Ruth - Road To Joy
Notes
Transcript
Road To Joy
Road To Joy
Advent Sermon series… women in the genealogy of Jesus
Hope
Peace
Today, using the always popular Ruth, we will be looking at the Joy that is ushered in by the birth of Jesus
joy of babies being born
Ainsley 4/3/2006
even non-christians have babies and are around babies and experience some kind of joy… but what about the kind of joy that only comes from God?
you know, Christians should be the most joyful people in the world! Because of the hope, peace, and love that God has given us
we know, that no matter the circumstances, it is possible for us to be joyful… in fact we’re encouraged to do just that in the very beginning of the book of James...
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
we learn in Galatians 5 that joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit
so we really can’t experience true joy without the presence of God in our lives…
but even having the Spirit in our lives does not guarantee a daily life full of joy…the is a part that i think we play in that....
we find a really good prescription for joy in psalm 119… listen to verses 1-3...
New Living Translation (Psalm 119)
Psalm 119:1-3
Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the LORD. 2 Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. 3 They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.
so there is an active part we play in us being a joyful person.... there are some things… namely following God and His ways with all our being
i love that last part.... “they walk only in his paths...” the book of Ruth is about paths taken or not taken… and the results that come from that
now, we won’t have time this morning to read the entire book of Ruth, but it’s only 4 chapters and i would encourage you, even if you’ve read it before, to go back this afternoon and read it in one sitting… it’s a great story of God’s sovereignty and His grace…
but let’s dive in here and see what God has for this morning....
before we do, a short prayer:
PRAY
1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
IN the first 5 verses of the book of Ruth, like many books, we find the setting and introduction of the characters.. now., The first 5 verses of the book of Ruth have to be the most depressing setting of all the books of the bible...
The time and place are depressing
The characters are depressing!
There is nothing joyful going on here in these 5 verses!
The Time & Place:
“in the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land...”
25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
the people of God had not yet asked for a king.... and they had stopped living like God was their king...
There’s a cycle that repeats throughout the book of Judges. God‘s people would rebel against him they would sin, and then God would act out in judgment against them. Then the people would repent and cry out to God and God would send a deliverer to rescue his people.
So, as we begin the book of Ruth, we are in one of those times of God acting out in judgment against his people. There is a famine in the land in Bethlehem.
so NOT a joyful time....NOT a joyful place
The Characters:
Names and their meanings are very important in the book of Ruth. Bethlehem means the house of bread. Very ironic that there would be a famine in the house of bread at the beginning of the book. there was literally no bread in the house of bread!
our first character is the leader of the family and his name is Elimelech
Elimelech’s name means “my God is king”. this is also ironic because he did not live in a way that showed that God was his king. God called Elimelech and his family to live in Bethlehem but because of the struggle of the day, he began to look elsewhere .
Eventually, he left the land of promise for the land of compromise in Moab. Moab was a sinful place. The history between God‘s people and Moab was not good and this was not the place that a godly man would lead his family... this was not the road he should have taken. There was no king in Elimelech’s life and therefore, like many others in the days when the judge ruled, he did what seemed best in his own eyes instead of following God’s ways.
You might say I’m being a little hard on the guy… I mean, he’s trying to protect and provide for his family… but let me say this to the husbands, fathers and family leaders here today… the best way to provide for your family is to be right in the middle of God’s will…
even, in what seem like, difficult times… or during seasons of waiting on the Lord. Keep your eyes on the LORD and lead your family that way!
show me a Christian who doesn’t seem to have any joy in his or her life and I will show you a Christian who has turned away from the Lord and toward the world.
Elimelech doing what seemed best in his own eyes should hit home with us. If we’re honest, we do this often. We act like the king in our own lives making choices that seem best to us rather than always waiting on the promises of God because sometimes the promises of God take a while to be fulfilled.
Many people like to say that they are Christian, but the choices we make in our lives, show… or PROVE… if you will… whether or not, we are actually living with God as king of our lives.
At first, this choice doesn’t seem so bad. Elimelech is able to provide for his family in the new place, they have food instead of famine, and things are going well. It seems that they felt more at home in the land of compromise than in the land of promise.
a pastor once said, “once we start down the road of compromise, this road of continued disobedience to God, it is often a smooth road that provides little resistance”
It sometimes requires less work to stay out of God’s will, than it does to repent and turn back toward him.
getting a little serious!
thought this was supposed to be a christmas sermon about joy!
You might be on the road to compromise today. What will it take to get you to turn around and head back on the road to promise?
Well… for the family in our story… it took tragedy...
Eventually, Elimelech, died, in Moab… leaving Naomi, a widow with her two sons.
Both sons were then married, however, they were married to Moabite women which was against the law of God. And then soon after both sons died.
Leaving Naomi with no husband, no sons, no one to provide, or take care of her, only her two daughter-in-law’s that were Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah.
like i said… those are the most depressing opening verses of any book in the Bible!
so how do we get to the joy???
At this point, more than 10 years later… God‘s blessing had return to Bethlehem, the famine was over and the house of bread actually had bread again!
and the sensible thing was for Naomi to turn back, swallow her pride, and get on the road back to Bethlehem.
Naomi would not return empty-handed, her daughter-in-law, Ruth, because of her love and loyalty to Naomi, decides to go with her. It’s a very moving conversation. Ruth chose the road that led to Naomi’s God while Orpah chose to return home to Moab.
If you’re paying attention, everything begins to turn around for Naomi when she makes the decision to take the first step back to Bethlehem. now, it takes a bit for Naomi to see it, but the last verse of chapter 1 actually gives us a glimmer of hope
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
barley harvest… also the time of passover…
FIRST POINT
1. Even in difficult times, we can begin to experience joy again when we turn our eyes toward the Lord.
if you’re lacking the joy you once had today, I’m willing to bet you’ve forgotten your first love...
The idea of repenting and turning back to God is a huge major theme throughout scripture.
God desires that we would seek after him. He wants to bless us because he is a good father. But he knows what’s best for us and when we are not chasing after him, not seeking his ways, we will struggle in the land of compromise.
he allows that to happen SO THAT we will turn back
Obedience equals blessing… disobedience equals curse. You can find that throughout the old testament. And we see it here, in the book of Ruth
Notice, that hope and joy and blessing were only one step away for Naomi. The first step back toward obedience. This is great news for us! No matter what we have done or how long we have done it there is forgiveness and hope and joy for us, if we will just turn back and begin to seek the Lord.
God’s grace and mercy are so good. It is his joy to bring us joy when we return to him. Some of the most joyful people that you’ll experience are those who have recently returned to the Lord from following their own way,
have you ever met someone like that?
they recognize the depth of their sin and the reach of God‘s love. People like that can’t wait to serve him, can’t wait to love his people, can’t wait to be a light to others. God gets excited and delights in giving us the love, hope and joy that we’ve been missing as we were seeking after the things of the world.
one step.... in the right direction… on the right path
like i mentioned before, Naomi did not at first recognize that things were turning around for her
in fact, when she and Ruth first arrived back in Bethlehem, all the women came out to see them… they couldn’t believe Naomi was back after such a long time!
but Naomi is still completely joyless because of the things she has experienced over the last handful of years. The loss of her husband. The loss of her two sons.
No doubt there is depression even for the person of God when we are living outside of the blessing of God.
In fact, she tells the ladies of the town not to call her Naomi anymore, which means pleasant... by the way back to the importance of names in this story.
She asked them to call her Mara which means bitter. The opposite of joy.
She tells the ladies in verse 21:
Ruth 1:21 (ESV)
21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty....
Naomi had decided to come back to the promised land. Physically, she had made it, but spiritually her heart was still far from where it needed to be.... but God was already at work, preparing to restore her joy!
as the story continues we find out how incredible a daughter-in-law Ruth is!
[recap the story of Ruth working hard and meeting Boaz…]
- Ruth goes to work (new provider)
- Ruth happens upon Boaz’s field
God is at work in the background throughout this story… you only have to have one eye open to see it!
where did you get this food????
whose field did you go to????
look at the conversation in chapter 2 vs 19 & 20.... Naomi’s heart is finally about to make a turn
Ruth 2:19–20 (ESV)
19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose (the Lord’s kindness) kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”
Naomi blesses Boaz and worships the LORD!
SECOND POINT:
2. Our joy begins to be made complete when we take the attention off ourselves and move it to blessing others and worshipping the Lord.
when our eyes are truly fixed on the LORD, we will not focus on our circumstances… we will worship Him because of who He is… because of what He’s done… in good times and in bad
you remember the story of Job don’t you??? he lost everything! and what did he say???
“the lord gives and the lord takes away.... but either way, blessed be the name of the Lord!”
Naomi wanted Boaz to be blessed by the LORD. it’s amazing what happens to our psyche when we begin to focus on others
[recap the story]
Ruth tells Boaz he is a redeemer for her family
Boaz is a good man and is willing to redeem Naomi and Ruth… giving them hope again for a future
little hiccup because there is actually a closer family redeemer , however, he decides to not follow that path because he is more concerned with his own genealogy.... talk about missing out on something huge! we don’t even know his name!
of course we know the name of Boaz… because of his kindness… his willing to redeem Naomi and Ruth… his legacy ends up leading to King David and eventually the messiah
So you know the story… Boaz and Ruth are married and a baby is born!
a wedding and a baby! now there’s some smiles! the joy of the lord is absolutely connected with how closely we are walking with him!
let’s read this closing scene...
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
THIRD POINT:
3. True joy comes not from the things of the world but from adoption into God’s family and a role in His Kingdom.
Naomi was already part of God’s people… but even in the midst of great loss… because of her returning to the Lord.... God gave her an even greater joy in Ruth and a redeemer in her grandson Obed....
and Ruth, was given the greatest gift of all, by being an outsider who was adopted into the family of God...
that’s right! don’t forget… Ruth and Orpah, were outsiders. foreigners from a foreign land with foreign gods… But that’s exactly who we are. in fact… every person who has ever been born is an outsider as far as God’s family is considered because of our sin.
We need his grace, his mercy, his forgiveness, to become part of the family. we need a redeemer
we all have to face a time where we decide, make an actual choice, to turn and seek after God... the way Ruth did...the way Naomi did.
If we decide to remain in the world like Orpah did... trying to find value in family or career or health or wealth, or whatever... we will miss out on God’s kingdom. We never hear of Orpah again in the Bible.
But we know at the end of this story, Ruth finds her way into God’s family, and not just his family, but she becomes the great grandmother of king David placing her directly in the genealogy of the Messiah.... Jesus who brings joy for all people!
- are you experiencing that joy today?
- have you entered in, by adoption, to the family of God?
- are you playing a significant role in God’s Kingdom… leading to even greater joy… or are satisfied with just sneaking in and out of a worship service once a week?
God’s love, hope, peace AND joy are for all people… but we must fix our eyes on Christ the Messiah in order to receive them..... that is God’s perfect plan.... and that is why we celebrate Christmas...
Luke 2:8–11 (ESV)
8 And in the same region there were shepherds (outsiders) out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people (people of every tribe, tongue and nation… like Ruth… like you and like me). 11 For unto you is born this day (a baby) in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
LET US PRAY
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