231213 Sermon on Ruth 3-4 (Advent 2 Midweek) December 13, 2023

 Audio recording

Sermon manuscript:

I’d like to begin tonight by orienting ourselves. Last week
we heard the first two chapters of the book of Ruth. The two most important
people in this book are Naomi and Ruth. Naomi used to live near Bethlehem with
her husband and two sons, but they needed to leave when a famine came on the
land. They had to move to Moab. As they were living in Moab, Naomi’s two sons
married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. Not long after that all three
husbands died. Naomi’s husband died. Orpah’s husband died. Ruth’s husband died.
The women were left alone in their widowhood.

This was an especially vulnerable situation to be in during
ancient times. Men worked to provide for the family. They also protected the
family. Naomi, Orpah and Ruth were poor and extremely vulnerable.

What I focused on during last week’s sermon was how Naomi
and Ruth, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, loved one another. Naomi urged her
daughters-in-law to go back to their homes, to marry new husbands, and allow
Naomi to fend for herself. This was sensible advice. It was their best shot at
happiness. Ruth, however, refused to leave Naomi. Wherever Naomi would go Ruth would
go.

Where Naomi then went was back home. The famine by this time
was over. When Elimelek was still living, Naomi and he farmed some land near
Bethlehem. Bethlehem was home. So Naomi and Ruth went to Bethlehem.

When Naomi and Ruth arrived, they needed to have a way to
support themselves. Neither of them had two nickels to rub together. Naomi was
old and frail. So it fell upon Ruth to work and support them both. The job she
took was very lowly—the kind of work that beggars do. She was a gleaner of the
fields. Being a gleaner meant that you would go through the field after it was
harvested and pick up the leftovers. If the harvesters missed some grain at the
side of the field, the gleaners could harvest that for themselves. Or if some
stalks fell out of a bundle, the gleaners could take that for themselves. The
gleaners didn’t have a right to take what they wanted. They could only take
what was left over.

The good thing, though, was that Ruth ended up being a
gleaner in the right field. The owner of the field ended up being a relative of
Naomi’s. His name was Boaz. He was also a redeemer, which I’ll explain in a
moment. It was good that Ruth worked in Boaz’s field because Boaz treated Ruth
kindly. He commanded his workers to allow Ruth to work right next to the
harvesters. He even told them purposely to drop so stalks. Boaz wanted Ruth’s
gleaning to be worth her time, and it was. When she came home to Ruth with what
she had gleaned, Naomi was thrilled.

Now I mentioned that Boaz was a redeemer. Our reading
tonight was very much about the redemption process that Boaz underwent for the
benefit of Naomi and Ruth. So what is this redeeming about? To understand it,
you need to know that loans and the ownership of property worked differently in
Israel than how they work among us. God stipulated in his Law how the
Israelites needed to handle these things.

Basically nobody owned land in Israel, according to God’s
Law. God was the owner of all the land. The people leased the ability to live
on the land and work it from God. Now if there came a time when the people who
lived on the land came into financial difficulty, they could sell their right
to work the land to somebody else, but this was always only a temporary
arrangement.  

The family who sold their right to work the land could get
their original land back in two ways. One way was by what was called the
jubilee year. Every 50 years was a jubilee year. During that year all debts were
cancelled. The selling of rights to the land was cancelled. Then the family who
originally owned the land would get it back, free and clear.

The other way that a family could get their land back was by
a redeemer. This is what happened with Naomi and Ruth. Naomi and her late
husband Elimelek had some land near Bethlehem years ago. When the famine came,
they must have sold their rights to that land to somebody else when they moved
to Moab. Naomi still had a right to that land, but the debt needed to be
redeemed. More prosperous relatives were able to redeem their poorer relatives
to restore them to the land.

So in our reading tonight we heard about how Boaz set about
redeeming Naomi’s land, which also meant that these widows would come under his
wing. Ruth would become his wife. This was a big commitment. It would be
expensive for Boaz. He also would be taking on the responsibility of caring for
these women. But this was something that Boaz was happy to do, because, as you
heard, he loved Ruth.

The real driver behind our story tonight is not the
peculiarities the Law that God gave to Israel about debt and property. It’s a
love story. Last week I talked about the love that existed between Naomi and
Ruth. Tonight we heard about the marital love that Ruth had for Boaz, and Boaz
for Ruth. For the love of Ruth Boaz redeemed Naomi and her.

He had to play his cards right to do that, because a closer
relative had the ability to redeem them too. Boaz had to meet with the council,
and that’s where there was that strange exchange of a sandal. Long story short,
Boaz did play his cards right. They married, and in this way God provided for
Naomi and Ruth—lifting them out of poverty and danger. They were even blessed
for generations after them. King David would be born from this line. This also
means that Ruth and Boaz are Jesus’s ancestors too.

Now as we look to how we might apply what we’ve heard to our
own time and place, I’d like to talk about something that pastors don’t talk
about very much—the importance of marrying a good spouse. God’s Word actually
speaks about this in many places, and with many examples, both good and bad. One
of the most important factors for people’s life of faith is the person they
marry—either for good and for ill. A godly, pious spouse is very powerful for
helping the other retain his or her faith. On the other hand, an impious spouse
will be a powerful hindrance to living faithfully.

And this is not only the case for the spouses themselves. It
also has its effect on the coming generations. This is easily proven. When both
husband and wife are pious, faithful, church-goers, they are going to raise
their children the same way. Boys learn how to be husbands and fathers from
their dads. Girls learn how to be wives and mothers from their moms. As the
Proverb says: Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it.

On the other hand, when moms and dads are not on the same
page when it comes to their faith and attending church, the coming generations
will have mixed signals about how to live and what to do. If mom and dad don’t
attend church, the children won’t either. By the time the second or third
generation is born, the children might not even be baptized and confirmed.

So we should be wise and serious about marriage. We can
speak about this negatively and positively. Negatively speaking, Christians
should not continue in relationships where their potential spouse is not
Christian, does not want to become a Christian, or doesn’t actively live a
Christian life. Being a Christian is not just saying that you believe in God or
in Christ. It also means that you repent of sins, believe in Jesus, and want to
do better. It means that you are active in your congregation—helping your
fellow congregation members, even as they help you. If the person you are
dating is not an active Christian and does not want to become one, then the
relationship should end.

Positively speaking, Christians should, first of all, pray
for God to give them a godly spouse. You parents and grandparents should pray
for godly spouses for your children and grandchildren. There’s nothing more beneficial
you could ask for them. And then, second of all, when an opportunity presents
itself to marry a pious Christian, don’t just sit on your hands. Get out there
and make it happen.

We see good examples of this with Ruth and Boaz. When Naomi
heard about Boaz, I bet you her wheels started turning immediately. Notice how
she encouraged Ruth to go to Boaz and to make known her affection for him. Naomi
was a matchmaker. Being a matchmaker is no sin. Making known your affection is
no sin. It’s risky, of course. Hearts can be broken. But even in a situation
where things do not turn out how we would want, it is better to try and fail
than to never try at all.

If I may be so bold, I’d even like to speak personally. I
was captivated by Jana from the moment I first laid eyes on her. The feeling,
however, was not mutual. When eventually, years later, I made known to her my long-standing
affection in an email, she was not immediately on board. But, being wise, she talked
to her father about it, and I’m glad she did. He basically said to her, don’t
be too hasty. Give it a chance. Long story short, less than a year later we
were married. I hope that she hasn’t been too disappointed; I know that I
haven’t been. If it hadn’t been for my father-in-law, who knows if we would
have gotten married.

So romantic relationships do not need to be only how they
get depicted in movies or sung about in songs. Movies and songs can be a lot of
fun, but that might not be how God would have it be for you with your spouse.

What is important to recognize are the things that were
recognized by Boaz and Ruth. Each recognized in the other that here was someone
who was loving, honorable, generous, pious, and so on. That said, neither was
probably “perfect” in every respect. Ruth was practically a beggar. Boaz sounds
like he was an older man. Maybe he didn’t have the best of looks anymore. But
God gave them both the gift of love. God brought them together. The two became
one flesh. The blessings carried on for several generations.

So my encouragement is that we be wise and serious about
marriage for ourselves and for those whom we love. Being wise and serious does
not come out of thin air. If anything, what seems to come naturally is getting
carried away by the feelings that are stirred up by stories and songs.

God is the key factor. He is the one from whom all good
things come. You young people, you’re never too young to pray for a godly
spouse. You older people, pray for godly spouses for your children and
grandchildren. There’s hardly anything more important you could ask for to help
them not only in this life, but even to eternity.