Sermon Cloud

        GK Chesterton once said that there are two types of people in this world:

o       Those that think the wind causes the trees to move.

o       Those that think the trees cause the wind to blow.

·        Chesterton was criticizing people who are oblivious to forces other than themselves in this world.  He was criticizing the myopic tiny world that most people live in which reduces each person to their own God and the world to their own little playground. 

o       You know this folks and at times you may be that person your self.

o       This is when you take full credit for your accomplishments.

o       You describe yourself as a self-made man or women

o       You never get around to thanking God for the way He blesses you.

o       You never ask God for help.

o       You always assume you are the smartest person in the room and try to prove it

o       In some ways, being a Christian makes you feel morally and intellectually superior and that gives you a thrill.

·        Chesterton’s observation is akin to the person who never makes mention or thought of God until things in this world do not go there way.  Unfortunately, so much of Christianity reduces God to a self-help guru who promises take my our lives free of care.

o       Has God done that in the past?  Yes, He has kept His people free of sickness at times and He has blessed His people immeasurably with wealth at times.

o       But there are not promises in Scripture that God intends a life free of pain and sorrow for His children.

o       You may not believe in the health and wealth theology but ask yourself what your affection for God is like in difficult times.  If your affection for God rises when life is good and dims when life is bad, you have more in common with the health and wealth folks than you think.

o       Reducing scripture to such thinking as God always intends richness and health for His people makes God our handmaid and the God of the Universe is no one’s Handmaid.

·        Chesterton’s observation is insightful in many ways especially if we consider what we talked about last week.  After examining Ruth 1 last Sunday, we walked away with a picture of God not merely as the reporter of stories in the Bible.  He is the author of all circumstances.  He guides and directs our steps and He is the one who causes the good and the calamity of life.  He does all things for one reason:  His glory.

·        Some folks have a hard time considering that.  But folks are either one or the other from the Chesterton’s quote.

o       They live their lives with such entitlement, such manifest destiny, such arrogant pride really, they think they move the trees.  They feel that God has no say or play in their world so they live and die, rise and fall by their own efforts and talents.

o       Instead God would call us to live and work faithfully according to His commandments while we know that as Job 23 says, it is His decrees and desires that are accomplished and not ours.

·        The question is, which one practically are you living as?  I’m sure everyone here that professes Jesus Christ as their Savior would say, “God moves the trees.  God moves my life.  I’m not arrogant enough to think I’m the god of my life.”

o       But when you make life decisions without seeking God’s wisdom

o       When you neglect Scriptural wisdom day in and day out

o       When you outwardly disobey commandments that you know God given to guide and protect His children

·        How functionally different are you than those that think they move the trees?

·        As we consider those things, we are returning the Ruth 2 this week and here we will ask our big picture question:

Big Picture Question:  God is no less active in our lives when He works behind the scenes, so what steps are necessary for you to be aware of His activity and how would that awareness change your life?

2:1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. 4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.” 

·        Naomi may have lost her husband and her sons, but she is not totally lacking family.  Remember in Ruth 1, after the death of her two sons, she decides to return to her family while encouraging her daughters in law to return to theirs.

·        Specifically, there is a member of her husband’s family named Boaz.  And notice in verse 2 that it is Ruth that figures she can ask Boaz for mercy and He will give it.  A lot of times we think it is Naomi reaching out but it is not.  It is Ruth the Moabite.

·        And we should already take some very practical advice here from these two women:  one who is a lifelong believer in God and another who recently professed faith.  You who struggling and suffering – run to God’s people.

o       If you are grieving and at a loss – run to God’s people.

o       If you are hungry and at a loss – run to God’s people.

o       If you are questioning God’s good ness at a loss – run to God’s people.

o       If you are seeking God’s wisdom and at a loss – run to God’s people.

·        Now, what we are going to see as we go forward is that Ruth begins take a more active role in our story while Naomi still appears depressed and quiet. 

·        Ruth doesn’t officially ask Boaz for grace though.  She begins to glean what is leftover in the fields. 

·        The law of God provided for portions of the fields to remain unharvested for those in need.  Ruth has learned this truth and begins to live in it.

·        And then we meet Boaz.  Boaz, the Godly man who greets His workers with a blessing, shows up in the fields and notices Ruth is gleaning the corners.  He asks around about who she is, and His servant says, “Oh that’s the pagan women who showed up with Naomi a while back.  She asked if she could glean and we said, “Yeah, that’s why we don’t harvest that part of the field.  And you know what?  She’s a hard worker.  She’s been at it all day except for a small rest.”

·        Don’t let this truth escape you.  Naomi and Ruth now have food.  They will be fed.  In Chapter 1 they are empty.  In Chapter 2 they are fed.

·        God is, despite Naomi’s charges in chapter 1, actively caring for her.  How? 

o       Do birds feed her?  No

o       Does stone turn into bread?  No

o       Is there a miracle?  No.

·        And this very important, how does God actively care for Naomi?  God’s words, God’s laws care for Naomi and Ruth.

o       In the law, God commanded that some of the harvest should be left for the poor to gather or to glean after someone cut it. (Lev 19.9, 23.22; Deut 24.29,22)

o       The law also commands farmers to leave the corners of the field for the fatherless, the foreigner, and the widows.

o       God explicitly wanted children with no parents, those that do not know God (the foreigners) and widows to be fed by the efforts of the Godly.

o       The people of God, and that’s you btw, are to live their lives in such a way as to always have something to spare to give to those in need.  That is how they and we are to organize our lives.

·        And also, don’t forget:  God ordained the famine that put all of this into play in the first place.  He promised famine to Israel if they live in rank, widespread disobedience in Leviticus 26.26 and He promised to remove it when they repented in Deut. 30.1-3

·        God is actively caring for Naomi and Ruth. 

·        I wonder how many times we think about God’s help in this way. 

o       We want God’s help to be the miraculous removal of our stress or problems instead of the comfort and provision found in His word. 

o       We don’t want to ask people for help; we want problems to go away. 

o       We rise up in anger thinking God has failed us when His provision is clearly been given already in the word and within the mercies of the people of God.

o       We are either ignorant of those provisions or want some other provisions that fits our desires from God and saves us the humility of asking for help.

o       But God has given provision in His word.  And in this case His provision comes by His people obeying the word and being gracious to other people.

 8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

·        These words truly are breathtaking in scope and in application.  The picture of God’s grace here truly is life changing if you consider it.

·        Boaz eventually speaks to this poor, alien who is gleaning from the harvest left for the destitute. 

o       He says, “Hey, I want you be safe.

o        I’ll make sure you and Naomi have enough food, so you don’t have to go glean in another field. 

o       And when you are here, stay close to the women who work for me.

o       Not every guy that works for me is as nice as I am, so I have charged them with their lives not to touch you, molest you, or to take advantage of you.

o       In fact, if you are thirsty, you don’t have to draw your own water.  I’ve instructed the men to prepare water for you.”

·        This incredible grace towards Ruth overwhelms her.  She falls to her face and bows before Boaz.   She cries out, “What have I don’t to find favor in your eyes?  I’m not Jewish; I’m a foreigner.  Why would you be gracious to me in this way?

o       Isn’t the proper response when grace has been shown?  Shouldn’t we all fall on our face before God, confess our unworthiness in each moment of each day in light of God’s love and grace shown to us.

o       There is no sense of entitlement, no pride – only humility and thankfulness in Ruth.

·        Boaz says,

o       I’ve heard your story.

o       You have shown grace to your mother in law when you have suffered as well. Your husband is dead and you could have just gone home but yet you gave up everything to show your love and affection to Naomi.

o       Boaz is essentially saying, I find your character beautiful; beauty in the genuine sense that something can be found beautiful.

·        The Boaz prays a blessing over Ruth.  He says,

o       12 The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

o       He prays that God would bless her and show kindness towards her for the kindness that she showed to Naomi.

o       She sought refuge from God, and Boaz sees himself as the instrument by which God protects her.

·        We get a pretty clear picture here that when Ruth said to Naomi, “Your God will be my God,” she meant it.  She seeks refuge in Jehovah God.

o       Ruth is a transformed women.

o       Once a godless pagan from Moab.

o       Moab was a country created from the incestuous relationships that existed in Sodom and Gomorrah. 

o       Her heart stood opposed to God and hostile towards the ways of God.

o       Now she understands the laws of God and seek Jehovah for refuge.

·        Ruth says in response,  “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

·        At mealtime, Boaz invites Ruth to eat with him offering her bread and wine.  She sat at his table among the reapers of the harvest and she ate roasted grain.  She ate until she couldn’t eat any more. 

o       Can you imagine a meal that feels your belly when you have been without?

o       Can you imagine that thankfulness and gratitude?

·        Ruth gets up to go glean again, and Boaz instructs his employees to let her continue gleaning.  Only this time, she will not be gleaning from the leftovers or the corners of the field.  She gets the firstfruit of the harvest in the sheaves, and he again instructs his servants to not touch her, molest her, or rebuke her. 

o       We should take an extra moment to consider Boaz’s instructions to his employees about not touch her.

o       I don’t know if any of you have ever farmed or worked in an agricultural environment before but it can be a pretty harsh place to work.

o       I spent my summers as a kid barning tobacco which is pretty nasty work and the buys I worked with were pretty rough.

o       One summer, my brother came down with tobacco poisioning so I went to work in the fields by myself.  I guess I was 14 at the time.

o       Well, we got lunch which consisted of a Mountain Dew and a pack of nabs or if you are not from around here, peanut butter crackers.

o       There was this one guy who was pretty much the leader of the group named RayVon, I am not joking.

o       RayVon got bored during our 15 minute lunch break and started picking either the smallest person there or those that didn’t work very hard.

o       Believe it or not, I was not the smallest guy there. 

o       RayVon took this one kid out in the field, put his knee in the kids chest and forced him to eat a tobacco worm.

o       Now if you never seen a tobacco worm, they are big, nasty, green, juicy worms.  And he made that kid eat it.

·        That is what Boaz was protecting Ruth from and probably from things much worse.

·        He even goes so far as to make sure that her harvesting is not difficult.  He has his employees give here bundles to glean which means she will be gathering in food that has already been through the difficult process of gleaning.  This is the OT equivalent of grocery shopping versus farming.

·        Boaz opens the full harvest to Ruth, not just the edges of the field. 

·        Providentially, we ask, “What is God doing in this story of Ruth and Naomi?”  Look at verse 17.

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

·        Ruth brings home to Naomi the harvest and the left over food.  Naomi is intrigued.  She asks,

o       “Where did you glean today?  Where have you worked? 

o       May God bless the man that allowed you work and take so much from his field.

o       May God bless the man who shows kindness to the living and the dead.

·        Ruth tells her the incredible news.  She says, Naomi, the man that blessed in such a way is Boaz.

·        Naomi at this point and time comes to the realization that God has been at work all this time.  She says,

o       Ruth, oh wow.  Okay, let me explain how this works among the people of God.

o       Now that you profess faith in Jehovah and part of my household, my relatives are your relatives. 

o       Boaz is a close relative of yours.  Keep in this guys good graces.  Stay close to him both in relationship and proximity because a young girl gleaning in the fields is dangerous.

·        Ruth lets Naomi know that in addition to providing food for the two of them, Boaz has already gone out of the way to protect her and provide for her.

·        So Ruth continues to glean in Boaz’s field until the end of the Barley Harvest.   Gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvest would provide Ruth and Naomi with enough food to last a couple of months probably from April to June. 

·        In light of these actions, we can see that Naomi’s countenance is changing.  She realizes that God has not quit showing kindness to her.  She realizes that God is and has been at work the entire time.

o       God was at work in the famine.

o       God was at work when her husband died.

o       God was at work when her two sons died.

o       God was at work when it appeared that she was an empty hollow shell.

·        God’s activity here is less overt and more subtle than outward miracles and spoken words.  The question we need to ask ourselves is this. 

o       How could your life be more actively aware of God’s activity when God’s activity is evident in this way?

o       How would this change your life in the day to day?

·        Practically, you need to realize a few things:

o       God moves the trees.  You do not move God.

o       God is no less at work in this world and in your life if you cannot sense Him as He is when you can.

o       You usually think God has given up on you or is not working only when you don’t get what you want or when you have to wait.

o       Bring a difficult situation your way and you are as faithless as any pagan in the world.

o       When you walk away from God in faith, obedience, sacrifice, study, and prayer, you need to realize that God is still at work.

o       A difficult circumstance or a stressful situation is not evidence that God is not at work.  It is evidence that He is.

o       The man or woman of God that has walked away from the community of God is not going to sense the presence or work of God.  Ask Naomi how that worked out for her.

o       When you ask God for help, you must be willing for the answer to your prayers to come through the provision found in the word of God and the people of God.

o       You have to get over your pride, self-sufficiency and unwillingness to ask for help.  Sometimes, even if you can do something for yourself, you should ask others to help so that they can joyfully serve God and you.

o       God doesn’t save you so that you no longer need Him and others.

o       God saves you for you to recognize your need of Him and others.

o       If the either conscious or unconscious goal and structuring of your life is such that you, your spouse and your children do not need help from others in the church, your are purposefully moving yourself away from the provision and work that God has set in place for you.  Shame on you.

o       If you tell me, “Well I just have a hard time asking people for help.”  My response to you is, “Yeah, that is called pride.  God hates pride and it is the same sin that brought down Satan.  So, don’t offer that to me and to others as a characteristic of who you are.  Don’t define yourself by your sin.  You tell me that and I’m going to tell you to confess your sins to God.

·        The unique community that is the Church, specifically Sovereign King Church is here to be an outpost of the Kingdom of God within a hurting world. 

o       It is the community that Jesus loves. 

o       It is the community by which you find help and support.

o       It is the community that takes in aliens, strangers, pagan, sinners, and the like and makes them the community of God.

o       It is a community where needs are expressed and needs are met.

·        When Sovereign King to the individual realizes these things, we will be a force of God’s goodness in this community.  If we don’t, we won’t.