Character Matters- Ruth

Transcript

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Hey, I'm Kevin. Thanks for listening to our message. We strive each week to bring you relevant, practical, biblical teaching that meets you where you are. Hope you enjoy the message.

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This story of Ruth, I think, is one of the most beautiful, hope-filled stories in all of Scripture. Ruth is short, it's only four chapters. So if you think, oh, what do I read? This is a great one. Ruth is only four chapters long, but it carries immense weight. It's a story of loss, it's a story of loyalty, it's a story of a quiet faith, and ultimately restoration. And what to me, especially in the Bible reading, what we've come through, what makes this story so powerful at this moment is there are no dramatic miracles in Ruth. There's no parting of the seas, there's no fire from heaven, there's no war, there's no battles. It's just ordinary, everyday faithfulness. And yet we see God just as much at work in the ordinary than we do in the extraordinary. So I want to begin by just talking a little bit about the context of the story from moving from despair to hope. So Naomi, Naomi is the mother-in-law to Ruth. The story is Naomi leaves Bethlehem, her family, her husband, her two sons. They leave Bethlehem where they're from, and they go to Moab. And her two sons fall in love with two Moabite women. One of the women's name is Ruth. The other one is Orpah. And which spellcheck all week long when I was writing this kept saying Oprah, um, but it does not like the name Orpah. But um it was it was Ruth and um uh Oprah. No, Orpa, sorry. And um, and when they get to Moab, um her sons get married, and it's kind of a bright spot, but then her husband dies, and the two sons die. And she's left in this foreign land with two daughter-in-laws from that land, and Naomi is at such a loss, she says, I'm I'm going back to Bethlehem, I'm going home. And uh she tells her daughter-in-laws, don't you don't come with me. I want you to stay behind because my life is not going well. And I will drag you down. If if you follow me, I will drag you down. Uh uh Naomi even felt cursed. Um, she she says, if you follow me, I'm afraid things are just not gonna go well for you. And in Ruth chapter 1, verses 15 through 17, we see one of the most powerful declarations of scripture. And Ruth says this, where you go, I will go. And your people will be my people, and your God my God. I love the poetry and the words of this. I I've used this at weddings. My one of my favorite things for some of you who are getting married this summer, uh, one of my favorite things to do is after after they after you kiss, and I and I say, and it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you for the very first time, even though most DJs say that. Like at the reception, the DJ says, Hey, for the very first time, I want to say, uh-uh, I beat you. But but I say for the very first time, I now pronounce you, you know, or I I give you Mr. and Mrs. and they walk down the aisle and people clap. What my favorite thing to do is to say, uh, for the very first time, I present to you a couple who now have said, wherever you go, I will go, and they're walking out. Can you feel it? Wherever you go, I will go. Your people will be my people, your God, my God. And then everybody claps. Just throw that in there in case anybody's getting married this summer over here, and you want to do that. Um, I love, I love the poetry of this. Um Ruth, Ruth is choosing in this statement, she's choosing God. She's making a covenant. There's this great sacrifice, even when it cost her everything familiar. I mean, think about it. Ruth is back in her homeland and she says to Naomi, no, I'm gonna leave my homeland because I made a covenant. I'm gonna leave my culture because I see something in your culture that draws me. I uh there's something about this that I want to be a part of. And she sacrifices because she knows she's going to a land where they're gonna have to work very hard. Without a man in Naomi's life and her life, they're gonna live off the scraps. But that's her choice to go with Naomi. And this is something, the first thing we learn, and if you're taking notes, this is the what I say. The right choice is not always the easiest choice. The right choice is not always the easiest choice. Sometimes obedience in your life requires sacrifice. Following God will often lead you into unfamiliar territory, but it will never leave you outside of his purpose. Ruth stays with Naomi, not out of obligation, but out of devotion. This is loyalty in its purest form. Naomi has nothing to offer Ruth. No wealth, no prospects of a husband. She's not gonna have a son. They even talk about this. Naomi says to Ruth, I'm not gonna have another son, and that you'd have to wait. You know, you're gonna be an old woman if I had another son, even if I could have another son. This is not a good thing for you. She even says in chapter 1, verse 13, the Lord's hand has gone out against me. Don't come with me. But Ruth doesn't evaluate Naomi based on what she gets out of the relationship. She evaluates it because she's committed based on her love and her faith that she has. And that's a word for us, I think. We we live in a culture that often ask, what do I get out of this? What do I get out of this? But Ruth says, How can I remain faithful to my commitment? Her loyalty reflects this heart of God because God is loyal to us. Even when we have nothing to offer to Him, God is loyal to us. Ruth is that picture of just ordinary people like me and you. When Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem, Ruth doesn't sit around. She doesn't sit around waiting for provision. Ruth chapter 2, verse 2 says, Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain. I Ruth um Ruth reminds me of Paul Graff. Paul is in the sound booth um today, but um I see him, he has headsets on. I think he's listened to Bon Jovi or something, but but um Ruth reminds me of Paul Graff because Paul cannot sit still. Paul doesn't sit around and just say, Wow, man, there's so much to do. He's just he just gets up and does non-stop. Uh yesterday Lisa and I had stopped by the church. We we were on our way uh to uh to visit a church that is closing, and and um we stopped by here to kind of pick up a little bit from Friday night and just kind of see where uh where things how things were or the lay of the land. And and Paul and Yvonne are here working, and we got Missy and uh Christina in the back working. Nobody knows that they're here, nobody knows that they were working. Nobody, it's it's just like they got up and said, let's just let's go to the house of the Lord and work. That reminds me of Ruth. Oh, yeah. She gets to Bethlehem and she looks at Naomi, and Naomi's like, well, I don't have any food, I don't have a house, we don't have anything. And she said, Well, I'll go to the fields and I'll just pick up the leftover grain. Ruth gets up and she'll take some initiative, I'll do it. She doesn't wait for a miracle. She doesn't grab the hands of everybody and say, let's just let's just pray and ask God what he wants me to do. She just says, Well, if we're gonna eat, I probably should go pick up some leftover grain. And she steps into motion. And here's what's powerful about that to me. She steps out, just doing the next right thing. She wasn't expecting anything to happen. Um, and I think that's the second thing if you're if you're taking notes that I would write down. Faith is not passive, faith is action. We used to sing a song in the Church of God, one of our early, early writers, that says, I mean to go right on until the crown is won. I mean to fight the fight of faith till life on earth is done. I'll nevermore turn back. Defeat I shall not know, for God will give me victory, as onward I shall go. And then of course, I'm going on, I'm going on until the final triumph, I'm going on. There was a lot of spirit in songs that were written in the end of the 1800s and the early 1900s, and they had more of almost a military march to these songs. Too often we we say we trust God, but we're we're unwilling to keep moving on. And Ruth's commitment with God is like, put me in, put me in, coach. I'll do the next right thing. Ruth goes out and she gleans fields, and this is one of my favorite parts of this story. And the scripture says, and as it turned out. Some of you, if you were, if you were telling me your life story, somewhere in your story, these words would be. And as it turned out. The scripture says, she ends up in the field of boaz. That phrase matters so much. As it turned out. I was talking to a pastor this week, and I had just finished my message, and I was actually interviewing him for a potential uh church that's looking for looking at him as a pastor. And I was I was talking and he was talking about some of his life stuffs. I said, Can I can I tell you a phrase in my sermon that's coming up Sunday morning? Ah, sure, Pastor. And I said, as it turned out, maybe all these events in your life that have been out of control and hasn't made sense, and you've been waiting for your church to grow and it hasn't grown, and you've frustrated with your children, and you had lots of different jobs and doctored opportunities, and they've all fell through. Well, maybe, just maybe, as it turned out, you had to wait for this day. All of us have those moments. And as it turned out, it's it's like the uh I as a matter of fact, in my Bible in in Ruth, I have I have that phrase, highlighted, underlined, circled, it's yellow and orange in highlight form. I just never want to forget that because some of you today, you might be f you might be facing emptiness, and I just want you to stay faithful and loyal to God. Work like it all depends on you, but trust knowing that it all depends on him. I will guarantee you, you will someday say, as it turned out. Proverbs chapter 3. You you know that. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he'll direct your path. It's Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. I I rewrote it in this trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't author your own story. Don't author your own story. Do what he says. He'll direct your path. He's writing our story. Sometimes we think we're writing our story. We think that you know we're writing our story and God comes along with us. And I would challenge to say no. When you're devoted and being all in with Christ, he's writing your story and you're trusting in him. You're not, you're not authoring your own story. Nothing is random. I really don't believe that. I don't think anything is random. We lose jobs, all of us. We get sick, we have hurts, we're mistreated, we're trampled on, we have setbacks, we get tired, we fall down. But as it turns out, God will see you through. I need Pam. I need Pam today. She would have been all over that. Pam, if you're watching, I miss you. They're not behaving today like you would. You see, being all in for Christ doesn't mean life will be perfect and it will be comfortable. Ruth's faith wasn't comfortable. Ruth chapter 2, verse 7 describes her working from morning until evening, gathering scraps that were left over by those who were going through the harvest. They would uh on purpose leave scraps for poor people to pick up after them. It was exhausting and humbling labor. Ruth went from the promise of having a good life to a family that could provide to gathering scraps behind the harvesters. She wasn't walking into blessing yet. I don't know if you have any friends that say this, but I have several friends. I say, How are you? And they say, Oh, I'm too blessed to be stressed. I'm too anointed to be disappointed. I just uh when they say that I'm saying, oh, good for you. Because she was working, Ruth was working in the in the middle of uncertainty, and frankly, that's where most of us are working. Most of our lives we're in the middle of uncertainty. Following God is not always easy. Your devotion to God will most of the time be a quiet obedience, and nobody will even see your effort. We often want God to break through without going through the process. So the question becomes, how hard are we willing to pursue what God has for us? How hard are we willing to pursue what God has for us? You know what I I mean, I've been at this a long time, and whether I'm talking from my position as a regional pastor or position as a local church pastor, I long for more faithfulness. I long for more faithfulness. There was a time that I longed for more people. There was a time that I longed for more people, and I didn't understand it if other churches had bigger numbers than we did. There was a time that I longed for for, you know, a couple of doctors, a dentist, and an architect. Here's what I longed for today. Faithfulness. Faithfulness. What's remarkable is that Ruth's character did not go unnoticed. Boaz says in the second chapter of verse 11 in Ruth, he says, you know, I've been told all about what you have done. Let's look at that. And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of great character. I think Ruth, when when Bo S said this to Ruth, I think she was like, who? Me? How do you how do you know me? What have I done? I I'm picking up scraps. You see, Ruth wasn't trying to impress anyone, she wasn't performing, she was just simply living every day, being faithful, doing the next right thing. But here's the thing Faithfulness has a way of speaking. Faithfulness has a way of speaking. It has a way, people notice it. You don't have to tell everybody your resume. They'll know. Walk with people long enough. They'll know. People notice consistency, people notice integrity, people notice humility. But even more important, God sees death. All the people know that you're a woman of noble character, Ruth. That's the reward of a life lived quietly before God. Actually, I find it at this point in my life, I find it as one of the most satisfying things about getting older. There's a lot of unsatisfying things about getting older, but this is one of the most satisfying things about getting older. Your reputation is set. I have an associate that works with me, and he was in a meeting not long ago, and they said, Well, Eric Livingston said, and he said, and uh his name is Steve, and he said, he said, uh, no, he didn't. Well, you weren't there, he said, but I know Eric Livingston. And he wouldn't have said that. Give him a bonus, right? It reminds me of that great debate line. You remember the debate line? Uh I think it was Dan Quayle and and uh whoever was running against Bush, and uh he said uh he he Dan Quayle mentioned something about uh John F. Kennedy, and he said, he said, Senator, I knew John F. Kennedy, and you're no John F. Kennedy. Boom, mic drop, right? One of the best lines ever in a president or vice presidential debate, probably a presidential debate as well. Even Boaz, the owner of all this land, he he sees Ruth and he he sees her humility throughout throughout this entire story. He shows her favor, and even then she responds with gratitude, not entitlement. She's like, Well, if I'm gonna be your wife, you're gonna no, not at all. Character matters. When I sit with ministers that are going through the credentialing process, um, actually, uh, Julie just finished the credentialing process. She is, she will celebrate that. Uh Julie, uh, Julie went through the uh the through through the three years of credentialing in the Church of God. She's now an ordained minister, and and we'll plan a special service uh with her and for her. Um Kayla just started the process um just a few weeks ago. And here's the thing when I sit down with someone that's going through the credentialing process, the number one thing I look for humility and a teachable spirit. Now we have we have standards. I mean, if somebody comes in and says, I don't believe in the virgin birth, and I think there's many ways to Christ, and you know, you can live however you want, that that's not gonna pass. So we have we have hills that we'll die on, right? But for me, what I look for faithful, available, and teachable, fat Christians. Faithful, available, and teachable. I look for humility. I want leaders of our churches being humble servants of the church. I mentioned earlier I was interviewing, I interviewed four different people last week for a church that's looking for a pastor, and I kind of do the preliminary interview before the church does. And one of the out of out of all four candidates, the one that moved to the top in my book was the one who showed genuine concern about the church, about the value that his ministry might be able to bring to that church, the one that was seeking not what he he would gain out of it, but how his family would fit in and serve in that local church. Because here's, I mean, I've been doing I've been doing that job for 18 years now. And I found out that resumes lie. Resumes lie, but faithfulness and humility, history, they don't lie. Humility is a winner. And Ruth didn't demand blessing, she remained humble. And my word for those of you who are who are living all in, and and life may not be at the point or the place that you want it. You may not see the blessing right now, but God sees you. You may not see the blessing right now, but He sees you. You may even be tired of not seeing the blessing. And I I I sometimes can feel that as well. But God sees your obedience, He sees your sacrifice, He sees your faithfulness in the small things, and He's writing your story. Scripture is clear, God rewards those who diligently seek Him. So here's the question today. Are you all in? Not halfway. You see, when Brock was baptized, he was all in. I wasn't. I wasn't. I I really wasn't wet until he hugged me. I mean, I was I was kind of wet from here here down, but I wasn't that wet. I was halfway in. And even that I didn't I didn't go all in. I know a lot of people living life that way. They don't go all in. I'm not talking about different baptisms. I'm talking about life as a metaphor. It's it's like, are are we are we all in? Or are we just all are we just in if it's convenient or or when it makes sense? You see, Ruth had no idea how her story would end. She just knew she was gonna go with Ruth. I'm sorry, Naomi. She was just gonna go with her mother-in-law because that's what she committed herself to do. And some of you are standing today at one of those same crossroads. And the question is, will you stay where it's comfortable or will you go where God is calling you? Will you calculate what I can get out of this? Or will you commit your life fully to Him and say, it doesn't matter. I'm all in. Will you sit back and wait for God to move? Or will you step forward in faith? Listen, being all in for Jesus doesn't mean life will be easy, but it does mean that your life will have purpose. Being all in for Jesus doesn't mean it's going to be easy, but it will be that he has the pen that's writing your story in his hands. You can trust him. It means that even in uncertain times, God is working. Jeremy, come on up. And one day, one day you'll look back and you'll say, as it turned out, God's been faithful all along. So today I'm asking you, will you will you lay it all down? All your plans, your comfort, your control, and will you say, Jesus, where you go, I will go. See, a lot of times we'll say, Jesus, come with me. What if we shifted that to Jesus? Where you go, I will go. Where you'll be, I will be. My plans, my comfort, everything, everything you ask me to do, I'm all in. Because when you give God everything, he writes a story that only he can write. And just like Ruth, when we have what begins as a loss will end in redemption. I can't tell you how many times that in my life I have I have lost and lost and lost and lost. If you were to read my bio autobiography, most of the book would be, what a loser. But eventually you would see the redemption. And you would see the hand of God. And you would see how God was orchestrating my life. And I mean, even coming back here and having the privilege of coming back in a place that I I poured over two decades in of ministry, and I thought it was over, but we never sold our house here. And and all of the things that happened, and um as it turned out, you were looking for a pastor, and it it connected with where God had me and where God had you, and I still had a house. So many times we begin with uncertainty and we end in a blessing. Or we begin with one simple step of faith and it impacts eternity. You say, Oh, come on. I mean, I've just told you how ordinary Ruth's life was, right? She was not the, I mean, she was she was picking up scraps in a farm field. But do you know that because of Ruth's quiet obedience, she became the great grandmother of King David? And she became the grandmother times 30 of Jesus. She's mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. Ruth, just an ordinary person, like me and you. You see, that's why obedience matters. One step of faith can echo into eternity. So go all in. Go all in. Because he's worth it.

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