Amen. God, we are so thankful that you are the God of every grace. We're amazed that you would shower us with your kindness when we don't deserve it. But you made it possible for us to come into right relationship with you, to be near your family, to be a part of it. You did that through the sending of your son, our Savior Jesus. Jesus, thank you for what you've done. You've been amazing. You are strong and kind. You were strong before the law. As we rehearsed earlier from Romans 3, none of us stand before the law. But you did. You were perfect. You kept it. Thus, you did not deserve to die, but you willingly went there to lay down your life as a sacrifice for my sin, for my problems, for my mistakes, from my error. Jesus, you absorbed the punishment that the law brings. And you exhausted it and you were laid in a tomb and yet you gloriously rose from the dead as we've sung this morning. We are so thankful for that and for the grace that springs from that. We are so thankful that we can sing about the God of grace and we can revel in that this morning. We're so grateful. You were kind to us and as a part of that kindness you've left for us your word that helps us and I pray that as we study together the book of Ruth that you would help us make progress in our understanding of who you are. I pray that you would help our hearts as we encounter familiar truth again this morning. I pray that you would chip away at us, God, and soften our hearts before you, that we might worship you in greater ways and also represent you in greater ways in this world. So we ask for your help and strength as we open up your word even now, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, you can take your Bibles and go with me to the book of Ruth chapter two again this morning. As I share with you on Friday, I'll never forget the time that, first time, that I remember anyway, reaching into a jacket pocket, I was in college at the time, and feeling the texture of a dollar bill and pulling it out and being surprised, pleasantly so, that it was a 20. That was a sweet deal, unexpected blessing to be sure. And so as a responsible college student, I went to the business office and put that money down on my school bill. How many of you guys think I did that? No way, no how. I was like, milkshakes on me, boys. It's going to be a good time. So fresh 20, it's a good deal for a college student. That was an unexpected blessing to be sure. And it was fun. But I've had more unexpected blessings that had far more significance in my life and were actually formative in my life. And when I think about this, I think about a particular season in Catherine and I's marriage. And this was about a year or so, a little over a year maybe into our time in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was a period of time in which we were just kind of battling with some discouragement and it was shortly after Dylan was born. That wasn't discouraging. Dylan was great, phenomenal to have in the house, but we were in this tiny little apartment. Dylan was actually sleeping in the bathroom and great times trying to, you know, step over and not wake him up and whatnot. You know, we, at that time, like, we had literally no money. I mean, like, no money. People talk about not having two nickels to rub together. Like, that was us. We had that experience at that time. And it was in that season, though, that God just showed us over and over, over and over that he saw us, that we were not forgotten, and he cared for our needs and it was amazing. I could recount, I could bring Catherine up here and she could help me recount the ways in which God just showed up for us and reminded us in tangible ways that he's got us, he's holding us and we're going to be fine. We can trust him, he's worthy of our reliance. It happened through God's people bringing meals by, it happened through random checks coming in the mail that were unexpected. And then I'll never forget getting a phone call from a friend of mine that I've gone to Romania with many times. And he said to me over the phone, just like at random, right? He said to me, Dustin, my wife just got a different car and we have this Honda Odyssey that we were gonna sell, but the Lord just prompted me to call you and say like, do you guys want it? We'll just give it to you if you want it. And I was blown away. Utterly blown away. Again, we just had Dylan. We were already thinking about like at some point we're gonna have to go the minivan route, right? But those guys are expensive. And my friend is on the phone saying, hey, we've got this minivan, we could sell it. But the Lord prompted us to just offer it to you. We were blown away. God's goodness to us in a time and a space of need reminding us that he knows, he sees, he cares, he provides for his kids. And Catherine and I have drawn upon that season so many times. over the course of the last 15 years or so of our life. Because it was in that season that God just tangibly, in ways, proved himself faithful. It was so formative for us. Unexpected blessings that draw our hearts to faith in the goodness of God. If you'd allow your eyes to go with me back to Ruth chapter two, we come back to a text this morning that is filled with unexpected blessings. First of all to Ruth. She leaves that morning, if you note the opening of Ruth chapter 2, she leaves that morning hoping for a little grain and as you know she comes home with a bag totally surprised, overwhelmed by the generosity of God mediated to her through this guy named Boaz. But if you think Ruth was surprised, I want to say wait until you see Naomi's face. Wait until you see Naomi's face as you invest yourself in the text. Note with me your text, verse 17. So she gleaned in the field until evening, then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. I've already noted with you that that's about 30 to 50 pounds of harvested grain. Verse 18, and she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. Whatever that granola stuff was that she was eating with Boaz, remember that she saves some back and she brings that out in this moment. And then verse 19, and her mother-in-law said to her, where did you glean today? Now just pause right here for a moment. Because I just want to make a point in verse 18, perhaps I'm making a little much of this, but I want to make a point about the fact that verse 18 is silent in terms of Naomi. Again, just be a little bit imaginative as you look at the Bible, especially in historical narratives. Be a little bit imaginative. Again, note with me verse 18, and I've got a couple of props here that I hope will help. I don't think they had Purina back then, but if you will, this is a 30 pound sack, all right? 30 pound sack of goat feed, actually. But just imagine that this is Ruth carrying her 30 pounds of harvested grain. She comes back and Naomi is watching her arrive, but verse 18, she doesn't say anything, right? She's not saying anything until verse 19. Ruth, just imagine, plops down this massive bag. It's a nice little boom right there, right? Can you imagine this? She plops down this bag, dust flies up, and Naomi's just watching it like... And then what? Ruth, watching her mother-in-law's face, perhaps I'm reading into this a little bit, but I don't really think so. Naomi's stunned. I mean, she's silent. She's speechless. For the first time in the narrative, she's speechless. She has nothing to say. Then Ruth goes into her pockets, and she pulls out this little bag. I mean, surely they had Ziploc back then, right? She pulls out this bag of granola, and she's like, check this out, you know. Mom, have some dinner. And still nothing from Naomi. until you get to verse 19. So I'm guessing that there's some space in there, right? By the time Ruth arrives, plops down the bag, then pulls out the granola, and Naomi's starting to feed herself. Finally, verse 19, she responds. And I'm making a point with this. My point is that I think Naomi is utterly shocked, my friends. She's utterly shocked by this unexpected blessing. I mean, if you can visualize this, visualize Naomi's eyes widen as perhaps her hand goes over her mouth before she speaks, verse 19. Perhaps she stutters. Where did you glean today? Who has showed kindness to you? Right? Naomi knows by looking at that bag, this is not just the product of Ruth's work that day. She's had some help. She's had a lot of help. And so Naomi instinctively knows she's been blessed, like extraordinarily blessed in this moment. And thus, Naomi now emotes with praise. She emotes with vertical praise. Note your text, verse 19. Where have you worked? And then she says, blessed be the man who took notice of you. Ultimately, this is going to be ascribed to God, but just be encouraged right here, my friends, that Naomi's recognizing that someone has taken notice of them. Someone has seen them. Blessed is the man who took notice of you. So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, this is Ruth, the man's name with whom I work today is Boaz. Now, Naomi doesn't really respond in full here, but no doubt she is already starting to think something. She knows who Boaz is, right? This guy is indeed a prospect. So verse 20, and Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead." She emotes with praise. Blessed be this man by the Lord, whose kindness. Now, there's some debate about the phrase whose kindness, what does this modify? Does it modify Boaz or the Lord? But ultimately it doesn't ultimately matter, right? Because it's either Yahweh himself directly blessing her and she's praising him or Yahweh mediating his blessing to her through Boaz. Either way, Naomi is praising God. It's vertical praise to the Lord in this moment. So Naomi also said to her, the man is a close relative of ours, one of our Redeemers. What does that mean? We'll talk about that a little more in a moment and especially next week, but let's see how the text resolves. Verse 21, and Ruth the Moabite said, besides, in addition, he said to me, you shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest. And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, it is good. Don't you love this? It is good, so good indeed, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted." 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. So With the end of this chapter, it takes you all the way to the end of the barley harvest, the wheat and barley harvest, which is probably about two months. So all of that doesn't transpire in a day, but the change in the narrative occurs in one day. And it's safe to say, my friends, that Naomi is totally blown away. When Ruth comes back with the bag, my friends, and then with the story about Boaz, immediately you see that this woman starts to defrost. This hardened, frosty widow becomes soft in this moment of unexpected blessing. It changes her. My friends, first of all, know with me that it changes her view of her father. This moment of unexpected blessing changes how Naomi sees her father. Now, in order to really see this, you have to compare her two speaking parts. Right? What was her last moment in the story? Or if you're watching this unfold on screen, what was her last moment? Her last moment with the speaking part is really chapter one in verse 20. So compare and contrast with me for a moment chapter one in verse 20 and 21 with chapter two in verse 20. One, 20 and 21, we've looked at this already a number of times. This is salty, Naomi. This is frosty, Naomi. Do not call me Naomi, in fact. She says, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. Now note the change. Chapter 2 and verse 20, what does she say? May he be blessed by the Lord. May this guy Boaz be blessed by Yahweh, whose kindness Yahweh's kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead. What a dramatic shift. This is like Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve to Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas day, right? Bah humbug to Merry Christmas. What a shift, dramatic shift, and it all turns I want to say to you, it all turns on the hinges of this unexpected blessing. So before, Naomi was hindered, perhaps by the difficulty of the situation, perhaps she's hindered by grief, or perhaps she's blinded by bitterness. We don't know exactly. But ultimately, in this moment, she now begins to warm. She now starts to see and understand that God has not forgotten her. She starts to see and make sense of the goodness of God. Friends, it's clear that in chapter 1, Naomi believes in the sovereignty of God or she believes in the omnipotence of God. What she struggles with is the goodness of God. She doesn't struggle to believe that God is in control. She doesn't struggle to believe that God is sovereign. You see that all over chapter one. In fact, you see that right here on the screen. The almighty. He is the almighty one. And it's him that has dealt bitterly with me. This is her lament about God or her lament about her plight in this moment. She doesn't struggle to believe that God's in control. What she struggles to believe is that God is good. But my friends, when Ruth plopped down the bag and pulls out the granola, suddenly her heart begins to thaw. Suddenly her mind begins to change about God. So note again the text and note the language that you see here, chapter 2, verse 20, his kindness. This is the second time that the word has said has been used in this narrative. The first is when Naomi prays it over Ruth and Orpah. that they might know the kindness of God, the hesed of God, but in that moment, she doesn't really believe that this kindness is really coming her direction. But now she does. Now she understands that God's kindness is really kind. His loyalty is really loyal. He is truly faithful. So Naomi praises. His kindness has not left. He is truly favorably disposed of his kids. He does care. He does see. He has not forsaken us. He is loyal. He is faithful. Amen. And it all turns for Naomi in this moment, seeing a glimpse of the goodness of God. His kindness has not forsaken. On top of what we've already noted, notice with me that she says, has not forsaken the living or the dead. God is over the top in her view, caring not only for her and Ruth, but also for the name and legacy of her husband and her boys by ensuring in this moment that their widows are provided for and cared for. And there's actually more here, which we'll get to next week. I think what she's remembering is, in this moment, who God actually is. She was struggling to see it for a while, right? And we can understand that. We can all relate to that. She was struggling to see it, but now, in a moment, when God provided plopped down in her lap, this unexpected blessing, it starts to become clear again. Her heart starts to warm again. She's reminded of what Sally Lloyd-Jones says in the Jesus Storybook Bible. I love this. No matter what, in spite of everything, God loves his children with a never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love. Amen? This is our God. So in a moment, with a sack of grain and an utterance of a name, called Boaz. It's like the dam breaks for her. And her awareness of the goodness of God just comes cascading into her soul. She's amazed fresh at the goodness of God. But on top of this, she's also renewed with hope for the future. So, This unexpected blessing changes how she sees her father, but it also changes how she sees their future. If you again note with me your text, Naomi goes on to say that this man, Boaz, the guy who she's been with, the guy who's responsible for the bag, this guy is one of our redeemers. Can you just imagine Naomi in this moment? She's blown away, right? Not only by the provision, but also by the sovereign movement of God to direct Ruth to the field of this guy, who's not just generous, not just kind, he's also one of our Redeemers. So what is our Redeemer? What does he mean by this? Well, the Hebrew term goel is another rich Hebrew word. It's another rich concept. In fact, if there's two Hebrew words that you want to know from the Old Testament, I would say they're both in this verse, hesed and goel. Hesed, God's kind, loyal, faithful love to his people. and Goel, this concept of a Redeemer. Now, we're going to look into this with more depth next week, next Sunday. But for now, just understand in brief or in simple that a Redeemer in this construct of a family, a clan as it were, a Redeemer was a close male family member of a person in need or a person who was vulnerable, who was responsible to sort of step in and provide provision and protection for that person, for that individual or family in need. So the Redeemer or go well, as it were, was part benefactor and part avenger. Now, I'll break that down for you next Sunday, but understand at this level, Boaz is now seen by Naomi as the perfect man to provide for them, but also protect them and ensure the legacy of their husbands would continue and another legacy as well. So the reality of Boaz here in this moment is a big deal. Okay, it's a big deal. But at this juncture, I just want to point out something to you. My friends, that's important for us as a takeaway today. Hear me on this. Though this moment with Ruth is a surprise to Naomi, the realities that become increasingly clear for her aren't new. Would you think about that with me? Though this moment with Ruth is a surprise to Naomi, with the bag, with the granola, with Boaz, the whole thing, it all shifts in a day. It's a shocking, unexpected blessing for Naomi. It's not new. The information, in other words, is not new. Naomi would have known that these family members existed. She knew about the Redeemers, the Goel. She knew about Boaz. Bethlehem was not a large metropolis. She would have known who Boaz was. Moreover, Naomi already knew about the kindness, the hesed of God. Again, she prayed Yahweh's hesed over Ruth and Orpah in chapter one. So this is not new information. The problem is that she just couldn't see it. And I just want you to think about this with me. The issue is not that Naomi wasn't aware that God is loyal, faithful, kind, loving. She just struggled to believe it for herself. Moreover, she was not unaware of the reality of Boaz. It's just not something she saw. She couldn't visualize it. She couldn't see it. Again, perhaps she's blinded by her bitterness or unable to see due to the hardness of her situation and the difficulty that she's going through. Maybe the grief has closed her eyes or closed her mind. But the bottom line is, in a moment, with an unexpected blessing, it all starts to become clear. I just want to say to you, if that's where you are today, You're in a space where you're going, I know, intellectually, that God is good. I could pass a test, man. Give me a test, Dustin, I'll pass it. I know who God is, theoretically. I just struggle to believe it for me. I know that God is real, and I know that God is good, but I'm struggling to see it in my life. If that's you, I want you to pay close attention to this moment because in this moment, in his sovereign timing, God plops this blessing, unexpected blessing in Naomi's lap and suddenly she's reminded once again, my friends, she's reminded God is good. God is faithful. He has not left. Make no mistake, in chapter one, we enshrined together an understanding that a Godward lament is a good thing. It's a good thing to be honest and express that honesty vertically to God. To express, God, I don't feel you. I don't see you at work in my life. Or why this? Why that? It's a good thing to express this vertically. But I want to compliment that with, as you do that, just watch for God's unexpected blessings to plop into your life as God gently reminds you over and over again, I haven't forgotten you. I haven't failed to notice you. I've got you. I see you. You can trust me. I love what Paul Miller says on this score. He puts it this way. God literally fills Naomi up. In this moment of unexpected blessing, God literally fills Naomi up. He provides not only a meal, but also a complete plan for the harvest time and protection for Ruth. God responds to Naomi's lament with love, not a lecture. Isn't this good, my friends? God responds to Naomi's lament with love, not a lecture. He tenderly proves her wrong with an overwhelming generosity. God is doing hesed with Naomi, outloving her grief. So God is plenty big enough to welcome her lament, but he's so good to prove her wrong. Isn't this great? So good to prove her wrong. You guys can say amen or something. I mean, gracious, I find this so encouraging for my soul and for the experience of my life. It's so easy to forget, is it not? It's so easy to forget and to get inside of life and to encounter difficulties and frustrations and discouragements and go, God, do you really see me? Are you really working in this world? I'm not seeing it. Amen. But some of us aren't, that's the reality. Some of us aren't. And the point is, friends, just keep watching and keep looking for the goodness of God because he will remind you. Over and over again, he will remind you. He will give you moments like this. If you're watching, he will plop his grace into your lap in a way that you just can't not see. God is famous for unexpected glimpses of his grace. So I sent an email to a handful of people in this room this week just to just to be able to share with you this morning, some real life practical examples of what I'm talking about from some, some of your brothers and sisters, people in the room with you. All right. So I got a lot of responses. I'll only take the time to read three. All right. So if you sent me an email and I didn't read yours, I apologize, but they were all so good and so encouraging for my soul, but I just wanted to read these three. These again are coming from people inside the room with you this morning. One couple was facing an intense loss, intense loss and struggling to see that God really cared. And this is what they wrote, in a time of great loss and heartache, when we were feeling all alone and not sure how to even take a next step, God sent people. They would call. or text verses or songs or words of encouragement that only God would know would answer that heart cry at that very moment. We would be praying, God help us to make it through today. Our hearts are breaking and God sent people to say, I'm praying this for you and include a verse. It was exactly what I had been wrestling with or struggling with, even struggling with God with. But we realized that God was speaking through his people, through human instruments. Another person, this is from a wife and mom in the church that was in this moment. Man, resonate with this. In light of my earlier testimony, wife and mom wrestling with God about whether or not they could afford to give to the church. This is so real, right? In these seats, wrestling with, like, can we really afford to give? And this is what she writes. By the way, I'm sure she probably wrestled with thoughts like, it sure would be nice to give out of abundance, right? But in this moment, that's not the situation, and yet this is the blessing. When God brings you to moments like this, this is the blessing. She went on to say, I was struggling with writing a tithe check and I prayed that we would be okay without the 300 bucks. And before we pulled out of the parking lot of church that morning, someone stopped us and we rolled down the window and they handed us $300 cash. How amazing is that? You can clap for that. Just praise the Lord. What a blessing. Okay, last one. Another wife and mom trying to raise a bunch of kids and husband was between jobs at the time. And she writes, money was very tight and I had gone to the store with a formula coupon to buy formula. A man stopped me and asked what brand of formula I used. He came back into the store with a case of the exact formula for her. And get this, he was a formula representative. I wept in the store and told the kids, God sees us. God will provide for us. A few months later he dropped off about 12 cases of formula for us. And from that meeting in the store, I never made another formula purchase. And here's what she goes on to write, and this will preach. When my faith gets thin and I start to doubt how he will work in a situation for his glory, I remember myself a weary mom, a paper coupon, and meeting a formula representative that was there to point us to Jehovah Jireh. These are the moments, my friends, amen. Amen. These are the moments in which God is saying, I'm with you in Christ, I'm for you, I see you. Don't doubt. If you doubt and you lament, I'll take that and I'll answer. This is what he does for Naomi. In order to see this, you have to juxtapose the end of chapter one with the end of chapter two. The end of chapter one, she's bitter and broken and a hollow, a shell of herself, believing at some level, God has forgotten me. He might be theoretically good, but he's not good in my purview. And in one day, In one day, God plops a bag in her world and a little Ziploc bag of granola and begins to thaw her heart and thaw her mind and say to her once again, I have not forgotten you. I see you. You need only to trust me. And so friends, I wanna encourage you today, just finally as we close, Number one, beware of how easy it is to forget His goodness in the hard. Don't hear that as a scold. Hear that as an encouragement. Beware of how easy it is to forget His goodness in the hard. I'm with you. It is so easy to get tunnel vision in the hard. and to forget to lose sight of all the ways in which God has proven himself time and time again to be truly good. But this is what Naomi does here for sure. Again, she already knows about the hesed of God. She's already aware of Boaz. Somehow she's forgotten it in terms of her life until a moment, until a moment when God reminds her He's still here. Number two, be amazed at the unexpected blessings when they come. Be amazed. Don't just say thank you and then move on or we're out of that hole, out of that pinch and then move on. Something that is beautiful in the Old Testament that I think we can learn from is the fact that there are moments in which they set up monuments, right? They build these little monuments of stones so that they won't forget. One of the more famous ones is in the book of Joshua after they crossed the Jordan River and God tells them to set up this monument of 12 stones at Gilgal. And then he explains why. So that when the kids, dads, moms, when the kids ask, what is that for? You can tell them, how God led his people out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, and then through the wilderness, then through the Jordan River, and how God, it seems, likes opening up water for his kids, right? And all that points to the fact that God is providing. Whatever he leads for, he will provide for. Be amazed at the unexpected blessings of God when they come. Write them down, my friends, record them, rehearse them, And then share them with one another. All right? Just as I have done today, share them with one another. In fact, I would like to just request, if it's okay with Matt Wells, I assume it will be. It okay, Matt? Are you down over here? We good with this? Small group this week, do that. Just rehearse these kind of things. If you get together in community groups, small group this week, rehearse moments like this in which you saw the goodness of God on display. So be amazed. And then thirdly, as we close, be regular before the most unexpected blessing of all. We're at the cross. Jesus died for you. That is the most unexpected blessing. If and when you feel forgotten of God, not seen, not heard, not noticed, look at the cross and be reminded once again, my friends, that these are the lengths to which God was willing to go to get you into his family. He sent his son, our savior, Jesus Christ, and Jesus hung on that cross in your place out of astonishing love for you, astonishing love for you. You'll never outdo this one. This amazing, unexpected blessing. Moreover, the fact that he rose again. What a blessing it is that those people went to the tomb that morning and they were surprised, let me tell you. They were surprised to find it empty. Amen? It is empty indeed. When I was on the way to church this morning, this was the song that came on the radio first, and I'll just close with this. When my heart is racing deep inside my chest, when I'm underneath the weight of anxiousness, when my fear is raging and I can't catch my breath, I will remember you are faithful still. You have carried me through deeper waters, walked beside me through the fire, faithful still. You have closed the mouth of bigger lions, conquered even greater giants, gone before me and you always will. You are faithful still. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for your grace. Thank you so much for how you shocked and surprised Naomi. I'm so thankful that You continue to shock and surprise us today. You are so good. And so this morning, I just want to pray for someone in the room that is struggling to see the goodness of God. They don't doubt that you're in control. They doubt that you're good. Help them to understand this morning that you understand, and yet you have not forsaken them. You see them. Remind them today that you are good. In Jesus' name.