Thursday, August 19, 2010

God Is At Work - The Story of Ruth Part II - A "Chance" Meeting, Part 27 of 44

TEXT: "Now Naomi had a friend [or an acquaintance] through her husband, a wealthy, influential person [gibbor chayil] from the same clan as Elimelech.  His name was Boaz.  Now Ruth, the Moabitess, said to Naomi, 'I am going to the fields to glean ears of grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.'  Naomi replied, 'Go ahead, my daughter.'  So she set out, arrived, to glean behind the reapers in the field.  As luck would have it, she happened upon the piece of farmland belonging to Boaz, who was from the same clan as Elimelech" (Ruth 2:1-3).

IDEA:  Patience and determination often go together.

PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate how God gives His people patience through trials.

The Scriptures put a high premium on patience.

First Corinthians 13:4 states that "love is patient."

Galatians 5:22 lists patience as a fruit produced by the Holy Spirit.

James 1 talks about perseverance as a necessary factor in handling trials profitably.

Don't we tend to think of patience as a virtue of the elderly and the infirm rather than of the strong and the virile?  People are patient because they have no other choice.

I. Do you think that patience is an under-rated virtue?  What does it look like?

II. Ruth displays patience that differs somewhat from how we may ordinarily think of patience.

Catch us up on the story thus far (Ruth chapter 1).

Listen to a more literal and probably more accurate translation from the Hebrew of Ruth 2:1-3 [see above].

"As luck would have it": why do you think the storyteller would imply that it was "luck"?

Did Ruth know what we as readers know about Boaz?  Did she know who owned the field where she ended up?

"Awhile later, Boaz arrived there from Bethlehem.  He greeted the reapers, 'May the Lord be with you!' and they replied, 'May the Lord bless you!' " (Ruth 2:4).

Is it possible that with these greetings that talk about "the Lord" the storyteller wants his listeners to realize that it wasn't "luck" at all?  Even though the Lord is off-stage, He is well within earshot.

"Then Boaz asked his foreman, 'to whom does this young woman belong?' " (Ruth 2:5).

This question probably means "for whom does she work?"  Boaz would have known the people who worked for him.  This was someone new.

" 'She is a young Moabite woman,' replied the foreman, 'who returned with Naomi from the country of Moab.  And she said, 'Please let me glean and gather grain among the sheaves following the reapers.'  She came and has stood here waiting from early morning until now.  She has practically taken up residence here" (Ruth 2:6-7).

III. What do we learn about Ruth and about patience from this incident?

Ruth asked to glean and gather grain among the harvesters in the middle of the field, not simply along the sides of the fields and among the bundles they had already collected.  (After all, she was gathering grain for two people.)  This was more than the Old Testament law required.  She made a brash request, and the foreman would not or felt he could not grant the request from a woman from Moab.

Ruth, therefore, stood waiting for permission for her extraordinary request from someone other than the foreman.  Boaz, after he arrives, grants her request (Ruth 2:8).

Ruth emerges from the story as courageous and a bit brash.

She was well aware of possible harsh rejection.  The foreman may have thought that she was out of place as a Moabite asking for a special privilege.  Ruth risked rejection in order to benefit her mother-in-law.

The foreman reported Ruth's request to Boaz to glean among the piles of sheaves.  Since the foreman makes no mention of granting the request, we assume that he either refused it or felt unauthorized to grant it.  As a result Ruth had stood for some time waiting for the owner of the field to show up.

Ruth serves as a model of true devotion.  She shows patience and determination.  She is not passive.  But she is patient.  She illustrates a virtue of the ideal woman in Proverbs 31.

Summary/Conclusion:

Patience isn't weakness.  It shows great strength, especially when exercised on behalf of others.