LISTEN
This sermon was preached by Tom O’Toole at the Ladybarn site of Christ Church Manchester on Sunday 20th June 2021.
SERIES
This message was part of the ‘SERIES NAME’ series, preached at Christ Church Manchester’s church in Withington in EARLY/MID/LATE YEAR. The full series included the following sermons:
BIBLE VERSES
This sermon was based on Ruth 4:1-22.
Boaz marries Ruth
1Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, ‘Come over here, my friend, and sit down.’ So he went over and sat down.
2Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, ‘Sit here,’ and they did so. 3Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, ‘Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no-one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.’
‘I will redeem it,’ he said.
5Then Boaz said, ‘On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.’
6At this, the guardian-redeemer said, ‘Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.’
7(Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalising transactions in Israel.)
8So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, ‘Buy it yourself.’ And he removed his sandal.
9Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, ‘Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his home town. Today you are witnesses!’
11Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.’
Naomi gains a son
13So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14The women said to Naomi: ‘Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.’
16Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17The women living there said, ‘Naomi has a son!’ And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
The genealogy of David
18This, then, is the family line of Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron,
19Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
20Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
21Salmon the father of Boaz,
Boaz the father of Obed,
22Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of David.
KEY POINTS
Hope Hangs on a Redeemer
- Hope in this story relies on someone acting as the redeemer. Redemption needs to come not from only physical bondage but also spiritual bondage and social bondage (to bring in from the margins). There are 3 types of redemption we see in the Bible:-
- Money; A person of material resources could ‘redeem’ someone/thing by simply paying money to acquire ownership rights. Leviticus 25 explains the prices by which Israelites could redeem family real estate or enslaved family members. Boaz paid money to redeem Naomi’s land and restore it to her descendants.
- Force; Through sheer power, a person could ‘redeem’ another from an undesirable state. This is how Yahweh redeemed Israel from slavery/bondage in Egypt. God did not pay Pharaoh for Israel; he claimed them from slavery with his mighty hand.
- Relationship; When a powerful person voluntarily associates with someone lowly, that person is released from social shame and vulnerability. Marriage and adoption are the most common forms of this. The Levirate marriage, where a kinsman-redeemer marries his brother’s widow, is a common framework of Biblical redemption.
Redemption Comes from Hesed Love
- Hesed Love – Sarah Bowler – “In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word most often used to describe this sacrificial love is “hesed love” (often translated as kindness or loyal-love)…..When it is used to describe God, hesed love is often used as a covenant term showing the relationship between God and his people. It depicts God’s loving, merciful, gracious, kind, good, and benevolent ways.”
- Boaz – We know he was a rarity at the time he demonstrates a genuine sacrificial covenant love for Ruth. Like Ruth’s love expressed in her promise to Naomi – and like the Lord’s love for his people.
- The other guy – He is all interested in the financial deal for the field – but not for the person. Redemption is not what he wants at all. It’s just self gain.
He is not looking to the margins – he’s not showing Hesed. He is just after his own self interest. - This causes us to reflect – Do we obey God when it’s hard? When it’s sacrificial? – Or only when it benefits us?
Hope Comes Through in Desperate Moments
- Naomi also needed redeeming and her need was no less a miracle than was Ruth’s. When your circumstances need a miracle – you have come to the right God – Miracles are his thing! Jackie Pullinger – “I banked my life on a miracle.”
- Boaz is not Naomi’s redeemer. It is Obed – the baby born of Ruth who redeems Naomi. We are told that his conception was an act of God.
- Naomi needed a miracle. And God provided. Don’t be fooled into thinking that God is dead. Don’t be fooled into thinking that there is no hope in your situation. There is! He is alive and active. The God of breakthrough.
Hope Brings More Hope – Redemption Brings More Redemption.
- The start of the story – The time of the judges, no bread in Bethlehem
Where does it end? – David and the golden age
- So you could say that the real redeemer here is Boaz, or that it’s Obed, or even that it’s David – but in truth they are all just pointing us to the ultimate redeemer.
- This genealogy extended in the gospels and leads to Jesus – He is the redeemer in a bigger sense than Boaz, Obed, David. Jesus Christ is our redeemer – Ultimate Hope is found in Him
- So this little redemption story became a piece of God’s truly global work of redemption. The hope here has brought further hope. Redemption, brought redemption. Margins – Not just that God gives you a story – but he ties you into his story. Its a story of hope and a story of Hesed … A challenge to look to the margins and to love. And a bold declaration that there Is hope.
MORE SERMONS
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