Scripture: Ruth 1:1-8, 16-19; 2:10-12; 4:13-17
Introduction
- As of last Wednesday, I hadn’t thought about the sermon for this week.
- The moment I heard about Linda Wood’s passing, I immediately thought of Ruth.
- I thought about Ruth because when I think about Linda, I can’t help but think about Candy. So, Candy is my inspiration for today’s message.
- Candy has been there for her mother-in-law nonstop; day and night; for months now.
- Candy is much like Ruth to me because she is such a hardworking, devoted person.
- You can see it when Candy is gleaning her fields (otherwise known as gleaning clothes)
- But you can especially see it in her devotion to her mother-in-law.
- So, who was Ruth? And why is she such an appropriate example today?
- How God uses people to accomplish His plan is clearly evident in Ruth.
- From our perspective it is a nice story about a kind person doing nice things.
- We salute her devotion to her mother-in-law and her willingness to work hard.
- We can identify with her and people we know.
- But our perspective and viewpoint are very limited.
- What if we could see the big picture?
- What if there is something much bigger going on here behind the scenes.
- As we think about this story, I want to call out two key points that I believe will help us to see the big picture:
- God’s perspective
- God’s plan
1. God’s Perspective
- If you consider the story on its own merits, it is a great story about a kind person.
- But try to look at this story from God’s perspective. What does He see?
- There’s really no “up” or “down” for God but imagine Him looking down from above.
- He sees a tragic loss for Naomi in the death of her husband and both of her sons.
- This was especially tragic for women in those days because they could not own property.
- They needed to find a man who could serve as guardian-redeemer for Naomi.
- The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty.
- Who is OUR guardian-redeemer?? Jesus is our guardian-redeemer.
- From God’s perspective we see His recognition of our need for a guardian-redeemer.
- He looked down on His chosen people and saw they were being led by corrupt leaders.
- He concluded that He needed to send a Savior because, like Naomi, we are incapable of helping ourselves.
- God’s perspective on the world is the big picture.
- In Naomi’s case, her helplessness came from legalism, of the time, restricting women.
- In a way though, don’t we see religious legalism restricting us now?
- How beneficial is it for the Southern Baptist Convention to say women aren’t fit to serve?
- And, should we really be fighting over the infallibility of the Bible?
- God could also see into the hearts of the people in the story.
- First in 1:8 we see Naomi telling here two daughters-in-law:
May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me.
- Naomi glorified God by asking for His blessing.
- We always please God when we turn to Him and give Him respect and love.
- Then in 1:16 Ruth pledges herself to stick with Naomi and gives respect to God saying:
Your people will be my people and your God my God.
- God saw her devotion to Naomi, but He also could see her dedication to Him.
- It’s when we show our devotion to God that He really takes notice of us.
- Then in verse 2:12 we have Boaz telling Ruth:
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.
- It appears everyone in the story puts God first.
- Finally, in 4:14 we read how the local women recognize God’s role in Naomi’s life
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.”
- From God’s perspective, these are people that He can use to achieve His plan.
2. God’s plan
- This is where it gets really interesting when you step back and see this story as it fits in God’s plan.
- The story begins with a man in Bethlehem named Elimilek who moved to Moab with his wife Naomi and their two sons.
- Did you catch the fact that this story both begins and ends to Bethlehem?
- We can rightfully assume that Bethlehem is pivotal to God’s plan based on this story.
- What is His plan? What could these few insignificant women travelling alone mean?
- What could God possibly hope to accomplish using these women?
- What can God possibly hope to accomplish using any of us?
- I’m just one little insignificant guy trying to be a pastor of a little neighborhood church.
- What started as a small spark with a tiny group of people committed to serving our God and our community has grown way beyond our borders.
- We have gone from providing clothing to less than a dozen people to averaging hundreds per week.
- Our service area now extends at least 50 miles in all directions.
- We went from giving away a few dozen bookbags to ten times as many this year.
- It’s been a very fruitful five years and God has used thus church in a powerful way.
- God sees the big picture that we can’t see, but He has big plans for us.
- So, what was the big picture for Naomi and Ruth? Here’s a hint from Micah 5:2:
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.
- Back to Ruth 4:17 we can see how everything lines up and God’s plan unfolds:
The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
- Are you starting to see the big picture? Ruth is King David’s great-grandmother.
- God is laying the foundation for the coming of Christ in Bethlehem.
- He still won’t come until 42 generations later after David.
- Talk about planning ahead!!!
- There is a big picture and God is in charge.
- As we begin to consider God’s perspective and God’s plan, we can see how important our work is today.
- If we are doing God’s will and responding to His call on our lives He will use us in a powerful way – far beyond our comprehension.
- Whenever you are unsure if you are making a difference, try to see the big picture.