Oh, let out a sigh. Finally we get a story about a good girl. J
Who, might I add from a legalistic standpoint, was not one of God’s chosen people and Biblically speaking never should have married Naomi’s son.
Probably haven’t heard that one in Sunday School, have you? An entire book written about an “unchosen” one?
You bet.
It’s kind of a God-thing.
As we will see.
If you haven’t read the story of Ruth, or if you just haven’t read it since the 4th of July, go do so. It’s four chapters; it will take 20 minutes.
Since all of you just read the book, the only overview I will give to the story is this concise little paragraph:
This is the story of a young woman from the land of Moab, who marries an Israelite and is some time later widowed by causes we are not told. Along with her husband, her brother-in-law and father-in-law also pass away during roughly the same time period, we assume. Out of love for her mother-in-law, Naomi, Ruth stays with her unlike the other sister-in-law who returns to her family. Moving back with Naomi to the land of Judah, they settle into life. One day Naomi says to Ruth that she should go glean in fields to help out with their grocery bill. Ruth finds herself later that day gleaning in the field of a man named Boaz, who showed exceptional kindness to Ruth. Upon returning home that evening Ruth tells her mother that she gleaned in the field of Boaz, to which Naomi goes, “Oh! He is one of our close relatives! He is our Kinsman-redeemer. Stay in his field. He won’t let you be harmed.” In an effort to get Ruth “redeemed” and to leave her life of destitution, Naomi tells Ruth to approach Boaz and ask him to “redeem” her; otherwise known as proposing marriage to the man. Long story short, there was another guy who also had the opportunity, but deferred to Boaz, thus making him the man for the job. Ruth and Boaz marry and Ruth has a son named Obed, who we later find out is King David’s grandfather.
The end.
I hope you all read the passage. That was a terrible overview.
I have to admit that writing this was not as easy for me as the last two posts. Call it “over-churched-numbness” but I kind of felt like I knew all about the story of Ruth, and worse yet, I feel like the majority of YOU know all about the story of Ruth. What is left to talk about? I don’t want to beat this story with a dead horse (wait?.......:).
In my head I wanted to go into some great long rant about how God gathered someone who “should not have been” into the fold of his family. A good redemption story, that’s what I wanted. But, alas, none of that good inspiration came to me. Feeling slightly defeated, I prayed, “Ok, can you give me SOMETHING?”
And I got nothing.
Well, nothing apart from one little nugget. It is nothing huge, nothing grand, and unfortunately you probably aren’t going to be so jazzed you punch through a wall, but maybe, like the rest of the story, it will bring a calm reassurance.
At about the half-way mark in our book there is this one little line: “As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz.” (Ruth 2:3, NIV version. ESV says, “And she happened to come...”).
Did anyone else catch that?
“AS IT TURNED OUT…”
What kind of phrase is that?!? Are we talking about roulette? Did we all of the sudden start believing in luck or “good fortune”?
Blah. That’s not Biblical at all!
Which is exactly the point.
Ruth was going about her life, figuring out what the new “normal” was going to be, trying to keep her and her mother-in-law from starving. She has just changed her faith, moved to a strange land, and finds herself in a town where everybody knows her history. She definitely could have felt alone or cursed; Israelites were supposed to “be fruitful.” She didn’t have kids AND her husband died. “Great.” She was not from among these people; she was an outsider. Imagine yourself in her shoes for a minute, no doubt, feeling rather small.
But just when life couldn’t have gotten any more “beige,”--- I mean, she was gathering off the ground what others dropped out of their hands--- the tables were turned.
“As it turned out….” her life wasn’t as random and obscure as she thought it was. Ruth was walking through the countryside when she found a field the people let her gather in. She didn’t know who it belonged to, and clearly even when she found out the name of the guy she didn’t know it meant anything. To her it was a day’s work; it was her survival. She was doing what she had to do.
But “as it turned out,” God knew the man who owned that field, and the owner of that field knew God. And God knew that the owner of that field was the man who Ruth needed to know. Therefore, that man had servants picking grain that day, and those servants (who I think also knew the Lord {2:4}) let Ruth walk along behind them.
Because that, kids, is how it happens. There was no random act of chance that people were in that field that day. It was no “good fortune” that the man who owned the field, the man who noticed Ruth, the man who showed Ruth kindness, was the man who was willing to save her. Luck was NOT on her side, the stars were not aligned and that was not some crazy coincidence.
That was the sovereign hand of God.
God wanted Ruth in that field that day. God knew from before the creation of the world that Ruth needed to be in that field that day. Ruth thought she was just going about her business. That she was living her totally “normal,” “beige,” “medial” life, trying to make all the ends meet. But Ruth had given her life to the Lord. She had said, “You will be my God.” And if there is one thing I know, it is this: When you are dealing with the One who redeems you, there are no coincidences.
No one is obscure to God. No life goes unseen.
Apart from Ruth showing exceptional dare in giving Boaz a somewhat “strong” marriage proposal, she really is like all the rest of us. Kind of the girl next door. She knew her share of heartaches and struggles. She knew what change was all about. I am sure she was amazingly stressed at times. But overall, life for her follows the pattern maybe more of us face. And isn’t that the beautiful part? I could look at Tamar and Rahab and go, “Whoa, if these are the woman who came before Jesus, I have got quite a way to go!” I could easily get discouraged. What if my life is never that daring? What if I am not called to hide spies, or never need to exert righteous vengeance upon people, and what if I am never asked to be burned at the stake!? What if, like Ruth, I am asked to suffer some loss, and move here and there, and….go to the grocery store? What if my testimony is simple, and small? Will my normal life really make any difference?
I think Jesus must smile at these thoughts that barrage my mind. I can feel so little sometimes, wanting to do big things. But I think Ruth is in the lineage of Jesus because she is the one that maybe most of us can relate to. Ruth knew her redemption, boy did she know it. How could she not? First she was allowed to be brought into the family of God! Secondly, she was shown extreme kindness on this earth by a man who saved her from destitution. She knew it, of that I am convinced. And if I am being honest, more than anything, more than escaping the flames or seeing cities collapse or causing huge controversy, I want to know that too. To be convinced of my redemption, without question. In the midst of what is my normal living, I want the calm reassurance that comes with deep-seeded belief that, while my life may not be huge, my life is not obscure. If unto me redemption has come, then “as it turns out” I have already seen the walls crumble and I have already escaped the flames.
Praise be to the God who redeems all of life’s “everydays,” and who can make going to the grocery store into something that gives birth to Kings.
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