Ruth

Plans, Plots, Phonies, and the Real Deal

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Plans, Plots, Phonies, and the Real Deal

November 10, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17               Mark 12:38-44                       Hebrews 9:24-28

Everyone here will some sort of reaction to the words “conspiracy theory.” In the last few years, we have heard conspiracy theories about all sorts of things from election interference, to immigration, to Covid drugs, to emergency management organizations, to church politics, and all sorts of other things. Weirder still, some of the things that have been labeled as discredited conspiracy theories turned out to be real conspiracies. All those things make us suspicious of all the news that we see, hear, and read as we move forward and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But this morning, I want you to keep your “suspicion radar” turned on as we read scripture and as I read our first story, I want you to consider why Ruth and Naomi are doing the things that they are plotting to do.

We begin this morning by reading a part of the story of Ruth, in which Ruth, an immigrant widow, has followed her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Israel. But, with neither of them having male heirs, they do not have any legal access to the family lands to which they might have had access through their Israelite husbands. And so, they have been surviving by following the harvesters and gleaning what little grain they could find that the harvesters had left behind. Until the day that we join the story in Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 where we hear this:

3:1 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a homefor you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight, he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”

4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Okay, did you understand the plot that Naomi had hatched? Naomi was smart. She was a Jew by birth, and she understood the law and culture and as such she guided her daughter-in-law Ruth in what to do and how to do it. First, it is important to understand that Boaz was a distant relation to Naomi’s husband and as such, could help them access any lands or wealth that belonged to them. Second, Boaz already had some measure of wealth and land and could afford to hire laborers to plant, tend, and harvest the lands under his control. Third, Boaz had already noticed Ruth and Naomi gleaning behind his harvesters and had already given his hired men instructions to leave a little “extra” behind for them. We might understand this as charity and generosity, but as the story develops, there is also good reason to understand that Boaz had, um, “noticed” Ruth because she was nice to look at.

And so, what happens is that Naomi tells Ruth to take a bath, put on some perfume, dress as nicely as she could, and then go down to where Boaz was working on the threshing floor winnowing his harvest and wait for him to go to bed. Once he had laid down for the night, in the dark, Ruth was to uncover his feet and lie down with him. And that, my friends, is a kind of “stop the presses” moment in the story. This is both sexual and provocative. For an unmarried woman to lay down with an unmarried man was scandalous and shocking. Although it may not sound like much to our twenty-first century sensitivities, this is symbolically the same kind of offer that we understand to be happening when James Bond finds a naked woman in his bed. Ruth’s actions were submissive, sexual, and represented an offer that Boaz clearly understood.

And so, in the part that we skipped, Boaz, who was an honorable man, knows that while he is a distant relation to Naomi’s husband, also knows that there is one other relative who is a closer relation, and legally should have what we would think of as the first right of refusal. But the thing is, although the women didn’t have the kind of rights that we would expect today, the law was written to protect the widows. As such, the nearest relative couldn’t just claim the family land, they had to marry the widow and give her children so that the land would stay in the family. As it happens, the nearest relative of Naomi’s husband was already married, and his wife had no interest in him having a second wife. And so, that man legally, in the sight of witnesses in the city gate, gives his rights to claim the land to Boaz who then invites both Ruth and Naomi into his family and becomes financially responsible for both of them, and also opening the door for Boaz to marry Ruth.

So now that you know the rest of the story, do you see how smart Naomi was and how she planned and plotted? She took Ruth to Boaz’ fields so that he would see her. She knew that Boaz had noticed how pretty Ruth was. She knew that he was a wealthy, eligible bachelor, and she knew throwing the suggestion of sex into the mix might just be enough to get him motivated enough to put a ring on it.

But in our next scripture, we see far more evil sorts of plots being committed by people in positions of power and authority, not just politicians, but leaders of the church. In Mark 12:38-44 we hear Jesus warn the people.

38 As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you; this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Jesus said that the teachers of the law, who could have been any number of religious and political leaders, loved the deference and respect that people gave them when they walked about in public. They liked being treated as VIPs in the marketplaces, and synagogues, and public banquets. But these leaders who appeared to be both respectable and highly religious, and who made long and loud public prayers, were, at the same time, foreclosing on the homes of widows like Naomi, seizing their lands, selling them, and profiting from them. Oh, I’m sure that it was all nice and legal, but morally and ethically it was as shady as heck. In contrast, Jesus points out some rick folks who showed off by throwing large amounts of money, money that they could easily afford to give away, into the offering receptacles in front of an audience so that they could look good. They made so much noise with their giving that no one even noticed when this poor widow donated two copper coins that represented all the money that she had to live on.

Jesus’ message is clear. Between these two kinds of people, it was the poor that had greater generosity, and it was the poor who had greater faith, not to mention greater integrity. But it was the wealthy and respected, but absolutely phony, religious leaders who obeyed the laws of men while simultaneously violating the laws of God.

In contrast to these phony leaders who put on a show to gain respect while stealing from impoverished widows, Paul, in his letter to a group of Jews who had converted to become the followers of Jesus, writes about how Jesus was the authentic real deal. In Hebrews 9:24-28, Paul writes:

24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Paul reminds us that the priests in the temple offered sacrifices to God for the forgiveness of sins again and again, over and over again, day after day, and year after year. And on top of that, the high priest would offer an annual sacrifice for the forgiveness of the sins of the nation and for any other sins that might have been forgotten or overlooked by all the other sacrifices. And on top of that the high priest also had to offer sacrifices for any sins that he might have committed himself.

But Jesus was different.

Jesus was sinless. There was no need for him to sacrifice for his own sin because there wasn’t any. But Jesus sacrificed anyway and the sacrifice that he offered wasn’t grain, or wine, or the life of an animal. He offered his own sinless life as a sacrifice for the sins of others, for all of us, so that everyone’s sins could be taken away forever. Jesus’ sacrifice was the ultimate selfless act of generosity because he gave the most important thing he had, for something that he had no need of himself, in order to rescue the entire world.

Naomi plotted and carefully maneuvered Ruth through the tangle of culture, law, gender, and marriage to persuade Boaz to rescue the two of them and in doing so, became a part of the story of Israel’s greatest king and eventually bring about the rescue of the entire world. She didn’t know that, of course, but it was all a part of God’s greater plan.

Jesus warned the people that even their respected religious leaders often acted in their own selfish interests and used the legal system to steal from the most vulnerable in their society.

But Jesus was the real thing. Jesus’ gift to the world was completely selfless. Jesus gave up his own perfect life so that all of us, and the entire world, for all time and forever, could all be rescued from sin and death.

As we have watched the news and heard countless conspiracy theories, we have all become so suspicious and cynical that our natural inclination has become one that wants to follow the money or look for who benefits from the conspiracy. But that suspicion and cynicism breaks down with the story of Jesus. Jesus didn’t benefit from his gift. Jesus gave up the most valuable thing that he had s give the world something that we could never afford to purchase on our own. And, in the ultimate reversal of our suspicion and cynicism, Jesus asks, and even commands, us to share that gift with others. Because his great gift to the world can never be bought or sold, it can only be shared and given away, and it can only be accepted as a gift.

And this is where you fit. We tell the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And we tell how the story continues through the grand arc of history through Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, and how their family reached down to King David, and then through a thousand years of history to Jesus and the disciples. And now God is asking you to be a part of his story by sharing the good news and giving away the gift of rescue.

It isn’t a conspiracy. It is (sort of) a plot, and it’s definitely a plan.

God wants you to help save the world.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Almost Saved

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Almost Saved

October 31, 2021*

By Pastor John Partridge

Ruth 1:1-18                 Mark 12:28-34            Hebrews 9:11-14

I know some of you don’t watch football, but this past week there was a play that is worth talking about because it tells us a story that makes sense of a spiritual theme that we read in today’s scripture passages.  During a game between Troy and South Carolina, Jahmar Brown recovered a fumble, ran fifty yards toward the end zone and, one yard before he crossed the goal line, stated celebrating and threw the ball into the air.  The referees ruled that it was not a touchdown because he did not have possession of the ball when he crossed into the end zone.

He had the ball.  There was no one nearby that could stop him, success was certain, but he became overconfident and started his celebration before he actually crossed the goal line.  When our children ran track, we saw the something similar happen more than once.  A winning runner would start easing off just before they crossed the finish line and, at the last moment, the second-place runner passed them and won the race.  These stories remind us that it isn’t a touchdown until you cross the goal line, and you haven’t actually won the race until you cross the finish line.  The difference between winning and losing often depends upon whether you commit the effort to finish what you started. 

A spiritual lesson with the same theme can be found in scripture.  We begin this morning with the story of Ruth.  Ruth was a daughter-in-law of Naomi and, and both women were widowed while they were living in Moab.  Naomi, her husband, and her sons, were citizens of Bethlehem, but moved to Moab during a time of famine.  We join the story in Ruth 1:1-18.

1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So, a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”

Then she kissed them goodbye, and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”

11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”

14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

Naomi and her family move to Moab, her sons both marry local girls, and then both Naomi’s husband and sons all die leaving her a widow with two dependent children widow children.  Since the famine in Israel is over, and since she has no job, no family, and no support system in Moab, she decides to return to Israel where she at least has some family from whom she can ask for help.  But as they begin their journey, Naomi recognizes that, as much as she could use the help, her return to Israel won’t do any favors for her daughters-in-law.  In Israel, they will have the same problem that she has in Moab.  They will be far from home, separated from everything they know, and have no family or support system upon which they can depend.  And so, out of compassion, Naomi sacrifices her own needs and tells her daughters to return to their families where they have a better chance to be cared for, or to find new husbands and families for themselves.

Orpah resists and initially rejects Naomi’s offer, but ultimately agrees and returns to her family, but Ruth does the same thing that Naomi had modeled for her.  Instead of returning to her family and doing what was best for herself, Ruth sacrifices her own needs for the good of Naomi because of her loyalty and love for her mother-in-law.  And the sacrifice that we see in the story of Naomi and Ruth is a foreshadowing of an even greater sacrifice that Jesus would make in order to offer a path of rescue, reconciliation, and restoration to the entire world.  But knowing about the sacrifice of Jesus isn’t enough, just as knowing about God, memorizing, and even following, the commandments isn’t.  And that’s what Jesus is talking about with one of the teachers of the Law in Mark 12:28-34 where we hear this:

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”

32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Jesus says that it’s good that this teacher of the law understands the law and the commandments.  It is good that he follows the law and the commandments.  Understanding and following the law and commandments is almost enough because Jesus says that in doing so the teacher is “not far from the kingdom of God.”  Because he knows, understands, and follows the law and the commandments, the man is almost saved.  But something is still missing.  Jesus has hinted at it, but in Hebrews 9:11-14, Paul explains it more clearly.

11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtainingeternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

There are several things here that we, as well as the original recipients and readers of Hebrews, already know.  We know that Jesus is our high priest who intercedes between God and humanity.  We know that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for sin and willingly offered himself as our sacrifice so that we could be redeemed in the eyes of God forever.  We know that because Jesus sacrificed himself for us, we are forgiven of all our sin, can stand before God, and can live with a clear conscience. 

But after Paul repeats these things that we already know, he concludes by saying why God did these things.  He says that God did these things “so that we may serve the living God.”  The reason that God has offered us salvation and rescue is so that we can offer him a life of service.  We were purified for service.  We were saved for service.  The reason for Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and the reason for our rescue, is so that we can serve God. 

This is the same thing that we saw modeled for us in the story of Naomi and Ruth, and the same thing that Jesus was hinting at in Mark.  While it is good to believe in God, to know the law, the commandments, and the rest of the scriptures, and while it is good to follow the instructions of God, that isn’t enough.  The thing that Naomi knew, that Ruth learned, and that Jesus was teaching, is that after we begin to follow the instructions of God, we must also be so filled with compassion and love that we begin to model the sacrificial nature of God, to sacrifice ourselves, to sacrifice our wants, our needs, and our desires, for the good of others and for the good of God’s kingdom.

Knowing, believing, and even following are all good things, and they are almost enough.  Doing those things will bring us to place that is, as Jesus described as “not far from the kingdom of God.” 

But Jahmar Brown started celebrating and dropped the ball before he cross the goal line.  The whole point of football is carrying the football across the goal line.  And Paul says that the whole point of God’s redemptive work through Jesus Christ is so that we will live lives of service and sacrifice to God.

Let’s not miss the point and quit before we cross the goal line.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online).  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.