Jonah - People

If you have a Bible, I want you to go ahead and pull it out and go to the book of Ruth.

To the book of Ruth.

And the reason I say that, we will put it up on the screens here, but I want to encourage you.

God's going to speak something, some verse, some truth, some decision is going to kind of pop in your mind this morning.

And I want you, as God speaks to your heart, to write that in the margins.

Write down what God's speaking to you.

And to do that, let's go ahead and open up in a word of prayer before we break open this great chapter.

Father, thank you.

Thank you that you spoke a word into being.

And this is not just a good book.

God, you say that your word is living and active.

And Lord, in connection with the fact that your Holy Spirit lives in us, around and through us, speak to our hearts individually and intimately this morning.

And Father, I pray that we would be attentive to that in such a way that you can change us into who you meant for us to be, and that we can experience life to the full the way you designed it to be.

And it is only through the blessing of the gift of Jesus and the power of your spirit that we pray.

Amen.

This morning I loved one of the songs we sang that I'm not just a sum of the decisions, but decisions that we make are critical.

One of the greatest decisions I ever made was at 13 when I literally understood that God not only loved me, that Jesus died on a cross to pay the price for the sins that everybody has, and that I had to individually accept that.

And I remember that night, and it literally the greatest decision of my life, because I individually received that, and from that day forward I realized, okay, I can see life the way it was meant to be.

Did I always do the right thing?

No.

Because I've made several decisions in my life that weren't wise.

Some of them consciously, some of them unconsciously, but the incredible part is that I can always turn to God, and He always has the best from that point forward.

He has forgiveness for those times where I mess up.

He has perspective for those times that I'm not sure what to do.

He has peace in those times where I don't understand.

Great decision.

Sixteen years ago, on this past Friday, was another one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.

It was my 16-year anniversary to my lovely, beautiful bride, Heather.

And I will never forget that day.

I'll never forget that day.

And here's this just stunning bride standing before me.

And he, the pastor said, Will you take her?

And I don't even think he got it out of his mouth.

I'm like, yes.

Yes.

And ask her quick before she changes her mind because this is a great deal.

And it was a great decision.

Our decision to have kids, great decision.

Those are the big decisions.

But then there's decisions we make every day.

Every day we make decisions, thousands of decisions.

And that it really allows us the opportunity to make more decisions and which decisions we get to make from there.

And God's desire is that we have a full clarity of how to make these decisions.

In chapter 4 of Ruth, there is an amazing opportunity for us to see both the big picture decisions as well as daily decisions.

It's one of the neatest mixes of these big picture overall 30,000-foot view of yes, here's the decisions we need to make, but also on a daily basis, there's a good chance one of these five decisions, you're going to go, man, that yes, this week, that's where I need to be focused on.

So with that in mind, I want to read chapter 4 and Ruth, and then we're going to break down these different decisions that you and I have.

So, meanwhile, Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there.

When the kinsman redeemer he had mentioned came along, Boaz said, Hey, come over here, my friend, and sit down.

And so he went over and sat down.

Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, Sit here, and so they did.

And then he said to the kinsman redeemer, Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimalet.

And I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggested you buy it in the presence of these here, and in the presence of the elders of my people.

If you will redeem it, do so.

But if you will not, tell me, so I will know, and f and I'll do so.

But if you will not, tell me, and I will do so, for I know now, for no one has the right to do it except for you, and I am next in line.

I will redeem it, he said.

Then Boaz said, On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitis, you acquire the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead man with his property.

In this the kinsman redeemer said, Then I cannot redeem it, because I might endanger my own estate.

You redeem it for yourself.

I cannot do it.

Now in the early times, and this is kind of fun, in Israel, for the redemption of transfer of property became final.

One party took off his sandals and gave them to the other.

And this was the method of legalizing a transaction in Israel.

So you can't come back and go, hey, I didn't sell that.

Well, I got your shoes.

Nah, they're mine.

It's weird.

So the kinsman redeemer said to Boaz, buy it for yourself, and he removed his sandals.

Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, Today you have witnessed that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Killian, and Milan.

I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitis, Milan's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his people or from the town records.

Today you are my witnesses.

Then the elders and all those of the gate said, We are witnesses.

May the Lord make the woman who is coming to your home like Rachel and Leah, those were icons in that time, who together built up the house of Israel, this nation.

May you have a standing in Ephratha and be as be famous in Bethlehem, through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman.

May your family be like that of Perez, who Tamar bore to Judah.

Now look at this.

This is we'll get to the cool part, but just so Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife, and he went to her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

The woman said to Naomi, her mother-in-law, Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman redeemer.

May he become famous throughout Israel.

He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age.

For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better than even seven sons, has given him birth.

Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap, and cared for him.

The woman living there said, Naomi has a son, and they have named him Obed.

And he was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

This then is the family line of Perez.

Perez was a father of Hezron.

Hezron the father of Ram, Ram, the father of Abinadab, Abinadeb, the father of Nishon, Nashon, the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, the father of Obed, the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.

Now that will become very important in just a second.

But I want us to go back and I want us to look at the first part of chapter four, because the first decision that we see in this passage really is left over from last week when we talked about being a whatever man, whatever she wants, whatever is right.

And the first decision you and I have to make on a daily basis is the decision to do life completely right.

It's a fundamental decision.

Am I going to do what's right?

Well, our society as a whole has this concept.

It's literally reversed, and that is, who are you to tell me what's right?

Who are you to say what's right?

What makes you what you say is right over what I think is right?

And then my comment would be, I don't.

If we're on that level, what I decide is right and what you decide is right is wrong.

Our society looks and says, Well, I'll decide what's right, and then I'm gonna base that on what I live and what I want and what I feel, and then what I live, want, and feel, that will be the definition of what's right.

Versus God's economy that says, I'm gonna show you what's right.

And then we spend our focus conforming to what is right, not redefining it.

And I would say it even this way if we're spending our time trying to define what is right, we're probably wrong.

Instead of saying, what is really right, in my heart, what is really right.

I'll not forget what Norman Swartzkopf, the commander of Desert Storm, said.

He says, My problem is not knowing what is right.

My problem is doing what I already know is right.

It's that intrinsic within us, God Himself saying, You know what?

Submit to what is right.

Look in verses 1 and 2, where Boaz went up to the town gates and sat there.

When the man came by, he says, Come over here.

He gathers the ten elders and he says, sit here, and then he lays it out.

He said, Here's the deal.

You're the kinsman redeemer.

I'm gonna do what's right first, foremost, and always.

He has a desire for this woman.

He has a passion to have this life that seems to be set before him.

He could have gone up and he said, Now here, I'm gonna plead my case.

It's him or me.

I know he's first in line, but here's the deal.

He doesn't care about her.

He's already got a wife.

I'm in the position, he could have done all that.

But without emotion, without malice, he says, I'm totally committed to what's right because I know it's what's best.

And he submits to what is right, and he brings these together and says, regardless of what happens, I'm gonna do what is right.

He went straight to the source and he said, Here's the truth.

What are we gonna do?

Secondly, it's one of the most powerful parts and one of the most powerful decisions you and I can ever make, and it's kind of in verse six.

Not only the decision to do what's completely right, but to decide to learn the power of the word no.

Learn the power of the word no.

To say no.

It's one of the greatest decisions we can ever learn.

In verse six, he's just laid it out.

Look at what the kinsman redeemer said.

Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own inheritance.

You redeem it for yourself.

I cannot do it.

This guy is smart.

Who wins?

And we always want to look, well, who's the who's the winner, who's the loser?

They both are.

He says, Okay, here's the deal.

Here's the full package.

Are you gonna redeem her?

You get all the land of Naomi and Elimelech.

And he goes, Yeah.

Yeah.

Because land is power, land is wealth, and it is there.

And he goes, Okay, let me finish.

And when you do that, you take on Ruth, the Moabitist, and you have to raise children in the name of her deceased husband.

In other words, you get no credit, and you got to carry on his name.

And I can tell you, it's not in here, but I can tell you what that guy was thinking.

He's thinking, I gotta go home.

Honey, I got good news and bad news.

Good news, we got that land that you said, well, if we just had more land and we were a little richer and we had a little more money, we'd be better.

That's the good news.

That's well, what's the bad news?

I got another wife, and I've got to raise kids with her, too.

Not a good day in his world.

I'm just telling you.

And he made a great decision.

You know what?

I'm not gonna risk my family, I'm not gonna risk my estate.

And don't miss this.

The power of no will cost us.

It will cost us.

But here's the deal passing on what is good for what is excellent will also free up an opportunity that God has for somebody else.

And if I can't see the way it's all gonna work out, that's okay.

He could have said, you know what, uh, it's my duty, I'm a kinsman redeemer, and I need to do this on behalf of he's like, you know what?

There's another option.

Then no.

I'm gonna say no so you can say yes.

I'm gonna say no so God can provide that opportunity for someone else, but it's gonna cost.

It's gonna cost.

This dude woke up that day just going to town.

And he's like, man, and I'm willing to bet he had on his favorite sandals.

And he's just like, dude, these are the most comfortable.

I like these, and they come alongside here, okay, and you're the kids when he works.

Cool, more land, yes.

And he's thinking, man, this is my day.

I got my everything's going right.

And then he hears the battlefire, and he's like, dude, I gotta say no.

Ha! And it's gonna cost my favorite sandals.

Are you kidding me?

Here, man, dog gone.

Now he's gotta walk barefoot back to wherever he was.

And and and he goes home, and it cost him.

The greatest decisions in life are gonna cost us, and to be able to say no to good so that we can find excellence is incredible.

And here's the deal it will open opportunities for others, it will give us that opportunity to really experience God's best and God's plan for others.

The power of no.

And then another decision that's in here that's great, and it's really in verse 5, and that is simply this.

If you look in verse 5, it says, Boaz, on that day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitus, you agree, you acquire the dead man's widow in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.

One of the greatest decisions, big picture and daily, we can have is to decide to always put others first.

Always.

Our mindset, our operation is for others.

Boaz has a choice.

I'm gonna give up ever raising children in my name and for my sake.

I'm gonna raise it in the name of a man I've never met.

And I'm gonna raise his kids in his name, not my name.

Talk about the ultimate decision.

The ultimate decision that says, I'm gonna live for others first.

Am I willing to live with the responsibility, but never get the credit?

That is so contrary to our society.

We want all the credit with no responsibility.

I want to look great, but I don't want the cost.

And yet, in God's economy, that is where it happens.

But look, if you go back, and I want to just look at this real quick, at the very end of there, verses 21 and 22, it goes to this genealogy.

And Solomon, the father of Boaz, the father of Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Look at this.

This is incredible because in God's economy there is a payoff.

There is a great payoff.

If you were here one of the last three weeks, you'll know that Boaz did not belong.

He was not an Israelite.

He came with his mother, who hid some spies, who was a prostitute in Jericho before they took it down.

He goes from the son of a prostitute to being the great, great, great, great, several great in the line and the heritage of Jesus.

Talk about a reward.

I go from having zero position to one of the highest legacies ever.

He moves in this economy.

And the bottom line of deciding always to put others first is that we have to realize that our greatness, our greatness in this life is not what we achieve, but what we pass on.

That's where greatness is.

We may never see in this time and in our lifespan on this earth how God used us and what he accomplished through it.

But if we'll decide I'm committed to always putting others first, we will have that reward.

Three great decisions.

And not only that, but this is probably my favorite of the decisions.

In verses 11 and verses 14, then the elders of all those at the gate said, We are your witnesses.

He brings it before the elders.

And in verse 14, the women say to Naomi, Praise be the Lord, who on this day has left you with a kinsman and redeemer.

It's those around.

He takes the matter to the ten wise men at the gate.

Decide today, who am I going to decide are those who are important to me?

Who do I decide I want to be my fans?

Because if we're looking subconsciously or without deciding that, we let the media and our society decide, well, here's who you here's what you need to do, here's how you need to do it, we will always end in utter failure.

But if I decide here's who I want my fans to be, I'm going to decide who's those are.

Who am I trying to impress?

Who do I care what they think?

And narrow that down.

And I don't think it's a bad idea.

What they have in here in the first part of the chapter where it says ten people.

I took that to heart.

This past year I pray for ten men on a regular basis.

When I have a big decision to make, I try to go to these men.

One of those ten in my world, we get together for lunch six, eight times a year.

It's Steve Craig.

When I'm going through a time, we'll sit to lunch.

We spend about a fourth of the time, how are you doing?

And talking about the general stuff, and then we get into it.

What are you struggling with?

What is God teaching you?

What are you going through?

How are you doing really?

And we talk about decisions and we talk about these different pieces.

And I tell them every time, I always walk away sharper with a greater focus and a greater understanding.

Because I choose wisely those who are around me.

I would put it this way: who are the godliest people that you know?

And what do they think about you and what you're doing and where you are and what you're living?

Who is that?

Who's important to you?

Who's important to me?

Who is my 10 going to be?

Who's most important?

I'll never forget this.

I know it was 13 years ago.

I was invited.

I was doing a weekly thing down in Orlando, and they said, Hey, can you stay an extra day?

Um, I also do a little bit of corporate work.

They said, Hey, we want you to come and address the staff of the Orlando Magic.

And I'm like, Cool, I'm a huge basketball fan.

And I'm like, yes, I would love to do that.

So I did that event.

They said, hey, if you can stay later, we'd love for you to come to the game, and we'd love you to do the chapel before the game.

I'm like, yeah.

So we go back there, and I know it's 13 years ago because we just had our first son, Graham, and he's now 13.

And I will remember, you know the little buckets you carry your baby in?

It's the ones that click into the car seat and you release, and I call it the bucket.

So we've got the bucket baby, and we're and Heather's with me, and we're walking down, and he's he's maybe three, four months old at the tops.

And Heather said, Okay, what do you want me to do?

And I said, Well, now the NBA is different because Chapel, unlike the NFL and MLB and uh the other sports, they actually have chapels with both the teams.

And they do their pregame, they do the original talk, and then they have a room that's usually between the two locker rooms where anybody from the teams that wants to, they come in together.

And by the door, there's a wall, and just around the wall by the door, Heather sat, and you walk into this room, and it was one of the greatest experiences ever.

And I'll never forget this one line, but the part that really struck me, here are these ginormous people.

And they've just had their shoot around, they just had their initial talk with the coach, game planning, and they've got their game face on.

And they're gonna come in for 15 minutes, do a quick devotion, then go back to their deal, and they got their game face on.

And as they walk in, there's the wall, and then they come into the room.

Well, right next to the wall where you can't see it, Heather said, I'm gonna sit with Graham.

If he gets fussy, I'm just gonna shoot out of the room.

And I'm like, Great idea.

And she's sitting there with them, and these guys, big, strong, professional, just to come in, how's it going?

you know, and and they say, This is Kenny's gonna do, hey, nice to meet you, you know.

They just They're huge, they're focused.

Every one of them without feeling, hey, nice to meet you.

Look at the baby.

Hey, little baby.

Hey, baby.

Oh, baby.

And I'm just like, really?

And it just, it was awesome.

And every one of them came around and did that.

They're like, oh, look at the baby.

And they just became, and I just realized these are these are normal people.

They got an incredible job.

They have an unbelievable talent, but they're just real people.

But what I will not forget is Coach Gentry.

He was the coach of the Pistons at the time.

That's who the Magic were playing.

He's now the head coach of the Phoenix Suns.

And Coach Gentry came in and he says, Oh my gosh, it's nice to meet you.

Just the nicest guy in the world.

And I'll never forget what he said.

He said, You take care of them.

He says, They'll love you when you're not winning.

And I was like, wow.

He goes, Yeah.

He says, you know what?

I came back from a trip.

We'd just done a six-game road trip.

And he said, I'm, you know, we got the package.

I know my family's seen the games, and I'm thinking, I'm walking, I'm just beat.

We went one and five on the road trip, and I'm coming home, and I've been the media's all over me, and it's Detroit, so it's tough anyway.

And I'm coming home thinking, man, my family's gonna be so disappointed.

And look, dad can't even win two games, and just he says, I walk through the door, and you know what happened?

They don't care.

They love you when you're not winning.

And he said, they never even asked about basketball.

It's just hugs and pictures and dad's home.

He said, You take care of them.

He says, That's your fan club right there.

And I'm like, wow.

What my family thinks of me is critical to me.

My family, and I've picked this ring of people who are support.

Do I love to encourage others?

Yes.

Is it great to do what I do?

Yes.

But I don't know how you are, but there's something within our DNA.

I can do shows all over the country.

I can get a thousand fan mail.

And if I get one that says, oh, I don't like what you said, you're a bad person.

Why don't you like me?

You know, just we are so geared to missing the point, to where I have learned this decision over time.

Do I take feedback?

Yes.

But what's really important is that that fan club, those who are closest to me mean the most.

And then finally, probably one of the biggest decisions that this entire story, if you read the book of Ruth, decide to follow God no matter the cost.

No matter what the cost.

If you go back and read Ruth, you'll see Naomi, who lost everything.

She lost her husband.

She lost her position.

She loses her two sons.

And very begrudgingly she decides it's worth the cost.

She's bitter, she's not putting on a front, but I'm going back to my people.

I'm going to follow God.

I don't recommend anybody else do, but I'm going to follow God because this is where I am.

Deciding to follow God.

Look at verse 16 and look at Naomi.

Took the child, laid him in her lap, and cared for him.

Picture that for a minute.

She's lost all hope.

She's lost everything.

Husband, sons, hope.

She has no hope.

And then fast forward four chapters where she has a grandson in her lap.

I've caught a glimpse of that here.

I love watching you.

It's like a baby factory around here right now.

I'm a baby magnet.

I love to look at little kids and go, oh, look at that.

And I can spot a grandmother a mile away.

And I love the grandmothers.

Oh, that's my grandson.

Have you seen it?

It's my grandson.

Yeah, I could never tell.

You walking in front, throwing rose petals in front of them.

I never could have told.

You know?

It's my grandson, it's the golden child.

It's just like, wow.

There's something about that joy of a grandparent.

And look at her from the greatest, most bitter tragedy in chapter one, she loses everything, to the ultimate legacy in chapter four.

Here is the lineage, the heritage of Jesus in my lap.

And in eternity, she'll have that full realization.

God is waiting as our ultimate friend.

And as I prayed through this whole book, reading through it, here's what I've realized: that even when I don't know what I want, God knows exactly what I need.

And you and I can take these decisions to do what's right, to learn the power of no's, to always put others first.

Who are my fans going to be, but ultimately follow God no matter the cost.

Talk about incredible decisions.

Which one?

Which one is for you today?

I want to close in a word of prayer and then just share a great opportunity coming up.

Let's pray.

God, I don't want to miss this opportunity.

Because Father, I know there's probably somebody here today that needs to make that initial decision and say, God, help.

Please come into my life.

Thank you for dying on the cross for all that stuff I've done that I regret.

And even the sins I don't even know are sins.

But Father, I know I'm not perfect and I know I need you.

For those, Lord, I pray that they would make that decision today that realize it's not a magic word.

It's just coming to you with our hearts saying, God, please come into my life.

I accept your forgiveness.

Show me your plan.

Father, for those of us who know you, I pray that you would guide us.

Which of those decisions do we need to make today?

Which decision is what you would have for us right where we are, the circumstances we're facing.

Which one do I need to take out of here today and live this week?

Lay it on our hearts as only your Holy Spirit can.

So, Father, thank you for our time together.

Thank you for your urging to not forsake gathering together.

We love just sensing your presence.

We know you're always with us, but there's just something about when we're together that just heightens our awareness.

Thank you for your spirit and love.

And it is only through the gift of Jesus and the power of your spirit we can pray.

Amen.