11/9/25 “Boaz and Ruth”

“Boaz & Ruth”

Ruth 2:4-20

One of my favorite movies of all time is a cinematic masterpiece from 1994  called “Dumb and Dumber”

People either love this movie….or they hate this movie.

In our family, we are divided…,Lindsay & I think it’s right up there with the best films ever made…

while Lexy and Lisa think it’s – quite literally – one of the dumbest movies ever produced.

There’s a specific scene in the movie where the two main characters, Harry and Lloyd, get in an argument (Which isn’t surprising)….

and they end up parting ways on a lonely highway somewhere in the middle of Nebraska…or Iowa

Harry is on foot going one way…while Lloyd is driving the dog van going the opposite way...(Yes, it’s a dog van…it’s a van that looks like a dog….it’s a long story)

Then…while we are watching Harry walk down the road…suddenly, Lloyd rolls up behind him on an old, worn out scooter that tops out at about 35 mph

Their original intent was to get to Aspen, Colorado to return a briefcase to someone, but they couldn't afford the gas guzzling van…

…So, Lloyd explains to Harry that he traded the van straight up for the scooter…and that now they could afford to get to Aspen.

This was obviously a bad financial decision on Lloyd’s part….trading a perfectly good van for a tiny scooter.

So, Harry just stares at him for a moment…

Then he says this: “You know Lloyd…just when I think you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this….and Totally Redeem Yourself”

They high-five, hop on the scooter together…and off to Aspen they go.

Well, our scripture passage for today does not involve vans…or scooters…or driving a scooter to Colorado…

But it does involve an act of redemption.

…and it is this act of redemption in the story of Boaz and Ruth that really comes to define their relationship…

…and – ultimately – points to our redemptive relationship with Christ.

But first, let’s get the backstory of how Boaz and Ruth meet.

Back in chapter 1 of the book of Ruth, we meet a man named Elimelech.

Elimelech – and his wife Naomi – are from Bethlehem….

They have two sons, Mahlon and Kilion.

Verse 1 of Chapter 1 tells us that there was a famine in Judah, so Elimelech and his family make the difficult decision to leave Bethlehem for the land of Moab.

Moab was about 50 miles to the east…on the other side of the dead sea.

Even though Moab was only the distance of the Dells to Madison…the culture was very different…

It was a pagan society that did not recognize the God of Israel as the one true God…

…making it almost impossible for Elimelech and his family to assimilate into the culture around them.

The sons – Mahlon and Kilion – did find Moabite women to marry….

One young lady was named Orpah…and the other was named Ruth.

Unfortunately, over the course of a decade, all the men of the family pass away….leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law all by themselves.

In those times – across many cultures – widows were especially vulnerable to falling on hard times….

Without a husband to provide for them…all three of these ladies were in danger of becoming destitute and homeless…unless a man were to enter the picture to provide for them.

So…Naomi decides to return home to Bethlehem.

And she instructs her daughters-in-law to stay in their homeland of Moab…

…they would have a better opportunity there to find husbands amongst their own people…

Orpah decides to do what Naomi suggests…so she says her goodbye’s to Naomi and stays behind in the land of Moab…

But Ruth refuses to leave Naomi.

She has grown to love her mother-in-law so much that she swears an oath to stay by her side…and to travel with Naomi’s to her homeland of Judah.

This section of scripture records Ruth reciting one of the most beautiful oaths of commitment to ever be uttered….she says,

“Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17)

You may have heard this passage at weddings as it encapsulates a heart of complete, selfless devotion to another individual.

It also reveals something about Ruth’s character.

She is dependable…loyal…faithful…and devoted.

Attributes that all of us should strive to incorporate into our lives.

48 hours ago, a funeral was being held in this room.

If it had been your funeral…what would people say about you?

Would they say that you were dependable?...Loyal?...faithful?...devoted?...Loving?...

At the end of the day, it’s about the relationships we have here on earth…and the impact – for Jesus - that we make upon other people.

…The legacies that we leave after we are gone….the lives we touch.

So, Ruth & Naomi arrive in Bethlehem…it had been close to ten years since Naomi had been back in her hometown.

This is where the story gets interesting as they come across a relative of Elimelech’s by the name of Boaz.

Verse 1 of chapter 2 (Ruth 2:1) tells us that Boaz was “…a man of standing”

This was an ancient Hebrew phrase that meant one possessed the finest qualities…that he was a respected person of faith…he was dependable…that he was honest and humble.

Ruth begins walking some of the nearby fields, picking up leftover grain that the harvesters purposefully leave behind for the poor…

Come to find out – in God’s providence - she’s walking through one of Boaz’s fields…

Boaz notices her as someone new in the neighborhood.…so he asks his foreman “Who is this young lady?”

In verse 6 (Ruth 2:6) the foreman tells Boaz that she is the Moabitess widow who came back to Bethlehem with Naomi…

Being from Moab, a land hostile to Israel, it would have been very difficult for Ruth to feel at home amongst the Jewish people…

….she undoubtedly would have been treated as an outsider…

…potentially even mistreated - because of her Moabite ethnicity

…But Boaz shows her kindness….he makes sure that she is protected…he ensures that she has enough food to glean each day to share with Naomi…

At one point, in verse 10 (Ruth 2:10) Ruth says to Boaz “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me – a foreigner?”

Boaz wasn’t concerned about her ethnicity…or her nationality…

He treated her as a fellow human being…

He treated her with respect…He treated her with dignity.

What a great lesson for us today as well.

How do we treat people who don’t look like we do?....those who maybe “Aren’t from around these parts”…as they say.

…Do we withhold kindness and grace based on how someone looks…or where they’re from?....do we hesitate to show compassion?...are we skeptical of others based on their race or ethnicity?

These are important questions to ask ourselves…

And….If you recall, Jesus made it a point to spend time with the outcasts, the outsiders, the ones who didn’t fit in….

the folks who were treated with hostility and contempt by his fellow Jews.

Let the actions of Christ be a lesson for us as well….to get out of our comfort zone and convey a selfless, agape love to anyone and everyone we meet…

…regardless of where they’re from…or what they look like.

In verse 11 (Ruth 2:11) Boaz tells Ruth that he is impressed with her loyalty and devotion to Naomi…

…How she left her homeland to look after someone she loved.

This can be a teaching point in our marriages as well.

How often do we set aside our own preferences and desires…in favor of what might be best for our spouse at the time?

On a very small scale, this happens every time Lisa buys a frozen pizza.

You see…she loves mushrooms…but she knows that I do not share her affinity for that particular food….

So…when she’s at the grocery store choosing a pizza, she always picks the non-mushroom variety…even though she would much rather eat the pizza with lots of fungus on it….

….And I really appreciate that sacrifice….even if it’s a relatively minor one.

But It begs the question:

How often do you look for opportunities to serve your spouse in ways that will benefit them…even though it will involve a sacrifice for you?

Those are the life-building moments in a marriage…the edifying moments…those are the fruitful deposits in the bank account of your covenantal union.

Jesus literally sacrificed everything for us…

…The least we can do is make occasional sacrifices for others…and beginning with our spouse is a great place to start.

Eventually, Ruth and Boaz…they become closer and closer…and a love story begins to develop between the two of them….

…And this brings us to the Redeemer part of the story.

If you notice, in the final verse of our passage for today, Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz is one of their “kinsmen-redeemers”

 A kinsmen-redeemer was a relative who – if he saw fit – had the option of marrying a widowed in-law in order to support them financially…

…and to possibly provide her with a son to carry on the family name.

…along with this heir of a son would come an inheritance of land as well.

So….one way to think about this kind of scenario would be to view the man as one who would be “Redeeming” what the widow lost when her husband passed away.

Something that was lost would be gained back….

New Hope would now spring up from the ashes of hopelessness…

Doesn’t this sound like our relationship with the savior?

In a real way, Jesus is our ‘kinsmen redeemer’

The fall of Adam caused all of us to enter this world void of any spiritual hope whatsoever…

Because of sin….we are all born on an ultimate trajectory of banishment from God for all eternity…

….But then Jesus comes upon the scene and – through His taking upon himself of our sins on the cross – He redeems those of us who willingly accept Him as Lord & savior.

Jesus is, indeed, the greatest kinsmen redeemer of all time…Amen?

In the case of Boaz & Ruth, Boaz was actually the 2nd closest kinsmen-redeemer to Ruth…

….but after the man who was closer in relation to Naomi’s family declined the offer to become Ruth’s kinsmen-redeemer….Boaz gladly stepped in.

Boaz had fallen in love with Ruth….and Ruth shared the same affections for Boaz.

Theirs is a love story in a time and culture when mutual feelings of attraction weren’t always guaranteed within marital unions….as they were usually arranged by parents…or they were marriages of necessity.

But Boaz and Ruth loved spending time with each other…they saw the Lord working in the life of the other person…and that’s what really attracted each of them to the other…

Way back in the day…one of the things that attracted me to Lisa the most was her desire to help others.

I remember at my college graduation party, Lisa was there with some mutual friends of ours…

….and when the food had been served...and the dishwashing began…Lisa jumped right in to help…even though she barely knew the people she was helping…

I thought to myself “Wow…if this woman ever becomes my wife, I’m never going to have to wash another dirty plate in my life!”

….My thoughts were kind of shallow at that time in my life.

But I could see this young woman had a genuine desire to care for others...and to help others…to love others.

…and that’s what Boaz saw in Ruth as well….a desire to better the lives of those around her without expecting anything in return.

So….Boaz and Ruth get married and – as time goes by - they have a son named Obed.

In case you’re not familiar with the name Obed…I guarantee you’ve heard of Obed’s grandson.

His name was David.  King David.

Isn’t it interesting that Israel’s greatest King had a grandmother who was not from the house of Israel…She was not a Jew at all….she was a gentile from the land of Moab.

….Yet she came to know the true and living God through the influence of the family she married into….

….It’s a beautiful story of how we can influence others around us for God as well….maybe even our spouses.

Some of you may be in marriages where your spouse has yet to accept Jesus Christ as Lord & savior of their life…

These are difficult unions to navigate….trust me, I know….I grew up in an unequally yoked household….

But Mom did an amazing job of reflecting the love of Jesus to her husband…

My dad had every opportunity to see the light of Christ shining in his wife over many decades…

….but – like we all know – it’s up to the individual person to submit to the Lordship of Jesus in their lives….we cannot do it for them.

Saving faith is an individual decision….

Growing up in a Christian home does not automatically make you a Christian…

….any more than standing in a garage automatically makes you a car.

….or that flying in an airplane automatically makes you a bird.

Romans 10:10 says, “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

We each must choose to accept Jesus – submit our lives to Him - and prioritize Him above everything else in our lives….

…and – at the same time – reject the old, selfish desires of the flesh….desires that still wage war within the believer.

Faith is an individual thing…but it can be nurtured and cultivated through a marriage where each partner is living in submission to the savior…

…and those are beautiful, impactful, and inspiring marriages!

Boaz and Ruth – like Isaac & Rebecca - were an example of that kind of marriage…

A marriage where each partner prioritizes God before anything else…and by doing so….everything else just falls into place.

It doesn’t mean that there won’t be difficulties and challenging seasons in a marriage…but – when Christ is at the core of a marital relationship – it means that these difficulties will never become so powerful that they overtake the marriage…

One thing that coaches will often say to their players is “Trust the System”

In other words, if everyone does the things required of them…if each player executes their role to the best of their ability….

…then success – both individually, and corporately – will naturally happen.

Or to put it another way, success will be a by-product of faithfully – and consistently – executing the play.

Kallen, I don’t know if your football coach uses that phrase ‘Trust the System’….or not…

….but to have the success that the Reedsburg football team is having this year…

….the players have obviously bought into the coaching staff’s vision for success…each is performing his duty…and performing it well…

….and the results can be seen on the field.

The Same thing holds true for our marriages…

If we trust God’s system of how He designed marriage to work…

How the husband is tasked with the duty of being the spiritual leader and protector of the household…

…and how the wife is designed by God to naturally bring support, compassion, and encouragement to the family…

If we trust in this divine arrangement of domestic duties…we will experience a household of harmony, peace, and joy….

….A household where love reigns supreme.

….A household where Jesus is King

….And a Household where redemption is celebrated.

Let’s Pray.