Ruth 2 - Grace and Favor
Notes
Transcript
Grace & Favor
Grace & Favor
i’ve titled this message Grace & Favor… i think we’ll see both as we make our way through chapter 2 of Ruth this week
Recap chapter 1
last verse of chapter 1 is a glimmer of hope
as well as first verse of chapter 2 (narrator wants the reader to see some hope even if the characters in the story don’t actually see it)
vs. 1 - New character: Boaz
relative of Naomi
from the clan of her dead husband Elimelech!
Wealthy and influential (What a man, what a man, what a man,
What a mighty good man) - Salt ‘n’ Pepa
vs. 2 - Ruth’s decision to get up and work
maybe she sensed Naomi’s depression
ready to make good on her commitment from chapter 1
difference between kid on street drumming and guy just saying, “Hey! Hey!”
faith doesn’t sit around waiting for God to drop a gift in our lap, we are called to do what we can, to work hard and trust that God will provide for our needs
vs. 3 - Ruth “happened to (as luck would have it) come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz”
sovereignty and providence of God
it was nothing less than a divine appointment that brought Ruth to the field of Boaz. There was no vision, no message from an angel telling Ruth which field to go to.... but as she trusted in the Lord He directed her steps, unknowingly, to the perfect location
story of 2002 fuge
vs. 4-7 - We meet Boaz
Godly man - honors the Lord in his work - respected by his workers
He had heard of Ruth and how kind she had been to Naomi. Now Boaz chooses to show kindness to Ruth
vs. 8 -13 - Boaz shows kindness to Ruth
First kind words she had heard since leaving Moab
Boaz recognized the weight of Ruth’s commitment to Naomi. She wasn’t only leaving her home and former gods, she was looking to Yahweh for refuge.
Ruth had been made to feel welcome among the people of God
Boaz recognized the weight of Ruth’s commitment to Naomi. She wasn’t yonly leaving her home and former gods, she was looking to Yahweh for refuge.
vs. 14-17
Boaz didn’t stop with just kind words, at dinner he invites Ruth to join him at his table and gives her plenty to eat and even enough to take home to Naomi.
And then he let her go back to the field but this time he made sure his workers let some grain fall on purpose so she would have plenty. verse 17 says she had an ee-fuh (ephah) of barley. somewhere between 29-55 pounds of grain. several weeks worth of food for the average worker
When we truly welcome outsiders, we don’t stop with kind words or some half-hearted blessing to them. We speak kindly to them, we bless them, we welcome them to be a part of what we’re doing, and we do our best to meet their needs.
James 2:14-17
English Standard Version Chapter 2
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Do you welcome outsiders like Ruth? People who don’t naturally fit into your group or community?
vs. 18-22 - Naomi begins to see some hope
maybe God wasn’t out to get her after all
her heart began to soften toward God vs. 20 (The Lord’s kindness…)
(Naomi had been at the bottom, broken) lyrics to song Defender:
When I thought I lost me
You knew where I left me
You reintroduced me to Your love
You picked up all my pieces
Put me back together
You are the defender of my heart
hint of repentance in vs. 22
kind of obvious (who would go elsewhere?)
but that’s exactly what Elimelech & Naomi had done - instead of staying in the fields of Bethlehem and trusting in God’s faithfulness, they left for Moab, searching for greener grass
Now Naomi could see how foolish that was.... “stay in the field of the one upon whom the Lord’s blessing rests. Don’t go wandering off as I did.”
God was still willing to show her covenant love and faithfulness in spite or her history of sin
Covenant love and faithfulness - Hesed - key word in Ruth - combining the words love and commitment
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jas 2:14–17). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. - key word in Ruth - combining the words love and commitment
hard word to translate because it includes so many things: love, grace, mercy, kindness
Ruth showed hesed love to Naomi
Boaz showed hesed love to Ruth
of course, these are just pointers to the greatest “hesed love giver”
The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:19:
19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
It doesn’t always seem that way does it?
Does it sometimes feel like God has turned his face away from us?
That nothing can go right?
Yet the book of Ruth is an incredible testimony to Paul’s statement: God will meet all our needs.
Naomi had misunderstood God and misjudged Ruth:
she had failed to see that the Lord is the God who welcomes the outsider
she had forgotten that he is the shepherd who does not stop showing his covenant faithfulness to the wandering sheep
she didn’t remember that he is the Father who waits with open arms to welcome back the prodigal daughter
he doesn’t just allow us grudgingly to glean in his field; he invites us to his table to participate in the feast
living in the new testament era, we should see this faithful love of God even more clearly than Naomi did.
We know what it cost the Father to receive home the wandering sinner. it cost nothing less than the death of his son on the cross… nothing less than having to pour out his wrath and anger against sin on Jesus, the perfect son of God.
what naomi and ruth needed most was not simply a redeemer to restore their property and provide for their earthly needs. they needed a heavenly redeemer to rescue them from their sin. They needed Jesus to taste death in their place.
the cost for our salvation was exactly what Paul said in -
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
for the sinless one to become sin for us, so that in
the remedy for our hard and bitter hearts is to focus on the grace of God and the incredible cost he paid to rescue us… meeting our deepest need.
as a result, he is able to be our refuge, the one under whose wings we may come and take shelter. He is our Redeemer from and through any storm we face.
he shows us grace & favor
Prayer