Harvest of Hope: Ruth 2 MS
Harvest of Hope: A Series on Ruth • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Welcome
Hope your having a great time
Welcome the 5th graders
staying in our series on Ruth
Camping out in Ruth chapter 2
We see a turning point in Ruth’s life again
Last week Alisss
loss of Ruth’s husband
leaving her homeland
Stayed with her mother-in-law
God shows up in our messes
Names
mean a lot in this time
it meant something to have a specific name
we see this with Naomi wanting to be called Mara
Naomi means pleasant
Mara means bitter
Naomi is telling those who she is interacting with the level of bitterness she feels
This feeling changes throughout the story today though
She was bitter with her life because she felt like God was taking things from her and she is stuck
Today we see how through Ruth’s experiences Naomi’s bitterness changes
I want to put you in the mindset of Naomi for this message
Close your eyes
Imagine something you love so much that you can’t live without
This could be your parents
this could be your siblings
this could be your best friend
this could be your favorite book, toy, game, or item you have
Now imagine how upset and bitter you would be if that thing suddenly disappeared and you dont have it anymore
you cant replace it
you cant get another one just like it
its just gone
poof
Keep this in the back of your mind until later
Boaz
Today we meet someone with one of the coolest names in the Bible
Boaz
He is a relative of Elimelek
and if we remember Elimelek is Naomi’s husband.
So Boaz is related to Naomi through Marriage
Boaz owned a grain field
This field will become majorly important to Ruth soon.
We know from last week Ruth and Naomi get back to Bethlehem from Moab
This is when Naomi changes her name
the bitterness is sunk in for her
They still needed a way to survive
Ruth knew a way to survive
but it would be dangerous
Ruth asks Naomi in Ruth 2:2a
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”
Ruth is going to go out and scrape and scrounge up any leftover grain from the harvesters
Trail mix illustration start
This grain is grain that the Harvesters considered
not worth picking up
left to rot in the field
Ruth’s intention was not to steal from the farmer’s land
She just wanted to utilize the grain they deemed not worth collecting
Ruth needed to get permission to do this from the field owner or overseer of the field and workers
Ruth could have
Walked to the field
asked the man in charge if she could do this
get told yes
walk into the field and start picking up the leftover grain
someone working the field noticing her and not knowing she got permission
then that someone could have harmed her
They could have had her arrested for theft
This is not what happened to her though.
We see that Naomi nows the danger involved in this, but also knows they need to survive
Ruth 2:2b states
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
Naomi gives Ruth her blessing to try
Naomi is bitter so what does she have to lose
other than Ruth
So Ruth sets out to Glean
We know from last week that God shows up in our messes
He shows up in our tough times just as much as he shows up in our good times
God shows up even when were not looking for him
God showed up for Ruth and Naomi in their tough times
Ruth was
in a new place
scrounging for grain in a field where
she had no idea who owned it
no idea who the people around her were
But how does he show up?
He shows up by providing for Ruth
This provision is not anything fancy or spectacular
it is not the multiplication of fish and bread Jesus did
its not the Mana that the Israelites experienced in the wilderness
No this provision is the same provision that you and i experience every day
God leading Ruth to the right place at the exact right time
Ruth 2:4-7 states
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 his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
Boaz shows up and instead of freaking out that there is someone new in the field and assuming that she is stealing
he just asks for clarification
He could have gone a very different direction than what he did
God provided for Ruth by
guiding her to Boaz’s field
having Boaz show up when he did
Boaz having a soft heart
But we see continued provision for Ruth when Boaz talks with her
Ruth 2:8-9 states
So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and 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.”
God is providing protection to Ruth through Boaz
Boaz knows how dangerous what she is doing is
yet he wants her to be safe
Boaz shows that God’s provision will continue to Ruth when he tells Ruth in Ruth 2:12
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.”
After this Boaz
invites Ruth to rest and eat
to even take some of the leftover food for Naomi
Tells his harvesters to take stalks out of their bundles and leave them behind for her to pick up
baggie Of trail mix illustration
God is continuously providing for Ruth
God provides for us too
His provision comes in many ways
divine intervention
other people’s actions, words, relationship
giving us wisdom to make good choices
I know you all have experienced God’s provision
i know i have
i know i don’t know it most of the time
until i look back at the situation and really see what actually happened
I had a situation where I was in a hurry to get to a meeting. I couldn’t be late to this meeting. I was told by the guy I was meeting with we only had 30 minutes for the meeting and we needed all 30. I was running late and there was traffic. I got to the meeting with one minute to spare before it started and I just parked. I had about a 5-minute walk to get where I needed to go. When I got to the door of the building I noticed an elderly woman approaching the door as well. I opened the door for her and held it open. She was moving slow and took time to thank me and chat a little. I was trying hard not to let her see that I was in a rush and was being nice but not giving long answers. When I got to where I needed to be the guy I was meeting wasn’t there. I was like oh no. I messed up. I pulled out my phone to call him and saw he had texted me while I was helping the woman. He said “hey I’m running late, I moved some things around, well have plenty of time.” It ended up that I was actually 5 minutes early now instead of late. I saw later when thinking back on it that God was being faithful to me and providing me more time through my faithfulness to him. I took time to help someone that needed assistance, and in turn God gave me the opportunity to successfully complete my meeting.
Chapter 1 tells us that Ruth turns to God
She states to Naomi “your God is my God”
God is also showing faithfulness to Ruth through her story
We will see more of this further on in the story, but it starts here
We see God’s faithfulness when Ruth is talking to Naomi
Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’ ”
Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.
God shows his faithfulness through the continued provision for Ruth
Boaz tells her to stay and continue to get grain from his field
Boaz tells her to stay with the women he employs and be safe with them
Ruth had no idea what her situation would be like in the next
week
month
year
She had no previous knowledge of the land she was now in
she had no idea of the intentions of the people she was with
She knew Naomi and that was it
But she trusted that Naomi knew what she was doing when they came to Bethlehem
She trusted in God who she was a new believer of
She started out faithful
God shows his faithfulness through Ruth
Remember back to the beginning of this message when i told you to imagine being bitter
think of something that would make you less bitter
maybe that is
getting a new Godly friendship
accomplishing something you always wanted to
growing up and getting your dream job and family
Having someone do something amazing for you
We see Naomi’s bitterness start to change at the end of Ruth 2
Ruth 2:20 states
“The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.”
Naomi is seeing God’s faithfulness and provision and is turning her back to being pleasant and not bitter
God is faithful
even when we don’t know where we are going or why
even when we don’t do things we are supposed to be doing
even when we argue with our parents
even when we have fights with our friends
even when we disrespect each other
God will always be faithful to us
God strives to be in relationship with EVERY single human
God is faithful to us even when we don’t think we deserve it
if God was faithful only when
he felt like it
it was convenient
he was providing for us
we followed his every command
God would not be acting in a way that was characteristic of the loving, faithful, and generous God we know
Jesus is the example for us on how to be faithful to God, and in turn God was faithful to Jesus
God practices his faithfulness in every moment of every day
he shows this faithfulness to his entire creation
not just those who believe
he shows this faithfulness through the provision he provides to every human being
Ruth was a new believer
she recieved
God’s faithfulness
God’s provision
God’s protection
She recieved God’s provision even before she claimed Naomi’s God as her God
Naomi gave Ruth the the opportunity to leave
Yet God provided a life with Naomi to Ruth and she took it
Ruth would have never had the opportunity
to meet Boaz
to become the Great Grandmother of David
God’s faithfulness to Ruth sets the stage for Jesus to come to earth and redeem the entirety of humanity.
As the Worship team comes up.
I want to challenge you all tonight
I want you to take note of the small things
I want you pick one thing that you can faithfully do this week
It can be something as simple as taking 30 minutes each day to spend time with God in silence and prayer
It can be something as complex as finding a different classmate each day to pray for and with
But I want you to do it each day
And when you do it remind yourself of your faithfulness to God
Remind yourself how God is faithful to you
Remind yourself that God is going to provide for you even if you don’t recognize it right away
Trust that God sees it and is with you
Be the faithfulness of God to those around you
Will you pray with me?
Father God, Thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to walk through Ruth. Thank you for the faithfulness you show us each and every day. I pray that I can show you my faithfulness. I pray that these students and volunteers can show you their faithfulness. God, I thank you for your provision. I thank you for everything that you have done, and will do for us. I pray that your provision is seen by these students. I pray that these students feel your presence in their hard times. I pray that any student that is questioning their faith can feel your provision, faithfulness and presence daily. I pray that all students present here can be a beacon of your faithfulness to others. Do a mighty work in their lives God. We thank you and love you. I pray this all in the powerful name of your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
