Time
for a Change
Ruth
4:1-12
Opening
Words: It has
become my custom to preach on an Old Testament character during the
summer months. Over the past few years we have examined the lives of
Nehemiah, Esther, Elijah and Joseph. This summer we are looking at
the life of Ruth. We are near the end of the story. The truth is I
conclude this sermon series next week. By
now much has happened.
The
mother-in-law daughter-in-law team of Naomi and Ruth has existed in
Bethlehem by the narrowest of margins. They were widows and living
in poverty. To exist, Ruth has been gleaning in the fields of a rich
field owner. At first she didn’t know it but she had been
gleaning in the field of a rich relative of her deceased husband.
His name is Boaz. He has been good to he r. He has been offering her
both food and protection. For three months Ruth and Naomi existed on
his kindness but then the harvest season ended. It was a great time
for the land owners. It was pay day! However, it was a hard time for
Ruth and Naomi. There would be no more gleaning. There would be no
more food.
Their
only hope of survival is the Old Testament law of
“kindred-redeemer.” This is not a welfare state. It is a
way of taking care of the poor. This law sounds strange to our ears
but not to Ruth’s generation. The law said two things. First,
the land of the deceased should be purchased by family members.
Second, the widow of the deceased should marry a family member. That
is what Old Testament law said but not everyone listens to the
Bible. (How many people here tithe? That is the Biblical standard.)
It would have been easy for Boaz to walk away from Ruth but he is a
man of integrity. He lives up to the law. He is willing to live up
to his Biblical and family responsibility. However, before the
signing of the deed and the wedding there comes this little story.
Boaz doesn’t want to upset anyone in the family so he covers
the details of the law. He wants to make sure no other family
members want to buy the land or marry the widow. So Boaz offers Ruth
and the land to a closer family member.
At
the very heart of this passage is the theological term “redemption.”
What is redemption? The
word redemption is a commercial term borrowed from the marketplace
where human beings were offered for sale to the highest bidder.
Condemned to a miserable existence these slaves were powerless to
escape. Their only hope was redemption, an uncommon process whereby
they were purchased in order to be set free. That is what Boaz did.
Boaz redeemed Ruth and changed both their lives. That is what Jesus
did. Jesus redeemed us and changed our lives. Let
me call this message for this weekend: Time for a Change.
Ruth
4:1-12 1
Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town
gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came
along, Boaz said, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down."
So he went over and sat down.
2
Boaz took ten of the elders of the
town and s aid, "Sit here," and they did so. 3
Then he said to the
kinsman-redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is
selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4
I thought I should bring the matter
to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of
these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If
you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will
know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in
line."
"I will
redeem it," he said.
5
Then Boaz said, "On the day you
buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire the
dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his
property."
6
At this, the kinsman-redeemer said,
"Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own
estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it."
7
(Now in earlier times in Israel, for
the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party
took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of
legalizing transactions in Israel.)
8
So the kinsman-redeemer said to
Boaz, "Buy it yourself." And he removed his sandal.
9
Then Boaz announced to the elders
and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have bought
from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. 10
I have also acquired Ruth the
Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name
of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear
from among his family or from the town records. Today you are
witnesses!"
11
Then the elders and all those at the
gate said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who
is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up
the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be
famous in Bethlehem. 12 Through
the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your=2
0family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah."
Some
people just don’t like change. There are many examples. The
railroad is just one. When the railroads were first introduced to
the U.S., some folks feared that they'd be the downfall of the
nation! Here's an excerpt from a letter to then President Andrew
Jackson dated January 31, 1829:
As
you may know, Mr. President, 'railroad' carriages are pulled at the
enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by 'engines' which, in addition
to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way
through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the
livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly
never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.
Martin
Van Buren
Governor
of New York
Eight
years later Martin Van Buren was elected eighth President of the
United States . Maybe he was elected President because people could
relate to him. It is my experience that people don’t like
change. People are reluctant to change. As a matter of fact I have
discovered that people hate change. They are more comfortable doing
the same old thing in the same old way even when it doesn’t
make sense. They will do the same old thing even when it hasn’t
worked in years. The Duke of Cambridge in the late 1800’s said
it but many believe it today, "Any change, at any time, for
any reason, is to be deplored." How many people here like
change?
Ours
is not the first generation. It is true of every generation. There
is something in our nature. The clerk of Abbington Presbytery,
outside of Philadelphia, approximately 100 years ago studied
people’s attitude about change. He found:
1.
2.6% run with new ideas
2.
13.4% are influenced by new ideas
3.
34% ignore new ideas
4.
34 % reluctantly accept new ideas
5.
16% will never accept new ideas
Where
do you fall on that list?
One of
the reasons we are dying on the vine as a denomination is that we
hate change. Like it or not. Technology has changed our world. How
many people do you know under that age of thirty who don’t
have an ipod? How many people do you over the age of fifty who have
an ipod? Does anyone here not know what an ipod is? Technology has
changed our world. Would anyone here go to a doctor who still
practices medicine like it is 1957? Would anyone one here select a
surgeon who uses 1957 knowledge or methods? Why would people want to
worship in a church like it is 1957? One of the things I like about
God is that he loves change. Have you ever noticed God is always
doing something new? Maybe that is why people historically have a
hard time with God. We hate change but God loves change. The Bible
tells us we can learn from the past but we should never worship the
past. Why? The world is always changing!
At
the very heart of this weekend’s scripture lesson is change.
The seasons are changing. The harvest season is over. That means the
situation has changed for Ruth and Naomi. It has gone from hard to
impossible. I can not say this too strongly. Naomi and Ruth are
desperate. They play the only card they have. They make Boaz this
attractive offer. If you use your sanctified imagination you can see
her. She has taken a bath. She has put on her sweetest perfume. She
is wearing her finest garment, the one that makes her look thin. She
is laying there on the threshing room floor. It is one of the
steamiest scenes in the Bible because Ruth and Naomi are desperate.
They are hoping their lives will change. They are hoping for a
better future. They are praying from the bottom of their hearts for
a better life and their prayers are answered. Boaz accepts the
attractive offer. It was time for a change. Why? Boaz is a man of
integrity. He accepts his Biblical and family responsibility. Boaz
becomes their redeemer. He not only changes Ruth and Naomi’s
lives. He changes his own life. Boaz is not a man who is afraid of
change, nor is God.
God
loves change. God loves to redeem. This weekend I want to talk about
how God has the power to change or redeem three things. First, God
has the power to redeem items. Second, God has the power to redeem
situations. Third, God has the power to redeem people. So if you are
ready for a change say, “Amen!”
Items
God
has the power to redeem items. The founder of the great Methodist
movement was John Wesley. His desk is on display in London.
Historians tell us he was not the original owner of that desk. It
was originally owned by a bookie. From that desk the bookie took
bets on all kinds of things. However, from that same desk Wesley
wrote his power sermons and generated his greatest ideas for God.
The desk physically did not change. Only its use was changed. God
has the power to redeem items.
In a
small church in the Fiji Islands there is an unusual baptismal font.
It is a large stained stone. It is hollowed out at one point to hold
water. The native of the Fiji Islands once called that stone “the
killing stone.” It was on that stone natives went to sacrifice
their enemies. It is now where people come to baptize their babies.
The stone itself has not changed. Only its use has changed. God has
the power to redeem items.
The
cross itself has been redeemed. It was once a symbol of suffering,
pain, suffering and death. It is now a symbol of the faith. It is
now a symbol of hope. The design of the cross has not changed. Only
it's use has changed. God has the power to redeem items. And all of
God’s people said, “Amen!”
Situations
God
has the power to redeem situations. James W. Moore is now retired.
He once served as Senior Pastor of the Saint Luke United Methodist
Church in Houston, Texas. He is a graduate of the Methodist
Theological School of Ohio. As a student he served as a hospital
Chaplin. Most of his visits went well but one visit changed his
life.
One
day visited a woman named Mrs. Davis. She was scheduled for surgery
the next day. She had a brain tumor and it didn’t look good.
Her story intimated him. He was young, inexperienced and afraid. He
was concerned about what he would say. When he got to her room he
found the door shut. He knocked on the door and a weak voice came
from the other side, “come in.” When he went in, the
room was dark. The lights were off and the curtains were pulled.
There wasn’t a single flower, card or picture. The room was
stuffy. Mrs. Davis was alone. Her head had been shaved in
preparation of the pending surgery. The theme in the room was death.
James Moore recalled his heart was beating out of his chest. When
the door opened it hit hard against the wall. There was a great
sound. He had knocked a chart off the wall. He looked at Mrs. Davis
and called her Mrs. Nelson. He apologized for the mistake and tried
to pray with her but the words were stiff and unorganized. The visit
was over as fast as it started. He mentally kicked himself as he
walked down the hall. He knew he did everything wrong. He knew he
had added no comfort.
Several
days later he returned to the hospital. He was concerned about Mrs.
Davis and promised himself he would do better. He was relieved to
discover she had survived the surgery. As a matter of fact
everything had changed. The door was open. The light was on. There
were flowers, pictures and cards on display. Mrs. Davis had a smile
on her face. When she saw James Moore she welcomes him in the room
and said, “I want to thank you for visiting me the other day.”
James Moore said, “Thank-you.” He thought why?
Everything went wrong, the door, the name, the prayer. Mrs. Davis
said=2 0let me explain. She said she had become consumed with her
own story. She hadn’t thought of anyone else in months. She
said you were so nervous you made me laugh. It was the first time I
forgot about my situation. When she told the doctor that young
Chaplin may have saved your life! God has the power to redeem
situations.
The
world is consumed with ability, having the right education, having
experience, having the right connections. God is only concerned with
availability. There is something powerful about a sincere heart. And
all of God’s people said, “Amen!”
People
God
has the power to redeem people. One of the most popular hymns in the
history of the church is Amazing Grace. It
was John Newton. Do you remember his story? He was employed in the
slave industry. He captained a slave ship. The slaves were nothing
more than cargo. They were treated like animals. Then he experienced
the amazing grace that comes from accepting Jesus. He is redeemed
and everything changes. His life now has meaning and purpose. I know
it happens because it happened to me!
One of
the reasons the story of Ruth resonates in our souls is that Boaz is
the foreshadowing of Christ. As Boaz changed or redeemed Ruth’s
life, so Jesus changed or redeemed our lives. We were not changed
physically. We were changed on the inside. On the cross of Calvary
he freed us from our sins so we could be free in life. He freed us
from our past; we don’t have to live with guilt. He freed us
from our present; our lives have meaning and purpose. He frees us
from our future; heaven is waiting for all believers, heaven is
waiting for us! God has the power to redeem people. And all of God’s
people said, “Amen!”
Let me end with this story.
In
1977 Charlie Smith was recognized as the oldest living American of
all times. He had an incredible life. He was 23 years old when the
Civil War ended. He was 61 when the Wright Brothers first flew. When
asked about his secret for longevity he said: "I ain't got
no special secret for how I live so long. I just live." I don't
do much now. I just sit here, and when I get tired of sitting I
get20up, and when I get tired of that, I sit down."
Here
is the good news for today. You don’t have to do a thing. Here
is the bad news for today. The world is going to change because God
loves change. God loves redeeming situations. God loves redeeming
items. However, most of all God loves redeeming people. And all of
God’s redeemed people said, “Amen!”
