Sermon Tone Analysis

“The Imitation Game” was a different kind of WWII movie.

It was not about General Patton, or the great Winston Churchill, or even heroic soldiers like those in the 82nd airborne division.

Instead this WWII movie focused in on an awkward mathematician named Allen Turing.

The Allies were experiencing heavy losses at the hands of the Nazi’s and one of the reasons for this was because the code language that the Nazi’s were using was unbreakable.

Up to that point all the great, vast arsenals of intellectual firepower from England, France, Russia and the US could not decipher their code.

That is until Allen asked for an opportunity to try his hand a cracking it.

He and a small team of people then figure out how to crack the code and save countless Allied lives.

This mathematician work disappears behind the scenes, especially when compared to the strategy of generals, and the heroic efforts of solders.

But even though his work was not well known, and not in the forefront it was a major component of the Allied victory.

His work

Allen’s work was hidden, behind the scenes, but just because it was hidden does not mean it was not significant or important or worthy of a movie being made about it.

In a similar way much of God’s work and action is hidden, that is until our attention is drawn to it, and we see how extraordinary it really is.

Sometimes we don’t think we see God at work.

Or maybe we just want to know what he will do, so that we know our actions will pay off.

In Ruth we see the hidden work of God through ordinary means.

We see God working mostly behind the scenes, and through ordinary faithfulness, of ordinary people.

FCF: You know sometimes we don’t think we see God at work.

It is like we have a built in bias that sees ordinary life as somehow not God at work.

We need our life restored, our life nourished, we need redemption

We write off the stuff of everyday life.

Yeah sure we stand on a gigantic rock flying through space around a gigantic ball of flaming explosions, all the while spinning around at about 1,000 mph AND we’re not slingshoted off into outer space, and we think yeah, but I want to see God do something amazing.

Or maybe we think yeah I get that God works through the ordinary, but we don’t know how, we want to see tangible results in our time, and so maybe we feel a little disappointed, because God seems to be working a lot slower than we would like.

We need redemption, we need someone to act in our place and on our behalf.

This morning we are going to look at this last bit of Ruth and see that God works through ordinary means.

just want to know what he will do, so that we know our actions will pay off.

Or maybe we just want to know what he will do, so that we know our actions will pay off.

And if this is true if God works in and through ordinary means what does it mean for us?

What does it require of us?

Proposition: God accomplishes his extraordinary plan through his ordinary people

In our passage we will see that it requires that we should acknowledge his providence, bless his name, and join in his kingdom work.

Proposition: God accomplishes his extraordinary plan through his ordinary people

If this is true what does it mean for us?

we should love faithfully

So first we should

Acknowledge his providence.

At the end of our story, Boaz and Ruth get married, and God causes Ruth to have a child.

Then the focus shifts to Naomi.

Look with me at verses 15-17

Ruth 4:

Ruth gave her son to Naomi to raise and take care of, and one day this son would take care of Naomi and continue Naomi’s family line.

Here we see one more instance of Ruth’s love for Naomi.

She did this because she loved Naomi, she was faithful to Naomi, so much so the women agree she is better than any son that Naomi could have had, not only that she is better than 7 sons, the number often associated with perfection.

Why?

Because she loved her.

From the very beginning Ruth has shown steadfast love to Naomi.

She left her family, her customs, her homeland everything known to her to live in a foreign land.

She clung to Naomi saying your God will be my God, your people will be mine.

She became one of God’s own.

And she loved Naomi, and through it all and unbeknownst to Ruth God was working his extraordinary plan through her.

Her love in the face of the unknown placed her right smack dab in the middle of God’s extraordinary plan.

The most likely situation she faced was a life of widowhood barely eking it out, but she would do so as one of God’s own.

Which she counted as more significant than going home.

She loved Naomi when the outcome seemed unknown.

She might not have known what God would do in her life, but she knew what story God would write

But unbeknownst to Ruth God was working his extraordinary plan through her.

Her love in the face of the unknown placed her right smack dab in the middle of God’s extraordinary plan.

Illustration:

after a while out of respect began to imitate him, even though being a Christian was illegal at the time.

Then the grace of God

Vs 15 Ruth did not have to give her son to Naomi, yet she did becuase she loved her

Application: God’s will for your life is not to know the outcomes, but to love faithfully where he has placed you.

And in that we play a part

They were able to do it because God was their greatest treasure.

Ruth and

Ruth when she came with Naomi confessed, your God will be my God, your people my people, she gave up everything to follow God.

God’s word does not promise you that if you love in the face of the unknown your story turn out like Ruth’s, your story may be Alban’s.

God calls

So how doe we love others in the face of the unknown, when we don’t know the outcome.

When our story might turn out more like Ruth’s or more like Alban’s.

How does knowing that God is working to acomplish his plan through ordinary people encourage us to love in teh face of the unknown?

Well Your greatest treasure has to be God.

If something is functionally more important than knowing the love of God in your life, whatever that is you will never risk it.

Even if you may not say it is more important, but is it functionally more important?

Your greatest treasure has to be God.

If something more important than knowing the love of God in your life, whatever that is you will never risk it.

If it is your kids education, you will never

If that is your money, you will never risk it for the kingdom, you may give some, but nothing that causes you too feel the pinch.

If it is your time you will hold on tight to your “me” time.

If that is your job you will sacrifice everything including your family to maintain that success, if it is sports you will never skip a practice or a game to worship God or serve your neighbors.

If it is your reputation, you will never risk being perceived wrongly in order to love someone.

If that is

If we want to love in the face of the unknown we have

If we want to freedom to risk loving others we must first resonate with this fact.

That if everything is lost in your life, you have everything in Christ.

And the more that Christ is your souls devotion, the more you can risk loving others in the face of the unknown.

And what ever extrodinary plan God

You can know the joy the Lord, trusting his plan whether that turns out looking more like Ruth or more like Alban.

God is working

But, both Ruth and Alban knew this.

That they belonged to God, and so no matter what loss come, financial, relational, social standing, even their own life, they belonged to their savior, and nothing could take it from them.

Why should we love faithfully, specifically when we don’t know the outcome.

God’s

God’s

Rejoice in his providence.

Look with me at verse 13

First comes love then comes marriage then comes a baby in a baby carriage.

Boaz and Ruth get married, and our passage says that the LORD gave her conception.

Now I don’t think we need to have the birds and the bees conversation this morning, but what is being described here is not a miracle in the strict sense of that word.

It is God’s ordinary means.

Mary’s conception of Jesus was a miracle, Ruth’s conception is not a miracle of God, but the working of God’s providence.