Kindness that Saves

[0:00] How great is our God. Please have your Bibles turn to Ruth chapter 2, Ruth chapter 2.

[0:14] Have you ever asked yourself the question about how powerful kindness is? I'm not talking about the kindness of empty platitudes or smiles or just being nice to someone.

[0:34] But I'm talking about a kindness that is supernatural. A kindness that is spirit empowered. I'm talking about the kind of kindness that has the ability to change lives.

[0:54] There is such a kindness. There is such a kindness that is to exemplify who we are and what we are to be in Jesus Christ.

[1:08] I don't know if you've thought much about that word kindness. The fact of the matter is, I'm not sure if you know, but kindness is actually commanded of those who follow Jesus Christ.

[1:26] Paul writes in Ephesians 4.32, simply be kind to one another. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

[1:41] In the book of Colossians, chapter 3, verse 12, in the passage that talks about putting off the self, the flesh, and putting on Christ, simply says, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

[2:09] In the great chapter of love, 1 Corinthians 13, Paul writes, love is patient and kind.

[2:23] Later or earlier in Galatians 5, There is a theme that runs throughout the Bible that to love is to be kind.

[2:47] Now what I'm doing here today is I'm not preaching some type of Christian moralism, where if we are kind, God saves us.

[3:01] That's not what I want to preach on today. What I want you to grasp is the power of God's kindness that we see exemplified in Boaz.

[3:16] But more importantly, I want to call your attention to the importance of kindness as written in Romans chapter 2, verse 4.

[3:26] Where Paul simply says, or do you presume on the riches of that's his, that is God's kindness and forbearance and patience?

[3:39] And this is what he says. Not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.

[3:52] Think about that. The purpose of kindness is not just some moralism type of trait.

[4:03] But it is a characteristic to be that is of God. And we likewise who are pursuing Jesus Christ, the purpose of kindness is that fragrant aroma which draws people to Christ.

[4:28] I believe that the second chapter of Ruth is an incredible testimony to God and his loving kindness.

[4:44] Which we see through Boaz. So if you're taking a look at chapter 2. And chapter 2 is divided basically into three parts.

[4:57] It begins with a quick introduction. And we have this conversation between Ruth and Naomi. We understand that Ruth and Naomi have landed back in Bethlehem.

[5:10] Back in their land after leaving Moab at the beginning of the barley season. Where God has returned to Israel. He's returned to feed his people.

[5:23] We know of no national repentance. We know of nothing that they have done to deserve his loving kindness. Except that God has chosen to pour out his love on his people.

[5:36] So we have this first part about basically Naomi and Ruth planning their day. And Ruth is going to go out and work. The second part of the day is what her day is like.

[5:51] And how she comes upon the field where she meets Boaz. Who shows her this incredible grace. And then we see these concluding words at the end of the chapter.

[6:05] Between Naomi and Ruth once again. So today I want us to learn five things about God's kindness for us through this passage.

[6:20] The first thing that I want you to learn or see in this passage is that kindness is a priority of God. Kindness is a priority of God.

[6:35] Let's go back to the text. Let's take a look at verse 1. It says, Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

[6:47] And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. And she, being Naomi, said to her, Go, my daughter.

[7:02] And she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz. Now what Ruth is describing is actually a law that was put into place by God himself back in the first five books.

[7:21] When God was giving out his laws. And during these times of festivals, God would provide. So in the book of Leviticus, he explains the law.

[7:32] And it simply says, When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

[7:46] Leave them for the poor and the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God. So what God was telling them is, I don't want you to be that clean with your fields.

[7:56] So when you're going through and you're reaping and you're picking up the chunks of grain, certain types of grain is going to fall behind you. I don't want you to be that OCD type of person who needs to go back and pick up all the loose grain that happens to fall out when you're tying them up in these bundles, these sheaves of grain.

[8:21] If some falls out, so be it. Don't cut to the very edge of your land. And what God was doing is he was providing protection and care for those who had no need or who had great need.

[8:38] The less fortunate, the poor, the orphan, the widow. So you would see that the main team would be doing the gleaning, the harvesting, who worked for the farmer.

[8:51] And then a while back, you'd see those who were less fortunate picking up what was left so that they could have. So in this simple everyday act of harvest, which happens every year, year after year with the harvest, was always a provision for God's people.

[9:12] And this is a consistent theme that we see throughout the Old and New Testament. God cares for orphans and widows, and they were always to be taken care about.

[9:28] You see, the laws that God gave his people are a reflection of his character. And here we see it as a reflection of his priority.

[9:43] His laws were to demonstrate who he is. So take a look here. And what's really unique is when we read verse 3, there's kind of this joke or this ironic statement.

[9:59] And you might not pick it up. It all depends which version you are reading. So it says, So she set out, which is Ruth, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers.

[10:12] Now take a look at this statement. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz. In fact, a modern translation actually states, As luck would have it.

[10:27] And here we see God setting the stage, Even through what might appear to be a very trivial situation.

[10:39] Ruth would have had many different fields of many different people In that area in which to glean from. But as it would happen, It was the field that belonged to Boaz, Who was the clan of Elimelech.

[10:57] What this is telling us, this was not purposeful on her part. She did not set out knowing that Boaz was indeed a relative of her husband's, And therefore that was the field in which she was to glean.

[11:11] It seems that it was almost luck would have it. And I'm sure if the author could put emoji in there, We'd have a little emoji of a little yellow guy with an eye winking.

[11:28] Like it was some sort of cosmic mistake. So here we see the first priority of God is his kindness is a priority. The second aspect of God's kindness that I want you to see, Is that kindness is related to character.

[11:45] It's related to character. And if you understand character, When we speak of someone, we speak of their character, We're speaking about who they are, what they are.

[11:56] Remember when we talked about in Ephesians, The word walk. How is your walk? Walk in light. Walk in wisdom. He's talking about the Jewish manifest of how you carry your life.

[12:11] This is generally what your character, What is your walk like? So in verse 4 here, We're finally introduced to Boaz, Our hero as it were.

[12:27] And notice it says, And behold! That's such a strong statement. It's almost he comes crashing through into this picture.

[12:37] If it was a word, He came out of the door, And he's six foot six, And he's all big, handsome man that stands out to everyone. But it says, And behold!

[12:51] Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered, The Lord bless you.

[13:06] As you know, There are no accidental words in the Bible. The first thing that we understand about Boaz Is the words that come forth from his mouth.

[13:24] The Lord be with you. This is the writer, The author, Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Writing us this story.

[13:41] And I want you to remember, When we go back to chapter 1, It tells us that this was the time of judges. Where God wasn't exactly on the forefront of the people's minds.

[13:56] That they had forgotten what God had done for his people. What their parents had failed to teach them. But here, However, We have this man.

[14:10] The first thing he says is, The Lord be with you. Now notice, In your Bibles, You most likely have the Lord capitalized. That means the Lord Yahweh.

[14:22] God covenant. Personal God. He's not saying, God Elohim. God who created all. Be happy with you.

[14:33] Like some nameless being that we happen to believe exists over us. Because some God must exist over us.

[14:46] No, no, no, no. Boaz is acknowledging the God of the Bible. The God of God's people. The God who created Adam and Eve.

[14:59] The God who brought the great floods. The God who called out Abraham. The God who sent Joseph into Egypt. The God who delivered his people.

[15:11] Use Moses. And brought them to the promised land. So in the middle, This is meant to form a contrast To what was going on in that culture.

[15:25] Time of judges. Time of judges. Yet here, Is a man who is not like the rest of the people in the time of judges. This is a man who recognizes and follows God.

[15:42] Now notice if you go at the beginning, The Hebrew uses an expression, Which is used in verse 2, Which says, A worthy man.

[15:53] There's been much discussion About what the author Is trying to convey By calling him a worthy man.

[16:04] The same word was used as Gideon To mean a mighty man of valor. A noble warrior. But we know that Boaz Is not a warrior.

[16:19] But there's something That is absolutely, I believe, Greater that we see in Boaz Than what we would recognize In a mighty warrior. It would mean that they are noble In regard to their character.

[16:36] In fact, one of the translations That I've read, It just simply says, He is a noble man. A man worthy of character. What's interesting is that Men and women of character Are men and women Who fight for what God fights for.

[16:53] Who care for what God cares for. Who love what God loves And hates what God hates. This is, by definition, What a real man or a real woman is.

[17:09] Our culture is somewhat confused In this day About what a real man is. Today, listen, it's so crazy To even know what a man is.

[17:20] Let alone a real man. But back when I grew up, You know, they always put that The big man, the tall man Kind of had that cowboy, John Wayne type of attitude.

[17:32] Independent thinker, Independent doer. Did what he wanted. Was able to do it. But a noble man, A man after God's own heart, Has God at the forefront Of his mind.

[17:53] He chooses to lead Within the community That he is in. His church, his family. He takes responsibility. Sometimes we think that And I was just reading An article on this On what makes someone spiritual.

[18:07] And so often, They believe that Biblical knowledge Means spiritual. And we all know That's not true. It's knowledge Combined with action.

[18:23] With who we are. A noble man is one Who leads his family In godliness. Who loves his wife. Who honors her. Who would die for her.

[18:35] It is a man Who is a provider. Who cares for his children. Who does not exasperate them. The exact things We've been talking earlier As we closed off The book of Ephesians.

[18:46] And it's the same way A noble character Of a wife. In the Hebrew book, Ruth actually comes After Proverbs 31.

[18:57] And if you don't know What Proverbs 31 is, It describes the character Of a noble woman. And a noble woman Is one who loves her wife.

[19:08] Who understands That her worship To the Lord Jesus Christ Is raising her kids In a godlike fashion. Wants them to not only Know who God is.

[19:22] But wants them to know That God is Lord. And it's pressed upon The parents Even from the early construction Of God's people That they were to teach All that God has done.

[19:38] Do you do that In your families? Do you actually share God's kindness With your children?

[19:51] Because it's there. If you sit down And you think long and hard About your story You will see many times Many opportunities Even Like Naomi There was foolish decisions There was things That worked out That you didn't even Try to work out And it was all Because of God's Blessed hand upon you.

[20:18] Simply because You said Jesus is my Lord And God's loving kindness Came with you. So here This is the description Of who Boaz God We see Kindness is a priority And secondly We see that The kindness Is a part of an Outflow of Character We see this in Verse 5 It says Then Boaz Said to his young men Who was in charge Of the reapers Whose young woman Is this?

[20:52] And the servant Who was in charge Of the reapers Answered She is the young Moabite woman Who came back With Naomi From the country Of Moab She said Please let us Glean and gather Among the sheaves After the reapers So she came And she continued From early morning Until now Except for the Short rest You see As we grow In Christ As we grow In maturity Kindness Actually becomes Easier Perhaps Before you were Christ You were somewhat Of an ornery Character Someone Someone Who Was not Kind But as you Grow In your love And knowledge Of Jesus Christ Kindness Will become A natural Outflowing Of a heart That is Dedicated To Jesus Christ So I believe When Naomi Comes to this Field He is aware He has been Given stewardship Over this land And he is Taking responsibility For it

[21:53] I think There is One of the Things that Parents have A great Opportunity To demonstrate God's love Is connecting With the Friends of Your children When they Come into Your home You have An opportunity To demonstrate Kindness Be aware Of who they Are I guarantee You You have Children Coming in That have Pain Brokenness It is a Good thing That your Children Bring non-Christian Friends into Your home It is an Opportunity To show The love Of Jesus Christ In so Many ways My encouragement To you Parents Who have Young families Is create The type Of home That is Welcoming So children Can come And hear The gospel I heard The gospel Simply through The parent Of friends Of ours That simply

[22:55] Invited me To a church Children's Function They were Kind to me Why wouldn't I want To go So the First thing We see Is that Kindness Is a Priority The second Thing we see Is that Kindness Is part Of our Character And because Of it's a Part of Our Character It needs To be Shown In action So the Third thing We understand Is that Kindness Is action It's not Simple Smiles And happy Thoughts There's Action Take a Look at Verse 8 Then Boaz Said to Ruth Now listen My daughter And I want You to Understand What he's Demonstrating There Even from The very Start This term Daughter Is a Term of Affection Ruth Knows Who she Is She is A Moabite

[23:55] She is An Unfavored Person And she Enters Into this Foreign Land With her Mother In law And now She's Out Working For her Mother In law That is Their Family This is Her love Action For her And she's In this Field And she's Reaping And we Understand Throughout The whole Text Ruth Is a Hard Worker This is A woman Of noble Character And she Is working Hard And they Notice It The workers Of the Field Notice This And notice It Notice Boaz's First Words

[24:55] Daughter You are Accepted You're Part of The Family You are One Of Us A Daughter Is Someone That we Protect We Care For We Look Out For So Right From the Very Start We Are Seeing Supernatural Kindness That Boaz Is Dispensing On This Woman Do Not Go And Glean In Another Field Or Leave This One But Keep Close To My Young Women You Had To Understand Women Were Property And if A foreign Woman Was In Your Land All Sorts Of Harm Could

[25:56] Come To Her That Was The Horrible Way That Life Existed That's Why They Would Be In Groups Together They Would Travel That's Why He's Asking To Go With The Other Young Women Ruth Is On Her Own She's The Most Vulnerable Of The Vulnerable Here A Foreign Woman No One To Defend Her No One To Care For Her And She Is Alone In This Field The Young Men That He Would Have Had Working In That Field Would Take Notice That If They Were To Assault Her Horribly Sexually Who's Going To Defend Her Whose Honor Whose Father Brothers Were Going To Come And Bring Some Sort Of Judgment Against Them Boaz Is Now So

[26:57] We See This Absolute Kindness And Action And He Simply Says Have I Not Charged The Young Men Not To Touch You He's Already Looking After Her And How Much Does This Mean To Ruth Verse 10 Then She Fell On Her Face Bowing To The Ground And Said To Him Why Have I Found Favor In Your Eyes That You Would Take Notice Of Me Since I Am A Foreigner The Reality Is We Are To Give Thanks For Kindness We Do Not Deserve It It Is A Blessing Of God God Deserves Our Prayers Our Praises Of Thanksgiving Too Often We Think Our Worship Our Time Of Prayer Is Asking Rather Than Adoring In Praising In Thanking

[27:57] Him So The Other Aspect Of Prayer Or Of Kindness That We See We See It It Is A Priority It Is A Part Of His Character We See That Kindness Is Action And Then We See That Kindness Is Generous Kindness Is Generous Take A Look At Verse 14 And At At Mealtime Boaz Said Come Here Eat Some Bread And Dip Your Morsel In The Wine So That She Sat Beside The Reapers They're Now What She's Now One Of Them And He Passed To Her Roasted Grain And I Want You To Pay Attention To This Sentence And She Ate Until She Was Satisfied She Was Able To Eat So Much She Had Some Left Over I Am Amazed At The Power Of These Few Words That The Holy Spirit Uses To Communicate To Us She

[28:57] Ate Until She Was Satisfied That Is God Is It Not His Goodness Continues To Be Poured Out On Those Who Call Upon His Name Now Remember Why Is Ruth In The Field Because She's Starving There Is No Other Social Program For Her So Here She Begins This Gleaning Part She's Protected She's Called Daughter And Now She Is Being Fed Food That She Is Stuffed Up Grace At Dinner Is A Good Thing I

[29:59] Think Sometimes We Say Grace Out Of Habit For Dinner But And I'm Not Always A Big Fan Of Doing Things Out Of Habit Because We Forget The True Meaning But Grace Reminds Us That It Comes From God That He Ultimately Gives Us What We Can Eat So Here Is This Woman Starving Perhaps In The Morning And Now She Is Full Take A Look At Verse 15 When She Rose To Glean Boaz Instructed The Young Men Saying Let Her Glean Even Among The Sheaves And Do Not Reproach Her And He Also Pulled Out Some From The Bundles For Her And Leave It For Her To Glean And Do Not Rebuke Her He's Saying I Want You Men I'm Actually Going To Pay You Men To Do

[31:00] Your Job Badly So You'll Be So Sloppy That You Will Leave Bigger And Bigger Bundles For This Woman You Know The Reality Is Generosity Is A Great And Blessed Thing To Be Honest With You I Have Never Ever Ever Met A Person Who Is Generous And Not Blessed By God It's True I Have Never Seen That In Fact Some Of The The Healthier Wealthiest People I Know Give Away Far More Than They Are Able To Hold On To Or Want To Hold On To I Know One Family They Are Particularly Blessed With Incredible Wealth And I Know The Wife Has Said Money Makes Me Nervous I Do Not Ever Want To Be Cursed By God I Want God's Blessing On All My Kids And All That We Do And They Just Give Give Give So

[32:01] Notice It Says So She Gleaned The Fuel Until Evening Then She Beat Out What She Had Gleaned And It Was About An Epa Of Barley Now What Is An Epa Of Barley Perhaps You Have A Note There Well Ezekiel Tells Us That An Epa Is Actually Equivalent To A Bath And A Tenth Of A Homer The Joke Right You Don't Know What That Means But Essentially It Is About 30 To 50 Pounds Of Grain That She Has That Is An Incredible Amount Of Work That She Did On That Day The Fact That She Slugs It Works It Carries It Home Demonstrates That Ruth Is A Mighty Woman Like I Said There Is No Crime In Being

[33:01] Generous What's Interesting I In Some Churches They Believe In Being They Believe That Somehow They've Got It Twisted That God Wants Us To Be Misers With Our Money And Our Gifts That He's Been Bestowed Upon Us But The Testimony Of Scripture Is That God Blesses Generosity God Blesses Those Who Continue To Give Of The Riches And Abundance That We Have Been Given I Sadly Know This Exceptionally Sad Story One Of My Friends Started Out In Ministry He Gets Saved In College And Starts To Pursue The Lord And He Decides His Church As He Serving It's A Small Little Church He Decides To Go To Seminary Goes To Seminary Spends Time And Church And In This Mountain Church He's Married They Just They Have A Child But The Church Does Not Pay Them Actually A Fair Wage

[34:01] So He's Got To Live Far Far Outside Of Town And Of Course Because They're Of Low Wage There's Only One Car I Remember It's This Used Beat Up Car And He Cannot Afford To Be Away From His Wife So Often There's Complications Just The The Nervousness He Wants His Wife To Have A Car So A Woman In The Church Finds Out About His Need And She Gives Him A Brand New Truck A Brand New Truck And If You're In The Mountains I Believe They're In Colorado At The Time This Grand And Apparently This Woman Was A Widow Her Husband Had Passed Away And This Was His Favorite Truck And This Gift Would Mean So Much But We Can't Even Afford The Insurance And Her Response Was Doesn't Matter I've Got It I Will Pay It You Can Use My Truck Within A Month He Gets Called In To

[35:01] The Church To The Leadership And They Scold Him For Having Such A Nice Truck It Was So Nice That The Church Made Him Give The Truck Back The Reason Was They Didn't Want People Into Town To Think That They Would Be Generous With Their Pastor Sad Sad Sad In Fact He Shortly Moved Away And That Was My Wisdom Tomb Was To Leave Such A Church That Would Be So Selfish The Last Point That I Want You To See From This Book Of Ruth Is That Kindness Brings Hope Kindness

[36:03] Brings Hope And The Reality Is We All Desperately Need Hope Don't We We're Struggling When We Feel The Walls Closing In We Cannot See The Light At The End Of The Hallway We Need Hope Take A Look At Verse 18 And She Being Ruth Took It Up That's The Thirty Fifty Pounds Of Wheat Or Barley And Went Into The City Her Mother In Law Saw That She Had Gathered She Also Brought Out And Gave Her What Food She Left Has

[37:13] Not Forsaking The Living Or The Dead I Wonder What Poured Into Naomi's Mind That Evening Remember She Had Returned During This Time Bitter I'm Sure If You Asked Her Who The Living And The Dead Is She Would Have Classified Herself As Part Of The Dead The One With No Hope No Future No Purpose The Life With No Meaning But The Word That She Uses Here Carries So Much More Than Just Kindness This Word Kindness With It Carries An Idea Of Love Mercy Grace Goodness Benevolence Loyalty And More Importantly Covenantal Faithfulness So

[38:18] When She Says May He Be Blessed By The Lord Whose Kindness This Is Everything That She Sees In God Their Lord Naomi Also Said To Her The Man Is A Close Relative Of Ours One Of Our Redeemers Besides He Said To Me You Shall Keep Close By My Young Men Until They Have Finished All My Harvest For All The Next Month There Is No Wondering If There Is Going To Be Food On The Table There Is No Worry Of Being Assaulted There Is No Worry Of Being Harmed But She Has This Promise This Hope That They Will Have Food And Safety So Verse 23 Says So She Kept Close To

[39:18] The Young Women Of Boaz Gleaning Until The End Of The Barley And Wheat Harvest And She Lived With Her Mother In Law Kindness Kindness Kindness Kindness Kindness Kindness Kindness Kindness Kindness Kindness Kindness Kindness Kindness That we As Christians Offer To Others Says So Much More Than Just About Us It Speaks To Our God Our Father On High It Is God's Kindness That Allows Us To Eat To Enjoy Friendship To Enjoy The Ability To Come Together To Worship To Praise To Thanks It

[40:18] Is My Belief That Kindness Is A Super Natural Spirit Empowered Action That Is Only Possible From One For Who In The Spirit Dwells My Encouragement To You Is To Continue To Grow And Love God In Order To Experience This Kindness For You Who Are Mature I Don't Need To Tell You To Go Out And Be Kind You Already Are Kind That Is A Fruit That Is A Testimony To The Work Of God That Jesus Christ Has Worked Into Your Life For You Who May Be Watching Who Do Not Know Or Understand This Kindness Of God This Is The Love That He Offers You You See Everything That God Offered In His Son Jesus Christ

[41:18] Was His Kindness This Is What His Love Is It Is A Desire To Fill You With Purpose And Meaning That Is Found Only In Him Jesus Christ Came To Bring Peace To Our Souls We Live In A Time Where There's Tragedy There's Upheaval These Are Absolutely Devastating Times And I Believe At No Other Time Will We Find People Truly Truly Wondering What Is The Purpose In All Of This Next Week We Will Celebrate Good Friday And Easter Sunday Which Is The Ultimate Act Of Kindness And Love That Jesus Christ And God The Father Have Displayed Upon The

[42:19] World My Encouragement To You If You Want To Know More Of This Supernatural Kindness Is To Visit Come Join Us During Those Times And You Will Have It Fully Explained To You Not Only What His Kindness Is But What His Kindness Does For Us Let's Pray Dear Lord Heavenly Father We Just Thank You For The God That You Are That Your Loving Kindness Is So Clearly Displayed In This Small Story It's A Story Filled With Details That Are Only Can Have Understanding In You The Imagery Is So Amazing You Can Almost Feel The The Weight Lifting Off Ruth I Can't Believe How Strong

[43:19] She Is Just To Leave That Home To Go To Work Where She Does Not Know Where To Work Or What Will Happen That Day With The Dangers And Yet She Finds A Man Who Simply Calls Her Daughter And Demonstrates Favor Father That Is Us Our Stories Are Found So Clearly In Ruth And Naomi Oh Lord Give You Thanks Our Father For The Redeemer That You Are The One Who Demonstrates Loving Kindness To Us Father I Feel As If My Words Are Somehow Shorting Who You Truly Are This Day There Is So Many Depths To Know And Understand Of You And In This Short Story You Reveal So Much

[44:19] To Us And I Thank You Father May We Ponder Upon These Words As We Go Out From Here May We Give Thanks Father Some Of Us We Need To Spiritually Tune Our Hearts To You We're Not Kind We're Broken We're Thinking Of Ourselves Rather Than You Challenge Challenge Challenge Us This Day Who Do We Serve We Ask You These Things In Your Just Holy Powerful Loving And Kind Name Amen God To To