Monday, October 25, 2010

God Is At Work - The Story of Ruth Part III - A Strange Proposal, Part 30 of 31

TEXT: "Do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil" (Romans 14:16).

IDEA: Appearances are important.

PURPOSE: To help listeners understand that as much as possible we should not let good appear as bad.

In Romans 14:16, the apostle Paul says, "Do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil."

Someone has paraphrased it this way: "If you're walking through your neighbor's watermelon patch, don't even stoop down to tie your shoelace."

In what context did Paul write those words?

I. It isn't always possible to follow that advice.

Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners (Luke 15:1-3; Matthew 9:9-12).  His good was spoken of as evil.

How did the religious leaders interpret what He did?

A man is known by the company he keeps.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Jesus eating with sinners revealed a secret sympathy with their sin.

II. Is Paul's advice good advice to follow?

In Ruth 3:14, Boaz and Ruth are living by this adage: "So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, 'Do not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.' "

They wanted to protect their good reputations (Ruth 2:11; 3:11).

Had they done anything wrong in their midnight meeting on the threshing floor?

Ruth got up very early in order to get away unnoticed. She would need to be gone before anyone could recognize her. Why?

Boaz supported her efforts because he had a reputation to protect and he could not afford to have Ruth discovered and recognized by the rest of the workers.

He gave Ruth a substantial gift of food for Naomi, possibly to make it appear, should someone meet her, that Ruth had gone off to get the grain.

Conclusion:

Appearances are important. They cannot govern us, but we must consider them.