Being Redeemed

Let's pray together as we look at God's Word this morning.

Father, we come before you and we are thankful for your Word, your Word which gives life,

your Word which tells us about you, and your Word which reveals the wonder of salvation

and the wonder of the God that so many of us have come to know and love.

Father, this morning we pray that as we look at your Word, you will speak to us.

And we pray, Holy Spirit, that you'll take the words on these pages and you'll apply it to our hearts.

God, won't you cause us to love you more and to trust you more, to obey you more and to fear you more

because of your Word this morning.

Bring this time before you in your wonderful name.

Amen.

Amen.

Okay.

So this morning we come to the end of our study of the book of Ruth, the Old Testament book.

And for me personally, it has been such a wonderful journey.

And I hope it has for you too.

It's been challenging studying the book of Ruth, trying to get my head around some things.

As Leah was saying, I'm sure there have been some fiery discussions in the CG.

But over the last few weeks as we've been going through the book of Ruth,

two lines have stood out to me.

The one is found in Ruth chapter 2 where Boaz says to Ruth,

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

And then in chapter 3, Ruth almost demonstrates what that means when she goes to Boaz and she says,

Boaz, spread the wings of your garment over me.

And I found myself over the last few weeks saying,

God, won't you make me a person that comes to take refuge and safety and security under the shadow of your wings.

Won't you spread your arms over me.

God, make me someone that comes to find my identity and my rest in you.

And I hope it's been encouraging for us as a church as well.

Now let's just recap the story for those of us that maybe have missed parts of it or some of it.

The story goes like this.

In Ruth chapter 1, we meet this family.

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

Elimelech and his wife Naomi and their two sons, Marlon and Chilian.

And they leave Israel because there's famine in the land of Israel.

They go up north to the country of Moab.

And this all takes place in what we are told is the time of the judges,

which was a very ungodly time in the nation of Israel.

It's a time when everybody did what was right in their own eyes,

which meant that nobody did what was right.

And so they leave Israel.

They go to Moab.

And Moab is an even more ungodly place.

And in Moab, tragedy strikes.

First, Elimelech dies.

And then Naomi's two sons marry a local Moabite woman.

And then the two sons die.

And so Naomi, an Israelite, is in a foreign land, foreign country,

with no land of her own, no sons, no husband,

no one to farm the land or to go and work in the fields.

And she's left with no security, just her two foreign daughter-in-laws.

And so Naomi, the one day, hears that the famine in Israel has broken.

And so she decides to go back to Judah, to Bethlehem.

And Ruth, the one daughter-in-law, decides to come with her.

The other decides to stay.

When Ruth and Naomi come back to Bethlehem in Israel,

they've got land which belongs to the family,

but the land hasn't been worked for decades.

And so it's lying fallow.

And so Ruth says, I better go out and find some work.

And so Ruth goes and works in the field of a man called Boaz,

who unbeknownst to her is a very godly man,

but he's also a relative of her late husband, Marlon.

And she just so happens to work in the field of this relative, Boaz.

And Boaz is incredibly kind to her.

He says to her, stay close to me.

I will look after you.

Don't go wandering away.

I will do you good.

And Boaz is incredibly kind.

He's generous to her.

He lavishly blesses her.

And so at the end of chapter one,

Naomi, when they come back, say, I've come back empty.

God has been bitter to me.

God has dealt unfairly with me.

I've got nothing left.

And just one day later at the end of chapter two,

because of Boaz's kindness,

Ruth and Naomi are now overflowing with provisions, with food.

And so they come to a place where they say,

God has been kind to us because of this man, Boaz.

Now, key to understanding the book of Ruth

is to understand the ancient Hebrew practice of redemption,

of redeeming a widow.

And the way it worked was like this.

If somebody in Israel fell on hard times,

maybe your husband died or you got into excessive debt,

the closest male relative, called the kinsman redeemer,

it is his obligation to buy you out of your tragic situation,

even at great personal cost to himself,

and to look after you.

So for instance, if a man dies,

his wife is left a widow,

maybe with children or no children,

this kinsman redeemer,

this family relative,

would buy the family land,

but marry this widow to do three things.

One, to look after her and provide for her.

Two, to look after the family land.

Land, remember, was a family safety and security.

In those days, you didn't have RAs and pension funds.

Your land was your provision.

But three, the redeemer would marry this widow

and then have children with her

in order to continue the name.

The children would be in the late husband's name

so that his family line wouldn't die out

but would continue.

Okay?

And so this was the obligation

of the closest male relative,

the kinsman redeemer.

So at the end of chapter two,

Ruth, after working in Boaz's field,

comes back to her mother-in-law, Naomi,

and Naomi says,

where did you work today?

And she says,

I worked in the field of Boaz.

And Naomi says,

Boaz, that man's a close relative of ours.

And her mind starts to think,

I wonder if this man can redeem us.

And so then in chapter three,

we saw that last week,

Boaz takes notice of Ruth.

She's a good-looking young lady.

And he spots her out,

but he doesn't make any moves on her

because Ruth is still wearing the mourning gear.

She's mourning her late husband.

And Naomi says to Ruth,

it's time to put away your mourning clothes.

It's time to prepare yourself for marriage.

And Naomi realizes that Ruth needs

not just Boaz's kindness,

she needs his love.

What Ruth needs is not just Boaz's provision,

she needs his loving protection.

And so Naomi prepares her daughter-in-law

and then at great risk to herself,

Ruth, in the middle of night,

goes to Boaz and she says,

marry me.

In this great act of vulnerability

and surrender and submission,

she goes to Boaz and says,

you are my Redeemer.

You are my rescuer.

Marry me.

Redeem me with your love.

And we saw that in many ways,

this is what it means to be a Christian.

A Christian is someone

who has recognized their emptiness,

recognized their need for a Savior,

recognized their need for redemption,

and come to the great Redeemer, Christ,

and says,

God, marry me.

Rescue me.

Redeem me with your love.

And so at the end of chapter three,

Ruth comes to Boaz in the middle of the night

and says,

rescue me.

Redeem me with your great love.

And Boaz says,

absolutely.

He's noticed Ruth, right?

He says,

sure thing.

Tomorrow I'm going to make it happen.

Except there's a problem.

And the problem is,

there's another guy.

I know that feeling.

When I first noticed Claire,

there was another guy.

And I had to get rid of him.

He's still alive.

I didn't get rid of him like that.

He's still alive.

So Ruth and Boaz

kind of make this arrangement.

Okay.

We want to get married.

But there's another guy.

There's another family relative,

a closer relative

that has first rights

on redeeming Ruth.

And so Boaz says,

tomorrow I'll go and talk to him

and let's see if we can arrange it.

And that's where chapter three ends.

And so today we get to Ruth chapter four.

Now today's passage,

there's three things I think

we're going to see.

Three things to learn.

We're going to learn that God's ways

are counterintuitive.

God's ways are grounded in grace.

And God's ways are all inclusive.

Okay.

Counterintuitive,

grounded in grace,

and all inclusive.

So first thing,

God's ways are counterintuitive.

Now chapter four starts off

with Boaz going down

to the city gates.

This is where business

and civil affairs

and transactions take place.

And so Boaz goes down

to the city gates

to meet this redeemer,

this family relative, right?

And look at verse one with me.

What does verse one say?

It says,

Boaz went to the gates

and he sat down.

And behold,

the redeemer of whom

Boaz had spoken

came by.

So Boaz said to him,

turn aside,

my friend.

Sit down here.

And he turned aside

and he sat down.

Now quick question.

This other redeemer,

what is his name?

Anyone know?

You shouldn't know

because nobody knows his name.

In fact,

the man that wrote

the book of Ruth

a couple of decades later

doesn't even know his name.

His name is lost

for all eternity.

In fact,

in the original Hebrew,

it actually says,

such a person.

It's kind of like,

it says,

Boaz says to him,

turn aside,

such a person.

It's kind of like

this catch-out phrase.

They don't know

what to call him.

It's like Mr. So-and-so.

Or I guess you'd say like,

sit down, Guilo.

You know,

it's like,

it's just this,

I don't know

if that's offensive,

but it's like

this kind of phrase

that we don't know

what to call him.

He's just this

Mr. So-and-so,

right?

And so Mr. So-and-so

comes along

and Boaz explains to him

that Naomi,

who's returned from Moab,

is selling her land

that belonged

to her husband,

Elimelech,

and that he,

Mr. So-and-so,

is the nearest relative

and has the first rights

to buy it

and to redeem it.

Now,

Boaz doesn't mention Ruth,

right?

He just talks about the land.

And so this relative,

Mr. So-and-so,

says,

sure,

sounds great.

I would like to buy the land.

Count me in.

And at that point,

Boaz's heart drops,

right?

He loves Ruth.

Ruth loves him.

Ruth doesn't want to marry

Mr. So-and-so.

Ruth wants to marry Boaz.

And so at that point,

he's like,

ah,

I was hoping

it wasn't going to work out.

And here's this guy

that's messed up

their whole plans.

And so then Boaz

very gently reminds him

and says,

well,

the day that you

buy the land,

you also get to inherit,

you also get to marry

Ruth,

the Moabite.

Now,

you see what's going on here?

Mr. So-and-so,

when he redeems

Naomi's land

and property,

he also gets

to marry the widow

in order to protect her,

but in order to

perpetuate the name

of the late husband

so that his line

will continue.

Now,

Naomi is too old

to be married

and to have children,

and so Ruth

will now become

this man's wife

in order to continue

the family line.

And so Boaz

reminds this Mr. So-and-so

about Ruth

and suddenly

he starts to back off.

He says,

ah,

actually,

I just forgot.

I ran out of money

and I would love to,

but it's not going to work out,

right?

He starts to backtrack a bit

and he says,

but you marry him.

And Boaz jumps to it

and says,

I would love to.

Now,

why does Mr. So-and-so

back off?

Why does he not want

to marry Ruth?

Well,

he tells us.

He tells us what happens.

He says,

I don't want to impair

my own inheritance.

And the way it worked

was like this.

Remember in the nation

of Israel,

there's this law

called the law of Jubilee,

right?

So every 50 years,

all the land

that was sold,

any transactions

had to be returned

to the family of origin

every 50 years.

And the reason this happened

was so that to stop

the rich getting richer

and the poor getting poorer.

So if you fall

in difficult times,

you can sell some land,

but rather than people

taking advantage of that,

every 50 years,

all the land is returned

to the family of origin.

So when this man

buys Naomi's land,

he knows that,

hey,

in a couple of years' time,

maybe 20 years

or 30 years

or 40 years,

the land is going

to be returned

to the family.

If I take the land

and I marry Ruth

and we have children,

these children belong

to Elimelech,

that family line,

this land will be returned

to them.

So he buys the land,

but not forever,

just for a time period.

But he takes on two women,

Ruth and Naomi,

forever.

And so in a sense,

his estate,

his wealth,

now needs to support

these extra people,

but he doesn't get

the land forever.

And so when he has

children with Ruth,

now his inheritance

is no longer split,

let's say,

three ways

with his children

and now might be

split five ways

or six ways

or seven ways.

And so he realizes

my inheritance

is going to be diluted.

But furthermore,

he realizes

that he's going

to create children

not in his own name,

but in the name

of Ruth's late husband,

Elimelech and Marlon,

right?

And so he starts

to back off.

He says,

no thanks,

you marry her.

Now in the nation

of Israel at the time,

there was a law,

well actually not

at the time,

in the Bible

there's this law

that if a lady

was widowed,

she goes to her

kinsman redeemer,

this relative,

and says,

marry me,

protect me,

cover me with your wings,

put your redeeming love

around me.

And he says,

no.

Then she takes him

down to the city gates

and once again

in front of all the elders

and the leaders,

she says,

this man is my redeemer,

I'm asking him

to marry me.

And if he still refused,

she takes off his sandal,

she slaps him

and then she spits

in his face,

okay?

That was the law.

And the reason was

because it was

considered

extremely offensive.

It was extremely selfish

not to care

for your family member,

not to look after

your family member.

So Mr. So-and-so

says no

and he says no

because he wants

to protect

his own inheritance

and he wants

to protect

his own family

and he wants

to protect

his own name.

Now look what happens here.

Three and a half thousand

years later,

whose name

do we remember?

whose name

is recorded

under the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit

for all time

in the Bible?

Not Mr. So-and-so,

nobody knows his name.

And yet,

Boaz,

this man who does

the exact opposite,

the man who marries Ruth,

what does he say?

In order to perpetuate

the name of the dead,

Boaz who marries Ruth

knowing that her children

will technically

not carry his name

but carry the name

of her late husband,

Boaz who gives up

his own reputation

and marries Ruth

to protect her

and care for her

and make children

in the line of Marlon

and Elimlich's family,

his name is recorded

for all time

in the scriptures.

Now friends,

this is the way

that God's,

this is the way

of God's ways.

This is the way

that God works.

This is the upside down

nature of God's ways

in the world.

That those who try

to save their lives

end up losing them.

Those who try

to save their name

end up losing them.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

said it like this,

the gospel tells us

that the infinite worth

of that which seems

so worthless

and the infinite worthlessness

of everything

that is seemingly

so valuable.

And this is the way

of God.

This is the way

of the Bible.

Throughout the whole story

of the Bible,

those who try

to save themselves

end up losing themselves.

And those who say,

God it's not about me,

have your way,

actually end up

saving themselves.

We see this

in the book of Genesis,

right?

Right in the beginning,

Adam and Eve

are in the garden

with God's presence

and the devil comes to them

and says,

you want to be like God,

don't you?

I know God said,

don't do this,

but God doesn't really

want you to be powerful

and majestic.

Listen to me.

You eat that fruit,

you will be made like God.

What do they want to do?

They want to be like God.

And so they eat the fruit

and they listen.

And what happens?

They end up being

expelled from God's presence,

expelled from God's paradise.

And the end is death

and destruction.

They sought to be like God

and they ended up

losing God entirely.

A couple of chapters later,

the people of God

decide to build

this massive tower

to heaven.

They're going to build

this tower

to the praise of their name

and to their own glory.

And what happens?

The result is tribalism,

racism,

death,

and destruction.

And all throughout the Bible,

throughout the Old Testament

and the New Testament,

whenever the people of God

try to save their lives,

try to pursue their own glory,

try to live for themselves,

the result is always

death and destruction.

And whenever the people of God

in humility

would come and say,

God, not my way,

would come and die

to themselves,

say, Father,

have your way.

In that place,

they found life.

And we see this

in our own lives,

don't we?

We see this in our marriages.

We see this in our parenting.

You want a happy marriage?

The secret is,

not my will,

but your will.

Love, right?

Anyone that tries

in their marriage

to say,

hey,

fight for their own will,

fight for their way,

ends up losing it.

But when you come and say,

not about me,

about you,

let's have your way,

that's the way

to find a happy marriage.

And friends,

this is the way of God.

This is the counterintuitive

nature of God,

that those who try

and hold on

and find their life

actually end up losing it.

And of course,

the greatest expression

of this

is found

in the carpenter.

The man who came

from Bethlehem.

The man who was born

to a teenage mom,

born in the back

waters of Israel,

born in an animal

feeding trough

in a stable.

The man who was born

to die.

The man who came

to lay down his life

so that we could live.

Jesus said,

all who try

to hang on

to their lives,

their reputation

and their pride

will end up losing it.

But if you come to me,

if you trust me,

if you come open-handed,

you'll find,

you'll find life.

You'll gain your life.

And friends,

what is true for us

was equally true

for Jesus.

That Jesus who came

to lay down his life

ended up getting life.

But the difference is

where we lay down

our lives,

we find our lives.

Jesus died

not so that he could

find life,

but that we could

find life.

This is the ways

of God.

Friends,

this is the good news

of Jesus.

And this is what

the Bible is all about.

That though we have

fallen short

of God's standards,

though we've fallen

short of the wonder

of Jesus and who he is,

though our loves

are distorted

and we follow

other gods,

Jesus came to lay down

his life for creation.

And he tells us

to do the same.

He tells us

not to live for ourselves,

but to say,

not to us,

oh God,

but to your name

give the glory.

And in that place

we find life.

And this is what we see

with Boaz

and Mr. So-and-so.

Mr. So-and-so,

this man,

tried to protect

his own reputation

and in the end

lost it.

And Boaz,

who gives it up,

his name is preserved

for all time.

First point,

the counterintuitive

ways of God.

Second thing is this.

The thing that we see

is that God's ways

are grounded

in grace.

Grounded in grace.

Now,

when we listen

to the first point,

you might be tempted

to think,

okay,

I get it.

I understand

the way it works.

Those who deny

themselves,

those who punish

themselves,

those who make

themselves lowly,

earn God's love

and acceptance,

right?

So you might be tempted

to think,

I know how to get

God's love and acceptance.

I've got to deny myself.

I've got to punish myself.

I've got to fast

and I've got to

go through hardship.

And if I do that,

God will reward me

with good life.

But look at what

happens next.

Mr. So-and-so says,

sorry,

I don't want,

you know,

Ruth anymore.

You take it.

Boaz says,

I would love her.

And so they get married.

And they get married

and they live happily

ever after.

Okay?

And the Lord blesses

them with a son.

Now look what happens

in verse 13 to 17.

Naomi,

not Ruth,

is called

blessed by the Lord.

And Naomi

is the one

that the townsfolk

say is redeemed.

And in verse 17,

it said of Naomi,

she has a son.

Now remember,

this son,

called Obed,

has none

of Naomi's blood

in it.

Right?

Remember,

it's the son

of Ruth and Boaz.

Ruth is not

Naomi's descendant.

She's her daughter-in-law.

Boaz is not

Naomi's descendant.

This is a relative

of her late husband.

So their son

has zero

of Naomi's blood

in it.

And yet,

the townsfolk say,

a son has been

born to Naomi.

And later on,

in verse 15,

this grandson,

which is actually

a step-grandson,

is said to Naomi,

he says,

he will be

a restorer of life

and a nourisher

of your old age.

So Naomi,

who came back

in chapter 1

saying,

God has been

unfair to me.

God has dealt

bitterly with me.

God has given me

nothing.

I went away full

and I've come back

empty.

Now,

this Naomi

is given

a grandson

who is told

that this son,

this grandson,

will nourish you

in your old age,

will restore

your life to you.

And remember,

she comes back

and Ruth is

standing next to her

and she says,

I've got nothing.

God has taken

everything from me.

And as Chris

reminded us

three weeks ago,

Ruth is standing

right next to her

as if to say,

Ruth is nothing to me.

And now look at

how the townsfolk

speak of Ruth.

They say,

Ruth,

your daughter-in-law

who loves you,

who has become

more to you

than seven sons.

That's quite a statement

in a culture

that pries

the birth of sons,

right?

And so here

is God's amazing

blessing to Naomi.

Now,

in the book of Ruth,

Naomi is quite

a tricky character,

right?

If you've been following

the last few weeks,

it's like,

it's hard to get

your hands on Naomi.

Is Naomi good

or is she bad?

Is she faithful

or is she a schemer?

Is she deceptive?

What's going on

with Naomi?

It's kind of like,

it's hard to get

our hands on her,

right?

And I think

the truth is

that Naomi

is conflicted.

There's a part

of her

that wants

to trust God

and there's a part

of her

that also wants

what's good

for her,

right?

There's a part

of her

that wants

to be faithful

and kind of

wants to serve God

but there's a part

of her

that also wants

to organize

things that work

out well

for her own life.

In a sense,

Naomi is quite

a conflicted

human being.

Friends,

if we're honest

with ourselves,

though we more

readily like to

associate with Ruth,

the beautiful,

young,

obedient,

attractive young lady,

if we're honest

with ourselves,

we're probably far

closer to Naomi

than we are to Ruth,

right?

If we're honest

with ourselves,

we're all a little

conflicted.

If you're a follower

of Jesus this morning,

there's enough goodness

inside of you,

there's enough of the

Holy Spirit inside of you

to want to please God

and to want to honor Him

but if we're honest

with ourselves,

there's also enough

selfishness,

there's enough self-love,

there's enough self-glory

in us that actually

we often find

ourselves conflicted,

not too dissimilar

to Naomi.

And remember

the Apostle Paul

in Romans chapter 7,

Romans 7 · chapter mention

the great Apostle Paul,

he says this,

I do not understand

myself.

That which I do not

want to do,

I end up doing.

The very things

I hate.

And so I realize

that it's no longer

I who do these things

merely,

but there's this sin

that dwells inside of me.

I have the desire

to do what's right

but I somehow

don't have the ability

to carry it out.

For I do not do

the things that I want

to do

and the evil things

that I don't want to do,

I find myself

keep on doing.

Even the great Apostle Paul

finds himself

conflicted.

And then what does he say?

He says,

Wretched man that I am,

who will deliver me

from such a body of death?

Friends,

I find myself

agreeing with Paul.

Wretched man

that I am,

who will deliver me

from this confliction

of my soul?

And then he says this,

Thanks be to God

through the Lord Jesus Christ.

And friends,

I want to say that

if you're a human being,

which chances are you are,

every one of us

are slightly conflicted.

Every one of us,

there'll be times

in our life

where there's a pull

and a heart

to do the right thing

but there's a self-love

that wants to look

after ourselves.

And very often,

even the good things

that we do,

our motives are mixed up

and our motives

are partly good

but partly self-preserving.

Oh,

wretched man that I am,

who will deliver me

from such a turmoil?

Thanks be to God

through Jesus Christ,

our great Redeemer.

And friends,

when you hear

that the way to life

is to deny ourselves,

those of us

that are more religious

might think to ourselves,

might be tempted

to think,

if I do the right things,

if I deny myself,

if I behave the right way,

then I'll be sorted.

If I make the right decisions,

God will look after me.

Friends,

don't believe the lie.

Don't believe the lie

that God is on the side

of those

who've got their religious credentials

all in order.

Don't believe the lie

that if you just do

the right things

and make the right choices

and everything's

going to work out fine.

God rewards Boaz

with the amazing girl,

right?

He gets the girl.

And Boaz is faithful

and righteous.

And Boaz is blessed by God.

And Ruth is blessed by God.

But so is Naomi.

The conflicted mother-in-law

is also extremely,

abundantly,

extravagantly blessed by God.

Why?

Not because of her faithfulness.

Not because she's the perfect

God-fearing woman.

Not because she's got

all her credentials in order.

But because of the unprecedented

grace and kindness

and the mercy of God.

Robert Deffenboer,

I think that's how

you say his name,

said this,

The book of Ruth

is not written

so that we can glory

in the goodness of man.

It is written

to reveal the glory

of our righteous God.

Ruth shows us

that the fulfillment

of God's purposes

and promises

depends on the goodness

and the greatness

of our God,

not on the goodness

of man.

God is able to cause

all things to work together

for our good,

but primarily

for his glory.

Friends,

those of us

that are followers

of Jesus this morning,

I hope you realize

the profound,

the gravity

of the grace of God.

That everything God does,

the way that he,

the way that he treats you

and I

is grounded

on not our goodness

or our righteousness,

but of the grace

and the mercy of God.

And this should cause us

to sing.

This should cause

our hearts to rejoice.

This should put a song

in our hearts

as we realize

the great mercy

and the kindness

of our God.

God's ways

are counterintuitive.

God's ways

are always grounded

in grace.

Third thing is this.

God's ways

are all inclusive.

Now,

look at how

the story of Ruth ends.

If you've got your bulletin

or your Bible,

look at verse 17

with me.

It says this,

the woman of the neighborhood

gave this boy

a name

saying,

a son has been born

to Naomi.

They named him Obed.

He was the father

of Jesse,

the father of David.

And then the book

ends with this

seven generations

talking about Perez

through the family line

of Boaz

and ultimately

it ends

in David.

Now,

let's just zoom out

a little book,

a little bit.

the book of Ruth

is a hinge,

it's a pivot

in the history

of Israel.

Remember chapter one,

the first sentence

of chapter one

started like this,

in the time

of the judges,

right?

So,

before the book of Ruth,

it's an era

or an epoch

in Israel's history

which is known

as the time

of the judges.

They didn't have kings,

they had these rulers,

these prophets,

these men and women

of God

called these judges.

And then the book

of Ruth ends,

the last verse

of Ruth,

talks about David.

And David was

the great king

of Israel.

And so,

sandwiched in between

these two epochs,

these eras

in Israel's history

stands this little book,

this hinge of a book,

the book of Ruth,

right?

Now,

following on

from the book of Ruth,

we get to the time

of the kings,

okay?

We've just spoken

about that.

Now,

you might remember

in 1 Samuel,

1 Samuel is the next

book in the Bible,

in 1 Samuel chapter 8,

1 Samuel 8 · chapter mention

the people of Israel

come to Samuel,

the prophet,

and they say,

give us a king.

We want a king

like the other nations.

And God answers them

through Samuel saying,

why do you want a king?

I'll be your king.

Everything you want

from a king,

I will be with you.

I will lead you.

I will guide you.

I will protect you.

I'll go out

before you in battle.

I will be your great king.

And the people of God

say,

no,

we want a king

that we can see,

a king that we can touch,

a king that we can revere,

a king that we can worship,

right?

And so God says,

okay,

I'll give you a king.

And so he gives them

the king Saul.

And Saul starts off

a right,

but pretty quickly

things get out of hand.

Saul's own conflicted self

gets in the way

and things go wrong.

And so King Saul,

the first king of Israel,

he actually spends

kind of the last 15 years,

the last decade

and a half of his life,

his rule is marked

by jealousy,

by anger,

murder,

by murder.

And so King Saul

spends the last

kind of half of his rule

trying to annihilate

this young man

in his temple,

this military leader,

this young man

in his palace,

who's also his chief of staff

and his military general,

this young man

called David.

And so Saul

tries to take him out.

He chases him down

all over the country

to try and kill

this young man

called David.

Now ironically,

the counterintuitive

nature of God,

Saul dies in battle

and the man

who takes the throne

is this young man,

David.

And David sits

on the throne

that Saul

once occupied.

And David becomes

the greatest king

that Israel ever had.

In many ways,

he's like Boaz.

He's not perfect.

He has his own issues.

He has to deal with sin.

But in many ways,

his heart is after God.

He really does want

the things of God.

And he forgives

his enemies.

He forgives the people

that try and make

his life difficult.

David, like Boaz,

really is a God-fearing man.

And he's a righteous king.

And under him,

Israel flourishes.

Israel grows

and prospers.

And who is this man,

David?

Well, we read,

he's the great-grandson

of Naomi and Boaz, right?

And so from this wrangled,

kind of twisted family tree

of Naomi and Elimelech,

Boaz and Ruth,

remember Boaz and Ruth,

half Jewish,

half Moabite,

half God-fearing,

half foreigner,

half Jew,

half Gentile.

From this kind of

twisted family tree

of Naomi and Elimelech,

Boaz and Ruth,

comes Israel's greatest king.

And during his time,

Israel,

prosperous,

they flourish,

it's a time of safety,

it's a time of great blessing.

And because of David,

for all his faults,

because David is a God-fearing man,

God makes him a promise.

And God promises David this,

he says,

as long as you trust me,

there will forever be one of your descendants

on the throne.

For all time,

one of your descendants

will sit on the throne

of the nation of Israel.

Unfortunately,

that doesn't solve things,

because David eventually dies,

and things in Israel start to unravel.

And things get really bad,

and eventually,

after 400 years,

God says,

enough is enough.

He brings the Babylonians,

and he attacks Israel.

The Babylonians take Israel

into exile for 70 years.

Eventually,

they come back,

but Israel is never the same.

Civil war breaks out

after David's life,

the north attacks the south,

they fight,

and Israel is never the same again.

And so,

throughout Israel's history,

the people of God

are looking for this king,

this great king

that will rule them in righteousness,

this great king

who will rule them in truth.

Forever,

Israel's looking,

longing,

waiting for the king

that will redeem them,

the king who will buy them

out of their tragic situation,

even at great cost to themselves.

And they're waiting for this king,

and when will this king arrive?

And one king dies,

and the next king arises,

and suddenly you think,

this will be the king.

He will rescue us.

And eventually,

he dies,

and things go wrong again.

And then another king emerges,

and then we think,

this will be the one to save us.

And things just get worse again.

And forever,

Israel's waiting,

longing for the king

who will rescue them

and redeem them.

Until such time

is one of David's

great,

great,

great descendants,

born in a town

called the town of David,

the town of Bethlehem.

This descendant

is true king of Israel,

the king that Israel's

always waited for.

This is the Lord Jesus Christ.

And not only is the true

and better David,

being a descendant of Boaz,

he's the true

and better redeemer.

He's the one

who came to redeem

not just Ruth and Naomi

out of their tragic situation,

not just Israel

out of their tragic situation.

He's the redeemer

who came to redeem

the whole world.

And notice the scandal

of this great redeemer.

This great redeemer,

the Lord Jesus Christ,

the scandal is what?

That his ancestors

aren't even fully Jewish.

His great,

great grandmother

is what?

A Moabite,

a pagan Gentile,

someone from the land of Moab

that they were enemies

of God's people.

And this great ancestor

of Jesus and of David

is not one of God's people.

And yet God includes her

in the bloodline

of Israel's greatest king,

King David,

and ultimately

in the bloodline of Jesus.

Friends,

you see what God

is saying here?

God is saying

no matter what your past,

doesn't matter

where you come from,

it doesn't matter

what your background is.

You can be Jewish,

you can be Gentile,

you can be Buddhist,

you can be Hindu,

you can be,

your background can be Taoist,

you can be agnostic,

it doesn't matter

what your background is,

heaven and earth's true king,

heaven and earth's true redeemer

has come for you.

If you'll come to him,

if you'll bow down to him,

if you'll come to him

like Ruth did

and said,

let your people be my people,

let your God be my God,

if you'll come to him

like Ruth came to Boaz

and said,

cover me with your wings,

come and rescue me,

redeem me

with your redeeming love.

And so what Boaz says

to Ruth in chapter two,

he says,

don't go anywhere,

stay close to me,

I will make sure

that you looked after,

is what this redeemer

says to all of us.

He invites us to his table,

he invites us

to come and eat with him,

he gives us bread

and wine,

he gives us food,

and when we accept it,

when we come

and we lie down

at his feet,

when we come

and take shelter

under the shadow

of his wings,

he comes

and he rescues us,

he comes

and gives us rest.

Friends,

the story of the gospel

is not

that God

looks after those

who look after themselves.

The message

of the gospel

is not that

the religious

and the pious

and that those

that have got it

all together

win in the end.

The story

of the gospel

is not that

the good guys

always come out

on top.

The message

of the gospel

is that though

all of us

are like Ruth,

foreigners

and outcasts,

though all of us

are like Naomi,

conflicted

and broken,

though all of us

may be like David

and Boaz,

trying to serve God

but conflicted

with our own sin,

though we are

like these people

conflicted

and broken,

the gospel

tells us that

though we have

fallen short

of God's standards,

both Jew

and Gentile,

religious

and secular,

conservative

and liberal,

the Ruths

of this world

and the Naomi's

of this world

and the Boaz's

of this world

are invited

to come

to the great

Redeemer,

invited to come

to his table,

invited to come

and find shelter

and safety

under the shadow

of his wings.

Friends,

can we come

to him this morning?

Can we come

to our great

Redeemer?

Can we come

to the one

who not just

redeemed Naomi

and Ruth,

not just redeemed

Israel,

the one

who's redeeming

the whole world,

Jew and Gentile alike,

the one who came

for sinners

like you

and me?

Let's come

to him this morning.

Let's pray together.

Can I invite you

to stand with me?

Let's come

to Christ,

our great Redeemer

this morning.

Maybe let's

close our eyes

and

if you're

comfortable

will,

I encourage you

to maybe

take a posture

that reflects it.

Maybe open

your hands.

It's a posture

that communicates,

God,

I come to you.

I'm open.

I'm not close

to you.

I'm not holding

on to my

pride and reputation.

I come empty.

I come vulnerable.

I come in a posture

of surrender.

Friends,

this morning

let's come

to our great

Redeemer

for his mercy

and his kindness.

Let's acknowledge

our need

for his mercy

and his kindness.

Friends,

this morning

let's acknowledge

that

though we might

be tempted

to think of ourselves

like Ruth.

There's probably

a lot more

of Naomi

in us

than we like

to acknowledge.

Let's acknowledge

that this morning.

Friends,

this morning

let's revel

in the unbelievable

kindness

and the mercy

of God.

The fact

that God's

kindness

to us

is extravagantly

more than

we could ask

or imagine.

this morning

let's revel

in the fact

that God's

hand is

all over history

working out

his purposes

generation

after generation

after generation.

God,

we come to you.

We come to you

this morning,

God,

and we acknowledge

that we need you.

God,

this morning

we don't come

to you

with our

religious

credentials.

We don't come

with our

accolades.

We don't come

deserving

or earning

your grace.

We come

as humble

recipients

of your grace.

And we say,

Jesus,

won't you

rescue us?

Won't you

redeem us?

Won't you

cover us

with your wings,

God?

We've come

to take

shelter

and safety

and refuge

in the shadow

of the almighty.

Jesus,

come and have

your way.

And Jesus,

we pray

that as you

rescue us,

won't you

also change

us to make

us more like you?

Won't you

settle our hearts,

God?

won't you

give us

great rest.

Father,

pray for those

of us

that are

anxious,

those of us

that carry

turmoil in our

hearts,

those of us

that are scared

and fearful.

I pray,

Christ,

that we come

and find

our refuge

in you.

I pray for us,

God,

those of us

that feel

conflicted.

God,

won't you

open the eyes

of our hearts

to see you

and to trust you?

God,

I pray for those

of us

that maybe

our hearts

have grown

cold towards you

and worship

has become hard.

Oh,

God,

won't you

ban the flame

of worship

in our hearts

again?

Won't you

cause us

to rejoice?

Won't you

cause us

to sing?

God,

won't you

cause our hearts

to overflow

with worship

for you,

God,

I pray.

Oh,

Holy Spirit,

come,

we pray.