Love at Work – The Benefit of Love

Got some big things coming up, don't we?

It's a big day today. What's coming up, guys?

No, come on, guys, it's Valentine's Day.

Is this next weekend? They're all in trouble now.

All in trouble. Now we do.

We have the Super Bowl, which isn't a big deal to us Bengals

fans, is it? And at least not this year.

But it's Valentine's week. And so I just want to how many

of you are big into Hallmark movies?

Go ahead, Raise your hand, teens.

No, not any of you. OK.

All right, we got we got one. Come on.

More of you are watching all Mark, How about ROM coms?

How about Netflix ROM coms? Yeah, there's more of you.

All right. Not a whole lot of loving people

in this congregation, apparently.

Well, hey, we are studying on Valentine's week here.

We're, we're studying the story of Ruth and this is one of the,

the best love stories we see in scripture.

And so right here as we get into Valentine's week, I, I want to

invite you into the story. Maybe you're not a ROM com

person or a Hallmark person, but I mean, this story is straight

out of Hallmark. I mean, it is like perfectly

designed like a Hallmark movie. And so as we look into it, I

want to tell you that I think we are being invited into this

story and maybe it's not. I don't know what Valentine's

Day means to you. I know it's, you know, a worldly

holiday and it's about, you know, romantic love and all of

that. Maybe for some of you,

Valentine's Day can be a tough day.

Maybe your situation's difficult.

I, I got good news for you. There's a God that loves you,

that wants to invite you into the greatest love story ever

written. And it's not Ruth and Boaz.

That's a picture of the greatest love story ever written.

And that's that the God of the universe loves you, wants to

care for you, wants to provide for you, and then wants to call

you to love others. So you're invited into the story

today. Let's recap last week, Ruth

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

Chapter 1. Ruth is it starts out with

Limilek and Naomi. They were from God's people and

they were living in God's promised land.

So this is happening pretty early into the time of the

Judges. The time of the Judges, about

400 years after God's people were delivered into the promised

land. There was a time of about 400

years where there was difficulty and there was back and forth and

there was this cycle where the people of God would mess up.

They would choose to go their own way and then they would find

themselves in trouble and then they would call out to God and

then God would save them and everything was good until they

messed up, chose their own way, fell into trouble, called out to

God. And we had this cycle.

And so Elimelech and Naomi were, were some of God's people who

were making some choices that were leading them into this

cycle. They left the promised land.

See the people at this time, we're going through a bit of a

famine. And so there wasn't food.

And so instead of sticking around and trusting God to

provide, Alimac and Naomi said, we're going to head out, we're

going to go somewhere else. We're going to take matters into

our own hands. So they moved to Moab, which was

an enemy land. Not only did they move there,

then they married their sons to Moabite women.

Now, in that day, there was clear instruction that you were

not to do that. You were not to intermarry with

other tribes and everything because of the risk of idolatry.

That was God's command in those days.

And so they were making these bad choices.

And all of a sudden tragedy strikes.

Elimelech, Naomi's husband passes away.

Then Maelon and Killian, we talked about this last week.

Their, their names mean sickness and death, not the best names.

They both end up passing away. So we end up with Naomi and then

Ruth and Orpa, her daughters in law.

And she hears that good things are happening that God is

providing for people back in the promised land, the place they

left. And so she says she makes the

very easy decision. We're going to go back.

We're going to go back to where God's providing and we're going

to be provided for. And she says, but she tells Ruth

and Orpa her daughter's in law. She says you should go back to

your own land because see, if you go with me, there's no way

that you're going to find a husband.

There's no way you're going to find legitimacy.

You need to go back to your own people and hopefully then you

can be taken care of. And so she urges them not to

come with her. Orpa says OK, I'll go back, but

Ruth says no, I'm staying with you.

And we have that famous passage where where you go, I'll go,

where you stay, I'll stay. Your people are my people.

Your God is my God. And Ruth chooses, this is what

we talked about last week. Ruth chooses to love and be

faithful to Naomi. That brings us to Ruth 2.

Stand with me if you don't mind and honor God's word.

Just to warn you, this is long. It's a story.

I want to give you the full story.

So we're going to read all of Ruth chapter 2 today.

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

You can follow along on the screen.

So at this point, they've headed back to the promised land there

in Bethlehem. And it says this.

Now, Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, a man of

standing from the clan of Alimelech, Alimelech, Naomi's

husband that passed away, whose name was Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, Let me go to the fields

and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone and whose eyes I

find favor. Naomi said to her.

Go ahead, my daughter. So she went out, entered a

field, and began to glean behind the harvesters.

As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to

Boaz, who once again was from the clan of Elimelech.

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the

harvesters. The Lord be with you, the Lord

bless you, they answered. Boaz asked the overseer of the

harvesters, who does that young woman belong to?

And the overseer replied, She is the Moabite who came back from

Moab with Naomi. She said, please let me glean

and gather among the she's behind the harvester.

She came into the field and has remained here from morning till

now, except for a short rest in the shelter.

So Boaz said to Ruth, my daughter, listen to me.

Don't go and glean in another field.

Don't go away from here. Stay here with the women who

work for me. Watch the field where the men

are harvesting and follow along after the women.

I have told the men not to lay a hand on you, and whenever you

are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have

filled. At this she bowed down with her

face to the ground, and she asked him, Why have I found such

favor in your eyes that you notice me a foreigner?

Boaz replied. I've been told it's all about

what you've done for your mother-in-law since the death of

your husband, how you left your father and mother and your

homeland and came to live with the people you did not know

before. May the Lord repay you for what

you have done. May you be richly rewarded by

the Lord the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come

to take refuge. May I continue to find favor in

your eyes, my Lord, she said. You have put me at ease by

speaking kindly to your servant, though I do not have the

standing of one of your servants at meal time.

Boaz said to her, Come over here, have some bread, dip it in

the wine vinegar, and when she sat down with the harvesters he

offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had

some leftover. As she got up to glean, Boaz

gave orders to his men. Let her gather among the sheaves

and do not reprimand her, even pull out some stalks for her

from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up and do not

rebuke her. So Ruth gleaned in the field

until evening. Then she threshed the barley and

she had gathered and it amounted to about an IFA.

She she carried it back to town and her mother-in-law saw how

much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave

her what was leftover from what she had eaten from.

After she had eaten enough, her mother-in-law asked her, Where

did you glean today? Where did you work?

Blessed be the man who took notice of you.

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she

had been working. The name of the man I worked

with today is Boaz, she said. The Lord bless him, Naomi said

to her daughter-in-law. He has not stopped showing

kindness to the living in the dead, she added.

That man is our close relative. He is one of our guardian

redeemers. Then Ruth said the Moabite said,

he even said to me, stay with my workers until they finished

harvesting all my grain. Naomi said to her

daughter-in-law, it will be good for you, my daughter, to go with

the women who work with him because in someone else's field

you might be harmed. So Ruth stayed close to the

women of Boaz to glean until the barley and the wheat harvest

were finished and she lived with her mother-in-law.

You can have a seat. Lord, I pray that you would

speak to us, and I pray that you would invite us into this story.

We're all in different places, but I believe you're calling all

of us to #1 know your love to #2 give your love to others to be

the hands and feet of Jesus, to speak to us today in Jesus name,

Amen. So when we left it in chapter 1,

Ruth had chosen love. She'd chosen to stay with Naomi.

This was a big choice. We talked about this last week.

Ruth was a Moabite. The Moabites were enemies to

God's people. And and so Naomi had said, no,

no, go back to your homeland. That's where you're going to be

safe. But Ruth said, no, I'm staying

with you. Where you go, I will go.

Where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people

and your God, my God. And so this at chapter 2 we see

is where they're at. They're back in Bethlehem.

But the truth is there's consequences to her choice.

What are the consequences #1 she's a foreigner in a land that

she doesn't necessarily belong. Number 2, they don't have what

they need. They're, they're poor.

They, they don't have anyone to provide for them.

And so we see in chapter 2, Ruth says, let me go out in the

fields. Let me go out to glean in the

fields. Now this is beautiful guys.

I want you to see this. My first point we're going to

get to here in a minute is this that God is always working on

our behalf. That's our first point.

God is always working on our behalf.

Now I want to show you how that happened.

So, so they, they've come to Bethlehem.

Ruth is with Naomi, but they've got no one to care for them, no

one to provide for them. So Ruth says, hey, I'm going to

go out in the fields and I'm going to glean in the fields.

How many of you know what gleaning is?

Oh, we got some Bible scholars in the house.

Leviticus chapter 19, verses 9 and 10 says this.

Leviticus 19:9

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap the very

edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

Do not go over your vineyard a second time to pick up the

grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the

foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

Here's what I want you to see. God had already set things in

place to take care of people who were in need, who were poor, who

were estranged, who found themselves down and out.

God had already set up a system. It was part of his rule, part of

his law. He said When you have a field

and you, you know, go harvest, leave some so that people that

are in need, people that are foreigners can come in and they

can glean out of the edges of your field.

This is a beautiful thing, guys. God has a plan to take care of

people that are hurting and broken.

You know what that plan is? To work through his people that

he's blessed and given much to. I know that there's a lot of

talk these days about politics and policies.

Guys, as the church, could we just commit to be a people of

love? Could we just commit to be a

people that share and care for others?

I believe if we did that to the best of our ability, God's

already set in place something to care for the people around

us. He's calling us to share and so

she's she goes out to glean in the field and and and then and

and it says it bring we we see Boaz coming to the store.

I told you this is this is Hallmark.

We've got Ruth. She's the the daughter-in-law

that's taking care of her mother-in-law.

I mean, she's just a good person, right?

Are you getting the character? Come on, all you ROM com

Hallmark people. Ruth, she's a good woman.

She cares for a mother-in-law. They're poor.

She goes out of the field and all of a sudden enter in Boaz

right now. We did a lot of names last week.

You know what Boaz means and him is strength.

Is this not a Hallmark character right here?

There's not a ROM com character. Boaz walks in strength.

Turns out she's in his field. And so we we're introduced,

introduced to him at the beginning of the story.

It says Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, a man of

standing in the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

Let me tell you how this works. You have a family, then you have

a clan, then you have a tribe. And so Naomi and Elimelech are

in a family and then in their clan, a relative of Elimelech is

Boaz. He's in the clan and a part of

the bigger tribe. And so so it introduces us to

this Boaz strength. We got the the the

daughter-in-law, taking care of her mother-in-law, just going

out in the fields. And now we've got we got the

strong Boaz says in verse 3, she went out, entered a field.

Want you to listen to this language I began to glean behind

the harvesters. All right, you ready for this

next line? Go ahead.

Read it with me. As it turned out, I love this

guys. Don't miss this.

As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to

Boaz, who was from the clan of a limb elec.

Just then guys, this is Hallmark.

This is ROM com. As it turned out, she just

happened to be in Boaz's field. And just then Boaz walks in.

Here he is. It's perfect.

Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters.

The Lord be with you guys. What I want you to see here in

the first part of this, the first point is this, God is

always working on our behalf. At the end of chapter 1, when

Naomi gets to Bethlehem, Naomi, which means pleasant people say,

oh, it's Naomi. And she says, don't call me

Naomi, call me Mara because I'm bitter.

God has taken everything from me.

God has emptied me. I'm bitter.

And we see that all along, God has been working on her behalf,

number one, through setting up laws and rules to care for those

in need #2 just so happens there's a dude named Boaz

Strength. He's got a field.

And as it turned out, Ruth, when she goes out to glean, ends up

in Boaz's field. Now, is that a divine

appointment? Maybe.

Is that free will? And it just, is it a

coincidence? I think God is working.

And here's the deal. I don't believe we as Nazarene

believe in free will. We don't believe that God has

has chosen everything for you. We believe that we have choice,

that we can choose what we do, but that God is at work in

everything. In Romans 828, it says that God

works for the good in all things for those who love him, that God

is working on our behalf. I do believe that there are

times that God puts divine appointments in our life.

Is this one of them? I don't know.

I do know this. It's Hallmark.

It's perfect. As it turns out, Ruth, the sweet

girl taking care of her mother-in-law, ends up in the

field of Boaz strength, A relative.

Who's there, guys? God is always working on our

behalf. Sometimes it's through his

established plans, sometimes, sometimes it's through divine

appointment. Sometimes it's through people

for the good people of God following and being obedient and

God brings us together and works on our behalf.

Let's pick it up in verse 8, Boaz notices Ruth, he notices

her, she's out there. He says, who's this woman?

Who does she? Who, who does she belong to?

And and they say, oh, that that's that's Ruth.

She's a Moabite woman. And tell they tell them all

about her. And so he goes to her.

Verse 8. So Boaz said to Ruth, my

daughter, listen to me. Don't go out and glean in

another field. Don't go away from here.

Stay here with the women who work for me.

Watch the field where the men are harvesting.

Follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a

hand on you, and whenever you're thirsty, go and get a drink from

from the water jars the men have filled.

And at this she bowed down with her face to the ground.

She asked him, Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you

noticed me, a foreigner? And Boaz replied, I've been told

all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the

death of your husband. How you left your father and

mother in your homeland and came to live with the people who do

you did not know before. Listen to this last line.

We're coming back to this. May the Lord repay you for what

you have done. May you be richly rewarded by

the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come

to take refuge. So as it happens, Naomi, the

sweet Naomi, I mean Ruth, the sweet Ruth, who's taking care of

Naomi, It goes out in the field as it happens.

It just so happens that it's Boaz's field.

And Boaz shows up at that time, and he notices her, and he says,

I'm going to take care of her. He says, you stay here.

I'm going to protect you guys. You got to see the language

here. He says, I've told people, I've

told the men not to lay a hand on you.

Doesn't that tell you the consequences of the decision she

made to stay with Naomi? It means that she's in danger.

If he has to tell the men not to touch her, to leave her alone,

that means that she was in danger.

But Boaz protects her. He says, stay continued to

gather. When you're thirsty, go get some

water. Continue to get food.

And I'm going to protect you. Stay in my field.

And she falls on her face and she says, why in the world have

I found favor in your eyes? She didn't expect it #1 she was

a Moabite, the enemy. She had no status.

She had no husband to provide for #2 she's gleaning in the

field, which means she has great needs.

She didn't offer anything to help him #3 by the way, if

we're, if we're talking about Hallmark and ROM com, she's been

working in a field all morning. She's probably not looking her

best. And Boaz goes and says, no, I'm

going to take care of you. And she says, why in the world?

Why would you take care of me? And what does he say?

Because I've heard about what you've done.

Because I've heard about the kind of person you are, guys.

Boaz is drawn to Ruth not because of looks, but because of

her kindness and her faithfulness.

The way you live matters. How many of you watch TV shows

or how many of you do reality shows?

Anyone guys, we just don't watch TV, do we?

Got no ROM coms, no hallmark, no reality shows.

What are you watching? I, I, I've been on a little bit

of a reality show kick. Truth be told, I'm, I'm trying

to, I really want Brad and I to go on Amazing Race.

I think that would be really fun.

Any of you watched Amazing Race before?

I think it would be kind of funny if Brad and I went on it.

And so I've been watching through The Amazing Race and one

of the things, whether it's that or whether it's Survivor or

whether I kind of like some of those reality shows, maybe some

of you don't, but one of the thing I've things I've noticed

is that you tend to root for people or root against people

based on their actions, don't you?

This happens in life, too, doesn't it?

I mean, you, you, maybe you're at a basketball game or you're

somewhere and you see someone behaving a certain way, and

maybe they're really sweet and they're nice and you think I

want that person to do well. Maybe they're not.

And you think that person's got something coming to him.

What draws Boaz to Ruth is is not her looks.

It's not her status, it's her kindness and faithfulness.

In fact, in chapter 3, Boaz says that she is a woman of virtue.

She's a virtuous woman. That's actually the same title

that's used in Proverbs 31, which is a famous proverb about

about what a woman should be, what a Good Wife should be.

It's the the a woman of noble character.

Listen to what Proverbs 31 says, a wife of noble character who

can find she is worth more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of

value. She brings him good, not harm.

All the days of her life. It goes on to say she cares for

people, she helps the poor. She basically this is a woman of

noble character. In it and in chapter 3, Boaz

says that's what Ruth is. She's a virtuous woman.

That's what drew him to her and that's what made him choose to

protect and provide and health help.

And so we see that's number three.

Boaz provides and protects. He tells her to continue

gleaning in the fields. He tells her not to go anywhere

else because she's not safe anywhere else.

Stay here. I've got what you need.

I'll provide for you, I'll protect you.

He tells the men to leave her alone.

He offers her protection #3 he tells.

He tells the men to leave her more than just scraps.

He goes above and beyond. He doesn't say you can just keep

gleaning. He tells his guys, hey, by the

way, drop a little extra off. Help her out a little bit and

don't rebuke her. He goes above and beyond.

He offers her the opportunity to drink their water.

He invites her in to eat with them.

He says come sit at the table and he says eat whatever you

want. He gave her all she could eat.

She went home with an EFA of grain by something some people

I've studied, it says maybe it's 5 1/2 gallons of grain.

Other people say 30 to 50 lbs. I don't know.

It's a lot. She went home with more than

enough. And then he said, stay here all

season. This is where you come because

you are. I'm going to continue to protect

and provide for you. He goes above and beyond the

requirement. And we see Ruth who chose love,

who put herself in a tough spot. All of a sudden she's provided

for. You know who provided for?

What's the answer God did. Is it up there already?

OK, good. Well, we're waiting to go guys.

I thought maybe they put it up there early.

God provided for her. Yes, it was Boaz, but it was God

that ultimately provided for her.

In fact, Ruth chapter 2 verse 12 is the key to that.

Ruth 2:12

Boaz says may the Lord repay you for what you have done.

May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel,

under whose wings you have come to take refuge.

I love this guys. This is such a beautiful story.

God is already working on Ruth's behalf.

And Ruth is a person of noble character.

And Boaz is drawn to her because she is a noble woman.

She's a virtuous woman. And so Boaz begins to provide

and protect. But listen to verse 12.

He says may the Lord provide for you, may he repay you.

May you be richly rewarded by the Lord.

I love this. In church we got to talk about

this because sometimes we say, hey, I hope God takes care of

you. God is good.

I hope the Lord provides for you.

And here's the deal. Sometimes I think God wants to

provide through US. Boaz says the Lord will provide

and in the meantime, he's the one going above and beyond to

protect, to provide, to love, to care for.

We can't be all talk. It's easy to say, hey, the Lord

will take care of you. This is where I want to invite

you into the story guys. I believe God is calling us to

be a people of love. I believe God is calling us to

provide for the people around us in need.

I believe there's a world around us that is hurting and broken.

Some of them are in this room. Some of them are outside of the

walls of the church. They're all over the place.

If you open your eyes, you will see people in need.

And guess what? God is working on their behalf

and He loves them and He wants to draw them to Him.

And you know how through US, you're invited into the story on

Valentine's week. We're called to be people that

are virtuous and noble. We're called to be people who

provide and protect others. When we love Pete God's people,

when we give to those in need, we're actually doing the work of

the Lord. We are called to be the hands

and feet of Jesus to the world around us.

Maybe you don't have a date for this next weekend.

Maybe Valentine's Day is a tough day for you.

Maybe it's a hard day. I've got good news.

You're invited into the greatest love story ever written, and

it's not Ruth and Boaz. It's a God that loves you and a

God that loves the world around you, and he invites you into

this love story to be filled with his love and to give his

love to others. Reminds me of when Jesus says

whatever you've done for the least of these, you've done for

me. We're called to worship God by

blessing those around us, especially those in need.

You guys know we come together. We worship when we sing, we

worship when we hear God's word, we worship when we give, we

worship when we come together in the church.

But did you know that the one of the greatest forms of worship is

the way that we love the people around us?

Isaiah 58. Is not this the kind of fasting

I have chosen? To loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke? To set the oppressed free?

To break every yoke? Is it not to share your food

with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter

when you see the naked, to clothe them, not to turn away

from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth

like the dawn. Then your healing will quickly

appear. Then your righteousness will go

before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call and the Lord will answer.

You will cry for help, and he will say, here I am guys, you're

invited into this story. Boaz sees Ruth.

I love this, by the way, in chapter 1, Ruth is the hero.

She chooses love and obedience and faithfulness, and she

chooses to put Naomi ahead of herself, chooses to put herself

in danger, chooses to give up what she thinks could be her

only chance to love and care for Naomi.

And we Fast forward a chapter. And now Boaz chooses to love and

protect and provide for Ruth. And we're invited in to care for

the people around us. Worship team, come on up.

I love it. Boaz says may be rewarded by the

God under whose wings you take refuge.

Her trust in God ultimately is what led to her provision and

her protection. God blesses us when we choose

love. You are invited into this story

today. Maybe some of you have some

people around you. I want to encourage you this

week to open your eyes and ears. I promise you there are people

around you that need love and protection and provision.

And it may be people in your own house and it may be people in

this church. It may be people at the grocery

store, at work. You're invited into the greatest

love story ever. There's a God that loves you and

wants to protect and provide for you and give you life, and He

wants you to use you as a vessel to do the same for others.

Father, speak to us. Help us to be obedient and

surrender to you. And maybe there's something

you've put on our hearts today. Maybe there's someone here that

has a friend or a family member or someone they know, an

acquaintance that needs protection provision.

Lord, I pray you'd call us to be your holy people who love the

world around us, who aren't always fighting with the world

around us, who aren't always at odds with the world around us,

but we see people that you love, that you care for.

I pray that you would invite us into the story of love, that we

would experience your love and your grace and your provision,

and we would become a people of love and provision for others.

Speak to us. Help us to be obedient to you

now in Jesus name, Amen. Hey, if God speaking to you,

staying with me, you're free to come forward and pray here.

You can pray at your seat, but you're invited into the story.

Keep reading, Ruth, Keep studying.

Allow God to speak to you. Be obedient.