WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.640 This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:06.000 For more information on our church, please visit grandparkway.org. 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:06.879 Amen. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:12.320 If you got your Bible, take it, open it up if you would to Ruth chapter three, and we'll continue the story of Ruth. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:18.320 And before you ask, uh uh what what happened was that my wife said, What do you want for Father's Day? 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:21.600 And I said, I I don't just get the kids to write me a little note. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:22.960 I'm not as materialistic as you. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:23.839 I don't need gifts. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:25.359 And I said, Hi five. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:26.719 And then the lights went out. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:29.120 Uh and that's the last thing I remember. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:31.199 No, I had had elbow surgery. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:33.280 Uh, but uh uh enough enough about that. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:36.159 I just want to say it once so I wouldn't have to say it over and over. 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:50.640 Uh but anyway, uh remember we left Ruth uh the the last week we talked about in chapter two how Ruth, we one of the things I try to keep things real simple, but kind of the big statement that I said last week was that the nature of God is not episodic, it's eternal. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:51.359 Remember that? 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:55.600 That God's nature is not determined by whatever episode we find ourselves in. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:02.079 It's eternal and it's constant and it's always kind of, he says, I'm the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:03.359 I'm gonna be the same way. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:04.400 I'm not gonna change. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:06.879 And so, but we said things were good. 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:11.760 We talked about the kindness of God, the providence of God, but we left kind of on a downer note for you. 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:13.120 Some of you ladies, I got emails. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:13.920 Thank you. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:15.200 I love the sermon to you. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:16.319 Maybe just read the last verse. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:17.920 Remember the last verse of chapter two? 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:20.319 And she lived with her mother-in-law. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:21.760 Some of you, that's all you heard. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.000 You walked out of here just kind of looking at me, going, Really? 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:24.400 Really? 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:25.359 You dropped that on me? 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:26.879 She lived with her mother-in-law? 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:32.159 Because I said, God's the reason chapter two ends on that is because God's going to do something about that. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:35.280 So we pick up in chapter three, and here's what the Bible says. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:37.040 Chap Ruth, chapter three, verse one. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:44.239 It says, Then Naomi, her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:47.760 Is not Boaz our relative with whose young women you were? 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.120 See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:56.000 Wash therefore, and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak, and go down to the threshing floor. 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:01.359 But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:09.280 But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies, then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:13.199 And she replied, All that you say, I will do. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:18.639 Verse six says, And so she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:25.199 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:28.719 And she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:37.840 And at midnight the man had startled, was startled, and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet, and he said, Happy Father's Day to me. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:41.280 Can you imagine? 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:47.039 You just lay down and all of a sudden you wake up, and there's a woman laying kind of not parallel but perpendicular. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:48.800 She's kind of laid at his feet. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:57.759 And by the way, but the Hebrew language is so, in that passage in verse 4, actually is so uh, it can mean so many things that she's coming on to him. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:58.319 Yes. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:01.360 She making herself available, yes. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:03.680 You talk about a Father's Day present. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:07.199 Every man loves a woman that initiates anything, right, man? 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:12.479 Some of you men are like, I'm not saying a word. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:14.719 Anyway, but look what happens. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:18.400 And we'll we'll get into this, not into that, but we'll get into this in the text. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:19.520 But I want you to. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:25.599 Anyway. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:29.520 She lays down at midnight. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:34.800 The man, verse 8, was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet, and he said, Who are you? 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:36.479 Mark that mark that question. 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:37.439 Who are you? 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.159 And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:43.439 Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:46.319 And he said, May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:52.479 You have made the last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:54.800 And now, my daughter, do not fear. 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:57.360 I will do for you all that you ask. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:01.680 For all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:06.719 And now it is true that I am a redeemer, yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:10.719 Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good. 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:11.919 Let him do it. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:16.560 But if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:18.480 Lie down until the morning. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:30.240 And so she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize her, and he said, Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor, and he said, Bring bring the garments you are wearing and hold it out. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:35.759 And so she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her, and then she went into the city. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:39.680 And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, How did you fare, my daughter? 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:45.120 And then she told her all the man had done for her, saying, These six measures of barley he gave to me. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:49.199 For he said to me, You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law. 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:53.120 She replied, Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:57.120 For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:00.879 He will not rest, he'll settle the matter today. 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:04.959 I want to talk to you this morning about how to change things, about how things change. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:10.800 We all have things in our life that we we wish would kind of change, and they would kind of things would progress a little bit faster. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:12.399 They would do this, they would do that. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:13.759 How things change. 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:20.800 Ruth chapter three, the story begins to pick up, and you kind of all of a sudden, it's like Naomi wakes up out of a coma. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:23.199 She's just been kind of home feeling sorry for herself. 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:25.920 Remember last time we read about her in chapter two? 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:28.480 She was so depressed with the way her life had turned out. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:30.240 She'd lost her husband and her sons. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:35.839 She was just home drinking cheap vodka, smoking generic cigarettes, and Ruth was going out earning a living for them. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:36.720 Remember that? 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:37.439 Hello? 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:40.800 She just said, Hey, great, you go make a living. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:42.639 I'm just gonna sit here and feel sorry for myself. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:47.600 And so she just sat home and watched Maury Povich do paternity tests all day. 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:55.120 That's still on TV amazes me, but anyway, uh, and so how how do things change? 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:59.120 Four things I want to talk to you about in the text that come jumping off the page. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:01.439 Number one is get beyond the self. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:02.639 Get beyond the self. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:04.800 It's kind of like Naomi all of a sudden wakes up. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:05.439 Look at verse one. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:10.720 Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, should I not seek rest for you? 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:12.720 Let it me be well with you. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:14.720 Shouldn't I do something? 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:17.199 I've been kind of just laying here feeling sorry for myself. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:20.560 And by the way, last week we talked about the kindness of God. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:25.040 One of the things is that the people have no response to the kindness of God. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:26.639 And that's what's happened. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:38.240 Naomi just over and over and over has experienced how good God is and how how through Ruth, how kind God has been, and all of a sudden it kind of activates her and something starts coming alive in her. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:41.759 I have a neighbor of mine that lives on my street, and I don't know him really that well. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:44.879 Uh, but but we just kind of said, hey, we're gonna just love them. 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:48.079 We're gonna be Jesus to them, we're gonna be the gospel of skin on. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:52.720 And so I have some friends that brings me, a friend of mine that brings me tomatoes, and I don't share tomatoes. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:53.600 I love my tomatoes. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:55.519 I eat them things like they're going out of style. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:58.639 But the other day, my friend brought me some, and the Lord said, Take a few. 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:00.000 And I was like, What's a few? 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:03.759 And so just take a few over there to your neighbor. 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:07.680 And so I put some in a bag and walked over there, and I just said, Hey, you got you guys like tomatoes? 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.879 He goes, I love tomatoes, but I went to the store just yesterday and got some tomatoes. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:12.240 You don't have tomatoes like this. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:17.120 Matter of fact, you're gonna eat a few of these and you're gonna hate those tasteless things they sell at the store. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:19.279 And he said, Are those homegrown? 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:20.399 These are homegrown. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:21.360 And handed them to him. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:23.600 He said, He took the bag, he said something I'll never forget. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:27.360 He goes, You guys are so nice to us, and I don't know why. 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:30.399 And in that moment I thought, I got you now. 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:31.759 And I started to say something. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:34.399 I started reaching my back pocket, whip out my religious literature. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:35.439 Have you come to the point in your life? 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:38.079 You know, if you're sure if you die tonight, you're gonna go to heaven. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:42.319 But as soon as I thought about saying something, the Holy Spirit just said, Shut up. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:46.480 We're just gonna just marinate him in these juices just a little bit longer. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:50.160 You know, the longer you cook the meat, the more tender it gets. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:53.519 And so I just said, Well, there you go. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:54.399 Enjoy. 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:59.680 Now, by the way, you go in there and throw those ones you got to store away, because those are you're gonna hate them after this. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:03.439 So in the next day, he's like, dude, you weren't kidding about those tomatoes, were you? 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.800 In the back of my mind, I thought, oh Lord, don't let him ask for more. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:13.199 My kindness is not like yours, it does not go on forever. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:18.160 But it's one of the things, people, there's no hypocrisy to the kindness of God. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:21.439 And that's what's kind of awoken Naomi up out of herself. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:23.600 For the first time, she takes her eyes off herself. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:25.120 You say, How do things change? 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.040 You get beyond yourself. 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:28.560 Let me take you back to the New Testament. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:33.360 You don't have to turn there, but just mark down in Luke chapter 9, verse 23 to about verse 25. 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:35.759 Jesus makes this great statement in Luke chapter 9. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:36.399 He says this. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:49.759 He says, Hey, if any man would come after me, if anyone wants to be my disciple, if you want to be a part of what I'm doing, if you anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:54.000 And then he goes on to kind of unpack what that means for whoever would save his life. 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:59.519 Now, by the way, beloved, that's what most people in this world are just hell-bent on doing. 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:01.519 It's saving their life. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:03.840 But Jesus, he kind of turns it upside down. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:07.200 He says, Hey, whoever would save his life is gonna lose it. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:11.200 But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:16.399 While they're kind of recovered, Jesus says, For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world? 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:27.120 What does it profit you if you have everything and you're stingy and self-centered the rest of your life and you just sit home and obsess about how you're gonna get what you want next? 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:33.679 What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:39.600 See, the great paradox of Christianity is that to find your life, you've got to lose it. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:46.960 You can't just sit home and be obsessed with yourself like Naomi had been for the first two chapters, all the way up to this point. 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:50.240 And in the story of Ruth, Naomi just, whoa is me. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:53.440 I would don't call me, don't call me Naomi, which means pleasant. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:57.600 Call me Mar, which means bitter, because I went out full and I came back empty. 00:09:57.919 --> 00:09:59.919 God's dealt so harshly with me. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:01.759 I can't even get up out of bed. 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:05.120 I don't want to do okay, Ruth, great, go to work and you do something. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:07.200 Let me just say, don't miss that, Jesus. 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:08.080 There's an order to it. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:12.000 Jesus said, Hey, if any man would come after me, let him deny himself. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:16.399 Deny yourself before you take up the cross, before you identify with Christianity. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:16.960 Why? 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:25.840 Because unless you and I deny ourselves, our self will begin to shade and interpret the way we see the cross, think about the cross, preach the cross. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:27.039 You say, What do you mean? 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:32.240 How do you think the cross became the ultimate expression of our self-worth? 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:35.440 The self. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:36.960 You say, What do you mean? 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:38.720 Jesus says, deny yourself. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:42.320 If you really want to stop and think about it, just ask that ask this simple question. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.840 If you want to get down to it, uh, why was the cross necessary? 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.799 The cross is not necessary for God to love us. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:51.039 God already loved us. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:56.720 He demonstrated his love on the cross, but it's not like God said, okay, I've been I've been hating you, now I'm gonna love you. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:06.960 No, the cross before is a statement about God's love for us, it is a statement about God's hatred and his passion for justice, his hatred of sin and his passion for justice. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:09.120 There is a price that has to be paid. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:12.559 That's why we read earlier in 1 John that big word propitiation. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:17.360 Propitiation means that the wrath of an angry deity has been satisfied. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:26.000 And so when we we the the cross, just be we look at the cross and we say, Look how much God loves us, but we don't look at the cross and say, Look how much God hates sin. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:30.960 Man, now if I'm in a relationship with God, I should feel the same way about that. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:34.320 I shouldn't accommodate it and allow it into my life. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:41.679 Yet the first step in the process, if things are going to change, is you've got to get beyond the self. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:45.679 So much so that Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and about verse 14. 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:54.399 He says, We believe that Christ died for all, and therefore all died, and he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:12:01.039 Up to this point, Naomi has lived for herself, and things begin to change when she kind of has this awakening. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:04.799 And she sets up in verse 1, like she's been in this two-chapter slumber. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:11.279 She sets up and she says to her, Hey, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you? 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:16.480 Shouldn't I get over myself and think, what can I do to help somebody else? 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.200 Second way things change is to have a plan. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:20.799 To have a plan. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:22.159 Look at verse 2. 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:23.919 Look at actually verse 2 to 5. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.759 You say, What do you mean, have a plan? 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:30.720 Is it not Boaz, our relative, whose young women you were with? 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:33.840 See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:44.240 And she says, Wash therefore and anoint yourself and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he's finished eating and drinking. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:48.080 Men, have you ever noticed that women know how to get what they want from us? 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:52.000 Yes, there's a smart man over there. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:53.039 It's exactly right. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:56.799 Some of y'all are kind of like, oh, you're dogging on women because it's Father's Day. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:58.000 No, no. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:07.600 If you come home from work tomorrow night and your wife's got on something she's not worn in a long time, and she's like, I sent the kids to my mother, and you're like, What's that in the background? 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.320 Oh, that's a little Marvin Gaye CD I picked up. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:16.000 You're kind of like, in your mind, your first thought in your mind, man, is gonna be, what do you want? 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:17.679 What's going on here? 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:20.799 Well, I bought a new Lexus today and it's in the garage. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:24.559 No. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:27.759 And I have, ladies, and I'm not making fun of it. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:35.120 There's the honest guy over here who wins a trophy because, ladies, you know how to get what you want, and we love that you know that. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:40.159 Because we love what we get well on your journey to get what you want. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.320 Because we're gonna get what we want. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:45.360 Are you with me, man? 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.279 I wish I could see your faces. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:57.200 No, no, I think, I think you should not take ambient before you preach. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:00.480 And maybe you're right. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:01.679 Anyway. 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:12.240 She says, verse 4, but when he lies down, observe the place where he lies, then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do. 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.919 And she replied, All that you say, I will do. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:18.000 I just want to say, have a plan. 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:26.480 One of the things that that continually doesn't surprise me, but makes me curious is how many people know and would say, hey, this needs to change, or I need to do this. 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:28.000 What is your plan for doing that? 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:30.240 I don't have I had never thought about that. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:31.600 Are you kidding me? 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:34.480 Ruth and Naomi kind of like, hey, this is what we need to do. 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:39.600 I mean, you've been working with this guy, Boaz, and he's a he's a kinsman, he's a distant relative of ours. 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:50.240 And according to the kinsman redeemer motif, he has the capacity to kind of marry you and establish the line of your husband and the property, but he doesn't have to, but he can choose to. 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:55.679 Hey, we need to put ourselves in an environment where God's will can be realized in our life. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:58.080 And they said, okay, here's what we do. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:00.559 He's gonna be working tonight down there, threshing floor. 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:04.000 It's kind of like he's gonna be threshing grain down at the threshing floor. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:05.679 It's kind of like payday. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:06.639 Okay? 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:10.399 This is my last question I'm gonna ask that might or might not offend you. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:12.399 Anybody know what beer goggles are? 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:15.279 Yeah. 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:17.279 Beer goggles. 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:18.159 Yeah. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:18.559 Yeah. 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:20.799 Some of y'all have had your beer goggles on before. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:30.720 It's kind of like it's payday, and he's in a good mood, and all of a sudden he's had he's had something to eat and something to drink, and all of a sudden she shows up because she says, Hey, don't go. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:32.639 And wait till he gets done eating and drinking. 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:33.919 And I love what the Bible says. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:36.799 It says down there, and his heart is merry. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:39.840 Beer goggles. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:43.759 Everything looks better. 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:47.919 Are y'all looking at me? 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:49.600 I'm just reading the Bible. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:52.639 You should read the Bible more. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:55.120 That's what they have a plan. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:58.320 Now, now, when I say have a plan, let me ask this question. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:03.840 Why is it when I say that most that hey, you should have a plan, you feel unspiritual. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:06.720 Men, happy Father's Day. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:08.480 You should have a plan for your family. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:13.120 You should be sitting down, talking to your wife, saying, Hey, in the next year, what do you want to do? 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:14.399 What are we going to do as a family? 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:16.080 What are some things we'll kind of think of? 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:18.000 The next five years, here's what I want to do. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:19.440 Hey, we're in a 30-year mortgage. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:20.000 You know what? 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:21.759 Interest rates are all-time low. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:28.240 Why don't we just look at what it would be like to get into a 15-year mortgage, pay more towards principal, less towards interest? 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:33.039 See, you need to be thinking down the road, man, it's being a leader in your family, the head of your household. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:38.960 You're the guy that provides the plan that kind of gives your wife a context and your kids a context to flourish in. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:43.200 Having a plan is not just, what do you want to do for Father's Day? 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:44.799 Really? 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:49.279 By the way, this is not a funny response to that question. 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:53.519 You can't say, I want all y'all to leave, and I don't I want to watch six hours of the U.S. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:55.360 Open in complete silence. 00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:01.200 Because mine are like, great, we're going to Austin for the afternoon. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.160 Just have a plan. 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:06.319 Just think about it. 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:13.680 You ever wonder if God's waiting for you to wake up from your self-centeredness before he reveals what he wants next? 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:17.279 By the way, somebody asked me this week, they said, Hey, we got a lot of people out. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:17.759 What are you going? 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:19.759 What's your plan for getting them to come back to church? 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:20.960 I don't have one. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:25.359 I got emails from people this week that were in Alberta, Can Alberta, Canada. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:29.519 They've sent me a picture of a five guys and said, We're thinking of you in Canada. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:34.720 I wrote back, you should be burning in hell, but have some Cajun fries for me. 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:38.079 We have some folks just got back from an Alaskan cruise. 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:40.720 We got folks just got back from Hawaii. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:44.559 You're supposed to go to Hawaii. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:46.799 You're supposed to go to Alaska. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:48.720 You're supposed to go to Canada. 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:52.079 I said, about August, middle of August, they'll come trickling back. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:53.759 They said, is that your plan? 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:55.680 Oh, that's just I know these people. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:58.319 What's we summers for? 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:03.119 You're supposed to pawn your kids off on your on your parents and disappear for a week. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:04.720 You're supposed to do that. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:07.759 You should have a plan to take advantage of that. 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.440 That's why you've been getting emails from me that said about August 19th. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:13.680 How many of y'all got an email where I said something about August 19th? 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:15.200 And you're like, what's with August 19th? 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:15.839 Blah, blah, blah. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:17.599 I'll tell you what's with August 19th. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:20.400 By the way, when I send you something, don't ask Lance. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:22.000 He's not going to tell you. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.240 I know how you work. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:25.519 You get Lance cornered. 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:27.440 Hey, hey, hey, don't tell me until I ask you. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:29.599 What's the big deal of August the 19th? 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:34.000 August the 19th is when we're going to start an 8 o'clock service. 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:35.920 So we'll have three services. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:37.519 Why August 19th? 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:39.519 Because you've sinned enough by mid-August. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:41.039 You're ready to come back to church. 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:44.079 You feel guilty and we're going to seize upon it. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:45.599 That's our plan. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:49.279 No, seriously, there's a rhythm to authentic faith. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:49.920 And we will. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:51.680 August 19th, we'll start a third service. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:56.799 It'll be an 8 o'clock service because that's when everybody kind of starts showing back up and it gets crowded here. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:58.400 And you say, what do you mean, 8 o'clock? 00:18:58.480 --> 00:18:59.759 You can come to 8 o'clock service. 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:04.240 Then you can go to 9.15 Bible community and you can be home by 11:15. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:07.279 Because football starts about the end of August. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:11.039 See, some of you just got a plan right there. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:14.319 You're like, yes, Lord, I hear you. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:16.319 Some of you can come to 8 o'clock service. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:19.680 You can volunteer in the 9:15, and you can come to 11 o'clock. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:21.279 It gets a little crowded in here. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:22.160 We've got to have more room. 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:30.799 And we told some of y'all, hey, stop parking on the driveway out here because you can't get two-way traffic back to the youth building because people like, I couldn't, because people park right there. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:33.519 I'm like, I'll tell Wade, stop parking along there, okay? 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:34.480 We're working on it. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.240 It's a great problem to have. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:38.319 But for every problem, you got to have a plan. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:39.279 What's your plan? 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:43.599 Men, if your wife looked at you today and said, in the next five years, what's going to happen in this family? 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:44.799 What would you say? 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:46.960 It's not unspiritual to not have a plan. 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:49.119 You can't say, well, I'm just going to live on faith. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:50.960 No, no, that's being lazy. 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.119 It's okay to have a plan. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:55.039 And Ruth and Naomi sat down. 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:56.000 They said, you know what? 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:59.599 Things need to change around here, so we have a plan. 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:04.400 Third thing I want to say to you, because the text says this to us, is that character matters. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:05.519 Character matters. 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:06.319 Look at verse 6. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:10.079 So she went down to the threshing floor, did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:18.000 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, beer goggles, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:23.279 And then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:28.559 Now you're kind of thinking, if I was going to come on to a man, I don't know that I would do that. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:32.319 But there's something that she's kind of appealing to. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:33.839 We'll get to that in just a minute. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.480 She softly uncovered his feet and she laid down. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:38.319 Why did she softly uncover his feet? 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:40.480 Because she wanted him to wake up. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:44.880 Have you ever noticed when you get hot, like during the summer, you get hot in the middle of the night. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:46.240 You don't kick the covers off. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:48.880 The first thing you do is you put that one leg out under the cover. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:50.240 Have you noticed that? 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:52.400 That's kind of like your thermostat regulator. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:58.559 You're kind of like laying there with that one leg and then and then you'll sleep for two more hours, then you like throw the blanket off. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:00.000 And then it's just a sheet. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:03.279 And then you get up, and here's the this is the news flash. 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:05.920 There's a little box on the wall called a thermostat. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:08.400 You can make it colder in there. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:10.160 But everybody does that. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:11.599 She uncovers him. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:16.559 So he'll wake up and he'll realize it, and he'll say, Hey, there's a woman right here. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:17.519 Looky here. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:19.680 What a friend we have in Jesus. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:22.319 Let me tell you something. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:23.920 If you hear anything, hear this. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:28.880 Your true character is revealed when you do the things that only you and God know about. 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:33.279 Your true character is revealed. 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:39.440 Who you really are is most on display when you do the things that only you and God know about. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:40.480 You say, What do you mean? 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:41.039 Keep reading. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:41.920 Look at verse 8. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:46.319 About midnight, the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:47.839 And he said, Who are you? 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:48.880 Great question. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:50.079 That's a character question. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:52.799 See, character matters, men and women. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:53.839 Who are you? 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:55.200 Don't, don't, don't, don't tell me. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:58.480 Let me watch how you respond in a situation like this. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:21:59.759 And she answered. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:01.839 I am Ruth, your servant. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:05.759 Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:09.200 You are somebody who has the capacity to change my situation. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.559 And he said, May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:19.599