RUTH 2
AMAZING GRACE

Big idea 
•	Boaz’s generosity towards Ruth is unexpected and lavish – and is a picture of God’s grace towards his people!

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When I was at school, one of my favourite subjects was English Literature.
	
I loved reading plays and novels – I’d always loved stories, and been excited and moved by them.

But poetry always left me a bit cold.
	The poems we looked at in school always seemed far-removed from reality, so poetry felt dry and lifeless as I read it.

Then, when I was 17, my teacher introduced me to the poems of Philip Larkin – and I loved them!

I felt I could understand Larkin’s poems.
	They were sometimes a bit rude, which is always a bonus for a teenage boy…!
	They could be funny
	But above all, I loved them because I thought they were honest and truthful poems.

Philip Larkin was an atheist, while I was already a Christian when I first read him
	So I disagreed with him on the fundamental questions of whether or not God existed – and whether or not there is a meaning to life!

But when I read his poetry, I always had the feeling he was trying to tell the truth –
	That he was trying to make sense of his own life and the world we all live in.

And I often ended up agreeing with this atheist poet – at least, in part!

One of my favourite Larkin poems is called ‘Faith Healing’.

In it, he explores the desire many people have to believe in something – and he makes fun of that desire in much of the poem.

But then he writes the following lines, that I have always remembered:

		In everyone there sleeps
	A sense of life lived according to love.
	To some it means the difference they could make
	By loving others, but across most it sweeps
	As all they might have done had they been loved.
	That nothing cures.

These are really evocative lines to me –
	And the more I meet people and listen to people – the more I watch movies and listen to music and read books – 
	The more I’m convinced that Larkin is right!

Most of us do long for the knowledge that we are loved!

Because we know that, somehow, if we just knew that we were loved, then that would free us up to live lives that matter!

A sense that we are not loved clearly does damage people.

Children who are denied love by their parents grow up into adults with great anxieties and struggles that they would not otherwise have had.

The most anti-social teenagers I meet – if you get the opportunity to talk to them about family life – often express this sense that they are not loved or noticed at home.
	So that most of their anti-social behaviour is an attempt to draw the attention of loveless parents.

And when adults experience deep feelings of loneliness, often that flows out of a longing to be loved by someone –
	But either they do not find someone to love them,
	Or when they do, that person does not satisfy their longing to be loved.

Philip Larkin argues that most people attribute their failures and fears in life to not having experienced enough love
	And he gently mocks that in his poem.

Larkin argues that we need to grow up from that feeling – to mature beyond it.

We need to accept that there is no way of satisfying that longing for love – so we need to make do with the harsh realities of life and get on with it!

As I said earlier, I often find myself agreeing with Philip Larkin –
	And there are parts of his thinking on the longing we all have for love that I agree with, too.

This longing for love can easily become self-indulgent – and it is often deeply self-centred.

A man or a woman wants to be loved, but has no desire to put in the time or make the sacrifices necessary to actually love someone else.
	
So the ‘loved one’ becomes an object, to show me love!
	Whether it’s a girlfriend or boyfriend – husband or wife – whether it’s my parents or my children –
	They only exist in my mind to give me love – not to be loved by me…!

I think Larkin is right to expose that sort of longing for love, as something ultimately petty and destructive.

But I also think that the human longing for love is actually a good thing, not just an illusion or an expression of selfishness.

And it is a good thing – when it leads us to the one person truly worth loving in this world!

And that person is – the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

We all long to be loved and to love others – because we are made in the image of God!

God made us that way!
	And ultimately that longing to be loved and to love others can only be satisfied in a relationship with the God who made us!

Augustine put it like this in a prayer to God:
	‘You made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.’

It is God who has given us this longing for love –
	And it is only God who can satisfy it!

One of the great tragedies of humanity is that our sinful natures desperately try to convince us that other things and other people can satisfy this longing for love.

‘Just one more relationship – this is the one who’ll make me happy.’

‘If I can only get married – then I’ll be happy!’

‘If I can only make my children happy – if I can only show them how much I love them – then I’ll be content!’

‘If I can only earn the respect of everyone at work – then I can rest easy, then I’ll be satisfied!’

But none of those things will satisfy us.
	We are created for a relationship with the living God, through his Son Jesus Christ –
	
Only then will our longings be satisfied!
	In part, in this life –
	And fully and completely, in the future hope God calls us to in Christ –

A life lived with God!
	A life lived as God’s beloved people in a restored creation!

We’re spending a few weeks looking at the Old Testament book of Ruth –
	Because even though it is a small book with a seemingly small story, it has wonderful things to tell us about God’s love for his people.

The book of Ruth tells us that God’s love for his people is 
•	a lavish love – 
•	a love that cannot be earned – 
•	and a love that satisfies us!

And through the story of Ruth and Boaz, Ruth chapter 2 paints an amazing picture of God’s love for us to meditate on!

It’s absolutely fundamental to any Christian’s growth that we learn more of God’s love –
	That we delight in it – that we praise God for it – 
	And that we learn how to love others, as we look at God’s love for us!

The book of Ruth is a great help to us in that!

We’ve called this series in Ruth God’s love story –
	But we saw last week in chapter 1 that this love story has a bleak beginning.

A woman from Bethlehem, Naomi, moves away from home to the land of Moab with her family –
	And over the space of 10 years, she loves everything:
	Her husband – her two sons – and her belief that the God of Israel is good!

Naomi returns home disappointed with God.

She also returns home with a Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth.
	And we saw that Ruth shows amazing love and devotion to Naomi in chapter 1 – and that she has declared that from now on, Naomi’s God will be her God!

This week, we see what happened next.

We see God’s hand at work in providing for and blessing Naomi and Ruth –
	And in Boaz, we get a striking picture of God’s great love and grace towards his people!

It’s my prayer that spending some time meditating on God’s love and grace for his people this morning will lead us to praise him –
	To trust him –
	And drive us to worship him more and more in our lives – in our families – in our friendships – in our jobs! 

The knowledge that we are loved by God is not something that should puff us up –
	It needs to transform us into people who live lives that gladly make sacrifices for Christ, and that point others to him!

So – let’s look at God’s love as portrayed in Ruth chapter 2 together now.

The central portrayal of God’s love for his people in Ruth chapter 2 is through a man called Boaz.

Read v.1.

The writer of Ruth has kept Boaz’s existence from us until now
	But immediately we are told that Boaz is related to Elimelech, Naomi’s husband.

Suddenly, the writer hints to us that this man could be very important to Ruth and Naomi!
	So – who is this Boaz?

•	BOAZ – A man of standing (v.1)

Chapter 1 of Ruth is dominated by two women, Naomi and Ruth –
	The men we’ve heard of so far – Elimelech and his two sons – haven’t been terribly impressive:
	They’re all dead before we get the chance to meet them!

But here in chapter 2, we meet ‘a man of standing’ –
	Wealthy, influential and a lot more impressive than the men of chapter 1!

Might this man be able to help the two widows of chapter 1 to adjust to life in Bethlehem together? 

In v.2, Ruth volunteers to go to the fields where the barley was being harvested, to see if she could bring home any leftover grain for herself and Naomi.

As two widows without any close relations helping them, Ruth and Naomi were extremely vulnerable and faced an uncertain future.
	Naomi appears to have been too old to get any work –
	And as a Moabitess, Ruth would have been regarded with suspicion and even hostility by the people of Bethlehem.

It was highly likely that Ruth and Naomi could starve in Bethlehem, in spite of the harvest.
	But Ruth doesn’t want that to happen!

She takes it on herself to care for Naomi and to provide for the two of them.

She had made the costly decision to stay with Naomi and entrust her life to Naomi’s God in chapter 1 –
	And she intends to stand by that decision!

With Naomi’s permission, Ruth heads to the harvest fields, where v.3 picks up the story.
	Read v.3.

‘As it turned out’, Ruth ends up in Boaz’s field –
	But the writer of Ruth wants us to see that this is no coincidence!  

Again in v.3 we hear of Boaz – again, we hear that he is related to Naomi’s dead husband.
	God is at work here!

He is bring together Ruth and Boaz!
	For what reason, we don’t yet know… but all through the book of Ruth, things just happen like this – coincidences take place…

God is at work here!

We finally meet Boaz in v.4 – and his first words are significant!
	Read v.4.

When we meet him, Boaz is portrayed as a man who trusts in the LORD, the God of Israel.

•	BOAZ – A godly man (vv. 4,12)

Both here and in v.12, Boaz mentions ‘the LORD’ –
	It’s clear that Boaz knows the LORD!

In v.4 he greets his workers in the name of the LORD.

Remember – there’s been a famine for about 10 years.
	The fact that the barley harvest is happening at all is a big deal!

And Boaz sees the LORD’s hand at work in it!
	He praises the LORD for the harvest and he asks the LORD to bless his workers in it!

If you were here last week, you’ll remember that the book of Ruth is set in the time of the judges of Israel –
	A violent, godless, faithless time in Israel’s history, when Israel repeatedly forgot about the LORD and went its own way. 

But the writer of Ruth shows us here:
	Boaz is different!

He is a godly man who remembers the LORD in a godless age!

This man is promising!
	Who knows how God might use a man like this…?

In v.5, Boaz notices Ruth at work in the field – and his foreman explains to him who Ruth is.

It seems that Ruth’s presence in Bethlehem as a Moabitess hasn’t gone unnoticed –
	People have heard about her – and her request to work in Boaz’s field makes an impact on Boaz!

He introduces himself to Ruth in v.8 – and Boaz and Ruth’s conversation here reveals a lot about both of them!
	Read vv.8-9.

In this verse and following, Boaz reveals himself to be –

•	BOAZ – A man of lavish generosity (vv. 9, 14, 15-16)

Boaz’s address to Ruth – ‘My daughter’ – suggests he’s quite a bit older than she is –
	And he proceeds to show her remarkable kindness!

The OT law commanded that when an Israelite farmer was harvesting a field, and he discovered that some sheaves of barley or wheat had been overlooked, he was to leave them behind for ‘the alien, the fatherless and the widow’ (see Deut. 24:19)
	Ruth was all three of those things in Bethlehem, and she had gone to the field of Boaz in the hope that she could gather some of the leftover grain that Jewish law permitted her to.

Doubtless, as with the rest of the law, some farmers obeyed this command – some didn’t.
	But Ruth discovers here that Boaz not only obeyed the law – his generosity went far beyond it!

In vv.8-9, Boaz offers Ruth his protection.

A woman on her own was vulnerable in the time of the judges, let alone a widow and a Moabitess like Ruth –
	The people of Moab were frequently the enemies of Israel at this point in history, and Ruth may have provoked quite a bit of prejudice and even abuse from the harvest workers and from any Jewish widows who were hoping to pick up the same left-over grain she was.

In recognition of all this, Boaz tells Ruth to stay in his field and work alongside his servant girls.
	Boaz himself has instructed the men not to touch Ruth – she will be safe with him.
	And whenever she is thirsty, she can drink from the same water jars as Boaz’s workers do.

Boaz was under no obligation from the law to treat Ruth as one of his own workers –
	But he gives her the same rights, protection and privileges that they have!

Then, in v.14, Boaz does something even more remarkable!
	Read v.14a.

Boaz invites Ruth to eat with him!

Ruth sits down ‘with the harvesters’ – she is now included in the community of Boaz’s workers!
	She is no longer treated as an outsider – Boaz welcomes her into his company!

Again, Boaz had no obligation to do this –
	This is an act of great kindness and generosity on behalf of Boaz!

And then, in the second half of v.14, Boaz – the wealthy landowner, the owner of the field and all the barley in it that they are harvesting –
	Chooses to serve Ruth with some food!

Read v.14b – ‘When she sat down…’

Boaz served Ruth the roasted grain!
	The landowner served the foreign widow!

You can imagine Boaz’s workers might have gasped at this!
	‘What is the boss doing?’ 

And then, in vv.15-16, after Ruth has eaten all she wanted and even had some left over, Boaz gives some new orders to his men.
	Read vv.15-16 – ‘Even if she gathers…’

Not content with giving Ruth freedom to glean in his field – not content with feeding Ruth and serving her food –
	Boaz commands his men to deliberately and purposefully leave stalks for Ruth to pick up.

Boaz wants Ruth to take away as much of his barley as possible – so he uses his influence as the farmer to make sure she does!

Boaz’s generosity towards Ruth is unexpected and lavish here!  
	And Ruth knows it!

She is amazed and humbled by Boaz’s kindness to her – she knows she is the recipient of great kindness here – 
	And she knows that she does not deserve it!

Read v.10.

Boaz’s reply in v.11-12 urges Ruth to see his kindness as coming from the God of Israel, in recognition of the great kindness Ruth showed to Naomi in chapter 1.
	Read vv.11-12.

v.12 is the key to what is happening in chapter 2.

In chapter 1, Ruth chose to ‘take refuge’ under the wings of Yahweh – the LORD, the God of Israel – and now the LORD, the God of Israel, is providing for her!

Behind all of Boaz’s lavish generosity, the LORD is working to bless Ruth!

Ruth may only have been dimly aware of the LORD in chapter 1 –
	She almost certainly didn’t know everything about him or fully understand what it meant to trust in him –

But in Boaz’s field and through Boaz’s kindness, Ruth is encountering something of the LORD’s compassion – the LORD’s goodness – the LORD’s love!

Boaz’s generosity is beginning to transform Ruth’s life in Bethlehem here – and not just Ruth’s life, but Naomi’s life as well!

•	BOAZ – transforms the lives of Ruth and Naomi (vv.17-23)

In v.18, Ruth heads home to Naomi after her first day of gleaning barley –
	And Naomi is amazed to see that her daughter-in-law has so much barley with her!

An ‘ephah’ (v.17) was the equivalent of at least half a month’s wages –
	And Ruth had collected that much in one day!

More than that, Ruth also brings home the food she has left over from her meal with Boaz.
	We don’t know the last time Naomi had eaten – but we do know that she is amazed at what Ruth as brought home!

Read v.19.

Last week, we saw that Naomi was deeply disappointed with God – she blamed God for the death of her husband and two sons.

But here – through the generosity of Boaz – she begins to see God in a different light!
	Read v.20.

Naomi recognises that through Boaz, the God of Israel is showing her great kindness –
	More than that, the LORD is showing her great grace!

We saw last week that at least part of Naomi’s suffering in chapter 1 was the result of her own sin – of her foolish decision to put her trust in Moab, rather than in the LORD.

But here, the LORD is providing for her!

In spite of Naomi’s anger with God, God is being gracious to her!
	He is showing himself to be a forgiving and gracious God!

In v.20, Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz is a kinsman-redeemer – and we will see next week just what that means for these two widows!

But already in this chapter, we can see that Boaz’s kindness and generosity towards Ruth has begun to transform their lives!

And I hope we can also see that the writer of Ruth wants us to see Boaz as a picture of God’s grace towards his people!
	This is not just a lovely story – it has precious things to say to us about the God in whom Christians trust!

For the original, Jewish readers of Ruth, Boaz was a picture of God’s grace towards Israel.

•	BOAZ – A picture of God’s grace towards Israel 

Throughout the Old Testament, Israel repeatedly forgot God and forgot God’s grace towards them.

The time of the judges, when the book of Ruth is set, is a prime example.

Israel kept on forgetting the LORD!
	They forgot that the only reason they were God’s people was because of God’s grace in choosing them to be his people!

The only reason Israel existed was because the LORD had chosen to rescue them from slavery in Egypt and make them his people!

Like Naomi, Israel kept on deserting God – and then blaming God for the troubles they faced!

And yet –
	Throughout Israel’s history, God was amazingly gracious to them!

He kept on forgiving them – he kept on taking them back – he kept on restoring them when they cried out to him!

God showed amazing grace towards Israel – he showed lavish generosity to Israel –
	Because it is in his very nature to be gracious!  It is in his very nature to be generous!

Why does God stick by Israel in the Old Testament?
	Why does God go on showing his grace to Israel?

The only answer he ever gives to that question is –
	Because he loved Israel!

Read from Deuteronomy 7:7-8
	The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.  But I was because the LORD loved you … that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery …

God was gracious towards Israel – because he loved Israel!

What motivates God’s grace?
	It is God’s love!  God’s love leads him to be gracious to his people! 

Neither Naomi nor Ruth deserved God’s care for them –
	We saw last week that Naomi harboured great bitterness towards God,
	While we mustn’t forget that Ruth has worshipped other gods for most of her life up till now!

No – Boaz’s lavish generosity towards them both is a sign that God is gracious!

Fast forward to today, and Christians can see in Boaz’s treatment of Ruth a picture of Christ’s love for the church!

•	BOAZ – A picture of Christ’s love for the church!

It becomes clear in chapter 3 of Ruth that Boaz’s lavish generosity towards Ruth is motivated by his love for Ruth!

And it is the same for the Christian –
	We experience God’s amazing grace and forgiveness in Christ – because of God’s amazing love for us in Christ!

If you’re a Christian here this morning, you’re a recipient of God’s great love in Christ!

That’s a love you didn’t earn – a love you didn’t deserve – and a love that is lavish in its generosity!

Just as Boaz went beyond the letter of the law in his care for Ruth, so God did not need to send his Son into our world to rescue us –
	He chose to send Jesus – because he loved us!

Just as Boaz chose to serve the widow Ruth with the food from his table, so Jesus – the Son of Man – came into our world not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many!

Jesus invites us to bring our request before him – 
	Jesus the Son of God – the king over all creation – chooses to serve his people and give them everything they need, out of his great love for us!

We do not deserve that!
	We are recipients of his grace!

And just as Ruth ate all she wanted with Boaz, and had plenty left over, so it is Jesus alone who can satisfy our longing for love and our longing for relationship – with plenty left over!

Jesus’ love is not sentimental –
	Jesus’ love is physical – blood-stained – and led him to a cross!

And Jesus’ love transforms the lives of his people!

Christ’s love doesn’t just give us a warm glow or a nice feeling –
	Christ’s love has achieved amazing things for his people!

Christ’s love demonstrated at the cross has saved us from death, condemnation and hell –
	And it has saved us for life – a relationship with God as our Father – and an eternal inheritance with Christ in the new creation!

Christ’s love for his people is more passionate than the greatest love a husband can have for his wife – Ephesians 5 tells us that! 

And knowing that we are loved by Christ will transform our lives!

The knowledge that we are loved by Christ can liberate us from the tendency of seeking love in other things –
	It can free us from the idolatry of living for other things – whether romantic love or success at work or our families.

These are all good things – but only after we acknowledge that Christ is our first love, and that it is only through knowing him and his grace that we can experience true satisfaction and delight!

Knowing that we are loved by Christ enables us to take risks for him. 
	We can risk offending someone by telling them about Jesus, because ultimately we are secure in Christ’s love – and that is all that matters!

And above all, knowing that we are loved by Christ and in a relationship with God through him, we are living our lives as God intended us to live them!

God made us for himself – and through Jesus he calls us to come into relationship with himself!

Just as Boaz lavished great provisions on Ruth, so our loving God wants to lavish great gifts on his children.

His protection
	No-one can snatch us out of God’s hand – not even death!

His provision
	God gives us his Holy Spirit and everything else we need to live for him – we can trust in that, even when at first sight it might not look enough…!

His care
	However long or short our lives may be in this world, we can know that the Lord will be our shepherd, and he will care for us – feed us – and lead us home to our great future in the new creation, bought for us by Christ!

Amazingly, this is how God chooses to receive great glory for himself!

You might feel that God receives enough glory for himself through creation – through the majesty of the universe and the beauty of this world:
	
But God chooses to reveal his glory supremely in calling sinful, undeserving people like us – and showing us his great grace and love by making us his people through faith in his Son Jesus Christ!

His great grace is motivated by his great love for us –
	And to experience God’s great love for us is to be satisfied with the richest of food!