Father, we thank you for the great truth we have just sung. Thank you that you are a God who is with us. You are a God who is for us. You are a God who will never leave us. You will never forsake us. You have invested yourself in us. You have given your own son for us to redeem us, to pay the price, to purchase us back from the slave market of sin. And therefore, you will complete the work you have done in us and begun in us. So may we trust you. May we believe you. May we follow you, even when we can't see you or feel you. May you fill our souls with your grace and your goodness and your holiness and your strength. And now, as we open your word, may you work in our hearts, may you speak by your spirit in this word to our hearts. And may you now love your people through me. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you. You may be seated. Thank you, team, for leading us this morning. Thank you, Thorin, for introducing us to Men for Christ. I would encourage you to join us on March 22nd and 23rd as together we learn, as together we grow in Christlikeness. I invite you to open your copies of the scriptures this morning to Ruth chapter 2, Ruth chapter 2 in your copies of God's word. If you did not bring a Bible with you, we have a Bible there for you in the seat back of the pew in front of you. It's page 263, 263 in that church Bible. And as you're finding your place there in Ruth chapter 2, let me just remind you that we've been working our way through Ruth's story. This is the sixth in the story of Ruth, and we have four more to go after today, which will take us up to Palm Sunday, so we'll have a Palm Sunday sermon, an Easter Sunday sermon, and then we're going to head back to the New Testament, and we're going to spend the rest of the spring and summer discovering the parables of Jesus. And we're going to begin with my favorite, the parable of the prodigal son. And so I'm looking forward to that. But listen, I am so excited this morning. I'm sitting down in the front pew and my legs are going and shaking. And Joanna says, are you OK? And I said, I'll tell you in about 40 minutes. But I am so excited to open God's Word and to continue what I believe to be the greatest love story in the entire Bible, because I think unlike any other story, it points us to the glory and the grace of the love of Jesus for us. And so as you find your place there in Ruth chapter two, it's been said that true wisdom isn't knowing all the right answers. It's asking all the what? All right, let's try that one more time. I realize I'm beginning with audience participation. So it's been said that true wisdom isn't knowing all the right answers. It's asking all the right questions. Oh, you're so good. So good. Questions like, where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? But I believe life's biggest question is the one that's being answered right here in Ruth's story. It isn't the question, is God real? I mean, the characters in this story are sure that God is real. It's the question, is God enough? Maybe that's the question you're asking this morning. Because that's the question that a woman named Naomi is asking, and it's a question that she's wrestling with as she returns to her home in Bethlehem after a tough 10-year stint in the country of Moab, where she loses her husband, Elimelech, and her two sons, Malon and Kilion. And when Naomi arrives in Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law, Ruth, Remember now, they are both widows. Naomi says to her friends there in Bethlehem, I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty. After 10 terrible, horrible, no good, very bad years, God has not satisfied my soul. He's left me with a gigantic hole in my soul. Let's just admit this morning that we've been right where Naomi is, and if we haven't been, someday we will be. We've questioned whether Psalm 107 verse 9 is really true, that the Lord satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul he fills with good things. So if that is true, then why are there times that we feel so empty inside? It's what author Nancy Guthrie has said, perhaps you sense the deepest, most honest place inside of you is filled with the nothingness of emptiness. Perhaps it's an emptiness that's been brought on by the loss of someone that had filled a space in your life. And now your heart aches because there's an empty chair at the table or an empty seat in the car or an empty side of the bed. Or perhaps the emptiness in your life isn't about what you've lost. It's about what you never had. Nobody ever slipped a wedding ring on your finger. There's never been a child to call you mom and dad or a grandchild to call you Nana and Opa. Or perhaps this morning you can't identify the source of that emptiness. But in your best moments, you know that you've got it so much better than many around you. And so you've come to see that emptiness as your biggest problem. It isn't. It's your greatest opportunity. It's there to point you to the fact that what Psalm 107 verse 9 says is that it's the longing soul that God satisfies. It's the hungry soul he fills with good things. See, God uses that emptiness to bring you close to himself, to draw you to himself, to fill you with himself. And that's what he's doing right here in Ruth's story through a man named Boaz. He isn't just the right kind of man for her, He has just the right family ties to qualify him to be a husband to her. But remember that at this point in the story, she doesn't know that yet. All she knows is that today he has showered her with kindness. And that's why at the end of a very long but very good day, a good day of gleaning in Boaz's field and eating at Boaz's table, that she is now arriving at home with probably 50 pounds of barley. 50 pounds of proof that Psalm 34 verse 8 is true. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed and satisfied and full is the man and the woman who takes refuge in him. So let's pick up the story in verse 17 of Ruth chapter two as Ruth is about to make her way home. So she gleaned, verse 17, in Boaz's field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took it up and she went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied from dinner. And her mother-in-law said to her, where did you clean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you. She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, the man's name with whom I work today is Boaz. And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, may he be blessed by the Lord, whose hesed, whose loving kindness and mercy and grace has not forsaken the living or the dead. Naomi also said to her, the man is a close relative of ours. He's one of our Redeemers. And Ruth the Moabite said, besides, he said to me, you shall keep close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest. And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, it is good, my daughter, that you go out with these young women, lest in another field you be assaulted. And so she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests, and she lived with her mother-in-law. This is the word of God for us. And in it, we discover the big idea that God is enough to satisfy the longing soul. He really is enough for his people to fill the emptiness of his people with himself. That's the point the author is making in this part of Ruth's story when she begins walking home with full hands carrying that big bag of barley. It's so much more than she ever expected. I mean, when she left home this morning, remember that she was hoping for a man, any man who would allow her to forage for a little food in his field. Because she and Naomi are hungry. They've arrived back in Bethlehem. with nothing, including no man to provide for them. And that's why one of the questions we should be asking is, why doesn't Naomi go out into the field with Ruth to glean? Have you ever wondered that? Okay, so I'm the only one that has wondered that. Why doesn't Naomi go out into the field with Ruth to glean? I mean, Ruth is the foreigner here. Ruth has no history or friends here. While Naomi had been a resident here in Bethlehem, so she has connections here in Bethlehem. And it isn't that Naomi is too old to be out in the fields. If you remember back in chapter one, it's in the fields of Moab where Naomi hears that the Lord has visited his people, that he has provided them with food back in Bethlehem. So why isn't Naomi out in the fields with Ruth? And this is where we might expect Ruth to be thinking to herself while she's out in the fields, why am I the only one out here? Why isn't Naomi here with me? I mean, why should I have to do all the work and she gets to eat? If you had two younger brothers like I did, you would be thinking questions like that. But not Ruth. Not Ruth. She's merciful. She's long-suffering. And she's showing us that rather than complaining about the weaknesses of others, God calls us to bear with the weaknesses of others. Ruth knows that Naomi's in a bad place. Remember that when she and Naomi had arrived at Bethlehem, Ruth was standing right there with Naomi to hear how she introduced herself, how she reintroduced herself to her friends in Bethlehem. I left home full, but God has brought me back empty. So don't call me Naomi or pleasant anymore. Call me Mara or bitter. And yet Ruth stands there with her. And Ruth stays. with her. Do we bear with someone who's in a bad place spiritually? Or do we pile on them? Do we come alongside of them? Do we pull up to them to give hope to them? Or do we pull away from them? Are we Ephesians 4 verses 1 and 2 kind of people? Do we walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love? I don't know how this may apply to you and where you live. Maybe it's worth a co-worker. Maybe it's with someone at home, a husband or a wife or a child or a parent. Maybe it's with someone in the neighborhood. Maybe it's with someone who is in this room this morning. Bear with one another with all humility and gentleness, with patience and love. That's Ruth here. She's aware that while she's been out in the field working all day, Naomi's probably been feeling the emptiness of home all day. Naomi would have seen that wooden stool that served as a limolex easy chair. She would have seen the bed that her son slept in as boys. She would have seen the dining room table where they would have laughed and cried and eaten together. But that's all done. Because they're all gone. Now, all Naomi hears are the sounds of silence and emptiness, not just in the house and not just in her own heart, but in her belly. She's hungry. And so she has to be wondering when Ruth will be coming home and if she'll be bringing any food home, which is why she is blown away when Ruth arrives home carrying not just a big bag full of barley, but the doggy bag of leftovers from dinner with Boaz. Now, That doggy bag may seem insignificant in comparison to that 50 pound bag of barley, but I want you to notice that here in verse 18, the author is reminding us that at Boaz's table, Ruth had eaten until she was satisfied. There was more than enough. And as Ruth hands Naomi the doggy bag of leftovers, Naomi can't believe her eyes, which is why the questions begin pouring from her lips. Oh, my word. Where in the world did you glean today, Ruth? Where have you worked? I mean, all this barley in a single day and a doggy bag of roasted grain to boot. Who's behind all this? And whoever he is, may the Lord bless him for taking notice of you. I can just imagine Ruth kind of pulling back with raised eyebrows. Naomi, Naomi, Naomi, settle down. Hold on, or if you're from the 1980s, hold the phone. Give me a minute to catch my breath. I've spent all day out in the field. I've carried this 50 pound bag all the way home. My feet are killing me. So let me take my sandals off, catch my breath, and then I'll tell you everything. Which means it's a perfect opportunity for us to hit the pause button here. Even though I'm sure that we're all sitting on the edge of our seats this morning waiting for Ruth to spill the beans about whose field she's been gleaning in. But there's something that we might miss if we fail to give careful attention to the text here. Because there's a word that appears three times in the same verse. And verse 19, it's the word worked, worked. It's what Ruth's been doing all day. She's sweaty, she's weary. The big bag of barley is heavy, but she's happy because the bag of barley proves that she is committed to Naomi. She's all in with Naomi. She's got skin in the game here. She didn't show up in the field that morning asking for a handout. She asked for an opportunity to work. And when Boaz shows her grace and says, my field is your field, she doesn't say, hey, Boaz, you know, can you save me a big bag of barley? Because I'd prefer not to get my fingernails dirty. No, Ruth works. She works hard. not to earn Boaz's grace, but in response to Boaz's grace, because she will not presume upon Boaz's grace. And this is the perfect opportunity for us to just talk briefly about a theology of work. Three biblical truths about work. Number one, work is not a curse, it's a blessing. It is a gift from God. And that's why when God created Adam, Genesis 2 verse 15 says that the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. Work is good for us. Work was a gift from God before sin and the curse ever entered the world. Now, once sin and the curse entered the world, work became difficult. It became hard. But still, work is a gift. It is a good thing. And maybe that's why Boaz lets Ruth get her fingernails dirty. Maybe that's why he doesn't say to her, hey, babe, you know, I've got you. I'm the boss here. This is my field. I dole out the bounty of barley at the end of the day. So just go home, put your feet up, relax. I'll be by later to drop off a big bag of barley. You see, one of the ways, listen carefully, one of the ways God fills our emptiness with himself is by gracing us with the fulfillment that comes with hard work. That's why Colossians chapter 3 in the New Testament says, whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. You see, it's more than just a job. Because you, as a follower of Jesus, you are serving Jesus. That's one of the reasons I mow my own yard. At home, as a pastor, let me just be open and honest and transparent with you. By the way, are you still with me? I mean, all right, thank you. As a pastor, sometimes the fruit of your labor is difficult to discern because so often God's work is heart work, heart work. And heart work is so often hidden, hidden work. And so I need to mow my own yard. But after mowing the yard, I can sit back with a cold glass of lemonade on the patio and I can look out over that yard and I can say, hey, Joanna, Joanna, come here. Look, look at that. You know what she says? What am I looking for? It's just a yard. And I say to her, listen, it isn't just a yard. It's a wonderfully satisfying yard because it's a beautifully freshly cut yard. Young people. Young people learn that there is great satisfaction and fulfillment in making your bed and cleaning your room and finishing your homework. And adults, learn that the same is true for you at your job. There is divine fulfillment at your job because there is a divine purpose to your job. God has given it to you. God has given it for you. So don't be like the man I once knew who after retiring from a General Motors assembly plant, said, I gave 40 years of my life to this place and I hated every minute of it. Listen, even if you don't have your dream job, even if you'd rather be somewhere else doing something else, your job is still a gift of his grace that enables you then to become a conduit of his grace. Just like Ruth with Naomi here. It's Ephesians 4 verse 28. Do honest work with your hands so that you may have something to share with anyone in need. You see, it's through the grace of working that Ruth is able to experience the grace then of giving and sharing, not just that little doggy bag of leftovers and the big bag of barley, but sharing the good news of something much bigger, much better. Because when Naomi says, blessed be the man who took notice of you and let you glean in his field, Ruth just casually responds, well, his name is Boaz. And Naomi comes out of her sandals, Boaz, are you serious? Boaz? Now I get excited about that. Are you excited about that? I mean, I think Naomi is like really, really excited here. And she says, listen, God has got to be in this. So may he be blessed by the Lord, the God who's hesed, the God who's loving kindness and grace and mercy hasn't forsaken you or me or our late husbands. Because Ruth, do you know what this means? This big old bag of barley isn't just about God filling our empty hands with food. It's about God filling our empty hearts with hope, the hope of redemption. And I can just imagine Ruth saying, well, wait, what do you mean? You've lost me, Naomi. Okay, Ruth, let me explain. So today you unknowingly but providentially gleaned in the field of a man who's a close relative of ours. He's one of our Redeemers. Okay, Naomi, but you've lost me again. What does it mean that Boaz is one of our Redeemers? And I think she's probably going to ask that, or does ask that, for the same reason that we might ask that, because it's foreign to us. The idea of a Redeemer is foreign to us. just like it would be to her as a Moabite. Now, let me just say, what I'm gonna talk about here can be a little bit technical, but I need you to stick with me because what I'm about to share here plays a major role in the rest of Ruth's story. So it sets up the best scenes in God's story. You see, according to Leviticus chapter 25, A Redeemer was a relative who would come to the rescue of the family, the family members who were left behind after the death of a husband or a father. And in order to provide ongoing financial security for the surviving family, that Redeemer would pay the price to buy back anything that had been lost that belonged to that late husband. Anything that family had to sell to try to survive, and now that Redeemer would come and pay the price to get it back. But wait, there's more here, and this is where it really gets good. Because listen, if Boaz is willing to play the part of a Redeemer, it would give him an inside track on making Ruth his wife. In Deuteronomy chapter 25, God talks about leveret marriage. Now the word leveret literally means brother-in-law. And God says in Deuteronomy 25 that when a husband dies and leaves his wife without a son, then his brother or the widow's brother-in-law is to marry her. And when they have children, now the brother and brother-in-law will raise the children in the name of his deceased brother. Now, let me ask you a question. Does Ruth have a brother-in-law? Does Ruth have a brother-in-law? No. Who was her brother-in-law? Her brother-in-law was Killian back in chapter 1, but of course Killian dies. And that means that the closest unmarried relative would have dibs on Ruth. But it also means that he wouldn't be required by law to marry Ruth. Now hang on to that fact because it's going to come up big later in the story. All we need to know right now is that Boaz is qualified to be Ruth's redeemer, but God's law does not require that of him. And so the big question we should be asking is probably the big question that Ruth is asking here. So will he? Will he play the role of a redeemer? And I think the author of the story wants to build the suspense because he's holding some tension here in verse 21 where he refers to Ruth as Ruth the Moabite. which translated means, if there is a future for Ruth with Boaz, it's going to take some big time love and commitment from Boaz because she is a foreigner. She's a Moabite. And I think Ruth catches that. Which is why she says, Naomi, I need to tell you something. There's hope here, even though I'm a foreigner. Even though by law, Boaz is not required to play the part of a Redeemer. Because I don't think I've misread the cues Boaz has been giving me. I believe he's willing to do that and be my Redeemer. He did ask me to join him for dinner. He told me to keep close to his young men until they finish all his harvest, which will be for another few months. It's obvious that Boaz wants to keep on protecting me and providing for me. And this is where we should begin to see reflections of Jesus in Boaz. Jesus is the better Boaz. Because Jesus pays the price to redeem his people from our sins. not in cash, but in blood, His own blood. He isn't only the provider of our redemption, He's the provision for our redemption. He isn't just willing to sacrifice, Jesus is the willing sacrifice. Ephesians 1 verse 7, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace. And that's because as Isaiah 53 verse 5 says, He was pierced, pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with His wounds, we are healed. So what about you? Have you been redeemed? Purchased back from the slave market of sin. Is Jesus your Redeemer? You see, Ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9 say, And that not of yourselves, it is a gift from God. It is not of works, lest any of us should boast. And that's why we know what John 3 verse 16 says is true. How did he love the world? He gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. There is a redeemer for you. There is hope for you. There is Jesus for you. Have you trusted him? Have you come to him? Have you believed on him? Have you embraced him by grace alone, through faith alone? The one who will fill the emptiness of your soul with his amazing grace. The one who will be for you all the way into the future of forever. A better Boaz who will satisfy you with his provision and protection. Would you trust him? Would you come to him? And when you do, you can be sure that the work He has begun in you, He will complete for you, just like Ruth here. Naomi, Boaz is willing, I'm sure of it. Which is why Naomi says, yes, my daughter, you will be safe in Boaz's field. So go out with these young women, stay close to them, because in another field, I'll get it out here, in another field, you could be assaulted. And that isn't just good counsel for Ruth. That's good counsel for us. Because in our seasons of emptiness, There is a tendency for us to isolate from others in order to insulate ourselves from acknowledging that emptiness to others. But God built us for relationship. God built us for community. There is safety In numbers, Proverbs says there is safety in a multitude of counselors. And on top of all of that, one of the big ways that he fills our emptiness is through his people. So rather than isolate from God's people. Let's integrate with God's people. That's his safe place for you. And that's why we here at Bethel, listen, we need to be a safe place, a Hebrews chapter 10 kind of safe place where we're stirring one another up to love and to good works. We aren't neglecting to meet together or to get together. We are encouraging one another. And all the more as we see Jesus' return approaching. So let's stick with one another like Ruth and the young women in Boaz's field. And let's stick by one another like Ruth with Naomi here, because the chapter ends with a very simple, but a very important sentence. And Ruth lived with her mother-in-law. See, the author isn't only saying that Ruth is really committed to Naomi. He's saying that through Ruth, God is filling the emptiness in Naomi with himself. And the good news is God isn't done yet. And so you've got to come back to hear the rest of the story. But until then, until we get back together next week, there's a takeaway from this scene for us. When you doubt that God is enough for you, remember that he has redeemed you. If he has saved your soul, he is fully capable of satisfying your soul. Psalm 107 verse nine is true. The Lord satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul he fills with good things. And he will do that in your story The same way he does in Ruth's story, not in miraculous ways, but in everyday ways through ordinary people in ordinary places doing ordinary things like working in a field, like sharing a doggy bag of leftovers, through sticking with one another and sticking by one another. See, as you look into the field of Boaz and at the table of Boaz and all the kindness of Boaz, I would ask if you can see that God is orchestrating all of it, working in all of it, in this field, at this table, in this house, to accomplish your redemption. Because the great grandson of Boaz and Ruth will be King David, who will be the great, great, great, great grandfather of King Jesus. Do you see the links to which God is going in a little field, at a little table, through ordinary people to accomplish your redemption and to make you his own? And listen, there will be times and seasons where the emptiness you feel is so long and so deep that the only truth you have to hold on to is that He has redeemed you. And that will be enough. So ask Him to fill that empty space in your heart with that truth. and trust him to do what he has promised because as you are waiting, he is working. Not only would Ruth and Naomi stand before us this morning and testify to that, so would another young woman who lived 1,000, 1,500 years later in Bethlehem. And this other young woman would be a descendant of Ruth. She's a girl whose life would be turned upside down when an angel shows up to inform her that she would soon be pregnant before being married. She too would feel an emptiness of soul. Her wedding dreams shattered, her life plans altered, her hopes turned upside down. You know that girl, living in Nazareth, but traveling to Bethlehem to give birth. Her name is Mary, the mother of Jesus, the great, great, great, great, great, great granddaughter of Ruth. And in the brokenness of her emptiness, Mary, the mother of Jesus, finds God to be enough. When she says, my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my savior. He has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me. And holy is his name because he has filled the hungry with good things. There is a redeemer. He is enough for Naomi and for Ruth and for Mary. And so you can be sure that he is enough for you. Amen. Lord, these are your people. This is your word. This is your story. And so I pray, Lord, that you would take your pen to our hearts and write your grace upon our story, that you would open our eyes to the fact that you are enough. Even when we feel so empty, you fill the hungry, you fill the longing. Thank you for your redemption in Jesus. In his name I pray, amen.