WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:01.199 I'll jump in this way. 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:03.680 Let's open a word of prayer before we break open the word. 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:05.839 We're going to be in Ruth chapter two this morning. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:07.360 Father, thank you. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:29.519 I am just in awe, Lord, that I've read that passage Ben just shared several times, but to hear it in a way that just brings down the reality that we were worth everything is just humbling in a way that, Father, just causes us to want to respond to that love. 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:37.200 So, Father, through your word that you have given, I pray that you would give us a glimpse on how to respond to that this morning. 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:39.679 And we just thank you for your spirit, Lord. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:55.200 For those who may be seeking you for the first time or maybe just checking you out, I pray that they would just be overwhelmed and remember nothing else except for that amazing, amazing truth that was just shared. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:01:03.920 And Father, for those of us who know you, I pray that you would just rejoice our hearts, fill us afresh and anew, and guide us in how to respond to that. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:09.280 And it really is through the Spirit that you sent and the gift of Jesus that we pray. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:10.159 Amen. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:11.840 Well, I'm so glad you're here. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.079 If you have a Bible, please feel free to open it to Ruth, chapter 2. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:18.640 It's towards the front of the Bible. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:22.480 And we're doing kind of this entire book of Ruth. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.200 And it's it, God, there's so many great things. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:30.480 Last week we looked at kind of the foundation of it, who was Ruth, and just getting through life. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:33.519 Uh, and I want to start this morning with yesterday morning. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:35.920 Yesterday morning, uh I was in Chicago. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:38.480 I had had a show Friday night in Chicago. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:42.879 For those of you I'm not familiar with or don't know me, I do stand-up comedy for a living. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.680 Beautiful theater there in Chicago, great show. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:48.079 But I was in the airport yesterday morning. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:52.319 Uh apparently the airline decided I needed to be there for about five hours. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:54.560 Um I'm sitting there. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:56.400 I don't watch a ton of TV. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:01.200 I I don't I I love watching sports, and occasionally my kids have something on. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:04.319 I'll watch a little bit of Disney and some America's Funniest videos. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:06.640 That's that's about the extent of my TV. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:11.840 And and uh I was in the airport and one of the news networks was on cable. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.719 And uh, if you're dyslexic, you can figure out which one. 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:17.439 And uh let that sink in. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.639 And and I'm not used to watching it, but it's right there and it's just all over. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:30.960 And it's when when it's not part of our norm, I think we become more sensitive to what's being communicated. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:45.120 And I'm not gonna talk about the topics, I'm not gonna talk about anything that they said, only that I had this overwhelming feeling of just being accosted with uh with an agenda. 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:48.400 And it wasn't just in the news, but how it was being portrayed. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:58.080 And the bottom line was I I genuinely felt like what should be shameful was being glorified, and what should be glorified was being shunned and shaved. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:09.039 That's the feeling that I got as I sat there and just went, oh, I literally had to get up and I walked away to where there were no TVs, and I was just like, wow, I'm just amazed by that. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:16.800 And with that concept, so often, because what we're in, I think we lose sight of what's really important. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:25.199 And the economy of the Creator, God made this whole place, cherishes you and I to the point of willing to sell everything, and what is really important. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:42.400 And if we want to unlock what he calls the abundant life, what's really important and really brings joy and peace and fulfillment in the midst of all the circumstances we have to go through, we really have to come up with what's those qualifications? 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:45.120 What are those qualities that are important? 00:03:45.840 --> 00:04:00.240 And with that, what we hear out there, and I'll be general, and what God says through his word, the definitions tend to be quite different of what they are, and the priorities and the importance tend to be very different. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:01.520 And I'll set it up this way. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:04.960 Friday night I did a show that I'd never done before. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:09.840 Um, I've performed for over 20 years, and I'd never done a show like this one. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:14.080 And two days before, my road manager called and said, Hey, oh, remember this one's a little different. 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:15.520 I'm like, well, what's different about it? 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:16.639 Beautiful theater then. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:19.759 She goes, Well, the majority of the audience is Latino. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:20.959 And I'm like, that's cool. 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:22.399 I've performed for Latino audiences. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:36.879 She goes, Yeah, but although about 95% speak English as a second language, um, and the five percent that don't, they want to have an interpreter on stage with you during your show, doing your show. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:44.319 And I was just like, oh, well, if you don't know anything about comedy, a little bit of comedy is timing. 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:58.720 So I was a little bit wigged out, and then I met Jose, and Jose was one of the greatest guys, just this incredible brother with this great smile, and and I and I said, you know what, Lord, this is a great opportunity. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:00.480 I'm just excited about the show. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:02.000 And so I talked with Jose. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:03.279 I said, Now, are you comfortable? 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:06.319 And we went through this, and and it was going great, and I'm working on my time. 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:07.759 I thought I'm gonna treat it like improv. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.680 It was one of my favorite shows ever. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:11.839 It was just hysterical because you got this. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:15.040 Most people understand there's this big laugh, and then he does it, and then there's another laugh. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:16.399 So I'm getting like double laughs. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:17.759 This is awesome. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:27.439 But there was this one point, there was this one one point in the show where one of my reactions was it's time, it's it's setup, punch, tag. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.399 That's terminology for I'm setting it up, and it's a little funny. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:33.680 There's the punch, it's really funny, and then there's a tag line to oh, that's even more funny. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:53.839 And and I got to the setup, and it's about my wife, and she loses hair in the shower, and um so I looked down in the drain, and the line is I looked down in the drain and I was like, holy cow! And and I timed it where I was gonna say that line and then let him do it, and then I was gonna go, there's a small toupee down in the drain, and and I timed it, I was like, holy cow, and he didn't say anything. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.720 And I was like, holy cow. 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:07.439 And he had this quizzical smile, and he just looked out of the audience, and there was a there was a laugh for that for those who understood. 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:19.839 But then what he said next, and I don't speak Spanish, and he was like, um, Santa Boga, Santa Roca, something to that effect, and the place went nuts. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:24.319 I mean, they were howling, and I'm like, Santa Boga. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:31.759 And I mean, it was a solid minute and a half of solid laughter, which is huge. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:36.560 And and I was like, Jose, you will need to tell me what this word translates later. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.600 And he laughed, and they laughed even harder, and I'm like, wow. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:46.000 And even during the show, I would call back and I'd say, hey, um, if there's not a really good laugh, just say holy cow again. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:49.279 And and he would, and he laughed, and they laughed even more. 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:51.360 I'm like, what is this afterwards? 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:53.279 He he shared with me. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:54.560 I'm like, what is that? 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:57.839 People were coming up, I'm signing autographs, they're like, Santa Boga. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:10.160 And I was like, Well, in that culture, in the Spanish, there's a very heavy Catholic influence in that language and in that culture, and basically there is no translation for holy cow. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:11.199 There's not one. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:25.199 But holy is very tightly woven to the Catholic faith, so strictly translated, it comes across as the Virgin Mary is a big cow. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:31.439 Okay then. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:48.079 And so then I'm embarrassed, and I'm just like, but they they get that it didn't translate, and it's like, wow, that was awesome, and we just laugh. 00:07:48.319 --> 00:08:02.240 So now one of my favorite terms is I know how to say uh rojo and uh donde está el banco, and I can ask for the bathroom and say red and hurry, and now I can say the Virgin Mary is a big cow. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:08.240 And there's something lost in the translation. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:11.680 One is a reaction, one is just not there. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:23.439 And what I've seen in and this is in Ruth chapter two, what we're gonna look at these these qualities that unlock everything good that God wants in this beautiful story. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:37.919 I I want to go into just a little bit of depth in each of these, and I want us to pray through God, these are the qualities, these is the resume that you want us to have, and I want to eliminate the misunderstanding of what these words are. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:41.440 And I want to tell you up front, I will not do it justice. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:42.559 I will not. 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:55.440 The only way that we can fully grasp what these qualities mean is if we individually sit down with this truth, and I want to encourage you if you have time this week, read through Ruth chapter 2. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:09:04.960 Make some notes in the margin on your Bible of these words and what sticks out, and then let God show you what he really feels about these different qualities. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:16.080 So I'm just my my hope this morning is to introduce those concepts to this beautiful story, and I want to go ahead and read chapter two of Ruth, and then we're gonna come down and break it down. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:16.960 Chapter two. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:22.000 Now, Naomi, and that okay, quick background if you weren't here last week. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:28.720 Um Naomi and Elimelech are this couple, they there's a famine, they move to a foreign land. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:34.720 She has two sons, those two sons marry, her husband dies, her two sons die. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:38.240 She is frustrated, they move back, she is now back alone. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:40.879 One of her two daughters-in-law said, I want to come with you. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:41.759 She said, No. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:50.159 We learned last week that one of the two stayed there in the land where there was godless and full of idols, but Ruth said, I want to go with you. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:51.679 So that's where we pick up. 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:52.480 And here it is. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:57.840 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side from the clan of Elimelech. 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:02.960 And you can underline this a man of standing whose name was Boaz. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:04.799 This is the first time we hear about Bo. 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:13.279 And Ruth, the Moabitus, said to Naomi, Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone whose eyes I find favor. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:16.320 And Naomi said, Go ahead, my daughter. 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:20.559 So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:29.679 As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:35.039 Just then Boaz had arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:38.879 The Lord be with you, and the Lord bless you, they called back. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:44.000 Boaz asked his foreman of his harvesters, Whose young woman is that? 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:49.679 And the foreman replied, She is a Moabitis, who came back from Moab with Naomi. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:55.120 She said, Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:11:02.720 She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning until now, except for a short rest in the shelter. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:08.399 Boaz obviously went over and said to Ruth, My daughter, listen to me. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:13.360 Do not glo go and glean in another field, and do not go away from here. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:15.840 Stay here with my servants, girls. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:21.440 Watch the fields where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:28.639 I have told the men not to touch you, and whatever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jar the men have filled. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:39.600 At this she bowed down with her face to the ground, and she exclaimed, Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you would notice me, a foreigner? 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:41.840 I want you to mark that word a foreigner. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:43.759 It is going to become precious at the end. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:52.159 Boaz replied, I have been told all about what you have done for your mother in law since the death of her husband. 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:58.320 How you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:01.120 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:08.320 May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wing you have come to take refuge. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:12.000 May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my Lord, she said. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:19.360 You have given me comfort, and have spoken kindly to your servant, though I do not have a standing as one of your servants' girls. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:25.600 At mealtime Boaz said to her, Come over here, have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:30.559 When she sat down with the harvesters, sh he offered her some roasted grain. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.200 She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:35.120 And she got up to glean. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:41.279 Boaz gave order to his men, even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not embarrass her. 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:48.480 Rather pull out some stocks for her from the bundle, and leave them for her to pick up, and do not rebuke her. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:51.279 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:56.879 Then she threshed the barley and she had gathered, and it amounted to about an epha. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:12:58.799 She carried it back to town. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:03.440 Her mother-in-law saw her, saw how much she had gathered. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:09.679 Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over from what she had eaten enough. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:13.279 Her mother-in-law asked her, Where did you glean today? 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:15.120 Where did you work? 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:18.000 Blessed be the man who took notice of you. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:22.559 Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one whose place she had been working. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:27.279 The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz, she said. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:32.000 The Lord bless him, Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:36.320 He has not shot stopped showing kindness to the living and the dead. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:41.120 She added that man is our close relative. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:44.080 He is one of our kinsman redeemer. 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:52.240 And Ruth the Moabitus said, He even said to me, Stay with my workers until they are finished harvesting all my grain. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:59.519 Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.879 Because in someone else's field you might be harmed. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:09.440 So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvest were finished. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:11.919 And she lived with her mother-in-law. 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:20.159 In that amazing passage, I want to break this down in a couple very simple words of character. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:25.679 The first one would be we found in verse 2 Ruth is hungry. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:26.879 They have nothing. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:28.240 She has no standing. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:30.320 And she asked a simple question. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:36.559 She said, Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone whose eyes I find favor. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:45.039 This quality, which is shunned in our society, is magnified here, and that is the quality of submission. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:46.639 Submission. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:54.879 And that word is totally taken out of context in our society, and yet it is glorified here. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:59.360 She says, Let me go, but she she understands I have no position here. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:02.320 You are the only authority I know. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:03.039 Let me go. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:09.600 And she's asking, she's willing to do anything, but she's willing to be submissive. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:12.480 That act is incredible. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:17.919 It is an act that gives honor to others for the common good. 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:20.399 That is what that is what submission is. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:23.600 It's not belittling ourselves and becoming a doormat. 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:29.600 It's saying, I will give honor where honor is due, and I will do whatever it takes for the common good. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:32.159 She goes, I want to go and do this for us. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:33.519 For us. 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:35.840 It's a we, not a me. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:37.840 That's what she's going after. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.320 And she says, I'm going to do it, but I need to ask first. 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:43.840 That idea of submission. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:53.200 And for those of you who may be here today, and that are women, and maybe you're in a situation or circumstance where you didn't ask for it. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:16:01.120 And maybe those around you have said, you know what, unless you have a husband or there's a man, then you're you're not complete. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:09.279 I would say that this is one of the most beautiful examples of a working woman, and she's like, I'm going to do whatever it takes. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:14.159 And versus the concept of there's no man, there's no hope. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:19.759 There were no men, and she had lost her husband, and she's living with her mother-in-law, and yet she said, You know what? 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:24.480 I'm going to submit not to another man, but to my authority and to God. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:31.679 That quality, that quality of submission is on the top of God's resume of what he's looking for. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:35.039 The second is in verses 10 and 13. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:36.960 Look at these real quick. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:44.320 She bowed down on her face and she said, Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you would notice me a foreigner? 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:50.879 Again, I want you to underline that word a foreigner because in a minute it's going to be a wow moment. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:53.440 She's asking, Why would I find favor there? 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:56.240 So not only submission, but humility. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:06.720 And in verse 13, you have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant, though I do not have standing, not even one of the servant girls. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:08.160 She's saying, you know what? 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:10.480 I'm going to humble myself. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:12.480 I'm going to humble myself. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:23.680 My middle son, we're driving back one day from school, and he goes, Dad, did you know that yawns are allergic? 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:28.319 And I said, allergic to what? 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:30.960 And he said, other yawns. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:35.279 What he meant to say was, Did you know that yawns are contagious? 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:37.119 And they are. 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:40.720 Because if you see somebody yawn, something comes over us in the brain. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:44.400 I don't know how the chemicals work, but it's like, oh, I have to yawn now. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:46.319 You know, it's just if they're contagious. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:48.960 Let me tell you something else that is contagious and watch this. 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:51.039 This is fun to watch out in the real world. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:51.920 Watch this. 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:54.880 Um, if you have a smartphone, watch this. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:18:01.200 If you're just kind of sitting there alone by yourself around others, pull out your smartphone and just turn it on and start doing this. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:03.920 And watch the number of people around you that go. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.720 And they'll start messing with their phone. 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.599 It's like, oh, oh, we're supposed to, we're supposed to, okay, I don't know what I'm doing, but yeah, I'm supposed to do something now. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:13.359 Email, okay. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:16.160 There's just something contagious about that. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:18.559 There's something amazingly contagious. 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:26.480 And in God's economy, in these qualities, there is something amazingly contagious about a humble servant. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:36.240 When I walked in, for those of you who may be new to his hands, let me just say one of the most amazing parts is this humble servant attitude. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:43.200 You walk into this place and the halls are great, the bathrooms are amazing, and it's because some people said, you know what? 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:47.759 I may not have a lot of time or whatever, but I'm going to volunteer and I'm going to be a servant. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:50.400 And I'm going to be a humble servant. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:51.519 I didn't need credit for it. 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:58.880 I watched people as I got here today to go over the notes that they had a broom and they're just sweeping up and they're cleaning, they're stocking and everything else. 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:02.799 It doesn't happen because there's this big janitorial firm that comes in. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:07.039 It's because we decided that we're going to be servants. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:08.960 That's part of God's economy. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:10.640 He says, you want to be the greatest? 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:12.640 Be a servant to all. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:18.960 That's on the top of his list where our society goes, man, if you're a servant, you're on the bottom of the barrel. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:26.880 And God's economy says if you're not a servant, you'll never, you'll never experience the fullness of what you are created to be. 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:33.279 And then thirdly, look at verse 11 with me real quick because this is amazing. 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:40.480 Boaz said, I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:47.359 How you left your father and your mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know. 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:53.920 That is one of the greatest examples of the quality of loyalty. 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:55.680 Loyalty. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:59.440 In God's resume, loyalty is huge. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:03.599 Loyalty to the point of am I really loyal? 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:07.359 And I would caution us to pray that prayer. 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:09.599 God, develop loyalty in me. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:16.960 Because when we ask for loyalty and to develop that, true loyalty is not revealed until it cost. 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:19.920 Don't miss that. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:21.839 It cost Ruth. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:24.240 It cost her a husband. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:25.440 And then it cost her. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:33.920 She knew it was going to cost her, but her loyalty was to God at a level that says, God, if you take everything away, and he did, it's still worth it. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:40.160 Because inversely, what Ben shared before, that God was willing to give everything away. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:42.640 Because he sees that value of loyalty. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:49.119 And not just the value of it to accomplish something, but the value of it because it is the core of where we gain. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:54.720 Because it's only with what we're loyal to that we experience the fullness of who he is. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:21:02.640 I want to give you a very practical way of experiencing that loyalty, communicating, God, it's all yours. 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:12.160 And I'll give you one way to it, and I'm not going to go into any detail on it, but God set up this system of time and money that we're all accustomed to. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:14.240 We have a limited amount of both. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:15.599 Those are two resources. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:24.640 And when you say, I'm going to take the time to come and listen to God's truth and be with his people, that's a commitment of loyalty, going, God, I want to know you more. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:27.200 I want to communicate to you that I believe. 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:39.279 Financially, it it's I would encourage you over the next few weeks, I want to challenge you, not challenge you, I want to encourage you to throw out one of the neatest ways to feel that connection. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:42.000 There's four different poles back there. 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:46.000 And they're really, really hidden because they say pray and give. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:47.759 That's what's on the polls. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:51.920 I want to encourage you to do this as part of worship. 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:56.960 I would even say during worship, during the music, be a part. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.839 And I'm not even going to tell you an amount, I'm not going to tell you. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.119 I'm going to tell you the Old Testament, New Testament, this, that, gross net, blah. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:04.720 I'm not going to tell you any of that. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:08.720 Amount, at least for the starting, is just not important. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.640 What's important is that I make an acknowledgement. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.440 I try to do this on a very regular basis. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:20.000 Now I give on a regular basis when I get paid, but I try to do it as part of my worship. 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:26.400 And I'll go back and literally just go, God, as an act of loyalty that I believe you own it all. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:31.920 And I thank you for the ability you've given me to work and the opportunities. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:35.200 And God, I just I acknowledge that. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:39.519 It will change us inside. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:48.160 And again, I'm not going to dwell on that other than to just say it is one of the most amazing opportunities to connect with God. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:51.279 And you'll notice we don't pass a plate. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:52.960 It is not the foremost. 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:59.680 And I would even encourage you, if you're not a Christian, you're kind of seeking, going, oh, there's the money thing, don't take part. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:04.000 Because God is not what He can get from us, it's what He can give to us. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:15.039 And until we know Him, we don't understand that economy of when we give, it opens up His vision and passion of what this life is about. 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:21.200 So, with that loyalty set, and then finally in Ruth, and then we're going to move on to Boaz real quick. 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:26.400 One of the greatest qualities I see is in verse 7 and verse 17. 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:29.839 They say about Ruth in verse 7. 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:34.079 She said, Please let me glean and gather the sheaves behind your harvest. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:41.680 She went into the field and worked steadily from morning until now, except for a short time of rest in the shelter. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:46.720 Bumped down to 17 where it says, And she gleaned in the fields until evening. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:53.119 Then she thrashed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephid. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:55.759 I want to give you two incredible points. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:24:00.400 And the the quality that she is displaying here is diligence. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:01.839 Hard work. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:06.720 In God's economy, it's not our position or our status or our bank account. 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:10.079 It's not if we'll be the richest one day, I know I'll never be that. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:12.559 It's not if we'll be the most famous, I'll never be that. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:16.240 It's not if we'll be the most beautiful, it definitely won't be that. 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:19.759 It's where our diligence is. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:21.680 I want you to get the picture, okay? 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:25.519 How many of you are, you farm for a living? 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:26.480 Raise your hands. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:28.000 Okay, nobody, you're on my page. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:28.559 Good. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:30.400 I want you to imagine this. 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:32.960 They are literally, they've cut down wheat. 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:35.359 We've seen wheat, the fields, okay? 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:36.480 Now think about that. 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:45.279 They've gathered them up, and what they do when they thrash is they beat it out till the kernels or the part that you can mash into flour comes out. 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:47.920 And I want you to imagine they've they've gathered it up. 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:50.799 She's picking up what's left over, okay? 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:57.039 Now I want you to picture out just one piece of wheat and think about beating that out and you can get a few seeds. 00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:58.720 She's getting the leftovers. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:00.480 Okay, she's getting the leftovers. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:02.079 That's amazing enough. 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:04.079 And she's walking and she's gathering them. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:04.960 Get this, though. 00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:05.680 This is amazing. 00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:14.319 She worked so hard and she worked so long and diligently not to miss anything that was left over that when she threshed it out, in other words, she beat out the seeds. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:18.799 I want you to think how much one would be and how she would have to get several of these. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:23.440 How much do you think an epha is when she beat it out in that? 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:25.200 How much should she gather in a day? 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:26.480 Do it in any measurement. 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:29.279 Somebody over here yell out how much do you think she could do in a day? 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:30.880 A pound? 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:32.319 Okay, that's pretty good. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:33.359 Anyone else? 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:35.119 A bushel? 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:39.200 I'm not a farmer, I don't know what a bushel is, but it sounds big. 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:41.839 A lot. 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:46.319 You just read the notes, that's right. 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:47.680 Here's what it is. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.200 When she threshed it out, I want you to think of a two-liter bottle of coke. 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:54.799 That would be amazing. 00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:59.200 That would be amazing if she could get that much out in a day from the leftover stuff. 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:07.440 When she beat it out, she beat out twenty-two liters of seed in one day. 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:09.279 The sister could work. 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:11.039 That's what I'm just saying. 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:25.519 And then she cared, I want you to imagine going down to the store and getting 11 two-liter bottles and then carrying that back home, walking with that back home. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:27.119 That's what she did. 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:31.440 She had a diligence, and I'm telling you, that is just amazing. 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:35.519 Now, these qualities are incredible. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:40.559 While I was sitting at the airport yesterday, I was sitting across from some gentlemen. 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:47.359 I don't know why they routed through there, but three of these guys had Minnesota Vikings garb on. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:51.599 And as I'm looking at them, I'm gonna listen to them talking because I wasn't interested in TV. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:54.319 I just I heard their conversation. 00:26:54.480 --> 00:27:00.240 For those of you who don't follow football, this is not a football example, but it's what they're looking for. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:07.039 And they were talking about now that it looks like this big dispute over the labor is going to be resolved, what do we do now? 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:10.960 Who do we need to go after to fill in our team? 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:20.960 What qualities are we looking for in order to fit in with what we're trying to accomplish with what we already have to win a Super Bowl? 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:34.000 And they are literally, they are dialed in, and they are talking about who they're gonna talk to, where they're gonna go, and they're gonna basically split up, they're gonna talk to free agents and do all this stuff, and they are looking for qualities for the ultimate prize. 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:37.119 That is God right here. 00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:42.319 He's saying, Hey, in your life, I have an ultimate purpose. 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:48.079 And the qualities you need to experience that ultimate purpose are right here in chapter two. 00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:53.759 And then I want to address this incredible guy named Boaz real quickly. 00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:55.680 Boaz was amazing. 00:27:55.920 --> 00:28:00.640 Look in verse 1, and I want you to underline a couple words here. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:08.480 Naomi had a relative of her husband's side of the clan of Lima, like a man of standing, whose name was Boaz. 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:10.480 A man of standing. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:12.880 That is no small term. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:17.279 He was well known and well respected in the community. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:19.200 He had position. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:21.200 Look in verse 4. 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:23.519 We can tell he is a leader of an area. 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:28.720 Just as Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, greeted the harvesters, the Lord be with you, and the Lord bless you. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:30.000 They called back. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:34.559 It was a position of authority, it was a position of standing. 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:42.000 Our position will be a result of how we take these qualities. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:44.400 Boaz embodied these qualities. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:49.279 Not only position, but look at the second, in verse, I tell you what, guys, go ahead. 00:28:49.359 --> 00:29:02.079 I know I said to put nine, but go ahead and put eight up there, verse eight, because I want us to see that not only in his relationship, not only was he a man of position, he was a man of protection. 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:07.440 In verse eight, he says to Ruth, My daughter, listen to me. 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:11.599 Do not go glean in another field, and do not go away from here. 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:13.759 Stay here with my servant girls. 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:17.839 At the end of the chapter, when Naomi talks to her, she goes, You know what? 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:19.039 You stay there. 00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:22.880 Because if you go to another field, you might be harmed. 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:24.559 He realized this. 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:31.200 He realized that even in the nation of Israel where everybody's supposed to be great, there's some bad spots. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:43.759 And a woman without a husband in a land where she is not a part of the culture, he knew and he looked at her and went, You are a target. 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:49.039 And they can abuse you and they can rationalize it as she's not even part of us. 00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:50.319 He goes, you know what? 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:56.160 I'm not only going to provide an opportunity, I'm going to provide protection for you. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:01.839 And then finally, one of the provision in verse 9, we've already talked about what she gleaned. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:06.799 He tells her in verse 9, watch the fields where the men are harvesting and follow among the girls. 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:09.200 I have told the men, do not touch you. 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:13.200 And whenever you're thirsty, you go and get a drink from the water jar the men have filled. 00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:14.079 He said, You know what? 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:15.359 I'm going to provide. 00:30:16.079 --> 00:30:20.000 Men, I want us to take this to heart in a couple ways. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:23.039 One, I want us to see what is our position? 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:29.119 Not from a worldly standpoint, not what title do we have, but what position have we been given? 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:32.480 Because those those qualities mentioned before of loyalty. 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:39.440 Let me ask you, if you're if you're a student here today, if you're a student here today, you have parents. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:42.960 And let me just tell you, your parents, they used to be cool. 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:43.920 They did. 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:55.039 They used to dress cool and they had like nice stuff, and they and they just put on the dog, they drove a decent car, and and now they look like this. 00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:58.240 You know, so it's just what happened? 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:00.000 What happened? 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:04.960 It should be a daily reminder to you, especially those who are younger parents with little kids. 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:07.839 Man, it's just like survival mode. 00:31:08.079 --> 00:31:09.279 Nails, seriously? 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:11.839 I don't I don't I don't have time to care about my nails. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:23.200