Audio Transcript:

Hello. Welcome to our online service, Mosaic Boston Brookline. My name is Jan. I'm one of the pastors here at Mosaic, along with Pastor Shane and Pastor Andy. We're so glad you are tuning in.

Here in the beginning, I want to tell you a story. The story is of my third daughter, Katarina, who is also known by Ekat, AKA Katya. Three names, three separate personalities. Katarina is her Russian personality. She grew up speaking Russian at home.

We recently discovered that she speaks fluent English without us ever having taught her a lesson. On top of that, we realized that she doesn't just speak English. She can speak valley girl English. And we found this out because Tanya, my wife, opens up her phone, and she finds a video of Ekat recording herself. And she goes like this. "Hi guys. My name is Jasmine. And I'm from Australia. And I'm a Christian and I love God. And by the way, can you guys comment and subscribe and like below?"

First of all, we have no idea that she watches YouTube videos. We need to do a better job with that. Second of all, I say all that to say, please comment and like and subscribe. I hate saying it, but it helps us spread the good news.

Okay. Let us pray before the preaching of God's Holy Word. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the gospel. We thank you Holy Spirit that you are with us. We thank you, Jesus, that you satisfy us, that you give rest to our restless hearts, that you fill us in times of emptiness. Many of us are running low. It's almost as if we're running on fumes that pray today, fill us and refill us both spiritually and physically bless our time and the Holy Word. And I pray you continue to build us up, continue to build up the church and continue to build up your kingdom during this time. We pray all this in Christ's holy name. Amen.

So, if you're tuning in with us, this is the third week in the Book of Ruth from ruin to redemption, the story of tragedy turned into triumph, of despair that leads to deliverance, from ruin to redemption. And today, we find ourselves in chapter three. One of the things that we've noticed is that the story isn't just about Ruth. The story isn't just about Naomi or Elimelek, or Boaz. The story is about God, as the divine director orchestrating the story, the details behind the scenes, the divine matchmaker, brings people together.

And Ruth is an incredible woman of God as we've learned. She's got noble character. She's a woman of excellence. The word in Hebrew for hesed means kindness. She's a woman of kindness, willing to sacrifice her own desires for the one that whom she loves. She's a hard worker. She's strong. She loves sacrificially, cares deeply and serves selflessly, and she knows that God is in charge. She knows that God is guiding the events of her life.

And that's a very unique view of life. That God is in control. That God is sovereign. That God is directing the details of our lives.

The story goes during the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the '60s. There were competing and conflicting views of God transmitted from the space capsules to Earth.

Yuri Gagarin was the first Russian cosmonaut. He was the first human being in space who reported back from his trip in 1961. And he said, "Землю вижу бога не вижу. " I see the earth. I don't see God. I didn't see God from space." We don't know if it's true, if it was Soviet atheistic propaganda.

Then in 1968, the American crew, the first manned mission to the moon radioed a different message, not that they had seen God, but that they had seen God's handiwork. They saw God's majesty. They saw God's fingerprints, spellbound world was watching them the first lunar trip and they heard how the three Apollo 8 astronauts took turns reading from the Book of Genesis. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

These views are completely different. They're completely diametrically opposed. They're conflicting views of reality. Which one is true? Which one of these polarized views is true? Well. We look at our world. We look at the details of our lives. We look at Holy Scripture. We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit. We have the person, the work of Jesus Christ. We believe that God is and that God continues to orchestrate and he is sovereign, and we can find hope in that message today.

Today, we are in Ruth chapter 3. Would you look at the text with me. It's a puzzling, curious text, so brace yourselves. Ruth, chapter three. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor."

Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do. And she replied, "All that you say I will do."

So, she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly, and uncovered his feet and lay down. 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'm 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. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman."

Now, it is true that I am a redeemer, but there is a redeemer near than I. Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good. Let him do it. But if he's not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until morning.

So, she lay at his feet until the morning but arose before one could recognize her. And he said, "Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor." And he said, "Bring the garment you're wearing and hold it out." So, she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city.

And when she came to her mother-in-law she said, "How did you fare, my daughter?" Then she told her all that the man had done for her. Saying, "Six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, 'You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.'"

She replied, "Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but we'll settle the matter today."

This is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, authoritative word and he write these eternal truths upon our hearts.

What just happened? If this is the first time you're reading this chapter, what in the world is going on? Seems so strange?

Well, it's strange because the chapter begins with the advice of Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law. Now, here's the thing about mother-in-laws and their unsolicited advice. There's a lot of things about mother-in-laws and their unsolicited advice, in particular when the son is not in the context to provide context and to provide nuance to the advice. So, you got to take it with a grain of salt.

More than that, you got to take it with six bags of grain of salt. That's point one. That's the point of the ... Be careful with advice from mother-in-law's deep biblical wisdom here, because this advice is actually foolish, potentially sinful. She's advising Ruth to take a turn from the straight and narrow, to go serpentine, to go around the straight and narrow and this wrong turn could potentially lead calamitous consequences. It's sinful advice.

But this chapter reveals something really important. This is really deep. It reveals the complexities and the contradictions of our hearts, even the hearts of believers. And it also shows a God who by sovereignty, super intense our sin, and uses it ultimately to fulfill his plan. Because God's plan always comes to fruition.

The chapter is composed of three scenes, it's like a scene in a movie. It's like a season in three parts and there's terrific cinematography here. And the action is broken down by three parts of the day.

Verses one through five is the opening dialogue of Naomi. After Ruth has just come home from working all day in the field. She's exhausted. It's late afternoon, early evening. The sun is setting. The shadows of the afternoon are setting in. And Naomi has a plan. And she proposed that plan to Ruth to secure a husband for her, but the feeling is foreboding. As the sunsets, there's darkness and it feels as if this plan is tinged with darkness as well. It's a terrible plan. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

The next scene is verses six through 13, it's the dark hours of the night, once Boaz has fallen asleep. Everything's dark, he's fallen asleep. Cue the scary cello music. I don't know why cello music is scary, but it is. It can be potentially. And you see the spiritual tension. You see moral alarm, as her heart is beating. Our hearts are beating. We're like, what is about to happen? Is it going to be as bad as I think?

And then verses 14 through 18 is the final scene. What happens when the sun comes up. And there's a palpable sense of relief. Boaz is a good guy. He's a godly man. And Ruth is a worthy, kind, godly woman. And what we learn here is that God can't be outmaneuvered, even by conniving Machiavellian mother-in-law named Naomi, who nicknamed herself Bitter. God's plan always comes true. That's what I want to talk about today.

Three points, number one, sin in believing hearts, two, rest for restless hearts, and three, fullness for empty hearts. First of all, sin in believing hearts. Naomi's advice in the very beginning was good advice. Once she heard that Ruth on her first day in the fields, actually met Boaz she said, "Stay close to him. Stay close to his women. Stay under his wing, under his protection."

And obviously she knows what's going on, that Boaz is a kinsman redeemer. He's a distant relative. He can redeem Ruth and Naomi. He could solve all of their financial problems. However, time has elapsed from day one to now this is the end of the barley harvest, about seven weeks. So, we go from end of April to probably mid-June, something like that.

And now, Naomi's getting worried. Boaz isn't hustling. He's not showing initiative. He's not making moves. We don't know why. Perhaps it's because he's older. He liked Ruth in the beginning. He took a liking to or he noticed her. He had nice conversation with her, but it's barley seasons, it's harvest season. He's got to work hard. Also, he's older, and it would be unseemly to make the first step as a much older man.

So, we don't know why he didn't hustle, but we see that Naomi is getting impatient. Could this be the one? Well, why isn't he making moves? Should we help?

And by the way, the Lord's bless them financially, has provided for their needs. He's given them a ton of grain that will last them probably over a year. And Naomi says, "I don't want just grain. I want to main for my girl, Ruth." That's what's going on.

It's not ideal, right? The situation isn't ideal. One of the things that you need to learn about scripture is when stories are presented, narrative is presented, you got to ask the question, is this prescriptive? That this is how we are to act? Or is this descriptive of how we shouldn't act?

And there's a lot of examples in scripture. Noah gets off the ark, gets drunk and naked, weird story. Descriptive or prescriptive? Descriptive. David commits a sin of adultery. Descriptive or prescriptive? Peter cuts off the ear of a servant in the Garden of Gethsemane. Descriptive or prescriptive? Descriptive. And as the stories are described, we need to interpret those stories through the prescriptive texts and that's how we interpret scripture.

Ruth 3:1, Naomi, her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you." She's seeking rest but she's restless. She's seeking rest restlessly. Her desire with the rest is security and peace and provision.

Ruth 3:2a, she says, is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? So, Naomi knows about God's provision for widows in the God's love, provision for rest. And she's now starts thinking maybe I need to intervene. Maybe I need to force the hand of God by forcing the hand of Boaz. God's taking too long. We need to do something.

Something happens when scripture presents the script of texts, where the real of what happens false so short of the ideal, God often intervenes with grace. When the real does not meet the ideal, there's grace available to turn the real into ideal.

What's the ideal for a young woman like Ruth? The ideal is for her, obviously, to be born in a solid Christian family, a family that loves God, submits to God, that teaches God's word. The ideal would be for her to have a father who cares for her and who teaches her and a father who actually vets her potential suitors.

Now, I preached this text in 2015 when things at home ... My daughters are younger. Now, I'm getting to the point where this rant that I'm about to go on is beginning to be real. And here's how I am going to proceed. Here's how I am going to vet potential suitors for my daughters. I am going to grill them. Sit down in a chair. We're about to take a four-hour polygraph examination and hair follicle drug tests.

Tell me about your family. Tell me about your upbringing. Tell me about your faith. Tell me about your theology. Tell me about your church participation. Are you a member of a church? If you're not a member of a church and you're not committed to the bride of Christ, then why in the world do you think you can be committed to a bride? That's number one.

Give me your pastor's phone number, number two. Tell me about what you do, your education, your job, your craft, your ministry. How much do you make? Honestly, I want like taxed ones. How much have you saved? What's your debt? What's your credit score? Where do you live? If you live in your mom's basement, that's already a red flag because scripture says the man shall leave his father and mother before cleaving to his wife.

Do you workout? This is really important. How much can you deadlift? Squat? Bench? How fast can you run a 40? How healthy do you eat? How healthfully do you eat? Do you have any habits hazardous to your health? What's your height, weight, IQ, dental records, background check. Can you pass a TSSCI? I want to see God's skills and life skills.

Ruth didn't have a dad like that. And Naomi isn't doing the vetting for her. Naomi isn't giving her godly advice. It's good intention and we understand her heart. And she's seemingly motivated by love. She wants the best for Ruth, cares deeply for her. But whatever her motives, she is too impatient. She's trying to outrun God's providence, trying to run ahead of God's providence. And that just doesn't work. A lesson we can draw here is that the single people and their parents and friends, be careful of an unhealthy obsession to get married. It could lead to trouble. Follow God, learn to be satisfied with Christ and whatever your life stage. That's what gives true satisfaction.

If you're not satisfied with Christ now, you won't be satisfied in your marriage later. The way you prepare yourself to be in a godly marriage, to learn, to be satisfied with Christ, learn to follow him. Ruth 3:2 through 5. This is the advice. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do. And she replied, "All that you say I will do."

Remember that last part, all that you say I will do. No matter how you slice it, and I've read every commentary on the text. No matter how you slice, no matter how you interpret, this is distressing counsel. It's both risky and it's risqué. Is she saying what I think she's saying? Yeah. She's saying get dolled up and wait until he gets lubed up. That's exactly what she's saying. It's advice that is fraught with moral danger.

Twice we've already learned from the lips of Boaz and from the lips of Naomi, that this is a dangerous culture for a young woman. That there's a danger of being assaulted.

So, Naomi says, "Stay close to Boaz's people." Boaz says, "Stay close to my people so you don't get assaulted." And now Naomi, driven by impatient sends her single, young, vulnerable daughter-in-law into a vulnerable situation, into a threshing floor, at night, alone. This is alarming.

And by the way, threshing floor was a place of indiscretion in that culture. What's going on here? What's going on, Naomi? What's going on in your heart? What the text is teaching us is you can take the woman out of Moab. But it takes a while to take the Moab out of the woman. You can take a person out of Moab, but it takes a while to get them out. We can get the Moab out of them.

She's giving her pagan advice. This isn't godly counsel of believing mother. This is a plan that was saturated with prayer. You can't cut corners and expect God's blessing. And this is the way of Moab that was a very sexually confused culture. And this is the way of our culture. We live in a culture that's also confused.

We've lived in this world for so long that we think the world is as it ought to be. It's not. What's normal isn't normative. How things are isn't how things should be. So, we need to always, always look at our decisions, look at our plans, look at our strategy through scripture and with prayer. Holy Spirit, what are you telling me to do?

The lesson here for all of us is be suspicious of yourself. Question yourself. Don't give yourself the benefit of the doubt. You need to know that, yes, even though you're a Christian, yes, you have a regenerated heart and you have the Holy Spirit. Yet, we're still in the flesh. And our decisions, our plans always have a tinge of the flesh in them. So, you need to be suspicious of yourself. Watch. Be on guard, scripture says. Fight the good fight. Make sure that sin doesn't flare up with renewed vigor.

And it happens when we begin to fall asleep, when we put our guard down. The punch that knocks you out is the punch that you don't see coming.

Jesus says, watch and pray because the spirit, the will, the desire, perhaps strong the flesh is weak, sin crouches at the door. The desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Be careful of the flesh in our decisions.

God got you out of Moab, perhaps he got you out of sinful life, but it takes a lifetime to get Moab out of us. That's why we need daily time with the Lord. We need daily time with Holy Scripture. That's why we need community. That's why we need the church. That's why we need accountability.

So, that's point one. Sin in the believing's heart. Point two is rest for restless hearts. So, this is the second part, the second scene of this season of this film, so to speak. The sun sets, verse six, so she went down to the threshing floor and did justice her mother-in-law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. And at midnight, the man was startled and turned over and behold, a woman was at his feet.

So much going on here. First of all, I want to say the word drunk doesn't mean that he was drunk. It's that he had drunk, that's just grammar in English. It's that he had some wine along with the grain as they were celebrating. And there is a godly way to celebrate, sanctified way to celebrate. But scripture does say that has to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.

So, he's lying down, he's sleeping. She comes, she uncovers his feet. His feet get cold. He wakes up and he startled, behold a woman lay at his feet.

We see his initial reaction proves that he's a godly man. His very first initial reaction is what. He asked her a question. Who are you? And that's a good question. That's actually a mark of a godly man. Ruth 3:9, and she answered, "I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer." Pause, pause.

What was the thing I told you to remember? Type in the comment section? Whoever types the first gets a chicken wing. I owe Natalie VanDusen a chicken wing. You can redeem it from me.

What did she say to Naomi? She said everything that you tell me, I will do. Something changed here. This isn't the script. That's not what you're supposed to say, Ruth. You're simply supposed to proposition yourself. You're simply supposed to present yourself.

And something happened along the way when Ruth changed the script. She goes off script. Was that Ruth or perhaps as her heart was beating, as she begins to realize potential consequences of this decision, perhaps you start praying and asking for wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit. I submit to you that it's the Holy Spirit that changed the plan. It's the Holy Spirit that changed the script.

She doesn't just present herself. She says, spread your wings over your servant. This is a euphemism for proposal. Spread the corner of your garment over me. It's the phrase that God uses metaphorically to describe his relationship, his covenant relationship with his people, Israel. In Ezekiel 16a. He says, I will cover you I will forever cover you. I'm your cover. I'm your refuge. I'm your shelter. I'm your rest. I'm your peace. And that's what she's asking for.

Naomi's plan, seduce him. Ruth's plan with the Holy Spirit, I'm offering you the opportunity to propose. I'm proposing that you propose. That's basically what she's saying.

And I love this part of the story because I love it when God's sovereignty overrides our sinful will. I love that. It's part of God's grace, that he keeps us from ourselves, that he keeps us from our own desires. This is what it means Lord, don't lead me into temptation, meaning Lord, I'm led into temptation, please lead me away from temptation.

If you're struggling with sin in this season, don't just fight it on your own. You got to fight it by the power of the Holy Spirit, asking the Lord to fill you on a daily basis and to protect you from sin and temptation.

And this is a highly irregular situation. It's a woman proposing to a man. It's a younger woman proposing to an older man. It's an immigrant proposing to an Israelite. It's a field worker proposing to an owner.

In the world's eyes, Boaz and Ruth are completely incompatible. But that's because the world's eyes only see the superficial. In God's eyes, completely compatible. They're both people have said kindness. They're both people of worth. They're worthy. They add worth to the people around them. They're both God-fearing people of integrity. They love God. They love his people.

Lesson here is, single people beware as you think about marriage. Beware of paying too much attention to superficial compatibility. And then married couples, continue to deepen the relationship that matters. Continue to deepen your ability to see character and worth and traits that God cares most about. Continue to deepen not just a physical relationship but a spiritual heart to heart, soul to soul relationship.

And also, I love how smart Ruth is. She's sharp. Verse 12, as she's proposing to him, proposing that he propose, she uses his words and this kind of tongue in cheek like a wink. Like remember when you said that? And she uses words from Ruth 2, chapter 12, the Lord repay you for what you have done and a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. That's Boaz talking to Ruth and say, may God bless you because you have placed yourself as a little eaglet under the big wing of Papa Eagle God and you are going to be protected.

And then Ruth says, would you mind being an instrument of God's wing? Would you cover me with your wing? And God's wing is over your wing. Would you fulfill your obligation and she says, "You are a redeemer." She plays that card. You're the redeemer. It's your job, start doing some redeeming.

And by the way, Boaz just woke up. He worked all day, then had a nice meal, a couple of drinks. He just woke up in the middle of night and she drops this new con ham. And obviously, this isn't the first time he thought about this. He's been praying about this. He's been praying for the Lord to show what his will is.

Verse 10, he said, "May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. And now it is true that I am a redeemer."

Boaz doesn't take a shortcut. He doesn't go wayward from God's straight and narrow. He doesn't see this temptation as an opportunity to sin. He doesn't say, "Oh, that's great. We can be married in God's eyes." And accordingly, he doesn't take advantage of a situation. He doesn't take advantage of a situation where he has the leverage of power and influence. No.

And by the way, most likely she looks better than he's ever seen. But it's dark. I don't know. But he doesn't focus on that either. What's he talking about? He says, I know you're a woman of character. I know your kindness, your hesed.

This is the sacrificial love. You've shown sacrificial love to Naomi. It actually doesn't make sense to the world. Did you have ulterior motives? But he's like, no, you're kind to her. And then he uses this phrase, you are a worthy woman. We've heard that phrase before. We've heard that when we met Boaz last week, that Boaz is a worthy man. He adds worth to the people around him by blessing them and adding value to their life.

And Ruth is a worthy woman. What's fascinating is, in the English Bible, the Book of Ruth follows the Book of Judges. In the Hebrew canon, the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Ruth follows the Book of Proverbs. And Proverbs 31 is about whom? It's about a noble woman. It's about a worthy woman, a woman of God. And the very last verse of Proverbs 31 right before Ruth 1:1.

Proverbs 31:31 says, give her the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates. Literally, that last line is all the gates of my people know you are worthy woman, a woman of noble character. Wherever she goes, she has the reputation, the perfume, if you will, of godliness, of honor, of worth. She is a walking Proverbs 31. She embodies Proverbs 31. Oh, may God send us more women like Ruth. She's got godly courage, godly determination to live as a true child of God, a true daughter of God in a place where very few are doing that.

So, that's great views, commencer character but Ruth 3:12, yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. It's a closer relative, but he says I'll take care of that business in the morning.

Verse 13, remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you good, let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives I will redeem you. Lie down until morning.

He says, "I want the best for you, Ruth." That's what true love does. I want the best. And I'm willing to sacrifice my own desires. If this other guy who's a closer relative wants to redeem you, you'll find rest. If not, I'll take care of it.

As the Lord lives he said, I'll do it. One way or another, you'll find rest. And Boaz here is pointing to a greater Boaz, to Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself because he loves us so that we can find rest, to provide rest, so that he could put his arm, his wing around us in the same way that Boaz ultimately does with Ruth.

Boaz points to Jesus Christ, who said, come on to me all who are burdened and heavy laden, I will give you rest. That's what we need, rest for our restless souls. A great quote from St. Agustin, Our hearts are restless until they find the rest in you.

Have you found your rest in Jesus Christ? And particularly in our season where perhaps you're growing impatient. You're growing restless. God, when are you going to intervene? When are you going to provide? When are you going to redeem? And God says, I will give you rest. Come on to me.

Point three is fullness for empty hearts. Verse 14, so she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize her. And he said, "Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor." He's concerned for her reputation. She probably made a mistake and coming at night to the threshing floor. But this is what love does. It covers a multitude of sins.

And in relationships you need that kind of covering. In any relationship, in friendship or marriage, or at work, once forgiveness is asked for, once a person has repented, we are not to bring up their sins. There's got to be a covering motivated by love.

Ruth 3:15, and he said, "Bring the garment you're wearing and hold it out." And she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. Six measures of barley, absurd amount. We're talking about 60 to 70 pounds of grain. That's like putting two medicine balls 30 pounds each on your back or one of my kids, right?

That's what's going on. It's so big actually. He has to help her get it off the ground. He lifts it up. She's getting lifted on her own. She staggers back out of breath to her mother-in-law, Naomi. And Ruth 3:16. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, "How did you fare, my daughter?" And Ruth says, here's the report. Here's how I fared. And throws the bag of grain on the floor, just dumps the bag.

Verse 16b, then she told her all that the man had done for her saying, "These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, 'You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.'" Don't go back to your mother-in-law, empty handed. This is the punch line.

And let me explain what's going on here. Boaz with this massive bag of grain, he's winking at Naomi. And he's saying, I know who's behind this plan, behind this seemingly subtle, not subtle. Behind this surreptitiously, I know who's behind it, Naomi, it's you sneaking around trying to play matchmaker.

It's a message from Boaz to Naomi that I am providing. I am going to redeem, but it's also a message from the Holy Spirit through Boaz to Naomi. Why do I say that? Remember, in chapter one, Naomi changed her name when she came back to Bethlehem and she said, "Don't call me Naomi, pleasant, sweet. Call me Mara, bitter."

And then what did she say? This is Ruth 1:21. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. And this is God through Boaz say, you've been empty. And you've been trying to manipulate me into giving you fullness because of your fear, because of your insecurity. You haven't trusted me to provide. Now, here's a visual aid so that you remember for the rest of your life, that when you are in need, I will always provide. He dramatizes the promise of that fact. You will no longer be empty. You actually have full and you will have overflowing. That's a promise of God. That God provides for his children.

This week in community group in our Google meet community group, by the way, if you're not in a community group and you from the area, please join the community. We have awesome community groups.

But we were talking about God orchestrating providence and growing and sensitivity to God's providence and we're talking about God's providence in particular when we have financial need. And it was a really relevant topic.

And we were just sharing some examples and I kicked things off and I shared a story when, in 2010, so a decade ago, Tanya and I, we were living in Lanark Road in Brighton and our lamp broke in our little entryway. Our lamp broke and we needed a new lamp.

So, Tanya went to Home Depot. She picks out a lamp, nice lamp is $140. She goes to the register. The guy rings it up and it comes up as one cent. He's like what's going on? Rings it up again and it says again, one cent. Now, there's a line forming. He rings it up a third time and it says one cent. And he looks at my wife and he says, "Ma'am, can you give me one cent?" So, he rings it up. She gives him the cent. She takes the receipt where it says one cent. She goes to the car in the parking lot and she calls me and she says, "What do I do? They charged me one penny for the lamp."

And you already know what I did. I said, "Baby, start up the car and get home ASAP. It's a gift from the Lord." So, I shared that story. Because in that season of our life, financially we were hurting. And I shared that story. And then I said, does anyone have stories like that to share?

And then this nice gal in the church says, "I've been hurting financially and I've got a complicated family situation." She said, "A friend of a friend of a friend heard about me hurting financially and sent me $10,000 this past week." Whoa, that went from one cent to 10 grand. I was like your story is so much better.

And then I asked, "Does anyone have a better story?" This other gentleman who was at dental school, he said, "When I applied to dental school, I didn't even know they're doing scholarships. And then I got an email that said, 'Do you want a scholarship?'" And he says, "Sure." And he said, "How much?" And they said, "$25,000 a year, for four years, 100 grand," just answered a prayer.

So, we went from one cent to $10,000 to $100,000. And then I said, "All right, we got to go 10 times more, right? So, who's got a million-dollar story?" And this gal says, "I hadn't make a decision when I was immigrating to the United States where I would live. And I felt that God said, you got to go to the Boston area. And that's when I got connected with this church. And that's when I met in community group, my husband, and he's better than a million dollars."

So, it's ought to say if you've got stories like that, do share them perhaps in the comment section right now if you're doing the full live stream.

The point is that God provides. That's the point. God is a good father and he provides for the needs of his children. So, be honest with those needs. Be patient in him providing and Naomi got the message from God. And her bitterness starts to evaporate starts to melt away.

God says, "My time will come don't force my time. Trust me to fill your emptiness." Jesus said, "I've come that you may have life and life to the fullness, life in abundance that will overflow."

Ruth 3:18, she said, "Wait, my daughter." That's funny. The woman who was impatient says, wait. She heard the message loud and clear and it resonated. "Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today." He will not rest until you find your rest.

And what is God's ultimate demonstration of his faithfulness that he will fill our lives, fill the needs in our lives? Well, it's not the cross and the empty tomb. Because the tomb is empty. God fills our life with grace, with mercy and not just with barley, not just with dollars, but with himself. He offers himself to us to satisfy our souls and hungry hearts.

God is for us who can be against us. He who did not spare his own son, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things. Turn to Christ today. Turn from sin, turn to him and follow his way. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this word. What a delicious word this was. So satisfying to our souls. Lord, I pray that you make us godly people, worthy people, people of hesed, people of kindness, sacrificial kindness, where we make other people's business our own business and their care is our own cares and their worries, our worries. And we try to meet any way we can.

Lord, we thank you for the generosity of the body. We thank you for the generosity of Christians, meeting one another's need, what a miracle that is. Lord, I pray that you continue to fill us with the Holy Spirit and equip us to serve you in whatever you've called us to do. We pray all this in Christ's name. Amen.