July 9, 2012
"Yes, I know," Boaz replied. "But I also know about everything you have
done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how
you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete
strangers. May the Lord ,
the God of
The opening chapter of the Gospel of Matthew outlines the genealogy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Perhaps one of the chapters less scrutinized, within it lies some more than interesting names. One such name is Ruth, mother of Obed, grandfather of King David. Ruth is interesting for she not only has an entire book of the Bible dedicated to her story (although it was originally part of Judges) but she is also a gentile woman. How did this gentile woman come into the lineage of Christ? For that, we return to the eighth book of the Old Testament -- Ruth.
Ruth was married to a Bethlehemite named Mahlon. He was one
of two sons of Naomi and Elimelech. The other son named Kilion married a woman
named Orpah. So both Jewish sons married Moabite women, because that was where
the family had settled during a drought. Over the course of several years, the
father and two sons died, leaving Naomi and her two daughters in law. Naomi
decided to move back home to
But Ruth replied, "Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever
you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people,
and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.
May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to
separate us!" When Naomi saw that Ruth was
determined to go with her, she said nothing more. -- Ruth 1: 16-18 (NLT)
Orpah took the easy way out offered by Naomi but Ruth stayed true to what was right. The first lesson here from Ruth is that God is always watching our actions and He desires us to do the right thing, not the expedient thing. Did Orpah sin by agreeing to what Naomi offered in terms of going home? Of course not. But she chose what was most beneficial to herself and not to others. We never hear from Orpah again but Ruth ends up in the lineage of Jesus Christ. We face similar decisions in our lives as well. There is a famous line from an Al Pacino movie where he says that every time he came to a crossroads in his life he always knew the right way to go, without question, but he never took it because it was too hard. How much can we relate to that? Most of the time we get to these moments in our lives where we call for a forty day fast and lie in sackcloth and ash when deep down, we already know which way the Lord wants us to go. We know because we have His Spirit inside of us; guiding us. We know because it will not be the easy way. It will not be the expedient thing to do. It might cost us something. It might cost us everything.
So, Naomi and Ruth needed to glean, that is picking up leftover grain from the outskirts of property which were left for the poor. This was customary in Jewish tradition. Well wouldn't you know that the field Ruth ends up gleaning in belongs to a wealthy relative of her deceased husband? A man named Boaz. Because of the relation, Boaz is what is known as Ruth's "kinsman-redeemer" and would eventually marry Ruth; ensuring a prosperous life for both her and Naomi. Out of the ashes of what seemed impossible, God delivered.
The second lesson however is found in the key verses today. Someone is always watching what course we take. When we stand at the crossroads we must decide what we probably already know we should do. The question is whether we do it or not. Ruth and Orpah stood at the crossroads together and one went the easy way and one took the godly path. While we never hear from Orpah again, God shows us the whole story of what happens when we take the right road in our lives. When we stand at the crossroads and look down that hard path and decide to do what God wants anyway. Even if we stand against our comfort zone and everything on this earth that makes us happy.
We hear a lot these days in Christianity about blessings and seeking the blessings of God. But not many of us are willing to take the right road first. Too often we ramble on down the easy path and demand the blessings from God at the same time. You see, while the first lesson is that God is always watching -- the second lesson is that so are other people. The reason Ruth found favor with Boaz, as described in the key verses is because she took the righteous road when she stood at the crossroads. Boaz had heard about her refusal to leave her mother in law, to her own detriment. Make no mistake about it beloved. The easy choice for Ruth would have been to go back home as Naomi advised and Orpah did. Home was where she had stability and family. Home was where she stood a real chance of getting married again, not on the poverty path with an elderly widowed woman, in a land that was not hers; serving a God she was not raised under.
Likewise, when we find ourselves at the crossroads we might be facing having to leave our comfort zone behind. Maybe our church, our friends, our family. Abraham stood at the crossroads and chose the path that left everything behind to travel to a land he had never heard of. The result of that faith of course was his descendents outnumbering the stars in the sky. Peter stood at the crossroads when he was first called by Jesus and the Gospel tells us he left everything behind and followed. Peter left his business, his family and his friends. The rich young ruler stood at the crossroads and he chose the easy way of maintaining his wealth -- and that cost him everything. Ruth stood at the crossroads and chose the right path of not abandoning her mother in law and through that decision -- God blessed them both immensely.
The decisions at the crossroads are never easy. Most of life's big decisions rarely are. But there is a Boaz blessing awaiting us when we choose the right path, for the godly reasons. When we fight off the urges to fend for ourselves first. God is always watching. So is everyone else.
Rev. Anthony
