The Last Shall Be First
Notes
Transcript
†CALL TO WORSHIP based on Psalm 24:7-10
Craig Hoffer, Elder
Minister: Lift up your heads, O you gates;
Congregation: be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in!
Minister: Who is this King of Glory?
Congregation: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. We come to worship him today!
†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION
†OPENING HYMN OF PRAISE #375
“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”
†CONFESSION OF SIN & ASSURANCE OF PARDON
based on Psalms 25:6-8, 11, 16-18
TIME OF SILENT CONFESSION
Minister: Let us confess our sins before God and one another –
Congregation: Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness sake, O Lord!
Good and upright is the Lord; therefore you instruct sinners in the way. For your name’s sake, pardon our guilt, for it is great. Turn to us and be gracious to us, for we are lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of our hearts, and bring us out of our distress. Consider our affliction and our troubles, most of all, our sin.
Minister: Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Congregation: let your face shine, that we may be saved. Amen
Minister: Hear the assurance of God, and know that your sins are forgiven: I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sins against me, and I will forgive.
CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE 2 Timothy 2:14-26
Paul Mulner, Elder
THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND OUR GIFTS
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
†PSALM OF PREPARATION #115A
“Not to Us, Lord, Not to Us”
SERMON Pastor Austin Prince // The Last Shall Be First Ruth 4:13-22
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Blessed are you, God of all creation. You spoke in the beginning and all things came to be. You spoke, and your word came to dwell among us, full of grace and truth. Bless this place where we would hear your voice. As the word is spoken, may our ears be attuned to you. As the word is spoken, may you speak to us.
TEXT Ruth 4:13-22
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
AFTER SCRIPTURE
Teach me your way, O Lord and I will walk in your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
INTRO
The is a light and shadow art technique where the artist takes what seems like randomly placed objects and stacks them together in such a way that when you shine light on them they project a really clear and articulate silhouette upon the wall of something completely different. Sometimes it will be what looks like heaps of trash that project the shadow of a person or an animal. And the seeming randomness and mundanity of this story of Ruth is a bit like that. It takes what looks small and insignificant, a few widows and some grain fields, a harvest season, a drought, a marriage, and it stacks it up in such a way that when the light is shone on it what it reveals is a very clear and provocative picture of Christ. Christ who is our Redeemer. Christ, who is our sovereign Lord who turns our tragedies into triumphs. Christ who rewards the faithful. Christ who is always at work in the world, through every seemingly random and ordinary moment of our lives. There is no major war, no fiery prophet, no mass of people in this book, just a few scenes in a small town. But no matter how tight you make the frame, no matter how far you zoom in on the microscope, we find God working story lines of glory and grace.
And in that theme of intimacy and smallness, what we might expect of a narrative that began with such destitution (the loss of spouses, the instability of survival, and the sustained hope of a redeemer through this kinsman Boaz), would be an ending of romance and celebration and marriage. Thematically, it does go out in a bang as we see that not only is Elimelech’s line preserved and saved from extinction, but it produces the greatest of Israel’s kings and ultimately is linked to the coming messiah.
But from a literary standpoint, just the brief scenes that we are given at the end of this book, something unique is taking place.
This idea of taking what seems small and ordinary and bringing about the extraordinary (a theme that runs through this whole book) seems to be highlighted by this final scene where there isn’t the fanfare of a wedding, but all of our characters are off the stage except for Naomi holding a little baby on her lap.
How would a writer of our modern day have closed this book? It would not have been with a quiet scene like this one which highlights the fruit of faithfulness. It would have been with the very loud scene of celebration which held as its focus the romantic couple themselves. But what this scene does is crescendo our concept of hesed.
One pastor recently commented on this strange dynamic in weddings particularly, saying that, for many, the wedding day is the finish line, not the starting line. It’s not the life of sacrifice and children and long-laboring love that we dream about, but the wedding. It’s the finish line, not the starting line. And when the day comes, it’s the most choreographed and artificial day you’ve ever lived. It’s about the wedding, not the marriage.
He went on to comment on the average cost of a modern wedding being somewhere between 20-30 thousand dollars. But when you ask young married couples if they are thinking about having kids they increasingly answer that that would be too expensive.
For us, the modern reader, we wanted a wedding. What the author wants us to see is the fruit of love and faithfulness.
Hesed considers others. It considers them more significant than themselves. Its outcome is other-oriented. Throughout this book Ruth considered Naomi more than herself. And Boaz considered Ruth and Naomi more than himself. And both of them were considering Yahweh over their own selves. Hesed is giving love and serving love, and so it is very fitting that this book ends with our main characters off stage and the fruit of their faithfulness takes the spotlight before the curtains close. Their love gave.
So much of this theme comes under Jesus’ repeated teaching on what it means to embody love and faithfulness. As he says in Matthew and in many other places,
“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Matthew 19:29–30, ESV)
God doesn’t just prize poverty and suffering. It’s not that being first is bad and being last is ideal. He’s saying something more than that. Clinching your first to get ahead and be first will leave you and your relationships broken, but being faithful will lead you to the front. Often times, it’s the scenarios of difficulty (of famine, loneliness, vulnerability) where God likes to put us. It’s where he sifts our hearts as he works for our goods, He shakes down our idols, and he rewards our obedience.
Let me walk through some of that dynamic for a minute with the characters from this book:
Even through immense difficulty, without knowing the outcome, Ruth didn’t choose self-preservation. She chose hesed — a loving-kindness and loyalty to Naomi and to YHWH. Our text today says of Ruth that she became to Naomi more than seven sons would have been to Naomi.
Without backing down at the risk or the expense, Boaz is willing to redeem Naomi, Elimilech’s land, Ruth, and her children. The gibbor chayil — the worthy man.
And this becomes their inheritance. This embodies their family name.
In our text, we are introduced to baby Obed. But look at how he is described:
“Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.” (Ruth 4:14–17, ESV)
Who is the redeemer here? The redeemer is not Boaz, but Obed. “He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age”. Obed was to have as the object of his love and labor protection and provision to his grandmother. He was Naomi’s inheritance, an heir for Elimelech. A redeemer of strength as she ages.
Also, thematically, this adds another layer of perspective on the concept of redeemer. A redeemer as both a husbandly figure, a kinsman redeemer, and a child to serve his family. To go back to our introductory image, what seems like randomly placed items articulates a very specific image once the light is shown upon it.
As Isaiah anticipates:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.” (Isaiah 9:6–7, ESV)
And as for David, his name is the last word of the book. Many think that the book of Ruth was written to authenticate his kingship. It not only gives the story of his genealogy but of what kind of people he comes from. He isn’t the right and proper king because of his ruling family or because of his own prowess and political shrewdness. He comes from an inheritance of hesed. Saul’s problem was that he saw the kingdom in service to him, but a kingdom doesn’t exist for the king. The King exists for the kingdom. David saw this and embodied the hesed that was legendary in his family. We are not to live as if everybody is in service to us, but that we have a duty to consider others more significant than ourselves. Again, the last shall be first.
As redeemers, Obed brings peace and redemption to the home, David brings it to the nation, and it is the ultimate Redeemer, Jesus, who brings it to the world.
Christ’s love is that over-the-top, excessive love. He is faithful in all of his ways and at all times, through every circumstance. The price of our redemption is not too costly or risky for Him, but He gladly pays it Himself, taking the lowest place, being last on the cross with its shame and curse and mockery, and then paying that redemption price in full. He now reigns with his sandal off-the world as his footstool and worthy of you attention and your love and your life.
Conclusion
At the beginning of this series I mentioned that much of Ruth highlights the balance of God’s sovereignty and human action. In the same moment, how is is He working and how should we behave.
On the sovereignty front, not all of us are going to have the same outcome as Ruth, of course. But we are to both see God’s faithfulness to us as it was to her and to embody that faithfulness in obedience and resolve with hesed loving-kindness.
Even through famine and loss and vulnerability, this book steels our anxious minds, reminding us as the hymn writer puts it:
“Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head”
And for our part, we are to be challenged by obedience. Several times in this book someone’s actions have looked perfectly rational to us while our main characters of Ruth and Boaz make decisions of hesed — the overabundant love and faith and loyalty. It’s rational behavior that is understood, but it is hesed that is rewarded.
The last shall be first.
†HYMN OF RESPONSE #256
“God Moves In A Mysterious Way”
SURSUM CORDA (“LIFTING OF HEARTS”)
Minister: Lift up your hearts!
Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.
Minister: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise!
WHY MEMBERSHIP?
The common analogy Jesus uses for this kingdom is that of a body. As a body has many parts, so a church has many members, each with their own purpose and giftedness. One of the benefits of joining as a member to a local body is that it comes with a nervous system — we feel each others pain and we run to their defense, and we feel each others joys and join in the celebration. As we have seen recently in our 1 Corinthians series, body life is for building each other up.
And as we are one body, Christ is the head of this body, the church. And through him we have unity: one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism.
The establishment and preservation of that unity with Christ’s body is the primary mission of the church. Only by doing so can we fulfil our duty to paint for the world a visible picture of an invisible reality. Would you like a preview, a shadow or reflection of what the kingdom of God will look like when Christ returns and rules over all? Look at the church. We are that shadow. We are that preview.
We then must guard membership in the church carefully. If we allow just anyone in, with no regard for what they believe or how that belief is lived out, we do not paint a truthful picture of Christ’s kingdom for the world. This is why church membership is accompanied by vows.
The first three vows establish the basis for membership: you join this body of Christ because you, by faith, are already a part of the body of Christ. You believe that you are a sinner deserving of wrath and without hope except for a savior come for you. You believe that Jesus is that savior; the only savior. And you believe that God’s perfect word is the way you come to know him and to walk with him.
The last three vows establish your commitment to live as a faithful member of this community. You, relying on the Holy Spirit, will follow Christ’s obedient example. You will support this congregation in the ways you are able. And you will submit yourself, as you have submitted yourself to Christ, to the under-shepherds he now charges with your care.
We rejoice this morning in Matthew’s desire to join the fellowship of this body and to help us paint that truthful picture of Christ’s kingdom for all the world to see. Mathew can join me up here now.
I will present these vows to the Matthew this morning and I also present them to each of you who are already a member of this body (they are printed on the back of your bulletin).
That’s why we all do well, reminded what we have vowed to do, to participate. While you remain seated, I’d encourage you to listen carefully to each as they are read and to join your voice with Matthew by also saying, “We do.”
MEMBERSHIP VOWS
1. Do you confess that you are a sinner in the sight of God; that you deserve His punishment; that you are unable to save yourself; and that you are without hope of salvation except for God's love and mercy?
2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of sinners; and do you receive and trust in Him alone for your salvation?
3. Do you accept the Bible, comprised of the Old and New Testaments, as the written Word of God; and that it is the only perfect rule of faith and how to live?
4. Do you promise to trust in the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit so that you can live all of life as a Christian, following the example set by Jesus Christ?
5. Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
6. In loving obedience, do you submit yourself to the government and discipline of this church, promising to seek the peace, purity, and prosperity of this congregation as long as you are a member of it?
Please take a moment today after the service or at the lunchtime to welcome Matthew.
Congregation is seated. Tell them to turn to creed (852) in Trinity Hymnal.
Reciting the Nicene creed as a confession of our faith, let’s confess that faith together. Christians, what do you believe?
CONFESSION OF FAITH
The Nicene Creed p. 852
†THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE
This table welcomes all who confess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and who have the hope of salvation brought forth by his life, death, and resurrection. It is for all who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and continuing union with his Church.
This meal cannot make you righteous; no human action can. But this meal can covey the grace of God to you and unite you, by faith, in the one who is righteous. By the power of the Spirit, who meets with God’s people here; we, though still sinners, can endeavor by that same Spirit to live holy lives before God. Come, you who desire to be followers of God – taste and see that the Lord is good.
THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION 1 Corinthians 11:23–26
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS
SHARING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
The body of the Lord, broken for you, take and eat.
The blood of the Lord, shed for the forgiveness of sins. Take and drink.
PRAYER
†OUR RESPONSE #213
“Glory Be to God the Father”
Glory be to God the Father, glory be to God the Son,
glory be to God the Spirit, God Almighty, Three in One!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!, Glory be to him alone!
†BENEDICTION: GOD’S BLESSING FOR HIS PEOPLE
Christians, go in hope and His peace. “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24–25, ESV)