SPEAKER_00: This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: For more information on our church, please visit grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And before you ask, uh uh what what happened was that my wife said, What do you want for Father's Day?
SPEAKER_00: And I said, I I don't just get the kids to write me a little note.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not as materialistic as you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need gifts.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Hi five.
SPEAKER_00: And then the lights went out.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and that's the last thing I remember.
SPEAKER_00: No, I had had elbow surgery.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but uh uh enough enough about that.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to say it once so I wouldn't have to say it over and over.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Remember that?
SPEAKER_00: That God's nature is not determined by whatever episode we find ourselves in.
SPEAKER_00: It's eternal and it's constant and it's always kind of, he says, I'm the same yesterday, today, and forever.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be the same way.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna change.
SPEAKER_00: And so, but we said things were good.
SPEAKER_00: We talked about the kindness of God, the providence of God, but we left kind of on a downer note for you.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you ladies, I got emails.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: I love the sermon to you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe just read the last verse.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the last verse of chapter two?
SPEAKER_00: And she lived with her mother-in-law.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, that's all you heard.
SPEAKER_00: You walked out of here just kind of looking at me, going, Really?
SPEAKER_00: Really?
SPEAKER_00: You dropped that on me?
SPEAKER_00: She lived with her mother-in-law?
SPEAKER_00: Because I said, God's the reason chapter two ends on that is because God's going to do something about that.
SPEAKER_00: So we pick up in chapter three, and here's what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_00: Chap Ruth, chapter three, verse one.
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: Is not Boaz our relative with whose young women you were?
SPEAKER_00: See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
SPEAKER_00: Wash therefore, and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak, and go down to the threshing floor.
SPEAKER_00: But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And she replied, All that you say, I will do.
SPEAKER_00: Verse six says, And so she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine?
SPEAKER_00: You just lay down and all of a sudden you wake up, and there's a woman laying kind of not parallel but perpendicular.
SPEAKER_00: She's kind of laid at his feet.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: She making herself available, yes.
SPEAKER_00: You talk about a Father's Day present.
SPEAKER_00: Every man loves a woman that initiates anything, right, man?
SPEAKER_00: Some of you men are like, I'm not saying a word.
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, but look what happens.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll we'll get into this, not into that, but we'll get into this in the text.
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to.
SPEAKER_00: Anyway.
SPEAKER_00: She lays down at midnight.
SPEAKER_00: The man, verse 8, was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet, and he said, Who are you?
SPEAKER_00: Mark that mark that question.
SPEAKER_00: Who are you?
SPEAKER_00: And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant.
SPEAKER_00: Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter.
SPEAKER_00: You have made the last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
SPEAKER_00: And now, my daughter, do not fear.
SPEAKER_00: I will do for you all that you ask.
SPEAKER_00: For all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
SPEAKER_00: And now it is true that I am a redeemer, yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.
SPEAKER_00: Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good.
SPEAKER_00: Let him do it.
SPEAKER_00: But if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you.
SPEAKER_00: Lie down until the morning.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, How did you fare, my daughter?
SPEAKER_00: And then she told her all the man had done for her, saying, These six measures of barley he gave to me.
SPEAKER_00: For he said to me, You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.
SPEAKER_00: She replied, Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out.
SPEAKER_00: For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.
SPEAKER_00: He will not rest, he'll settle the matter today.
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to you this morning about how to change things, about how things change.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: They would do this, they would do that.
SPEAKER_00: How things change.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: She's just been kind of home feeling sorry for herself.
SPEAKER_00: Remember last time we read about her in chapter two?
SPEAKER_00: She was so depressed with the way her life had turned out.
SPEAKER_00: She'd lost her husband and her sons.
SPEAKER_00: She was just home drinking cheap vodka, smoking generic cigarettes, and Ruth was going out earning a living for them.
SPEAKER_00: Remember that?
SPEAKER_00: Hello?
SPEAKER_00: She just said, Hey, great, you go make a living.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna sit here and feel sorry for myself.
SPEAKER_00: And so she just sat home and watched Maury Povich do paternity tests all day.
SPEAKER_00: That's still on TV amazes me, but anyway, uh, and so how how do things change?
SPEAKER_00: Four things I want to talk to you about in the text that come jumping off the page.
SPEAKER_00: Number one is get beyond the self.
SPEAKER_00: Get beyond the self.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like Naomi all of a sudden wakes up.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse one.
SPEAKER_00: Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, should I not seek rest for you?
SPEAKER_00: Let it me be well with you.
SPEAKER_00: Shouldn't I do something?
SPEAKER_00: I've been kind of just laying here feeling sorry for myself.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, last week we talked about the kindness of God.
SPEAKER_00: One of the things is that the people have no response to the kindness of God.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what's happened.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: I have a neighbor of mine that lives on my street, and I don't know him really that well.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but but we just kind of said, hey, we're gonna just love them.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be Jesus to them, we're gonna be the gospel of skin on.
SPEAKER_00: And so I have some friends that brings me, a friend of mine that brings me tomatoes, and I don't share tomatoes.
SPEAKER_00: I love my tomatoes.
SPEAKER_00: I eat them things like they're going out of style.
SPEAKER_00: But the other day, my friend brought me some, and the Lord said, Take a few.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, What's a few?
SPEAKER_00: And so just take a few over there to your neighbor.
SPEAKER_00: And so I put some in a bag and walked over there, and I just said, Hey, you got you guys like tomatoes?
SPEAKER_00: He goes, I love tomatoes, but I went to the store just yesterday and got some tomatoes.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have tomatoes like this.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, you're gonna eat a few of these and you're gonna hate those tasteless things they sell at the store.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Are those homegrown?
SPEAKER_00: These are homegrown.
SPEAKER_00: And handed them to him.
SPEAKER_00: He said, He took the bag, he said something I'll never forget.
SPEAKER_00: He goes, You guys are so nice to us, and I don't know why.
SPEAKER_00: And in that moment I thought, I got you now.
SPEAKER_00: And I started to say something.
SPEAKER_00: I started reaching my back pocket, whip out my religious literature.
SPEAKER_00: Have you come to the point in your life?
SPEAKER_00: You know, if you're sure if you die tonight, you're gonna go to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: But as soon as I thought about saying something, the Holy Spirit just said, Shut up.
SPEAKER_00: We're just gonna just marinate him in these juices just a little bit longer.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the longer you cook the meat, the more tender it gets.
SPEAKER_00: And so I just said, Well, there you go.
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: So in the next day, he's like, dude, you weren't kidding about those tomatoes, were you?
SPEAKER_00: In the back of my mind, I thought, oh Lord, don't let him ask for more.
SPEAKER_00: My kindness is not like yours, it does not go on forever.
SPEAKER_00: But it's one of the things, people, there's no hypocrisy to the kindness of God.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what's kind of awoken Naomi up out of herself.
SPEAKER_00: For the first time, she takes her eyes off herself.
SPEAKER_00: You say, How do things change?
SPEAKER_00: You get beyond yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Let me take you back to the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to turn there, but just mark down in Luke chapter 9, verse 23 to about verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus makes this great statement in Luke chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: He says this.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And then he goes on to kind of unpack what that means for whoever would save his life.
SPEAKER_00: Now, by the way, beloved, that's what most people in this world are just hell-bent on doing.
SPEAKER_00: It's saving their life.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus, he kind of turns it upside down.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Hey, whoever would save his life is gonna lose it.
SPEAKER_00: But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
SPEAKER_00: While they're kind of recovered, Jesus says, For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world?
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
SPEAKER_00: See, the great paradox of Christianity is that to find your life, you've got to lose it.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And in the story of Ruth, Naomi just, whoa is me.
SPEAKER_00: I would don't call me, don't call me Naomi, which means pleasant.
SPEAKER_00: Call me Mar, which means bitter, because I went out full and I came back empty.
SPEAKER_00: God's dealt so harshly with me.
SPEAKER_00: I can't even get up out of bed.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to do okay, Ruth, great, go to work and you do something.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just say, don't miss that, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: There's an order to it.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Hey, if any man would come after me, let him deny himself.
SPEAKER_00: Deny yourself before you take up the cross, before you identify with Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: You say, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: How do you think the cross became the ultimate expression of our self-worth?
SPEAKER_00: The self.
SPEAKER_00: You say, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, deny yourself.
SPEAKER_00: If you really want to stop and think about it, just ask that ask this simple question.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to get down to it, uh, why was the cross necessary?
SPEAKER_00: The cross is not necessary for God to love us.
SPEAKER_00: God already loved us.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: There is a price that has to be paid.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we read earlier in 1 John that big word propitiation.
SPEAKER_00: Propitiation means that the wrath of an angry deity has been satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Man, now if I'm in a relationship with God, I should feel the same way about that.
SPEAKER_00: I shouldn't accommodate it and allow it into my life.
SPEAKER_00: Yet the first step in the process, if things are going to change, is you've got to get beyond the self.
SPEAKER_00: So much so that Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and about verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Up to this point, Naomi has lived for herself, and things begin to change when she kind of has this awakening.
SPEAKER_00: And she sets up in verse 1, like she's been in this two-chapter slumber.
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: Shouldn't I get over myself and think, what can I do to help somebody else?
SPEAKER_00: Second way things change is to have a plan.
SPEAKER_00: To have a plan.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 2.
SPEAKER_00: Look at actually verse 2 to 5.
SPEAKER_00: You say, What do you mean, have a plan?
SPEAKER_00: Is it not Boaz, our relative, whose young women you were with?
SPEAKER_00: See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Men, have you ever noticed that women know how to get what they want from us?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, there's a smart man over there.
SPEAKER_00: It's exactly right.
SPEAKER_00: Some of y'all are kind of like, oh, you're dogging on women because it's Father's Day.
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's a little Marvin Gaye CD I picked up.
SPEAKER_00: You're kind of like, in your mind, your first thought in your mind, man, is gonna be, what do you want?
SPEAKER_00: What's going on here?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I bought a new Lexus today and it's in the garage.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: And I have, ladies, and I'm not making fun of it.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Because we love what we get well on your journey to get what you want.
SPEAKER_00: Because we're gonna get what we want.
SPEAKER_00: Are you with me, man?
SPEAKER_00: I wish I could see your faces.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, I think, I think you should not take ambient before you preach.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you're right.
SPEAKER_00: Anyway.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And she replied, All that you say, I will do.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to say, have a plan.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: What is your plan for doing that?
SPEAKER_00: I don't have I had never thought about that.
SPEAKER_00: Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_00: Ruth and Naomi kind of like, hey, this is what we need to do.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, we need to put ourselves in an environment where God's will can be realized in our life.
SPEAKER_00: And they said, okay, here's what we do.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna be working tonight down there, threshing floor.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like he's gonna be threshing grain down at the threshing floor.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like payday.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: This is my last question I'm gonna ask that might or might not offend you.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody know what beer goggles are?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Beer goggles.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Some of y'all have had your beer goggles on before.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And wait till he gets done eating and drinking.
SPEAKER_00: And I love what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_00: It says down there, and his heart is merry.
SPEAKER_00: Beer goggles.
SPEAKER_00: Everything looks better.
SPEAKER_00: Are y'all looking at me?
SPEAKER_00: I'm just reading the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: You should read the Bible more.
SPEAKER_00: That's what they have a plan.
SPEAKER_00: Now, now, when I say have a plan, let me ask this question.
SPEAKER_00: Why is it when I say that most that hey, you should have a plan, you feel unspiritual.
SPEAKER_00: Men, happy Father's Day.
SPEAKER_00: You should have a plan for your family.
SPEAKER_00: You should be sitting down, talking to your wife, saying, Hey, in the next year, what do you want to do?
SPEAKER_00: What are we going to do as a family?
SPEAKER_00: What are some things we'll kind of think of?
SPEAKER_00: The next five years, here's what I want to do.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, we're in a 30-year mortgage.
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
SPEAKER_00: Interest rates are all-time low.
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: See, you need to be thinking down the road, man, it's being a leader in your family, the head of your household.
SPEAKER_00: You're the guy that provides the plan that kind of gives your wife a context and your kids a context to flourish in.
SPEAKER_00: Having a plan is not just, what do you want to do for Father's Day?
SPEAKER_00: Really?
SPEAKER_00: By the way, this is not a funny response to that question.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Open in complete silence.
SPEAKER_00: Because mine are like, great, we're going to Austin for the afternoon.
SPEAKER_00: Just have a plan.
SPEAKER_00: Just think about it.
SPEAKER_00: You ever wonder if God's waiting for you to wake up from your self-centeredness before he reveals what he wants next?
SPEAKER_00: By the way, somebody asked me this week, they said, Hey, we got a lot of people out.
SPEAKER_00: What are you going?
SPEAKER_00: What's your plan for getting them to come back to church?
SPEAKER_00: I don't have one.
SPEAKER_00: I got emails from people this week that were in Alberta, Can Alberta, Canada.
SPEAKER_00: They've sent me a picture of a five guys and said, We're thinking of you in Canada.
SPEAKER_00: I wrote back, you should be burning in hell, but have some Cajun fries for me.
SPEAKER_00: We have some folks just got back from an Alaskan cruise.
SPEAKER_00: We got folks just got back from Hawaii.
SPEAKER_00: You're supposed to go to Hawaii.
SPEAKER_00: You're supposed to go to Alaska.
SPEAKER_00: You're supposed to go to Canada.
SPEAKER_00: I said, about August, middle of August, they'll come trickling back.
SPEAKER_00: They said, is that your plan?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's just I know these people.
SPEAKER_00: What's we summers for?
SPEAKER_00: You're supposed to pawn your kids off on your on your parents and disappear for a week.
SPEAKER_00: You're supposed to do that.
SPEAKER_00: You should have a plan to take advantage of that.
SPEAKER_00: That's why you've been getting emails from me that said about August 19th.
SPEAKER_00: How many of y'all got an email where I said something about August 19th?
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, what's with August 19th?
SPEAKER_00: Blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what's with August 19th.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, when I send you something, don't ask Lance.
SPEAKER_00: He's not going to tell you.
SPEAKER_00: I know how you work.
SPEAKER_00: You get Lance cornered.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, hey, hey, don't tell me until I ask you.
SPEAKER_00: What's the big deal of August the 19th?
SPEAKER_00: August the 19th is when we're going to start an 8 o'clock service.
SPEAKER_00: So we'll have three services.
SPEAKER_00: Why August 19th?
SPEAKER_00: Because you've sinned enough by mid-August.
SPEAKER_00: You're ready to come back to church.
SPEAKER_00: You feel guilty and we're going to seize upon it.
SPEAKER_00: That's our plan.
SPEAKER_00: No, seriously, there's a rhythm to authentic faith.
SPEAKER_00: And we will.
SPEAKER_00: August 19th, we'll start a third service.
SPEAKER_00: It'll be an 8 o'clock service because that's when everybody kind of starts showing back up and it gets crowded here.
SPEAKER_00: And you say, what do you mean, 8 o'clock?
SPEAKER_00: You can come to 8 o'clock service.
SPEAKER_00: Then you can go to 9.15 Bible community and you can be home by 11:15.
SPEAKER_00: Because football starts about the end of August.
SPEAKER_00: See, some of you just got a plan right there.
SPEAKER_00: You're like, yes, Lord, I hear you.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you can come to 8 o'clock service.
SPEAKER_00: You can volunteer in the 9:15, and you can come to 11 o'clock.
SPEAKER_00: It gets a little crowded in here.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to have more room.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I'll tell Wade, stop parking along there, okay?
SPEAKER_00: We're working on it.
SPEAKER_00: It's a great problem to have.
SPEAKER_00: But for every problem, you got to have a plan.
SPEAKER_00: What's your plan?
SPEAKER_00: Men, if your wife looked at you today and said, in the next five years, what's going to happen in this family?
SPEAKER_00: What would you say?
SPEAKER_00: It's not unspiritual to not have a plan.
SPEAKER_00: You can't say, well, I'm just going to live on faith.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, that's being lazy.
SPEAKER_00: It's okay to have a plan.
SPEAKER_00: And Ruth and Naomi sat down.
SPEAKER_00: They said, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Things need to change around here, so we have a plan.
SPEAKER_00: Third thing I want to say to you, because the text says this to us, is that character matters.
SPEAKER_00: Character matters.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: So she went down to the threshing floor, did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: But there's something that she's kind of appealing to.
SPEAKER_00: We'll get to that in just a minute.
SPEAKER_00: She softly uncovered his feet and she laid down.
SPEAKER_00: Why did she softly uncover his feet?
SPEAKER_00: Because she wanted him to wake up.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever noticed when you get hot, like during the summer, you get hot in the middle of the night.
SPEAKER_00: You don't kick the covers off.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing you do is you put that one leg out under the cover.
SPEAKER_00: Have you noticed that?
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of like your thermostat regulator.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And then it's just a sheet.
SPEAKER_00: And then you get up, and here's the this is the news flash.
SPEAKER_00: There's a little box on the wall called a thermostat.
SPEAKER_00: You can make it colder in there.
SPEAKER_00: But everybody does that.
SPEAKER_00: She uncovers him.
SPEAKER_00: So he'll wake up and he'll realize it, and he'll say, Hey, there's a woman right here.
SPEAKER_00: Looky here.
SPEAKER_00: What a friend we have in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_00: If you hear anything, hear this.
SPEAKER_00: Your true character is revealed when you do the things that only you and God know about.
SPEAKER_00: Your true character is revealed.
SPEAKER_00: Who you really are is most on display when you do the things that only you and God know about.
SPEAKER_00: You say, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Keep reading.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: About midnight, the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Who are you?
SPEAKER_00: Great question.
SPEAKER_00: That's a character question.
SPEAKER_00: See, character matters, men and women.
SPEAKER_00: Who are you?
SPEAKER_00: Don't, don't, don't, don't tell me.
SPEAKER_00: Let me watch how you respond in a situation like this.
SPEAKER_00: And she answered.
SPEAKER_00: I am Ruth, your servant.
SPEAKER_00: Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: You are somebody who has the capacity to change my situation.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter.
SPEAKER_00: You have made this last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
SPEAKER_00: And what he's saying is, hey, I'm a man of character, and you're a woman of character, because you could go after younger men.
SPEAKER_00: He's older than her.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, he goes on down here, you should hear Proverbs 31, because he says, Hey, you've made the last kindness greater than the first.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, when I first heard about you, that was great, but who you are now is so much more, because you've not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
SPEAKER_00: And now, my daughter, do not fear, I will do for you all that you ask.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: For all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
SPEAKER_00: The Proverbs 31, when it talks about a righteous and a noble wife who can find, it has this little reference in there.
SPEAKER_00: It says, She is praised among the gates.
SPEAKER_00: And what he is saying of her is that, hey, you're a Proverbs 31 woman.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody at the gate, all the townspeople know when they, because you would come into a city, it would be like a big archway and like a long hallway, and it was wide.
SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't like you just walked through.
SPEAKER_00: It's like a big uh archway, a thick wall that you walked into the gate, and there were merchants all in there.
SPEAKER_00: But that's where people kind of stood and talked business and politics and they gossiped, and and and and and Boaz is saying, hey, when people talk about you, everybody knows what kind of character woman you are.
SPEAKER_00: The greatest thing they have in common is their character.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you a marriage that's hard to enjoy.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're married to somebody who doesn't have as much character as you do.
SPEAKER_00: Because you're always, see, we think about chemistry and about looks and about when you're married to someone that doesn't value the things of God as much as you do.
SPEAKER_00: Try writing a tithe check in that relationship and see how it goes.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna do what?
SPEAKER_00: Are you what?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have some friends of mine that my wife and I made it, we made a deal.
SPEAKER_00: We first got in our deal, we just said, hey, we're gonna come to an agreement.
SPEAKER_00: We're not gonna spend more than$50 without talking to each other.
SPEAKER_00: I have friends who are like, what do you mean you talk to your old lady, but what time out?
SPEAKER_00: She's not my old lady.
SPEAKER_00: No, she looks like she's 25.
SPEAKER_00: Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_00: Have you seen my wife?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, you got to get permission to spend money.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to get permission permission to spend money.
SPEAKER_00: I just don't want my wife to be uncertain.
SPEAKER_00: Because by the way, a woman's one of her top needs is for financial security, man.
SPEAKER_00: To know kind of where we're going and what this is all about and how we're gonna get there.
SPEAKER_00: And so I've had to say to my friends, are you ought to just get that?
SPEAKER_00: No, I need to talk to my wife first.
SPEAKER_00: What kind of man are you?
SPEAKER_00: A very happily married one.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, see, when your character, when you're married to somebody who has the same kind of character as you do, life's a lot easier.
SPEAKER_00: We don't, we don't, we, we don't, we don't fight about things because we have the same values.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to convince my wife, hey, we really should live like the Bible talks about.
SPEAKER_00: It's easy.
SPEAKER_00: And that is a great connection that Boaz and Ruth have here on the threshing floor, midnight.
SPEAKER_00: No one around.
SPEAKER_00: He wakes up and there she is.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of things could happen.
SPEAKER_00: You know that, right?
SPEAKER_00: Hello?
SPEAKER_00: A lot of things could happen at midnight when a man wakes up and a woman's laying at his feet, right?
SPEAKER_00: You know that, right?
SPEAKER_00: What are y'all talking about?
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, things can happen.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: But they don't.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because they're both people of character.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter.
SPEAKER_00: You've made the last kindness greater than the first.
SPEAKER_00: And now I will do, don't fear, I'll do for you all that you ask.
SPEAKER_00: For my townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
SPEAKER_00: And now it is true that I am a redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to back up a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: And she, I said she appeals to something when she said uh to him, and she's in verse 7 it says, When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, and he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain, and then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down at midnight.
SPEAKER_00: The man was startled.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Who are you?
SPEAKER_00: And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant.
SPEAKER_00: Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: If you've got your just just mark down in your Bible, Ezekiel chapter 16.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, spread the wings.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, spread your wings over me.
SPEAKER_00: Because by the way, earlier in chapter 2, verse 12, she she he said to her, God's going to spread his wings over you, and God's gonna provide for you.
SPEAKER_00: And she is saying to him in this moment, you are God's provision for me.
SPEAKER_00: I am putting myself out here.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm risking it and being involved, and I'm telling you, I'm here for the taking, not just for a one-night stand, but I'm here to be, I'm here to be had.
SPEAKER_00: Spread your wings over.
SPEAKER_00: What is he talking about?
SPEAKER_00: Ezekiel chapter 16 gives us the background.
SPEAKER_00: I'll just start reading in verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: It says, again, this is God's dealings with his bride, Israel.
SPEAKER_00: He says, again, the word of the Lord came to me.
SPEAKER_00: Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem, your origin and your birth are the land of the Canaanites.
SPEAKER_00: Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
SPEAKER_00: You are foreigners, like Ruth.
SPEAKER_00: And it's for your birth, on the day you were born, your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.
SPEAKER_00: No, I pitied you to any of these things to you out of compassion for you.
SPEAKER_00: But you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, and on the day you were born, and when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, live.
SPEAKER_00: I said to you in your blood, live.
SPEAKER_00: I made you flourish like a plant of the field, and you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment.
SPEAKER_00: Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: This is what God says to his people.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness.
SPEAKER_00: I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine.
SPEAKER_00: So when Ruth says, At midnight, when no one else is around, and Boaz is full, and it's payday, and he's got a little money in his pocket, and he's happy, and he's got a big pile of grain because he's had a great harvest.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of things could happen, but when people of character meet, they make the right kind of decisions.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, Hey, listen, he says, Who are you?
SPEAKER_00: And no, she doesn't say, I'm Ruth the Moabitus.
SPEAKER_00: She says, I'm Ruth, your servant.
SPEAKER_00: Spread your wings over me.
SPEAKER_00: And they both knew what she was saying.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Absolutely, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not here just to meet my needs in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking bigger picture down the road.
SPEAKER_00: Because character matters.
SPEAKER_00: When she says you're a kinsman, she's appealing to the kinsman-redeemer motif.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you say we said that quite a bit since we started the book of Ruth.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just give you those four requirements for someone to be a kinsman redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, if you're a family member, somebody sold them, they got so in debt they sold themselves into slavery, or if their spouse died, you didn't have to, but you couldn't marry that person so that their family rights would continue.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what she's saying.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, you're you're you're a kinsman, you're a distant relative of Naomi and but and her husband Elimelech.
SPEAKER_00: You could do something about this.
SPEAKER_00: You say, Well, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Tell me if this sounds like anybody you've heard of in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: There's four requirements for being a kinsman redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, he must be a kinsman.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, he must be a family member.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us that Jesus became one of us in the incarnation so that he could redeem us.
SPEAKER_00: He had to be a kinsman.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, he had to be free himself.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, a slave couldn't rescue another slave.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody that sold themselves into slavery.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was born of a virgin.
SPEAKER_00: He's free from sin.
SPEAKER_00: He has no sin.
SPEAKER_00: The third requirement for a kinsman is he must be able to pay the price.
SPEAKER_00: First Peter, he says, Hey, I didn't redeem you with perishable things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of a lamb.
SPEAKER_00: Fourth requirement of a kinsman, a redeemer, was he must be willing to pay the price.
SPEAKER_00: And all of these.
SPEAKER_00: And this is just a everybody knew this.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody knew that the kinsman redeemer, what it was about, they had seen it practiced before.
SPEAKER_00: And so when Jesus comes on the scene, or when Boaz comes on the scene, it's a little foreshadowing about what is to come.
SPEAKER_00: And she says, Spread your garment over me, for you're a kinsman.
SPEAKER_00: What am I saying?
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying that character matters.
SPEAKER_00: But don't miss the fact that this new character that was introduced in chapter two, this one who would be who would have favor, show favor to Ruth.
SPEAKER_00: You think it's Boaz, but in the grand scheme of things, it's God.
SPEAKER_00: And you see again that God's always working on a level bigger and better and beyond what we can see and comprehend.
SPEAKER_00: Fourthly and finally, the story of Ruth tells us this trust God.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: You still with me?
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: After they've had this midnight rendezvous, and he said, And now, daughter, do not fear, verse 11, I will do for you all that you ask, for my fellow townsmen know you're a worthy woman, verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: And now it is true that I am a redeemer, yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, I am a relative, but you've got a relative that's closer than I am.
SPEAKER_00: And so by law, and according to the custom of the kinsman redeemer, he gets the first opportunity to redeem you.
SPEAKER_00: Look what happens.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he redeem you, good.
SPEAKER_00: Then let him do it.
SPEAKER_00: But if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you.
SPEAKER_00: Lie down until the morning.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times, if you really trust God, it's not, it's not demonstrated in what you do, it's in what you choose not to do.
SPEAKER_00: Every once in a while, it only comes on five times a week, so it's hard to miss.
SPEAKER_00: You ever watch a show called Dateline on NBC?
SPEAKER_00: It's usually about somebody fell in love in some love triangle and they had to get somebody killed.
SPEAKER_00: And the thing that strikes me about Dateline are all these shows, it's you know, 48 hours or whatever, is how many people are willing to kill somebody, their husband or their wife, in order to get in another relationship.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, Boaz and Ruth could have conspired and grew up their own plan right then and said, you know what, there is somebody else, and he's a closer kinsman than I am.
SPEAKER_00: And so if he'll redeem you, great.
SPEAKER_00: But if he's won't, then I will.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he said.
SPEAKER_00: But what he could have said was, hey, there's somebody else.
SPEAKER_00: He could screw this whole thing up.
SPEAKER_00: Let's you and I conspire and come up with a plan how we could get them, how we could take them out.
SPEAKER_00: But they done.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Sounds simple, but yet it's so profound.
SPEAKER_00: They trust God.
SPEAKER_00: They just trust God.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Hey, here's the deal.
SPEAKER_00: Because see, your trusting in God is demonstrated not just in what you do, but what you choose not to do.
SPEAKER_00: Boaz said, Hey, there's somebody else, and hey, according to the law, he has a the the first, he has a right of first refusal.
SPEAKER_00: And if he doesn't redeem you, I will.
SPEAKER_00: Notice this phrase.
SPEAKER_00: He says, As surely as the Lord lives.
SPEAKER_00: As the Lord lives, if he doesn't do it, as the Lord lives, my character is just as constant and real as God is.
SPEAKER_00: I'll do it.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: You see, here's why I think the story of Ruth is inviting you and I to trust God today, because when you trust God, it reminds others that God can be trusted.
SPEAKER_00: When you trust God, it reminds others that God can be trusted.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 17, it's this subtle little thing where she's getting ready to go back.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what look at what happens and says, verse 14, so she lay at his feet until the morning, but she arose before one could recognize another.
SPEAKER_00: That's she got up early to get out of there, so people wouldn't think the wrong thing.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Bring the garment you're wearing, hold it out.
SPEAKER_00: And so she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her.
SPEAKER_00: And then she went into the city.
SPEAKER_00: And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, How did you fare, my daughter?
SPEAKER_00: And then he she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.
SPEAKER_00: A very profound statement right there.
SPEAKER_00: You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because remember, it was Naomi that came back and said, I went out full, but I came back.
SPEAKER_00: How?
SPEAKER_00: Empty.
SPEAKER_00: Boaz comes back, I mean, excuse me, Ruth comes back with six measures of barley.
SPEAKER_00: That weighs anywhere from 75 to 90 pounds.
SPEAKER_00: She wasn't a supermodel.
SPEAKER_00: She's got this, it holds out her coat and he just, her cloak, and she he dumps it in there, then they fold it, probably throws it on her shoulder, and she comes back carrying it.
SPEAKER_00: She's a hardy woman.
SPEAKER_00: She's told, she comes back.
SPEAKER_00: And this Naomi, who's been awakened at the beginning of the chapter, who went out full and came back empty, all of a sudden she's reminded, God just continues to be kind to me.
SPEAKER_00: We're at a place of fullness like never before.
SPEAKER_00: Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_00: I was thinking about this.
SPEAKER_00: A friend of mine and I were eating at Papado's over here on I-10.
SPEAKER_00: And I'd just gone somewhere to speak.
SPEAKER_00: And the guy went to speak and he said, Well, do you have a feed?
SPEAKER_00: Most guys that travel have a fee.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Yeah, just whatever you think is fair.
SPEAKER_00: When I got done speaking, he walked up to me and he said, Hey man, I just feel like the Lord told me to give you some extra money.
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: I'm available next year if you need to speak over this thing.
SPEAKER_00: And I got back, I didn't think anything about it.
SPEAKER_00: Two weeks later, I'm sitting over Papa Does, and then our waitress comes walking up.
SPEAKER_00: Me and my friend are sitting there.
SPEAKER_00: Our waitress comes walking up, and clear as a bell, the Holy Spirit said, Remember that extra money you got?
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna give it to her.
SPEAKER_00: So she walks up and so we just start talking.
SPEAKER_00: I said, By the way, I feel like I'm supposed to give you a big fat tip.
SPEAKER_00: So be thinking about how much you need.
SPEAKER_00: She looked at me like, What kind of a weirdo are you?
SPEAKER_00: And so we ate and got, I highly recommend the Greek salad at Papado's if you've never had that.
SPEAKER_00: So I got the Greek salad and I got the check, and I said, I wasn't kidding about it earlier.
SPEAKER_00: Do you need how much money do you need?
SPEAKER_00: He said, Well, sir, it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: Sure it does.
SPEAKER_00: And so I wrote a figure down and I said, Is that enough?
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00: I said, we can do more.
SPEAKER_00: How about we do a little bit more?
SPEAKER_00: So we do a little bit more.
SPEAKER_00: I said, How about that?
SPEAKER_00: She goes, I have holes in my underwear.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need to hear this, you crazy old woman.
SPEAKER_00: It's a quote right out of her mouth.
SPEAKER_00: She just said that, and I said, You know what?
SPEAKER_00: I don't need to know that.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not interested in knowing that, but God knew that, so he gave me a little bit extra money, and he told me to come in here and give it to you.
SPEAKER_00: Is God great or what?
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00: Just please never say that phrase again.
SPEAKER_00: And she walked off, sobbing, and she came back, had to get herself together.
SPEAKER_00: So she has to go home that day and explain to her friends that a man came in and sat in my section today.
SPEAKER_00: It just happened too.
SPEAKER_00: Remember last week?
SPEAKER_00: I heard a sermon last week.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know where you want to serve about providence.
SPEAKER_00: And so we just sat there and she says, Are you you are you sure?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm absolutely positive.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because when good comes your way, if you're just obsessed with yourself, it's never gonna get beyond you.
SPEAKER_00: But God said to Abram, I'll bless you, and you'll be a blessing.
SPEAKER_00: And so we finished, and she's like, Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go out today.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to know.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to know what you're gonna buy, just go buy it, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Be done.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you ever come back, set in my section.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: You kind of weirded me out.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because when you trust God, when you say, you know what, we could act in this situation and do what we want to do, but well, I said, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Lie down.
SPEAKER_00: Go back to sleep.
SPEAKER_00: God's in charge.
SPEAKER_00: It invites other people to trust God.
SPEAKER_00: It invites other people to say, you know what, you're so nice to us.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you so nice to us?
SPEAKER_00: You ain't gotta speak to that.
SPEAKER_00: Just let it hang in the air.
SPEAKER_00: The way you and I live should cause people to think thoughts they don't normally think.
SPEAKER_00: And don't miss it.
SPEAKER_00: Ruth comes back with this big old six measures of barley.
SPEAKER_00: And Naomi, who went out full but came back empty, is being reminded by the way, God's not done being good to you yet.
SPEAKER_00: There's so much more.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the nature of God is not episodic.
SPEAKER_00: It's not, I'm gonna get you out of this one episode, this one situation.
SPEAKER_00: The nature of God is eternal.
SPEAKER_00: So if God's ever been good, then he's always good.
SPEAKER_00: He's never gonna change his mind.
SPEAKER_00: He's never.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, if you read on in Ezekiel chapter 16, God says, not only would I find you out in the field, no one wanted you and cleaned you up, he says, I put earrings on you and a necklace on you, and I dressed you in fine silk, and I did all this stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And it just gets better and better and better.
SPEAKER_00: See, when you trust God, you're inviting other people to trust God.
SPEAKER_00: So the question becomes today, do you trust God?
SPEAKER_00: Just take a minute, if you would, and think about the simple question that's before you.
SPEAKER_00: Because there's a lot of things you could do, and God will let you do them.
SPEAKER_00: But if you're always the first to act, you never see God come through.
SPEAKER_00: Boaz says to Ruth, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: There's somebody else who could screw this whole thing up.
SPEAKER_00: I know we're soulmates and we love each other and blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_00: And I've never felt this way before.
SPEAKER_00: But it matters how we live.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's be men and women of character.
SPEAKER_00: And let's just say, hey, lay back down and go to sleep.
SPEAKER_00: And the chapter ends not knowing what's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: And Ruth gets back and Naomi says, Hey, who are you?
SPEAKER_00: Tell me what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: And she says, Oh, this man will settle this tonight.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because your character goes before you if you're a person of character.
SPEAKER_00: People don't wonder about you, they know.
SPEAKER_00: They know, hey, I know who she is, I know who he is, I know what they're gonna be like.
SPEAKER_00: So the question I want to just put before you is do you trust God?
SPEAKER_00: And it begins in a relationship, understanding that Jesus Christ is our kinsman redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: He has the capacity and the willingness to redeem you, to pay the price that you could never pay.
SPEAKER_00: And it's hard to trust God in life if you don't trust him in a relationship.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's just think for a few moments.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever trusted your life to Christ in a relationship?
SPEAKER_00: Because that's the overarching story of the book of Ruth.
SPEAKER_00: It's inviting you and I into a relationship with our Redeemer, who became one of us so he could redeem us.
SPEAKER_00: Broaden our horizons, God.
SPEAKER_00: Increase our capacity to trust you because when we trust you, and people see us trusting you, we're inviting them to trust you as we're saying to them, you can trust God.
SPEAKER_00: Our lives become the most authentic thing they know.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we see in the story of Ruth.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we want people to see in us today.
SPEAKER_00: That's our prayer, God.
SPEAKER_00: Make it our experience.
SPEAKER_00: We pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone said, Stand to your feet, and we speak a blessing over you.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, we'll be available down front.
SPEAKER_00: If we can talk with you, pray with you, we'd love to.
SPEAKER_00: Hold your hands out.
SPEAKER_00: Your father so relates to you that the more you know him, the more you can trust him.
SPEAKER_00: And so, in the words of the old hymn, O for grace to trust him more.
SPEAKER_00: Depart now.
SPEAKER_00: You've received the grace you need.
SPEAKER_00: Depart now and trust your Father.
SPEAKER_00: In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Bless you.
SPEAKER_00: You're dismissed.