How To Put Your LIfe Back Together
Series: Ruth
Chuck Sligh
August 18, 2013
ATTENTION: This interpretation of Ruth and the threshing floor incident takes the traditional view of Ruth's actions. I have another sermon on the same text that takes a different view titled Doing it Right, looking at what might be described as suspicious motives on Naomi's part and naive, and less pure, reactions on Ruth's part. You might want to read them both and decide which best fits your understanding of the events described in the book of Ruth. Also, the sermon below deals more with how Boaz as a “type of Christ” than Doing it Right.
TEXT: Please turn to Ruth 3
INTRODUCTION
I’d like to read a story to you that I thought was very interesting:
It was Sunday morning and Harry was off. He pulled driveway in his 2-seater convertible, with the roof closed because of typical Melbourne driving rain, and headed for church. But as he turned into the main road he saw ahead of him three bedraggled figures huddled under a single umbrella at the next bus stop. One was old Mrs Fletcher. She still insisted on getting to church by herself, despite her arthritis which was always worse in wet weather. There was Dr. Jones, the local GP. A year earlier Dr. Jones had diagnosed a rare and dangerous disease that Harry had contracted on an overseas vacation, so Harry virtually owed him his life. And the third person was Judith. Harry had had a crush on Judith for the past 6 months since she joined their church but had never had the courage or the opportunity to ask her out.
Harry had about 3 seconds to decide what to do. There was only one spare seat. Who should he offer a lift to? But 3 seconds was enough. He pulled to a halt, jumped out, passed the keys to Dr Jones, helped Mrs Fletcher into the passenger seat, then modestly waved them good-bye as he huddled close to Judith under the umbrella.
As we’ll see as we move on in our story of Ruth, in matters of romance, chance and good sense often go together to bring about a happy ending. In fact, in so many areas of life God’s will is brought about by a combination of divine providence and human responsibility.
We saw this last week.
• When Naomi found out that Ruth had gleaned in the field of Boaz, she suddenly realized that God was up to something.
Her whole attitude about life changed. She remembered that Boaz was related to her husband and that, according to the Law of Moses, Boaz might be able to help them if he were able and willing. That was the divine providence side of things.
• But there is also the human responsibility side.
God had brought Boaz in their lives. What would they do in response to the opportunity God had placed in their path?
Let’s see as we read: verses 1-7 – “Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? 2 And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. 3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. 4 And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. 5 And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.
6 And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her. 7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.”
Note word “rest” in verse 1. The Hebrew word here means, “to be settled in life; to be secure in a home.” Ruth was young and needed a husband. It was customary in that day for Hebrew parents to arrange marriages for their children. So Naomi was concerned that her daughter-in-law, Ruth, who had been so faithful to her, be settled and find a mate.
Boaz was Ruth’s and Naomi’s only hope for solving their problems and putting their lives together again. So Naomi conceived a plan; but in order for this plan to work, Ruth had to fulfill some definite conditions. And they’re the same three things you’ll need to do if you need to put your life back together after a time of trial, struggle or catastrophe.
Let’s look at these them:
I. FIRST, TO SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS AND PUT YOUR LIFE TOGETHER, YOU SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT PURPOSE.
Ruth’s purpose for going to the threshing floor and lying at the feet of Boaz was to establish a LASTING RELATIONSHIP with him. In Ruth 1, Ruth didn’t even know that Boaz existed. Then in chapter 2, she saw him only as her benefactor—the one who fed her and protected her. Then she discovered that Boaz was really a relative, a near kinsman who could redeem her. Now Ruth wanted to establish a permanent relationship with him.
You know, some Christians miss this point, and never reach the inner sanctum with the Lord. They want to put their lives together just to escape their problems. Or some become satisfied with a casual relationship with the Lord, hoping for good things from God, but not the responsibilities of serving for God. They want God’s protection, but not necessarily His guidance. They want His provision—but not too much effort on our part, if possible.
We ought to seek the same thing in our Christian lives that Ruth sought with Boaz—a desire to know God intimately and to be in a totally committed relationship with Him. Our relationship with the Lord must be more than just a casual friendship for the sole purpose of receiving His protection, His blessings, and His provision. We should desire to have a deep, intimate, lasting relationship with HIM. After all, the reason our lives fall apart sometimes in the first place is because we get away from having a close relationship with HIM.
By entering into a deeper relationship with Boaz, Ruth could enjoy not only the GIFTS, but THE GIVER! If you establish a deep, personal relationship with THE GIVER of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17), you can put your life back together!
II. SECOND, TO SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS AND PUT YOUR LIFE TOGETHER, YOU MUST GO TO THE RIGHT PERSON.
Ruth could have settled for less than the best and fallen in love with and married another man if she had desired. She was young and from what we gather from the text, apparently attractive. She had become a believer in the true God and had identified herself with the people of Israel, so she was not off-limits to Jewish suitors who might present themselves. But not only could Boaz meet her needs, he could also restore the lost wealth of Elimelech—and it was HE who Ruth wanted to marry.
Now to fulfill the law of the kinsman-redeemer, if the man were not the immediate relative (i.e. her former husband’s brother), he could become the kinsman-redeemer on two conditions—
• If he were able
• If he were willing
Jesus Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer, has met both of these conditions in redeeming us:
• First, He is ABLE
In fact, Christ is the only One in the universe who is able to redeem us, because He is sinless: Hebrews 7:26 tells us of Jesus – “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from …”
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
And Peter says in 1 Peter 2:22 – “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth”
Because of His sinless perfection Jesus was able to redeem us from sin.
That’s why we’re told in Hebrews 7:25 – “Wherefore he is ABLE also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him…”
So Jesus meets the first condition of a kinsman-redeemer—He’s ABLE to redeem us…
• But is Christ WILLING to redeem us?
Oh, is He ever!
In John 10:17-18 Jesus made that very clear when He said “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again…”
In Hebrews 12:2 we’re told these remarkable words: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who FOR THE JOY that was set before him endured the cross…”
And in 2 Peter 3:9 Peter says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Oh yes, Jesus is willing to save us.
So Jesus Christ is the right Person—the only Person—for us to dedicate our lives to because He loves us and is both willing and able to save us. If you want to put your life back together, you have to 1) have the right purpose—establish a deep relationship with God and 2) go to the right person— Jesus Christ.
III. THIRD, YOU NEED TO MAKE THE RIGHT PREPARATIONS.
Naomi told Ruth exactly how to prepare for her meeting with Boaz. Note verses 2-4: “And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. 3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. 4 And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.”
This passage of Scripture is difficult for us to understand in our day.
First of all, let me say that Ruth did not do anything that was wrong or improper. Boaz was a man of impeccable integrity; that is clear throughout Ruth. And Boaz said in verse 11 that she Ruth was known throughout the city as “a virtuous woman.”
So there’s no hint here that either Boaz or Ruth did anything wrong.
However, from a perspective of his reputation, this was not a wise plan from Boaz’s point of view because of the possibility of scandal, which Boaz recognized, because at the end of verse 14 when he told Ruth, “…Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor.”
So why did Naomi tell Ruth to go to Boaz in the night?—Probably so that Boaz could reject the proposal without the whole town knowing about it! But in the end, Boaz senses that Ruth’s intentions are pure and decides to set about fulfilling the roll of the kinsman-redeemer if it can be worked out.
But as we’ll see, he runs into a roadblock later, but I don’t want to give away the plot, so let’s stick to chapter 3 at this stage.
So here in chapter 3, Naomi gave Ruth some instructions about how to prepare for her meeting with Boaz.
Naomi’s instructions to Ruth have a spiritual application to us today:
• She first told her in verse 3 to wash herself
This speaks to us of our need to be clean from sin.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:1 – “Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
To establish a deeper relationship with Christ, as Ruth sought to do with Boaz, requires that we “wash ourselves,” by confessing and forsaking sin on a constant basis.
• A second application is Naomi’s instruction for Ruth to anoint herself (verse 3b).
Anointing with oil speaks of the anointing of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. To develop a close abiding relationship with Christ, we need to not only be washed from our sin, but to be “filled with the Spirit,” as Paul refers to it, which simply means to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Daily surrendering to the Holy Spirit and letting him control our lives is absolutely necessary for a close relationship with Jesus.
• And then Naomi told her to “...put raiment upon thee...” (verse 3c).
Naomi was telling Ruth, “Take off your widow’s garments and put on some fresh clothes. We’re no longer living in the past! We’re going to live in the future. Dress up for your man Honey!”
We’re to do the same thing in our Christian walk: Many of us have been saved, but we want to wear the old garments of sin and the flesh and the world and self. God wants us to put off the old man and put on the new man:
Colossians 3:8-10 – “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:” – We’re to put off these evil things in our lives.
Then Paul tells us what to put on in Colossians 3:12-14 – “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” (EXPAND AS LED)
So to put your life back together, you need to 1) have the right purpose (establish an abiding relationship); 2) go to the right person (Jesus); and 3) make the right preparations.
IV. FINALLY, YOU NEED TO BE AT THE RIGHT PLACE.
Note the phrase “his feet” in several of these verses:
• In the middle of verse 4 Naomi said to Ruth…“…and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.”
• At the end of verse 7 we read that Ruth “…came softly, and uncovered his feet…”
• Verse 8 tells us that at midnight Boaz woke up and “…behold, a woman lay at his feet.”
• And verse 14 tells us “And she lay at his feet until the morning…”
Ruth was to go to the feet of her kinsman-redeemer, which in Oriental culture was the place of total submission.
If you want to put your life together, you’ve got to come to the right place—the place of total submission to your Lord. This is the kind of commitment referred to in Romans 12:1 – “I beseech ye therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
CONCLUSION
As we’ll see, Boaz turned out to be the answer for Ruth’s and Naomi’s problems. Ruth came for the right purpose, to the right person, having made the right preparations, and having put herself in the right place—the place of total submission.
When we see Ruth at the feet of the lord of the harvest, this is the turning point in the whole story of this book.
• Up till now, RUTH is laboring, with some protection and provision from Boaz, but nothing more.
• But from this point on, BOAZ is busy.
Ruth now rests and waits to see what Boaz will do. She trusts his word.
Have you come to the feet of the Lord of the Harvest? Naomi told Ruth, “My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?” (3:1)
We will find no rest until we come to Jesus Christ and submit to His lordship. This place of submission is the only place where God can begin to put our lives back together again.
If we stay in the field and labor under our own resources, we’ll “get by” and we’ll even have a measure of protection and guidance and provision from the Lord. But we’ll be missing out on the greatest thing we could ever have—an intimate relationship with the Lord.
Let’s not do as Naomi initially had done by rebelling and arguing with God’s working in her life or worrying about the future. Let’s cleanse our lives from sin; let’s submit to the Holy Spirit each day of our lives; and let’s present ourselves to Christ in total submission to His perfect will and commands for our lives.
