Ruth is my favorite book in the Old Testament. It is unlike any other book in the Bible. Chapter 3 is my favorite chapter in Ruth. What is so different about Ruth and why do I like it so much?
At its heart. Ruth is a love story. It is all about faith, obedience, generosity, grace, and especially redemption. Ruth is an outlier. It is just different from the rest of the Bible. The most important fact in the New Testament is the Gospel of Jesus. Much of the Bible is historical……who did what and when. Much of the Bible is guidelines to living a righteous life…….rules. All of this is good and terribly important.
And then there is Ruth.
So, why is Ruth so important…….so different?
Ruth is important because it tells us why.
Ruth tells us why God did it all.
Here is the condensed version of Ruth. Ruth was a refugee, illegal, undocumented. She was a widow. She was destitue. She followed her mother-in-law to an alien land because she loved her and because she had nowhere else to go. She hoped to build a better life in an far away place. While there, without permission, she gathered scraps of food in the field of Boaz, a righteous man. One night, while Boaz was sleeping, she crawled under his blanket. He awoke and found her there. She asked him for his care and protection. And Boaz did just that. He used his resources to support Ruth and her family. Then, he bought, redeemed, and married Ruth. She became a great-grandmother of David……and ultimately…….of Jesus. Ruth was destitute; but, she was brave, bold, even audacious. Boaz was rich; but, he was kind, righteous, and generous. Both of them were remarkable human beings.
Ruth was a refugee. She had nothing material to offer. All she had was the woman that she was…..kind, loyal, loving. Boaz was rich and powerful. He paid for Ruth. He protected her. He loved her. All he got from Ruth was their relationship. And that was all he was after from the moment she crawled under his blanket…….from the moment she asked for his protection.
In her audacity, Ruth traveled to a foreign land and sought out a powerful protector. She had nothing to offer except herself. She had nothing to offer but relationship. Her protector, her redeemer, rescued her at a significant cost to himself. He did it because he, too, wanted a relationship. Ruth did not earn Boaz, she did not deserve Boaz. Ruth did not earn redemption. The redeemtion of Ruth was an act of grace…….by Boaz.
Any of this sound familiar?
The story of Boaz and Ruth is the story of Jesus and of me, and of you. We are destitute. We live in a broken culture and we seek safety in Jesus. We crawl under his cover and ask for protection…….for redemption……for a future. And Jesus pours redemption and blessing over us. We didn’t pay for it. We didn’t earn it. We don’t deserve it. It was and is an act of grace
All we can offer is relationship.
That is all Jesus wants from us.
But it goes even deeper.
I am not only destitute and in need of redemption. As it turns out, I too am refugee, a foreigner, an alien………… an illegal. I come from a harsh, hostile culture. I flee and search for a safe place. I have nothing material to offer. So, I find a kind powerful man in Jesus. I crawl under his cover and ask for protection……..for redemption……..for grace.
Am I really any different from the “illegal” at our southern border?
All I can offer………is relationship.
But, just like Ruth, that is enough. Relationship is what my redeemer wants from me.
At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter.
Ruth 4: 8-10,ESV