Let's pray.
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you that you speak to us in your word.
And we ask, Father, that you would open our hearts and minds
and hear what you have to say.
Lord, we ask, as James encourages us, Lord,
that we would not only be hearers of your word, but doers of the same.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
I remember a little Australian boy some 30-something years ago
who was diagnosed with an allergy to chocolate.
Right before Easter.
Now, I'm sure for any 37-year-old or maybe 47-year-old adult,
self-denial of chocolate is a serious thing.
But for a 7-year-old before Easter, this was a serious moment of abstinence.
Now, I'm honestly not sure whether the provision of a carob Easter egg
made it harder or easier.
But in any case, life presents us with these occasions
when what is best for you actually requires you to say no.
To yourself.
But there's a good deal of illogic here, isn't there?
I mean, it doesn't feel like you're acting in your best interests
when you're saying no to yourself.
And we're actually pretty good at thinking of arguments
to somehow convince ourselves that that's actually not what's going on.
But it doesn't change the situation.
Life does present us with situations where what is our best requires us to say no.
And life under God is no different.
Saying yes to God regularly involves us saying no to ourselves.
But it can be hard to keep trusting that what God wants is in fact actually best.
And this is the truth that this episode of Ruth is there in the Bible
to engrave that on our hearts and minds.
This truth.
Now it's not easy.
But truly, when we say yes to God and no to ourselves,
we are serving our best interests.
And that's actually what makes the question that Naomi poses
at the beginning of this episode so ironic.
The story resumes in chapter 3 with Naomi saying to Ruth,
Now, taken by itself, the question is actually not so ironic.
Yes, of course.
Naomi should seek Ruth's best interest.
That would be a good thing to do.
It would be a kindness in return for everything that Ruth has been doing for Naomi.
Naomi should indeed find a home for Ruth.
But Naomi is about to hatch a plan that looks a lot like the plan
her husband Elimelech came up with when he made that fateful decision
to return to Moab.
If you remember back several weeks ago when we began our sermon series
in the book of Ruth, you'll remember that it turned out very badly
for Elimelech and his family when Elimelech had decided to go to Moab.
He was effectively turning his back on God and his promises,
even though he thought that he was indeed securing his best interests.
And this is actually what makes Naomi's question so very ironic.
Yes, Naomi should seek the best interests for Ruth.
But not by making the same mistake her husband Elimelech had made
that brought her family into such a disaster.
And even more than that, this plan that Naomi's hatching sounds an awful lot like
one of the most sordid moments of the Old Testament.
Naomi's plan looks a lot like the plan that Tamar hatches in Genesis chapter 38
to secure an heir from Judah.
Now, if you're not up in your Old Testament stories, that's okay.
This one's tucked away in the back corner of Genesis.
But the basic plot of that story is that one of Judah's wicked sons is struck dead by God.
And Onan, his brother, is obligated to provide an heir for his young widow, Tamar.
Now, Onan doesn't want to do this because providing an heir for his dead brother
is actually not in his best interest.
And God strikes him dead as well.
So we're left in the situation where Judah doesn't want to actually do this either
because he's scared that he might get struck dead and it leaves Tamar with only one option.
So Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute in order to get Judah to get her pregnant.
And the plan looks like clockwork.
Poor Tamar realizes the only way to get an heir from Judah is to dress up like a prostitute.
This is effectively the plan that Naomi is hatching for Ruth.
In verses 2 to 4, Naomi tells Ruth to conceal her identity
and sneak down to the threshing floor when the festivities have died down
and see if she can seduce Boaz.
Now, some of the cultural distance between us in Edinburgh 2017
and the ancient world of the Old Testament
can actually conceal some of the basic contours of this plan.
But the biggest giveaway is the fact that Naomi is telling Ruth
to uncover Boaz's feet.
Now, feet is a euphemism for genitalia in the Old Testament.
But even if you miss this, Naomi is telling this young woman
to uncover a man's legs in the dead of night
after he's been consuming significant quantities of alcohol
and to nestle up next to him on the threshing floor.
Now, if you hear in the previous sermons in Ruth,
you'll remember that we've even been reminded
there's a very real risk of rape for young women in the harvest season.
And that it's a good thing that Ruth is actually being protected from that danger.
But here we have this scenario
which sounds a very strong echo from the story of Tamar and Judah.
And this is Naomi's plan.
Naomi is also after an heir in place of her dead sons.
She's sending Ruth in to Boaz
with a slightly milder version of Tamar's plan
to secure the same.
My daughter,
should I not try to find a home for you
where you will be well provided for?
Yes, you should, Naomi.
But this is certainly not the way to go about it.
What's happening here is that Naomi is showing
that she has no idea what it looks like
to seek the best interests of Ruth.
She is just as lacking in wisdom
as her dead husband, the Limelech,
when he decided to head for Moab.
But in stark contrast to Naomi,
in this chapter,
Ruth and Boaz show us exactly
what it looks like
to seek our own well-being.
And this is at the very heart of the story.
Ruth and Boaz put faithfulness to God
ahead of their own interests.
They obey God
even when it comes at some personal cost
to themselves.
Now let's look a little more closely
at exactly what Boaz does.
We see that Ruth defers to Naomi
and she goes along with her plan.
So she covers herself up.
She goes down to the threshing floor
and in the dead of night
she lies down next to Boaz
and uncovers him.
What's kind of interesting
is how half-hearted Ruth is
in all of this.
She just lies next to Boaz.
That's all.
And the irony increases
when we hear that lying there,
the uncovered Boaz gets cold.
And he wakes up
and he literally bumps into Ruth.
Who are you?
I'm your servant, Ruth.
Spread the corner of your garment over me
since you are a kinsman redeemer.
Well, what is Boaz going to do?
He's being solicited by this beautiful young woman
but Boaz puts faithfulness to God
ahead of his own interests.
Ruth is offering herself to him
but he knows he cannot succumb.
He knows there is a kinsman
nearer to Naomi than he.
And unlike his great-grandson,
Boaz will not sin against his brother.
King David would take another man's wife
for himself
but Boaz refuses
to take a woman
who belongs to another man.
Boaz doesn't take Ruth
under his blanket like she asks.
Instead, he tells Ruth
to sleep at his feet
until daybreak.
He passes up what could be his
and he puts God
ahead of his own desires.
Boaz says yes to God
and no to himself.
But let's take a little look at Ruth.
It's even more under the spotlight
than it is with Boaz.
Yet again we see Ruth
put faithfulness to God
ahead of her own interests.
If you have been here
for the previous sermons in Ruth,
you'll remember.
We've seen this before.
There's a pattern of behavior
going on here.
At the very beginning of the story,
she declares to her mother-in-law,
Naomi,
your God will be my God.
And she leaves all that she has
and returns with Naomi
to Israel.
Boaz actually draws attention
to this next time
that we see Ruth
putting faithfulness to God
ahead of her own interests.
In verse 10,
he says,
The Lord bless you, my daughter.
This kindness is greater than that
which you showed earlier.
You have not run after younger men,
whether rich or poor.
Once she's in Israel,
Ruth doesn't seek out
a young bachelor.
Instead,
she's willing to marry
a kinsman of Naomi
so that she can give
Elimelech an heir.
But Ruth's faithfulness
doesn't stop there.
A third time,
we see her say
yes to God
and no to herself.
Ruth actually listens
to Boaz
and accepts what he says.
She embraces the possibility
of being married
off to some other
unknown kinsman redeemer.
Who knows what this guy
might be like?
Boaz is old,
but at least he's rich.
Faithfulness to God
now means turning her back
on what would have been
a very materially
comfortable life
with Boaz.
Ruth could very easily
have continued
with Naomi's plan
and seduced Boaz,
but she doesn't.
In fact,
it probably would have
been more tempting
to actually go along
with Naomi's plan now,
but yet again,
she chooses faithfulness
to God.
There's a nearer
kinsman redeemer
and she should marry him.
Once again,
she says yes to God
and she sleeps
at Boaz's feet.
In contrast to Naomi,
Ruth and Boaz
show us exactly
what it looks like
to seek our well-being.
They say yes to God,
even when it comes
at some personal cost.
They put faithfulness
to God above their
own immediate interest.
But why?
They do this
because ultimately
they know that we are
never saying no
to ourselves
when we say yes to God.
Saying yes to God,
even when it comes
at a price,
is always
in our very best interest.
This is something
that Jesus was eager
for us to learn too.
In Luke 9,
verse 23 and 24,
Jesus says,
if anyone would
come after me,
he must deny himself
and take up his cross
daily and follow me.
For whoever wants
to save his life
will lose it.
But whoever loses
his life for me
will save it.
Jesus is saying here,
if anyone would say
yes to God,
they will be regularly
required to say
no to themselves.
In fact,
Jesus is saying
that if we are
unwilling to say
no to ourselves,
we cannot say
yes to him.
Saying yes to Jesus
means saying no
to yourself
at regular intervals
along that path
behind him.
But crucially,
saying yes to him
and no to ourselves
is ultimately
in our best interest.
And that's what
Jesus means
when he says,
whoever loses
his life
will save it.
not only
do we receive
forgiveness of sins,
resurrection from the dead,
and eternal life,
but as we say no
to ourselves
at these regular intervals
down the path
behind the Lord Jesus,
our lives gradually
come to look more
and more
like his.
Is there anything
that could be
more precious
than having our sins
and guilt stripped
off our backs
and being clothed
with the beauty
of Christ
now and forevermore?
Following Jesus
will mean
saying no
to yourself
at regular intervals
behind the path
of Jesus.
It will present you
numerous occasions
when you're presented
with the choice
of saying yes to him
and no to yourself.
But whatever this
might cost,
it is ultimately
a very small price
for what he holds
out to us.
Is that something
you need to learn
afresh tonight?
Or perhaps take to heart
for the very first time
if you're following
Jesus without a cross
on your back,
take Ruth's words
onto your lips.
Say to Jesus tonight,
your God shall be
my God.
Jesus has overcome
the grave.
He's taken away
the power and penalty
of sin.
He holds the keys
to life in his hands.
In our time of prayer,
speak to Jesus
from your heart.
Do that too
if you are following
Jesus with a cross
on your back.
Learn afresh
what that means
tonight.
Pause to consider
what does that
look like
in my life?
Or perhaps better
said,
what does that
not look like
in my life?
Now,
in certain ways,
it actually does
look exactly the same
as it did
for Ruth and Boaz.
This is something
we shouldn't overlook.
Now,
the situation
they're in
is extremely contrived,
but God still
makes some claims
on our lives
in the area
of marriage.
For Ruth,
saying yes to God
meant making God's
choice of a spouse
her choice,
even if there came
some conflict
in between these two
things.
Saying yes to God
for Ruth
meant marrying
the nearest eligible
kinsman redeemer.
Now,
we don't live
under the old covenant
like the people
of Israel did,
but God still
makes a claim
on our lives
when it comes
to who we marry.
Paul is completely
clear that if we
do have a choice
in the matter
of whom we marry,
that person
must be a Christian.
He addresses this
as clear as day
in 1 Corinthians
chapter 7,
verse 39.
It's actually
the only verse
in the New Testament
that relates directly
to the situation
where a Christian woman
faces the decision
of who to marry,
and Paul says there
he must belong
to the Lord.
Now,
the risk of increasing
the awkward factor
by 100
and making the unmarried
people in our
congregation totally
embarrassed.
I'm going to do
that anyway.
I'm going to point
out that the example
of Ruth is an obvious
application for your
life.
Should you choose
to get married,
you'll find many
fine people.
You will meet
many wealthy people,
many charming people,
many beautiful people,
many interesting people,
many honourable people,
but God tells you,
you must marry
someone with a cross
on their back.
Now,
Kate and I have been
married for nearly
20 years now,
and that's long
enough to actually
be able to count
on our hands,
the number of
people we know,
our friends who
didn't marry
followers of Jesus,
and you know what?
They're not following
him anymore either.
That choice of saying
yes to God and no
to themselves,
that choice cost our
friends their faith.
So saying yes to God
in this area of your
life might well say,
be saying no in
exactly the same way
that Ruth did.
And we need to see
that God's way is
always in our best
interests, even if it
comes at a cost.
For Boaz 2,
saying yes to God
meant saying no to
himself in this area
of marriage.
Boaz knew that
sleeping with Ruth
would be adultery
against this nearer
kinsman redeemer,
and adultery is always
wrong.
Men, if we are going
to follow Boaz's
example, this must be
etched on our hearts
and minds.
And it must also be
etched on our hearts
and minds that yielding
to this kind of
temptation is never in
our best interest.
It can only lead to
disaster.
In this area of
marriage, saying no to
ourselves and yes to
Jesus actually looks
very similar to what
it meant for Ruth and
Boaz, even though our
lives are totally
different and this
situation is so
contrived.
But the really big thing
here is not to say,
it's not just about
marriage.
It's not the only area
of our life where we
face this choice of
saying yes to Jesus
and no to ourselves.
There are many other
instances in our days,
days in, day out,
where we face this
same choice.
The other night at the
end of an irritating
day, which was at the
end of an irritating
week, I was racing
down to the chemist.
Kate had rung them up
and said that I was
coming, that I might be
there a minute or two
after seven, and they
said, yeah, that's
fine.
So I get there and
they shut the door in
my face.
Now the irritation
omit is now sort of
inching into the red,
which is why that I
could no longer see
that I was faced with
exactly one of these
situations.
Where saying yes to
Jesus means saying no
to yourself.
So when I get there,
it's worth thinking
about, what would it
have taken not to tell
that chemist exactly
what I thought of him
for shutting the door
in my face, but rather
it would have said,
you have a good
evening, you must be
tired.
What would it have
taken?
What brings yourself
to saying no to
yourself and yes to
Jesus is seeing the
gain you are passing
by if you do not.
This opportunity to
say no to yourself is
an opportunity to
clothe yourself in the
beauty of Christ.
It's an opportunity to
be conformed to his
likeness.
when you see the
immense gain that
Jesus is holding out
to you, you will
always say yes to
God and no to
yourself.
Whatever that choice
might be, whether it's
a choice between a
harsh word or a kind
word, the choice
between grace or
bitterness, whether it's
a matter of our heads,
our hearts or our
hands, we will always
say yes to God.
if we really can see
that turning our backs
on this chance is
actually not in our
best interest.
If you can see
yourself clothed in
Christ's beauty, you
will want that beauty
more than whatever it
is that is alluring you
away from him.
If you can see
yourself reflecting
Christ's glory, if you
truly can see that,
you really won't take
up whatever shameful
alternative is
presenting itself,
whether it's a matter
of our head, our
heart or our hands.
Because isn't that the
choice that you made
when you first resolved
to follow him?
Isn't that what you
could see?
I was reflecting on
this a little later in
the week when a driver
nearly opened the door
in front of me when I
was riding down
Morningside Road,
reflecting on the
gain Jesus holds out
to us in denying
ourselves.
I was a little
better equipped to
handle that situation.
So what difference
will that make to
your life this week?
Perhaps it's worth
reflecting now on the
kinds of situations
that you regularly
face.
That where saying
yes to God requires
you to say no to
yourself.
Following Jesus does
mean saying no to
yourself at these
regular intervals on
that path behind him.
And the only way we
can say that to
ourselves is by fixing
our eyes on the
great gain that
there is in saying
yes to Jesus.
Not only do we
receive forgiveness
of sins,
resurrection from
the dead,
and eternal life,
but in denying
ourselves his Holy
Spirit clothes us in
Christ's beauty and
conforms us to his
image.
And we need to know
that deep in our
hearts if we are
indeed to not grow
weary in saying no
to ourselves when we
say yes to God,
even if it comes at
a cost.
And at the end of
this episode,
you know what?
The book of Ruth
wants to remind us
of this great reality.
At the end of
chapter 3, we just
get this little hint
of how the story
will end.
As Ruth steals
away from the
threshing floor just
before daybreak,
Boaz tells her in
verse 15,
take off your
shore.
And he pours out
six measures of
seed for her to
take home to
Naomi.
It's a little
hint of how the
story will end.
We see the
resurrection.
We know how the
story ends for us.
But here we go,
a little hint.
Boaz is giving
Naomi seed by
Ruth.
This is more
euphemistic
pictorial language.
The story will
conclude with
Boaz marrying
Ruth.
And we will see
Naomi cradling
Elimelech's ear.
We will see
Boaz giving
Naomi seed by
Ruth.
This little hint
of how the
story will end
reminds us that
God has our
well-being at the
very heart of his
purposes for us.
Saying yes to
God is never
saying no to
yourself.
Faithfulness to
God is always in
our best interests.
And that's because
God doesn't play
games with his
people.
No eye has
seen, nor ear
has heard, nor
mind has conceived
for what God has
prepared for those
who love him.
whatever it may
cost to say yes
to God, it is
not worth comparing
with the glory that
will be revealed in
us.
And when we stand
in the resurrection
and see the Lord
Jesus face to face,
we will not ever
regret relinquishing
whatever it was that
it cost us to say
yes to Jesus.
We will remember
that that was a
choice well made.
And so Naomi's
question is actually
a very good one.
Should we not seek
our own well-being?
Yes, absolutely.
We should seek our
well-being and that
of others too, but
that well-being is
bound up in the
promise of the
gospel.
And receiving that
promise inevitably
involves us saying
no to ourselves.
So why don't we ask
our Heavenly Father
now that he would
indeed give us the
grace that we need
to do to save this
every day to our
Lord Jesus.
Loving Lord, you
know our weaknesses.
You were clothed
in human flesh.
You still are clothed
in human flesh.
You knew our life
then and you know
our lives now.
We ask, Lord, for
the grace to follow
you down your path
with a cross on our
back.
We pray, Father, for
the grace to say
yes to you and no
to ourselves, whatever
the cost.
Fix our eyes, Lord,
on the joy that is
set before us.
And give us grace,
Heavenly Father, not to
grow weary in doing
good.
We ask this in your
Son's precious name.
Amen.