The Favor of God

We are in week 3 of our series on the book of Ruth, and for the romantics out there, this is the week we get to meet Boaz. But like we’ve seen so far in this book, the story of Ruth is a love story, but the ultimate story being told isn’t about the relationship between Ruth and Boaz—it’s about God’s relationship to his people. If you’d like a physical copy of the Bible to follow along this morning, you can lift up your hand, and someone from our Connect Team will get you one. You’re also welcome to keep that as a gift.

What we’re reading in Ruth occurs in the middle of the period of Judges in Israel, where the people repeat a cycle of rebelling against God, God raising up a judge (like Samson, if you’re familiar with that story), and then the people repenting of their sin and returning to follow God (only for that cycle to start over again and again and again).

The last verse of the book of Judges says, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” But in the middle of that dark time in Israel, in the middle of God’s people wondering if he’d continue to judge them or if he’d fulfill his promises to them of blessing them and blessing all the peoples of the earth through their offspring and having kings come from them—in the middle of those questions, we get a glimpse of how God was continuing to work for his people and lovingly provide what they needed: Ruth and Boaz’s son would be the grandfather of King David whose eventual descendant would be Jesus.

That wasn’t something Israel deserved, but even in the middle of disciplining his people for their sin against him, God’s favor still rested upon them as he faithfully worked for their good. In chapter 1, we talked about how we relate to God in our times of suffering and why we can be thankful that he’s both loving and sovereignly in control. But this morning, I want us to hone in on something a little more general: the favor of God.

Time and time again, we see God displaying his favor toward his people, not because of who they are, but because of who he is. Because God is loving and he’s sovereign like we looked at last week, he chooses a people for himself, and he’s faithful for their greatest good (even when that good doesn’t line up with what they think “good” should look like in the short term).

Our two year old son’s version of “good” is to start each morning off with dessert or some kind of sugary snack. Even though it disappoints him sometimes, we try to provide him with something that’s truly good with a real meal (at least we try… most days).

There’s a lot of things we can believe would be good for us, but if we don’t believe that the greatest possible good in all the universe is God himself, then we’re going to misunderstand the purpose of the Bible, and we’re going to get frustrated when it seems like God’s refusing to give us good things because we don’t value how he’s providing us with himself as the thing. This is the difference between seeing Jesus come and die for us as a doorway into a pleasant life or as the bridge that gets us back to our loving and perfect king.

So, I want us to look at Ruth’s first meeting with Boaz this morning from the perspective of understanding where we experience the favor of God in our lives, but before we dive into the rest of the story, I think we need to lay an important foundation about the favor of God: We don’t earn it. We don’t earn God’s favor. Look with me at the first verse of Ruth 2.

Ruth 2:1

ESV

1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

This verse seems innocent enough. The author’s giving us some background information on Boaz, who we’re about to meet. He was a relative of Naomi’s late husband, Elimelech, and he was “worthy”, which is an interesting word to use. In other parts of the Old Testament, we see that word most often translated as “mighty” or “warrior”. And we’re going to see in the story that Boaz, in particular, has a strength of character in the way he cares for Ruth that’s commendable.

But he didn’t earn God’s favor, and neither do we. The contents of verse 1 happened long before Ruth heads out into the fields looking for a man. Before Ruth and Boaz met, before either of them were even born, what do we see in verse 1? God sovereignly planned for Boaz to be related to Naomi.

The most important part of Boaz in the story, the part that unlocks the lineage of kings that results in King David and ultimately the birth of Jesus—the fact that Boaz was related and could be was what known as a “kinsmen redeemer” and marry Ruth—Boaz didn’t do anything to achieve that. He was born into that family before he was a “worthy” man.

Maybe you’re wondering, though, what if God knew that Boaz was going to be a worthy man one day, and that’s why he ordained the events for him to be related to Naomi and serve as their redeemer? For that, I want us to quickly go to Romans 9:10-13.

Romans 9:10–13

ESV

10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Here we see that God’s covenant blessing for his people extended through Jacob, the younger son, instead of his older brother Esau, not because one did better works than the other; not because one had more potential than the other. It was because God chose to use the one and not the other. Psalm 115:3 summarizes it well: “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”

We buy this lie that God’s really good at responding to us, like we’re the one’s initiating. But that’s not the testimony of the Bible, and praise God for that! I don’t want a God who lets me lead. I don’t want a God who treats me based off of how good or bad he knows I’ll be one day (because I know I can’t be good enough to merit the favor of the all righteous, all holy God of the universe.) That wouldn’t be “good news” for me.

The good news of the gospel is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God’s work in the lives of his people isn’t based on what we earn; it’s actually in spite of what we’ve earned. So, we’re talking about the favor of God in our passage this morning, and I want you to feel freed up right from the start by two equally important claims from the Bible that we have to take together:

• You cannot earn God’s favor, no matter what you do, but
• You can experience God’s favor, in ways all around you.

Stop basing how God feels about you on how well you think you’re performing for him. It’s exhausting, and it’ll leave you feeling defeated because you can’t keep it up.

I grew up with only child syndrome. Being the miracle baby that happened 17 years into my parents’ marriage will do that to you. I got compliments on a lot of things growing up, including how well of a singer I am. As a fan of 80s music, I felt like my falsetto game was pretty song.

But then I met Macie, and my wife can actually sing, as you all can attest to. And she’s been lovingly honest with me: whether it was puberty after those compliments when I was younger or just me living in my own bubble—my singing voice is not something God has gifted me with.

We all have blind spots, and if a person can find something as simple as how bad of a singer I am when I had no idea, then how many blind spots do you think the all-knowing creator of the universe who knit you together in your mother’s womb knows about you?

You do not earn his favor, and you will murder the joy of your soul in ongoing shame if you make your relationship with God based on whether or not you believe you’re worthy of him—because you’ll either have to lie to yourself or regularly feel distant from God and unsure of his feelings towards you based on how well you think you’re doing.

In every other relationship we have in our world, there’s some degree of performance-based acceptance—they treat you well, so you’re kind to them. They love you, so they put up with your weaknesses. Each of those relationships continue because the love in them outweighs the brokenness in them. But if a friend were to start hurting you all the time, that balance would change, and you’d see the friendship dissolve.

The unconditional love of the God of the Bible is both the same and radically different. It’s the same in that our relationship with God will continue as long as the love outweighs the brokenness. In that way, God’s love is something that’s earned.

But it’s also radically different because we aren’t the ones that earned God’s love: Jesus is. And because he’s both fully man and fully God, then his life, death, and resurrection have forever secured God’s people his favor. God’s love is different from any other source of love we ever experience. It’s a perfect love, which doesn’t just mean it’s stronger than other loves; it means it’s a self-sustaining love. You don’t have to maintain God’s love because God never changes.

And his perfect love casts out fear. Because you didn’t cause it, and you don’t maintain it, you’re free to simply enjoy it. Now, the way we act towards God isn’t based on hoping we can earn his favor or maintain his favor; we’re living out of gratitude to Jesus for making us the gracious recipients of his favor.

So what does that look like? Where can we experience the favor of God in our daily lives? Let’s look back at our story, continuing on in verses 2 and 3.

Ruth 2:2–3

ESV

2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.

Up until this point, Naomi’s been the main character of the story, but now the narrative shifts to Ruth. She’s about to meet the man of her dreams, give birth to a dynasty, and the hope of the world, and how do we see that God-ordained romance start? “I’m going to go stroll the fields and see if I can find a man that will show me favor.”

Now, this isn’t meant to be describing ancient Israel’s pick-up scene. Ruth’s goal here wasn’t to find a spouse; it was to find food and a way to care for her and Naomi. Gleaning was actually a biblically mandated practice from the Law in Deuteronomy 24.

Rather than pick up all their crops when they harvested their fields, God instructed the Israelites to leave the things that fell to the ground or might have been missed on the first pass, so that the foreigners, widows, and orphans could come through afterwards to glean from those leftovers for their own food.

(Which, just an aside, but isn’t it incredible that that’s in God’s law? We tend to think that laws are mostly restrictive, and even more-so when people think of laws from God. But his law is characterized by his grace, because that’s who he is. He’s wasn’t trying to make people do without good things; he was trying to protect them, care for them, and help them rely on him as the best thing.)

Anyway, this is the situation Ruth and Naomi found themselves in. Verse 2 makes a point of reminding us again that Ruth is a Moabite; she’s not from Israel and both ladies have lost their husband. They have no other way to provide for themselves, so they’re doing what was the normal, everyday practice of people in their position.

And Ruth experiences the favor of God in the midst of her normal, everyday life. We can see God’s favor displayed in his direction. She doesn’t know who Boaz is. She just goes to the field in Bethlehem with the hope that she can get some food and maybe make a connection with someone that will help them survive and get settled.

But then look at the middle of verse 3. She “happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz.” I feel like the author of Ruth was probably doing whatever the cultural equivalent was of air quotes and a wink when he wrote that—“She happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz.” Ruth was looking for favor from a man, but she didn’t know she was already walking in the favor of God.

To be honest, this point wasn’t very familiar to my generation’s experience in church. I heard a lot about “God’s will” and learning God’s calling on your life as I was growing up. And those are big ideas—the thought that God has a unique calling on your life that you’re supposed to discover and then be obedient to—that’s enough to leave you paralyzed not wanting to screw it up and not knowing what to do with your life.

And that’s what happened to many millennial Christians—they went to college, wasn’t sure what God was calling them to do, and then just kinda treaded water afterwards feeling like they were still waiting to figure out this greater purpose.

If that’s you this morning, let me encourage you: the calling of every single person, plant, animal, and atom is to glorify our good and loving God with every part of our being. You can do that as a doctor, and you can do that as a garbage man. If God isn’t counting on you to earn his favor, then he’s not counting on you to discover your calling.

Bloom where you’re planted, be obedient with what’s in front of you, and as you follow your primary calling to the Lord you’ll see how God has placed you in all these secondary and supportive callings that help accomplish that first one of glorifying him. Ruth stepped right into where God was calling her without even knowing it. She was just being faithful with what was in front of her and trusting that God would be faithful toward them.

Don’t miss the ways God’s showing you his goodness in all the little, daily things because you’re so fixated on wanting to know this one, big thing. That doesn’t sound like looking for God’s calling anyway. It sounds more like dwelling on an idol; placing our hopes in what God might tell us to do rather than trusting in him with all that he’s already doing in and around us. God’s favor is on display in his direction, but as we keep reading we also see it on display in his people. Look with me now at verses 4-7.

Ruth 2:4–7

ESV

4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”

Like we said earlier, Boaz is a strong character guy. We see him greet his workers with a blessing, “The LORD be with you!” And right after this we’re going to see him bless Ruth by going above and beyond meeting her needs. Here we get the story from his workers about who Ruth is, and how she started gleaning in his field. God lovingly provided for Ruth and Naomi. Knowing the full story, we could say he provided even more than they could have dreamed. But God used other people to do it.

That matters. Much of our experience of the blessing of God comes from the community of the people of God. Why do you think 179 verses in the Bible are devoted to instructing us about the importance of unity? That Jesus’ longest recorded prayer in the New Testament in John 17 is focused on asking the Father to make his people one like they are one, so that the world may know that he was sent from God the Father?

There’s two sides of this point that matter for us today: Ruth was in the field looking for someone that God might use to provide for her and Naomi, and Boaz was looking for how the things he had might be useful to provide for Ruth and Naomi. Let God surprise you through his favor displayed in other people, and look for ways that you can bend out his love and grace in favor toward other people.

If you’re like me, it’s much easier to serve someone than to allow yourself to be served by them. I’ll offer help easily, and reject help regularly. But if you’re not willing to be served by others, then you rob yourself of ways God may be looking to display his love to you and you rob the other person of ways God may be leading them to live out the love of Jesus in their own lives.

The gospel shows us we are more needy than we realize and that we are more loved than we could imagine. We put that good news on display to the world around us when we acknowledge our need in community and allow others to show us the love of Jesus in return. That’s what the church should look like because that’s what Jesus, the head of the church, looks like.

Once Boaz learns about Ruth from his workers, we finally get their first conversation together. Let’s look one more time at our passage, now in verses 8-13.

Ruth 2:8–13

ESV

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

God uses Boaz to both provide and protect Ruth in these verses. He allows her to glean in a position alongside the ladies that work for him, he offers her water from what was already drawn rather than her having to get her own, and he instructs the men who work for him not to touch her and keep her safe.

Why would he do that? Ruth asks the same question in verse 10: “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” And Boaz answers saying he knows her story and all that she’s done for her mother-in-law. Ruth’s vulnerability in being known and her willingness to trust God with her and Naomi’s needs have put her in a position where God’s now using Boaz to provide for them.

From the things we receive to the things we don’t, God’s favor toward his people is visible in his provision. If you’ve repented of your sin and placed your faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus on your behalf, then he’s given you his Holy Spirit, and you have everything you need to glorify God in every part of your life. In Ephesians 1:3, Paul says we have been “blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” God is in control, he loves you, and he is enough.

On this Valentines Day weekend, we all would love to have our own “Boaz” that God would use to sweep us off our feet and provide us with a beautiful and meaningful life. We’d love to have someone pursue us like that and step into the gap of our greatest need and love us even when we’re at our lowest.

In the gospel, we find the fulfillment of everything that Boaz points us toward. Jesus is our true and better Boaz.

• We see Boaz provide for Ruth even though she had done nothing for him. Christ drew near to provide for us when we were against him.
• We see Boaz give Ruth more than she deserves. In Christ we are given all that he deserves.
• We see Boaz in verse 12 offer Ruth to come take refuge from her troubles. Jesus invites us to come and take his rest, for his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
• We see Boaz address Ruth as “my daughter” in verse 8. Jesus makes us his child, and even more, a co-heir for all of eternity.
• We see Boaz protect Ruth from things that might harm her. Jesus stepped in to take the greatest harm for us, and now he intercedes on our behalf at the right hand of the Father.
• At the end of this book we see Boaz become Ruth’s kinsman redeemer, marrying her and changing her story. As the bride of Christ, his church has an ever greater story that we have the privilege of living out with every part of our lives.

If you read Boaz’s introduction this morning and you find him appealing: Jesus is so much better. He’s the ultimate display of God’s favor; the ultimate demonstration of God’s love for his people. And he invites you to stop trying to be sufficient in yourself and instead find a new life of purpose and joy resting in him.

Let’s pray.