Rightly Placed Fear

Welcome:

““Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1, ESV)

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” (John 7:37, ESV)

Announcements:

Ladies’ Night In - Fri, Sept 13th — RSVP through Grace Notes

Grace Notes — Intro to guests

Deadline for home movies is Sept 10th - we will have a move night and awards ceremony on Friday, Sept 13th?

†CALL TO WORSHIP Matthew 11:28–29

Pastor Austin Prince

Minister: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Congregation: Our hearts are ready, O Lord. We bring them to you in worship, seeking your rest.

†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION

Glory be to you, O Father everlasting, who sent your only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Glory be to you O Jesus Christ, who has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Glory be to you O Holy Spirit, who quickens us together with Christ, and does shed abroad his love in our hearts. Come to us now Blessed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Blessed be thy glorious name now and forevermore.

†OPENING PSALM OF PRAISE #122A

“I Was Filled with Joy and Gladness”

BEFORE CONFESSION

“let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7, ESV)

†CONFESSION OF SIN & ASSURANCE OF PARDON

based on Matthew 5:2-12

Minister: Blessed Jesus, you offered us all your blessings when you announced, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

Congregation: But we have been rich in pride.

Minister: “Blessed are those who mourn.”

Congregation: But we do not grieve injustice and sin.

Minister: “Blessed are the meek.”

Congregation: But we are a stiff-necked people.

Minister: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”

Congregation: But we seek to fill our lives with other things.

Minister: “Blessed are the merciful.”

Congregation: But we are harsh and impatient.

Minister: “Blessed are the pure in heart.”

Congregation: But we have pursued the impure.

Minister: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Congregation: But we have not sought reconciliation.

Minister: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. And you, when people insult, persecute, and speak falsely against you because of me.”

Congregation: But our lives do not challenge the world. We have hardly made it known that we are yours.

Minister: Your law demands holiness and our works fall short.

Congregation: We plead with you to forgive our sins and clothe us in Christ’s perfect righteousness. Amen.

Minister: Christians: In Christ, God has has made atonement for sins, propitiation for wrath, and reconciliation for all who believe.

Congregation: We believe - help our unbelief! From the joy of forgiveness, kindle in us the joy of holiness. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE 2 Timothy 3-4:8

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.

†HYMN OF PREPARATION #391

“Come, O Come, Thou Quickening Spirit”

SERMON Pastor Austin Prince // The Fruit of Her Hands // Ruth 2:10-12

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

We pray, O God, that the words which you spoke through your prophet Isaiah would be realized in us today, For your word goes forth and shall not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and will succeed in the matter for which it was sent. Amen.

TEXT Ruth 2:10-12

Ruth 2:10–12 ESV

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!”

AFTER SCRIPTURE

Praise be to you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.

Intro

We find the book of Ruth in our Bibles right after the book of Judges — that’s because the organizers are placing the book chronologically and historically where it was written. If you remember from chapter one, the timeline of Ruth’s story was in the time of the Judges. But in some of the original Jewish codexes Ruth is placed in a different order. Instead of being placed chronologically after the book of Judges, it is placed thematically after the book of Proverbs. Which is really interesting because Proverbs ends with a story about a bride. And not just any bride, an eshet chayil (a worthy woman). And that phrase is only repeated in one other place, Ruth 3:11 when it is given to her as a title by Boaz her redeemer. We know that Solomon likely wrote the Proverbs and that he is the direct descendant of Ruth and Boaz. Which makes me think of a few things. Was Ruth and Boaz’s story so remarkable that even their great grandkids knew about it and were shaped by it? (We already know that when Solomon finally builds the temple of the Lord that he explicitly names one of the pillars after Boaz.) But our main question will be this: What can we learn from the description of the Proverbs 31 woman, this ideal companion, and have it illustrated through the life of Ruth that we just spent nine weeks going through? How can we compare the description of an eshet chayil (worthy woman) and an illustration of an eshet chayil (worthy woman)?

What captures the essence of an excellent wife? What is the feminine excellence that the proverbs is describing?

Now, there are many descriptors of the Proverbs 31 woman that aren’t seen within the story of Ruth. “She brings her food from afar” (v.14), “she provides for her maidens” (vl15), “she considers and buys a field” (v.16), “her children call her blessed” (v.28). The Ruth we know doesn’t have a home, or maidens, or money to buy a field, or children. But we know that after Boaz’s redemption she does build a home, and we can assume her faithfulness and diligence continue into that realm.

So with those things out of the frame of Ruth’s illustration, what can we compare Prov. 31 to in Ruth’s narrative?

Well, outside of the particulars there are a few themes that describe this woman. They are: diligence, faithfulness, and fear in the right direction.

Diligence:

“She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.” (Proverbs 31:15, ESV)

“She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.” (Proverbs 31:19–20, ESV)

“She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” (Proverbs 31:27, ESV)

The Proverbs 31 woman is repeatedly described as industrious and responsible, seeing the needs of others a long way off and making preparations to help and to serve. She is diligent.

In the book of Ruth, this trait was Boaz’s introduction to Ruth. As he came to check upon his fields he notices a young woman that he has never seen before:

“Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 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. 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.”” (Ruth 2:5–7, ESV)

Literally, the text says that she has made this field her home. She hasn’t left since she got here.

If you remember, at this moment Ruth not only had nothing, but she had to share that nothing with Naomi. So when she went out into the field to glean for scraps, she had to glean enough for herself and her mother-in-law. But she started early and she worked all day. She is diligent.

And perhaps one of reasons that diligence is so noteworthy is the wisdom, generosity, and material that diligence produces. As a principle that at times seems counter-intuitive, diligence brings excess. We see it clearly in economic terms. When you work diligently you earn more wages. For the diligent worker, that means that you have more possibility for generosity. For Ruth, her work meant more for Naomi. But this principle crosses over into all things. What you find when you spend your time diligently is not less time but more time. It’s the lazy person that never seems to have enough time, but the diligent have it. It’s the lazy person who scrambles to get it all done, to pay the bills, and feels relationally stretched thin. But diligence brings excess that can be used in the service of others.

“Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.” (Proverbs 31:18–21, ESV)

As Jesus says,

““Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” (Luke 16:10, NIV)

The worthy woman is a diligent woman, storing up grace for the good of those God places in her care.

The next matter is faithfulness

Faithfulness:

“The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.” (Proverbs 31:11–12, ESV)

“Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.” (Proverbs 31:23, ESV)

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” (Proverbs 31:26, ESV)

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:” (Proverbs 31:28, ESV)

The worthy woman is a woman of faithfulness.

We spent a great deal of time in our study of Ruth devoted to this topic, particularly under the Hebrew name of Hesed. Hesed is a love and faithful kindness that overcomes boundaries and overflows into excess. It is a superabundance.

For the Proverbs 31 woman, her husband is crowned by her as with a jewel. The teaching of kindness (hesed) is on her tongue. She and her husband are praised in the gates. And her children rise up to call her blessed.

For Ruth’s part, hesed faithfulness is seen in almost every scene she enters, but perhaps most clearly is when she forsakes her home, her comfort, and her practical security for faithfulness to Naomi and to YHWH.

“But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16–17, ESV)

This fierce love isn’t self-serving and needy but rather self-sacrificing and constructive.

She is not a “needy bucket” that is always empty. She is a faithful servant and is therefore always full. As John Bunyan put it, “there was a fool, some thought him made; the more he gave, the more he had.”

The teaching of hesed is on her tongue. She embodies and can articulate what loving-kindness looks like and sounds like.

Throughout the Proverbs you have another picture of a self-centered, loud and contentious woman. A woman that would make those in her home want to live in the attic or in the desert instead of be around her as she is a constant dripping of complaint, complaint, complaint. But not the excellent woman. She isn’t praised because she is merely silent and keeps to herself. She isn’t praised because she gets out of the way and isn’t a burden. No, she is praised because even in the midst of difficulty she waters the parched soil of her life with obedience, love, loyalty, and gratitude. She pays no attention to the artificial boundaries of what she thinks she is owed or what others are owed, but she overflows the banks with kindness. She is abiding in the vine and bears much fruit —an excess of fruit that nurtures her whole family.

She is a sail in the storms of life that keeps things moving, not an anchor.

And though we don’t get to hear Obed rise up and call his mother blessed, we do hear Boaz praise Ruth for her faithfulness, and perhaps the whole book of Ruth is praise from her grandchildren (David & Solomon).

The last and most central is rightly placed fear

Rightly Placed Fear

From Proverbs 31,

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30, ESV)

“Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” (Proverbs 31:25, ESV)

“She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.” (Proverbs 31:21, ESV)

The excellent woman is one whose fear is rightly placed. She isn’t corralled and steered by her circumstances or her insecurities, but is immune to the chaos of the unknown by the God that she does know. She fears the Lord. And it is more imperative to her to remain and be found faithful than to try and procure her own security.

As a quality of feminine excellence, security in the face of fear is a repeated theme. As 1 Peter 3 puts it,

“let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.” (1 Peter 3:4–6, ESV)

Submission and courage are repeatedly held up as feminine virtues. And, it should be said, that it takes a great deal of courage to be submissive. And submissive to just anyone, by the way, but to one’s husband in the covenant of marriage and to God and word and his will.

In the face of fear there are masculine responses and feminine ones. A man who is afraid tends to respond with abdication of duty and bravado. But a woman who is afraid will often respond with anxiety and worry, and relationally with bitterness.

The worthy woman laughs at the time to come. The mystery of the future doesn’t cause panic and worry and stress but laughter. She knows that her God is there and that he will be faithful. She knows that He is working for her good so that the future only brings with it more grace and demonstrations of God’s faithfulness.

In the book of Ruth, there are two areas where Ruth’s courage is on high display.

First, in the midst of dire circumstances. Though there was famine in the land, no husband, no children, no money, and no prospects, Ruth didn’t let go and give up, but she held on. I don’t think for a second that that means that it was easy, but it was glorious.

For us, we, too, can become a nervous wreck in our circumstances and the mystery of the future. We want so badly to control our lives, our children’s lives, our finances and careers, that we live or die by their outcomes. What we want is stability and security, but what we get when we live by fear instead of faith is not the solid ground of God but the melting and shifting icebergs that cause us panic.

For Ruth, she had no clue what awaited her in Bethlehem, but she kept walking westward. And with each step of faithfulness she was one step closer to God’s blessing. Fear makes us stop, back track, walk in circles, and pace around, but the excellent woman fears faithlessness more than circumstances.

The second place that Ruth excels in rightly placed fear is in the face of relational insecurity.

As she approached Boaz at the threshing floor and proposes marriage, she is completely vulnerable. But in her courage, we are told by Boaz that this hesed and kindness was even greater than her first act of kindness. What he means is that even more than the courage to follow Naomi to this strange country is the courage to put YHWH to the redemption test and to pursue the kinsman redeemer for her family.

The excellent woman is one who doesn’t fear vulnerability and putting God to the test. His word calls us daily to so many things that are scary. To forgive and to love and to honor and to submit, trusting him and his faithfulness. But we are often frozen by an insecurity which says, “if I let my guard down I will get hurt.” “If I forgive this offense, it will seem that I am letting them off the hook. I’ll be letting go of the pressure relationally and they won’t be kept in line by my fear and aggression (or passive-aggression)”. But there is a remarkable feminine courage that doesn’t cling onto security through anxiety and it doesn’t seek to buttress itself emotionally through bitterness or resentment, but fears the Lord and gives excessive and steadfast loving-kindness (hesed). And what it finds is that a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised — Praised in the gates, praised by her husband, and praised by her children. Her submission to God and her courage to serve and submit in her home.

Closing

The Proverbs 31 woman can often come across as an ideal standard for women that is unapproachable — some statue etched in marble.

First, you are to remember that you are in Christ even though you fall short in many ways. Although Proverbs 31 is a standard to strive for and to emulate, we do not receive our value based on how many coats we crochet, chickens we raise, or children we have. We are in Christ and are therefore whole — all is well. Women, if you are in Christ, you are a new creation. Your stability and security is sealed in the grip of God.

And second, take a look at the Proverbs 31 woman in living color and be encouraged. Through the life of Ruth, the ideals of femininity often look like faithfulness in real difficulty or in the mundanity of life. It’s being diligent to pluck one more grain of barley, to braid one more head of hair, to change one more diaper or to cook one more meal. It’s the teaching of kindness on the lips as you herd the children into the car or clean up the spilled milk, or embrace a wayward teenager. It’s having your fears in the right place and showing those eyes that watch you how to laugh at the times to come or to love and forgive and to serve, even when it’s hard.

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” (Proverbs 31:28–31, ESV)

†HYMN OF RESPONSE #538

“Take My Life, and Let It Be"”

THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER 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!

CONFESSION OF FAITH* Based on Matt 16:16; Mk. 16:9; Jn. 20:28; I Cor. 15:1-6; Rev. 22:13

Minister: Christian, what do you believe?

Congregation: This is the good news that we have received, in which we stand, and by which we are saved, if we hold it fast: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day, and that He appeared first to the women, then to Peter, and to the Twelve, and then to many faithful witnesses. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus Christ is the first and the last, the beginning and the end; he is our Lord and our God.

THE INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE

The Lord invites you to this table if you love him and trust in him alone for salvation. It is for those who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and continuing union with his church. If you are truly sorry for your sins, sincerely believe in Jesus as your Savior, and desire to live in obedience to him as Lord, you are invited to come with gladness to the table of the Lord. “O taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.”

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Congregation is seated.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND THE SHARING OF THE SUPPER

Call and response as we partake of the elements together.

Minister: Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.”

Congregation: By your divine presence, by the holy sacraments, by all the merits of your life, sufferings, death, and resurrection, bless and comfort us, gracious Lord and God. Amen.

Minister: Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Drink from this, all of you. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Congregation: Whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup together, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Minister: Christ, the Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;

Congregation: Grant to us your peace. Amen.

†OUR RESPONSE #234

Tune: The God of Abraham Praise

The whole triumphant host gives thanks to God on high;

“Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!” they ever cry.

Hail, Abraham’s God and mine! I join the heav’nly lays;

all might and majesty are thine, and endless praise.

†BENEDICTION: GOD’S BLESSING FOR HIS PEOPLE

May the grace of Christ, which daily renews us, and the love of God, which enables us to love all, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, which unites us in one body, make us eager to obey the will of God until we meet again through Jesus Christ our Lord.