Ruth 1:16, 17 * October 21, 2007 * Pentecost 21 * Pastor Leyrer

Dear Friends in Christ,

The American Author Mark Twain defined a literary classic as “a book which people praise but don’t read.” That may be a bit of an overstatement, but he’s probably not too far off.

Applying that line personally, many of us are familiar with the titles of books like “War and Peace” and “A Tale of Two Cities” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Moby Dick.” We may even be vaguely familiar with their story line. But it may have been a while since we actually read them – if ever.

I wonder if the Book of Ruth isn’t something like that.

Certainly we know it is a book of the Bible. But unless it recently came up in our personal, systematic Bible reading plan, we don’t hear about it or think about it all that often. It may have been a while since some of us have read through it. And there may be some of us who have never read it at all.

Whatever the case may be, today’s our opportunity to acquaint or reacquaint ourselves with a very compelling story. God has given us this little four chapter book for a reason and we’ll find there is much we can learn from it. And while there are some great lessons on the surface, there are some even greater lessons below it…

So let’s turn our attention to the

GREAT AND GREATER LESSONS FROM RUTH

The best way to do this is to briefly consider the entire story of Ruth. Some of this we just heard from the lectern, so I’ll try to just hit the high points.

This all took place, we are told, in “the days when the judges ruled.” If we’re looking for a date, that would place us roughly somewhere between 1400 and 1100 BC. “Judges” were the leaders of the people of Israel before they had kings (like David and Solomon).

The first interesting thing to note about Ruth is her ethnic background. In contrast to God’s Old Testament people, the Israelites, Ruth was a foreigner. She was born and raised in a country east of the Holy Land known as Moab. She married into an Israelite family who had moved there from Bethlehem due to a prolonged famine in their area.

After the father of this family died, the two sons both married local girls. One was named Orpah, the other Ruth. Unfortunately both sons also died, presumably at an early age, leaving the mother, Naomi, and her two young and childless daughters-in-law all alone. Without any breadwinners in the family, some arrangements had to be made to keep body and soul together. But what?

Naomi had received word that things had gotten better in Israel and decided that the best chance for making a go of her sad situation was to return to her homeland. It was a different story for the two young ladies. Their families were still in Moab, so Naomi felt it was in their best interest to stay among their relatives. Besides that, there were no guarantees of a better life in Israel.

Both Ruth and Orpah don’t like the idea. They had undoubtedly come to love Naomi and don’t want to her make the journey alone. They’re willing to relocate with her and make a new life together. Naomi, however, is insistent. Finally Orpah relents. Ruth does not.

The verses I read just a moment ago are probably the best known words found in the Book of Ruth. They are Ruth’s response to Naomi’s request that she stay in Moab, and spoken with such conviction that they ended the discussion. “Don’t urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

These are beautiful words of friendship and commitment and faithfulness. For that reason – even though the situation is obviously not the same – perhaps you have heard this passage used in a wedding ceremony.

But the friendship and devotion Ruth showed toward Naomi is only part of the story. And, in fact, not even the most important part. That comes later and revolves around two Scriptural concepts found throughout the rest of the book. The first is “redemption.” The second is “kinsman-redeemer.”

Let’s continue with the rest of the story. Ruth and Naomi make the trip together and arrive in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. Naomi has a relative on her husband’s side there, but they’re not sure of his help. They are still not out of the woods.

To get the full effect of what happens next, let’s try to put ourselves in the 21^st century equivalent of what Ruth and Naomi were going through. As children will often say, let’s pretend…

You’ve heard about them. You had some vague understanding they existed as a subculture somewhere “out there.” But you never expected to become one of them. And now you are.

You’ve lost your livelihood and been evicted from your house. Forced to survive on the streets, you are literally living from hand to mouth. You – for whom life previously seemed so ordered, so routine, so rooted – are now numbered among “the homeless.”

You quickly find that the emotional pain far surpasses any indignity you must endure to survive physically. You cry a lot. You alternate between feelings of bitterness and hopelessness. And although you are a believer, you are angry with God for letting this happen. Never before have you felt so helpless, so alone. You look forward to nothing.

Then something shocking transpires. A relative learns of your sad condition, takes matters into his own hands, and undoes everything. Your future, your fortunes, and your outlook are restored as suddenly as they disappeared. Best of all, the emotional pain is gone. You once again have hope.

What happened to bring about this dramatic change? This relative, you see, is more than just a kind man. He is your “kinsman-redeemer.”

In Ruth and Naomi’s case, that man was Boaz.

To “redeem” means to pay the price for somebody or something in order to free it from slavery or captivity, difficulty or danger. In His great love for His Old Testament people, God had made specific provisions regarding redemption. If an individual or family ran into hard times and had to forfeit land that was theirs, it became the responsibility of a kinsman to help his relatives out by purchasing the land and restoring it to them.

To qualify as such a kinsman-redeemer, three things had to take place. First, you had to be related by blood to those he redeemed. Secondly, he had to be able to pay the price. Finally, he had to be willing to redeem.

Boaz qualified on all three counts. And he took things even a step farther. Not only did he redeem Naomi and Ruth, he also became Ruth’s husband. They had a son, whom they named Obed. Obed had a son named Jesse, and Jesse had a son named David, who would later become King David. And great King David’s greater ancestor would be Jesus Christ.

And that of course is the greater lesson that lurks beneath the surface of the Book of Ruth. In Jesus Christ we have a greater friend than Ruth was to Naomi and a greater Redeemer than Boaz was to the two women.

Think of those three qualifications. A kinsman-redeemer was to be related by blood to those he redeemed. In Hebrews 2:14 we read, “Since the children (that’s us) have flesh and blood, he (Jesus) too shared in their humanity.”

Secondly, the kinsman redeemer had to be able to pay the price of redemption. The apostle Peter writes (1:18), “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you by your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

Finally the kinsman-redeemer had to be willing to redeem. Jesus declared of himself: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

As a result, Christians live with hope. Real hope. Hope based on real evidence. “The wages of sin is death.” On our own, eternal death is what we deserve. “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Because of Jesus Christ, heaven is what we get.

When Jesus cried from the cross, “It is finished,” he was speaking of our eternal salvation. We are redeemed, restored, forgiven. The spiritual turn around for each of us is no less dramatic than the earthly one experienced by Naomi and Ruth.

And there is more. Jesus has also redeemed us from an unfulfilled, hopeless life in the present. Because we have a living, giving Redeemer, we know that life has meaning and purpose.

Are you familiar with that song with the lilting refrain, “is that all there is?” It was recorded by Peggy Lee in 1969 and can still be heard on occasion today. Did you know that song was based on a short story by the German author Thomas Mann with the rather depressing title “Disillusionment?” The question fits the title.

Because without God at the base and Christ at the core, it is the essential question that so many are asking. Is that all there is? Is life just a series of random events or some sort of cosmic accident? Is there a plan for life or is it just an empty meaningless stretch of time during which you do whatever you can to dull the pain of knowing that in the big scheme of things you are truly, truly insignificant?

We know better. We have been redeemed from disillusionment. Life does have meaning and purpose. We are here to enjoy God, to proclaim His grace through our lips and our living, and eventually at the end of our days be with Him forever in Paradise. Thanks be to Jesus Christ, the ultimate “Kinsman-Redeemer.”

In Romans 15:4 we are told that “everything written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the encouragement of Scriptures we might have hope.” Certainly that applies to the little book we’ve considered for the last several minutes. May God grant our review of Ruth fills us with both encouragement and hope.

Ruth was a great friend and Boaz was a great redeemer – but they both pale in comparison to the greater friend and greater Redeemer we have in Christ Jesus. Amen.