Wednesday, July 28, 2010
God Is At Work - The Story of Ruth Part II - A "Chance" Meeting, Part 11 of 44
TEXT: "So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, 'Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.' And she said to her, 'Go, my daughter.' Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, 'The Lord be with you!' And they answered him, 'The Lord bless you!' Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, 'Whose young woman is this?' So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said," It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. And she said, 'Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.' So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house" (Ruth 2:2-7).
IDEA: How we treat "outsiders" says something significant about whether we are on the "inside" with God.
PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate that God's grace working in God's people accepts those who are outsiders.
Do you think signs outside many churches that announce "Everybody Welcome" always mean that?
A church in Dallas had a signboard that said, "Premillennial, Pretribu-lational, Fundamental, Separatist, Everyone Welcome." What do you think that sign really said?
Do you think that today we in our churches always welcome outsiders?
I. Why do we find it difficult to welcome outsiders into our group?
We are comfortable with people who are like ourselves. We greet those we know after a church service.
Outsiders are strangers to our customs, our language, and our "values."
Sometimes it is a matter of bad manners not to welcome strangers.
II. In the story of Ruth, the author goes out of his way to remind us that Ruth was an "outsider" to the people in Bethlehem.
Several times in the short story we are reminded that Ruth was from Moab.
Three times the author of the story tells us that: he uses it unexpectedly in Ruth 1:22, then brackets chapter 2 with it in Ruth 2:2 and 2:21. He calls her "Ruth the Moabitess."
Boaz's foreman uses it to explain who Ruth is in his comments to his boss in Ruth 2:6.
Ruth herself acknowledges that she is an outsider, a foreigner, in Ruth 2:10 and 2:13.
Why do you think that the author makes a point of saying this?
III. Do you think that Christians should welcome "outsiders"?
Jesus was an outsider to His own people, John 1:10-11. So what?
He welcomed outsiders that other people despised.
He welcomed cultural outsiders. Luke 15:1 says that "tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to hear Him." He received them and "ate with them." So what?
He welcomed national outsiders. He spoke well of a Samaritan who was a "neighbor" to a stranger who had been mugged (Luke 10). Jews despised Samaritans. Do you think His use of a Samaritan in the story was deliberate?
He welcomed social outsiders. In Matthew 9:9-12 he called Matthew, a tax collector and a social outcast, to be one of His disciples, then immediately had dinner with Matthew's friends who were of the same "ilk."
He welcomed spiritual outsiders. In Matthew 15:21, He healed the daughter of a Canaanite woman who was possessed by demons. Both the woman and her daughter were outsiders.
He sent his disciples beyond the boundaries of Israel to the uttermost parts of the earth with the gospel. Did they find that easy? In the record in Acts 10, Peter knew the Great Commission, but was it easy?
God’s church consists of both Jews and Gentiles—outsiders. Did that present problems? Ephesians 2:11-22.
