimelech and their two sons decided to move to the country of moab

leaving the land that god has given to his people as the promised land for a land where people did not

worship god but there was food and we saw that her husband's name was god is my king

and 10 years later he died as well as his her two sons and so our big question was this is god still the

king when tragedy strikes and we saw that in the midst of that god was still at work leading and

guiding and providing for his people because at the same time that that had happened god visited his

people and gave them bread and in the following week we saw that naomi returned from the land of moab

to the land of israel with her two daughters-in-law ruth and orpah and naomi gave her very best arguments

as to why they should not stay with her why they needed to go back and to their homeland their country

of moab and yet against all odds we saw that ruth committed to naomi she committed to naomi even though

it meant giving up her homeland possibly giving up the chance of remarrying someone who was her same

nationality and instead she gave everything to commit to naomi and so we saw that faith commits to

those who are suffering even when there's nothing to gain and remember that the motivation and the

power for that was not in ruth it wasn't ultimately in her character it wasn't ultimately in what she had

internally in her resources what it was because she knew that the god of israel was a god of never

stopping never giving up unbreaking always and forever love and so ruth chose to show that same

love to naomi making a incredible vow to go with her even to death and then if you remember last week

they finally arrive at their destination they show up back in the homeland of bethlehem

and all that naomi can think about is her own bitterness

she reminds those around her that when she left she was full but god has brought her back empty

and so we saw the temptation that when tragedy strikes it's tempting to believe that god is against us

that he's opposed to us that he's forgotten us and so the question then was not is god still the king

but is god still good is he still for us and we saw that even while naomi thought she was empty

she was not because god had given her ruth and he had brought her back to his land at the exact

right time at the beginning of the harvest the one time that would be most helpful for her to return

and be able to have some food and so it's at this point that we pick up here in chapter two we're

finally out of chapter one in the book of ruth and if this has been a difficult series in terms of

talking about intense suffering week after week i have good news for you chapter one was the worst of it

so yeah we can say that naomi feels like she's gone from full to empty and now our trajectory from

the rest of this book is going to be going from empty to full and so if you've made it through us

with us through the first chapter there is hope in sight now if you'll remember two weeks ago i talked

about the difference between the self-fulfillment view of life and the self-sacrificial view of life

and we talked about the 10-year marriage proposal that sometimes when the going gets hard it's easiest

just to leave and we saw that ruth did the very opposite thing that she made this dramatic and

intense vow that she was going to commit even when it was hard and yet we know that it's one thing to

make a vow and it's another to keep it it's one thing to make a vow and it's another to keep it and

there's a study that was done recently that showed that there's an inverse relationship between the

amount of money that is spent on a wedding ring and a wedding and the success of that marriage

in other words if you focus too much on the vows and not enough on what comes after

you've put things the wrong way around we're going to see that ruth comes up against that challenge here

in this chapter she's made these promises she's made these great vows but now reality is going to

hit because she is finally a foreigner in a land that she's never been to before and so our question

is this yes faith commits but how do we sustain a life of faith how do we sustain a life of faith

what does it look to live the life of faith day by day not just to make a dramatic vow

but to keep it with that we are in ruth chapter two and we're starting in verse one remember that this

is god's word and god has told 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 we're going to turn to

it now we're in ruth chapters two starting at verse one now naomi had a relative of her husband's a

worthy man of the clan of elimelech whose name was boaz and ruth the moabite said to naomi let me go to

the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight i shall find favor and she said to

her go my daughter so she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers and she happens to

come to the part of the field belonging to boaz who is of the clan of elimelech verse four and behold

boaz came from bethlehem and he said to the reapers the lord be with you and they answered the lord bless

you then boaz said to his young man who is in charge of the reapers whose young woman is this

and the servant who is in charge of the reapers answered she is the young moabite woman who came

back with naomi from the country of moab she said please let me glean and gather among the sheaves

after the reapers so she came and she has continued from early morning until now except for a short rest

verse eight then boaz said to ruth now listen my daughter do not go to glean in another field or

leave this one but keep close to my young women let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping

and go after them have i not charged the young men not to touch you and when you are thirsty go to the

vessels and drink what the young men have drawn then she fell on her face bowing to the ground and said to

him why have i found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me since i am a foreigner

but boaz answered her all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband

has been fully told to me and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a

people that you did not know before 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

then she said i have found favor in your eyes my lord for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to

your servant though i am not one of your servants

please pray with me as we come to this portion of god's word

dear father in heaven we thank you as always that you have not left us as orphans alone in a merciless

universe

but that you come and you speak to us and you don't just speak to us but you speak to us in ways that

we can understand and so we ask that you would do that this morning that you would send your holy

spirit and that you would speak clearly to us we ask this not because we have earned it but because

your son has and so we ask it in his name amen

remember i said that it's one thing to take a vow and it's another thing to keep it and ruth has taken

this incredible vow to be with naomi and there are two things that came up at the very end of chapter

one in our last verse verse 22 that i did not point out to you last week and i'll point out both of

them to you but only one of them i'll point out now and that is that ruth for the first time has a

longer name than she's ever had before do you notice that she has a longer name she's not just ruth

anymore all up until verse 22 she's been ruth and now suddenly it changes she is ruth the moabite

and we see the same thing in chapter 2 verse 2 and ruth the moabite said to naomi

and why this change hasn't ruth always been a moabite we know that naomi traveled from israel to moab

and in a sense she has always been a moabite so in one sense nothing has changed but in another sense

there's been a very dramatic change because she is for the first time living as a foreigner

in her own land she's naomi but in israel she's naomi or excuse me in her own land she's ruth

but in israel she's ruth the moabite and so the author is highlighting here that reality is setting

in for the commitment that she's made it's one thing to make an incredible vow it's another thing

to finally arrive in a foreign land now some of us live in a foreign land many of us have traveled to

a foreign land and all of us know the difficulties of being in a place that's not your home there are

customs you don't know there are things at the grocery store you don't recognize there are signs

you can't read but perhaps most important of all is there are people who can instantly tell that you

don't belong and are ready to take advantage of you that's the reason why god is so passionate in

the old testament about cares for the foreigner and the widow and the orphan is because god is concerned

about people who are the most vulnerable and so we see the position that ruth is in she is in the

most vulnerable position possible in the land of israel she could have gone back to her homeland and

been safe but here she is a moabite without resources for food potentially without any man to care for her

and so she goes out here in verse two let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after

him and whose sight i shall find favor if you're familiar with the old testament you know that one

of god's provisions for widows in the destitute was that they could do something called gleaning

which is to say that they could go to the field of a wealthy landowner who was taking in the harvest

and they could follow after people who were harvesting and if ears of grain fell to the ground if they

were missed they could come and pick up what was left and so it was one way for those who were poor

to still be able to eat one commentator compares it however to recycling aluminum cans that this is hard

work that did not always give much yield that while god had provided this provision ruth is in a very

difficult position she's a foreigner in a land that's not her own she's been left to glean as her

way of surviving and not insignificantly she's left with uh naomi this woman who we saw last week is

so self-focused and bitter that she can't see anything other than her own pain

and so the same question that she has is the question of this section is she going to find favor

you see what she says in verse two let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him

in whose sight i shall find favor what's going to happen to ruth she's made this commitment she

stepped out in faith knowing that god was a god of steadfast love and now she finds herself in the

midst of the reality of the situation she's now experiencing the consequences of the vow

that she has made and so is she going to make it

it's true for us as well this morning there's those of us who have made commitments to live the

life of faith we've done what god's called us to do and then reality sets in

maybe you're someone from two sermons ago you're someone who's committed to the vulnerable

and the weak and the suffering and yet as you walk along it suddenly you realize whether it's

someone in your family or someone in your community this person is a lot like naomi

they're bitter they're self-focused they're hard to interact with change comes not fast but slow

and suddenly the reality begins to set in how do you sustain the life of faith

maybe you love the self-sacrificial view of marriage and so you made vows to someone committing

that you were going to live that life you were going to live the life of self-sacrifice no matter

what it took you were going to commit to them for the rest of your life

and then as you began to have arguments and try to talk about hard things you realize that your spouse

had no interest in that and every time you brought up a conflict they just withdrew and wouldn't engage

with you and suddenly you find yourself wondering whether that vow was such a good idea after all

maybe you came to a church thinking that this was going to be the place where you were going to

finally find community and life and growth and yet as you stayed more and more month after month you

realize that there were people at the church that you really didn't like

and some people had a different view of what the church should be than you did

and as you explained your vision for what you hoped the church would become

they were not quite as excited as you were

before too long there were conflicts between you and other people in the church and

while you were excited while you had made vows of membership

you're wondering how do you sustain

the life of faith

how do you stay in when the going gets hard

maybe you have a job that's difficult that you believe that god has called you to

and you have work that's powerful and purposeful

and yet you're not sure how much longer you can do it

because you can feel the fingers and the hand of burnout on your shoulder

and so you say pastor this is great you've talked about god's never stopping never giving up unbreaking

always and forever love and i understand that jesus died for me 2 000 years ago

and that's great but what about today right now in 2018

what does that mean for me now

as we've seen before in this book

the questions it raises are also the questions it answers

ruth here is in a difficult situation and so she says

let me go and glean and see if i can find favor

and then in verse 3

so she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers

and she happened

to come to the part of the field belonging to boaz

who is of the clan of elimelech

now we found out in verse 1 about this man named boaz

apparently he's a worthy man

which can mean a variety of things

but what we know about boaz in this situation

most likely this is speaking about his character

and we find out quickly when he appears

what kind of character he has

because he gives an unusual greeting

he says in verse 4

the lord be with you

so this is a godly man

he's a man who's godly because he cares about the things that god cares about

he cares about the vulnerable and the suffering

he's also a man who's able to help

because he has enough wealth to have a field

but let's go back to verse 3

she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to boaz

this is not something that happened

in the hebrew it sounds something like this

she chanced to chance

we might say

it was a complete coincidence

and yet this is perhaps one of the greatest understatements

in all of the old testament

the narrator has already told us about this man in verse 1

and so she happened

is an ironic statement

in other words

there is nothing

in this that has anything to do with chance

there is nothing that has anything to do with chance

she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to boaz

in other words

when ruth

stepped out in faith

living the life of faith

god

brought her

to the right field

when ruth

stepped out

in faith

keeping the vow that she had made

god brought her

to the right field

but she doesn't just come

to the right place

she comes at the right time

verse 4

and behold boaz came from bethlehem

and he said to the reapers

the lord be with you

and then he goes on

to inquire about

this new woman

who's in the fields

she's the young moabite

here it is again

this is the third time now

that we found out

that she's a foreigner

she's come with naomi

from the country of moab

she said

please let me glean

and gather among the sheaves

after the reapers

so she came

and she has continued

from early morning until now

except for a short rest

then boaz said to ruth

now listen my daughter

do not go to glean

in another field

or leave this one

but keep close

to my young women

in other words

you're not just going

to be another gleaner

you're going to stay

close to my staff

you're going to be

the first one

behind them

when the grain falls

you're going to be

the gleaner of gleaners

you're going to have

special access

to my fields

have I not charged

the young men

not to touch you

as a foreigner

who's the most vulnerable

you're going to have

my special protection

and when you're thirsty

go to the vessels

and drink

what the young men

have drawn

and so in a situation

where women

would be the ones

typically drawing

the water

you are going to go

to my special

water reservoir

and the men

are going to draw

it for you

and so Ruth

stepping out in faith

comes to the right place

at the right time

and it just happened

or maybe it didn't

because God

here our question before

our first week was

is God at work

in the dark

and now our question

is this

is God at work

behind the scenes

is God at work

behind the scenes

is his faithfulness

to us

not just his faithfulness

2,000 years ago

but his faithfulness

now

the answer is yes

we see here

in Ruth

that God

is continuing

to be faithful

to his people

he's not just

at work

in the dark

but he's at work

behind the scenes

and when God's people

go on God's mission

God

writes the check

and cashes it

when God's people

go on God's work

and God's mission

God is the one

who writes the check

and cashes it

I'll give you a story

from my own life

this does not compare

at all to the story

of Ruth

in terms of magnitude

but all of us

have situations

if we've lived long enough

where we've had to do

something risky

and challenging

we're wondering

if God's going to show up

if he's going to come through

we know the right thing

to do

we know what God's

called us to do

and yet we're not sure

if or how

he's going to provide

so about

a little over a year ago

I was in seminary

I was graduating soon

and I knew that I needed a job

and I was talking

to various churches

I happened to be talking

to this one church

that was in southwest

Colorado Springs

and they were only hiring

half time

and it became clear

during my last semester

in seminaries

I talked to various churches

that this was the place

that God was calling me to

and yet I wasn't sure

what was going to happen

I wasn't going to make enough

half time

to be able to support myself

I knew that I needed

another job

I didn't have a place

to live

I was moving to a state

that I had never been to before

except once on a road trip

on the way to Utah

for a few hours

and so I committed

I came here

and I visited you all

I preached in April

of 2017

and it became clear

that I was going to come here

and yet I committed

not knowing exactly

what was going to happen

not knowing where

I was going to live

not knowing what other

kind of job

I was going to have

and it just so happened

that before I went to seminary

I was a Latin teacher

taught elementary Latin

which is something

that not many people do

it's rare to find someone

with experience

teaching elementary Latin

and it just so happened

that Colin Mullaney

who's the director

of the Vanguard School

here in Colorado Springs

was coming to Cheyenne Mountain

and it just so happened

that for at least a year

or more in advance

they had decided

that that year

the year that I was coming

it just so happened

that they were going to start

an elementary Latin program

and they'd been looking

for someone

who had experience

because the starter program

they didn't want to bring in

someone who had not done it before

and they had many applications

come in

but it just so happened

that none of those applications

were from someone

who had taught elementary Latin before

and it just so happened

that Jim Alexander

found out about this job

from Colin

and it just so happened

that I applied

and it just so happened

that before I moved out here

and 20 minutes after my interview

they called me back

and offered me the job

and I tell you this story

not about me

this is not about me

and my faith

I had plenty of anxiety

and fear

about what was going to happen

moving out to Colorado

they didn't hire me

because I was an amazing Latin teacher

they hired me

because it just so happened

that they didn't have anyone else

who had previous experience

doing this thing

that I just happened to do

and then it just so happened

that before I knew

that I was coming here

there was a landlord

a five minute walk from here

who decided that he was going

to finish his basement

and make it a place to live

before he moved

to New York State

and it just so happened

that the trotters

were out of the country

and willing to let me

crash in their house

until I found a place to live

and then it just so happened

that I got connected

with this basement

and it just so happened

that I moved in

so the point is this

that God

comes when his people

are on his mission

many things just happen

because God provides

for his people

on his mission

God provides

for his people

on his mission

and so the point

of this story

is not me

I don't tell you

this story

about my great faith

because I didn't have it

I had fear

and anxiety

but I tell you

this story

about our great God

who leads

and guides

and provides

for his people

and as he did it

with Ruth

and Naomi

he does it now

that just so

happened

now Ruth also

had to step out

in faith

we see here

that she takes

tremendous initiative

she's the one

who says

let me go

and glean

she's the one

who works

from morning

until Boaz

shows up

with just a short break

and Boaz

is the one

who has heard

the report

of her faithfulness

to Naomi

and so is it

God's sovereign provision

or is it us

going out

on his mission

it's not an either or

it's both

we go out

on God's mission

in faith

as he provides

and leads

and sustains

and it's not

that we earn

God's favor

that would be

that's legalism

the idea

that we can earn

something from God

but it's that

we're united

to Christ

and so that

if we're in Christ

whatever is true

of Jesus

is true

of us

as well

and so the favor

and the provision

that God shows

to his son

is the same provision

and favor

that he shows

to us

the provision

and favor

that he shows

to his son

is the same provision

and favor

that he shows

to us

and so some of us

need to be reminded

of God's provision

for us

as we continue

doing what's hard

and others of us

need to be reminded

that God has called us

to do

what is hard

some of us

need to be reminded

of God's provision

to continue

what we're already

doing in his mission

and some of us

need to be reminded

to go out

in his mission

that we're not just

waiting for God

to act

a perfect example

would be

Nehemiah

Nehemiah is charged

with helping reform

the nation of Israel

and rebuild the walls

after they return

from exile

and there are

several points

in the book

where Nehemiah

does two things

he prays

and then he puts

on a sword

because he knows

that God's enemies

are planning

to attack

and so he doesn't

just pray

he puts on a sword

and he doesn't

just put on a sword

he prays

and so it's always

both

it's always God

providing for his people

who are on mission

and his people

following him

in that mission

told you I was

going to point out

one other thing

about verse 22

that I didn't tell you

last week

and I will

but first

let's go to the very end

of this section

verse 12

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

what does it mean

that Ruth has taken

refuge under the wings

of God

verse 22

it says

so Naomi returned

and Ruth the Moabite

her daughter-in-law

with her

who returned

from the country

of Moab

and then verse 6

she is the young

Moabite woman

who came back

with Naomi

from the country

of Moab

now what's wrong

this is like

one of those pictures

where you're trying

to figure out

what doesn't make sense

Ruth isn't returning

she's never been

to Israel before

as far as we know

so why are we told

twice

that Ruth

returns

to a place

she's never been

to before

it's because

she has made

God

her God

remember she told us

in verse 16 and 17

your people

shall be my people

and your God

my God

and so the land

of Israel

is now

her home

even as a foreigner

who's never been there

so what does it mean

to hide

under the wings

of God

it means

that being a foreigner

in God's land

is better

than being a native

anywhere else

to be a foreigner

in God's land

is better to be

a native

anywhere else

because this

is where she can

come to hide

under the wings

this is the sphere

of God's blessing

this is the place

of God's provision

the place

of his mission

for her

she's hidden herself

under the wings

of God

for us

there's not a

promised land

to return to

instead we have

the church

that as we

wonder about

how to

continue in the

life of faith

we have God's

sovereign provision

for his people

who are on

mission

and part of that

provision is

where you're at

right now

there's many

it just so happened

but it just so happened

that you came here

this morning

to this church

in the church

there are people

like Boaz

who can help

there are people

that I can offer you

practical advice

there are people

that can gather

around you

and so as we

ask the question

how do we

sustain

the life

of faith

we see

that it is God

who works

and acts

and provides

he provides

for his people

who come

and hide

themselves

under the

shelter

of his wing

and so it's not

just what happened

2,000 years ago

it's not less than that

and it's more than that

because of what

happened 2,000 years ago

because of Christ's death

for what we deserved

and because of his

resurrection

because he did not

deserve it

we are united

to him

he's made us

into his people

and so we have

union with Christ

whatever is true

of Christ

is true

of us

here as a people

that God's favor

towards his son

is his favor

towards us

and so he follows us

and guides us

and provides for us

as we go on his mission

on Friday

I

took a little trip

onto Fort Carson

as I do from time

to time

and I was reminded

of what many of you

see every day

as you drive

onto the fort

you get to see

the warrior ethos

which perhaps is

routine for many of you

for me

I every time

try to read it

and remember it

if you're familiar with it

you know it starts out

this way

I will always place

the mission first

I will never accept

defeat

I will never quit

and I will never leave

a fallen comrade

now my understanding

is that that is

what soldiers

would say themselves

to the army

but it's a little bit

different in God's

kingdom

because we don't say

all of the parts

of the warrior ethos

what God is saying

is this

that he is the one

who fulfills it

that when we place

his mission first

he will never leave

his fallen children

when we place God

and his mission first

he will never leave

his fallen children

and so we can sustain

the life of faith

because it is God

who picks us up

please pray with me

dear father in heaven

we thank you

that you are a loving

gracious heavenly father

that when we

walk the life

of faith with you

we are doing

what would be impossible

if you are not

in it and with us

and yet you are

so we thank you

for that

we ask that you

would be present

with us this week

as individuals

and as a church

that we would gather

around each other

supporting and caring

and loving each other

as you have loved us

we ask these things

not because we

have deserved them

but because we are

united with Christ

and that what is true

of him is true of us

and so we ask it

in his name

amen