5-Active Faith: What Can I Do Now?

First Southern Baptist Church

Dr. Patrick Mead

Series: Everyday God

Active Faith: What Can I Do Now?

Ruth 3

Go ahead and take your Bibles and turn to Ruth, chapter 3, as we continue this series out of the book of Ruth called Everyday God, God's activity in everyday life. A week ago Friday, I had the wonderful privilege of playing golf. Coach Marvel called me and asked me to go. The last time I played was probably over a month ago, early October, because of weather and meetings in my own life. I couldn't make any other opportunities he called.

To be honest with you, the last time I played in October, I really didn't do as well as I thought. What I'm learning with golf is my expectations and my abilities are far apart. In other words, my expectations of my golf game and my abilities seem to be going the opposite direction. So I thought maybe, just maybe the time off would just improve my game. It's a head game, and maybe I'm just overthinking. I thought, "Well, maybe the time would help me." He called me up a week ago Friday, and I said, "Sure."

So I was somewhat excited to go play. Of course, you know what I did. "Dear Heavenly Father, can I have a good golf game today? Amen." I don't stop praying when I play. I learned something that day because I wish I could say yes, with the time off and the prayer, I did great. It was quite the opposite. It was almost as if I had never played golf before. Thank God I was praying because I was ready to give up. "Lord, help me."

Finally, probably toward the last three holes, I actually started hitting the ball. It was great. It was like my first time to play, and I learned a great truth that day that really helped me with this sermon and put it into context. If I want God to answer my prayers, I need to practice. I need to play more, but I really need to get out and practice. So what God taught me there was a valuable lesson between the sovereignty of God and human responsibility.

I've heard somebody say… I think it's a good illustration of how it works when it comes to discovering the will of God for your life because that's exactly what we're doing here in the book of Ruth. We're watching how God, through her daily choices, is leading and guiding her steps. This is a great theological truth: God does not steer parked cars. You have to move. You have to be active in your faith.

As you are doing what you can do now, being faithful in the things you can control, God will guide you in the things you can't control. I can pray all day long about my golf game, but at some point… My wife is helping me out. She gave me for Father's Day these little Wiffle ball golf balls. Have y'all seen those? Yeah, I think I'm going to take them out of the package after that last game and actually use them. "No, I don't need those. I have God. I'm praying. It's going to be okay."

As we study the book of Ruth, we're really learning how Ruth is not sitting around, is she? She is moving forward. She is doing basically what she can do now. She is being faithful in the things she can control. As she is being faithful in the things she can control, guess what is happening? God is guiding her in the things she can't control.

So when we come to chapter three, it's really a continuation of God unfolding the plan for her life. It's a continuation of how God is guiding her steps each way. As she makes choices, as she is being faithful in the things she can control, God is guiding her steps. She is a wonderful, wonderful picture of active faith. True saving faith is active. True saving faith changes your life and is evidenced in your life by the things you do.

So as we come to chapter 3, we continue to watch Ruth and her life, her being faithful and active in her faith. We're watching God do what she can't control, guide her steps. We're not only going to see her active faith in this chapter, but we're going to learn from both the faiths of Naomi and Boaz.

So what we're going to do in this third chapter is I've chosen to kind of expand on one of the points from last week. One of the points (and probably the most important point) that we learn from Ruth is (I've said it over and over already) you have to be faithful in the small things. To put it another way, you must be faithful in the things you can control. As you're being faithful in the things you can control, God will guide you in the things you can't control. We see that. So what I want to do is expand upon that.

I tried to give you examples in both of the last two messages about discovering the will of God. I tried to give you real examples. I want to expand upon that because you still might have left here going, "What can I do?" I'm going to give you some general truths from this passage. You will find everything you need to know as it comes to discovering the will of God is found right there in the Book you have in your lap, the Bible. So what can I do now? What can I actively be doing now as I trust God to guide me in the areas I cannot control?

1. Naomi teaches us that you have to obedient and follow God's Word. Let's pick up the story in verse 1, chapter 3. It says, "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?'" In other words, "I need to help you find a home, to find a husband." That's what she is saying. "I want you to have a future." In reality, not only does she want to find a future for Ruth, but she will also be finding a future for herself. Naomi is already scheming something here. She says in verse 2:

"'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.'"

Now the activities of these verses are foreign to us in our Western culture. We look at it, and we think, "Well, here's what is happening. Naomi is arranging a marriage here. That's what it looks like. She is the matchmaker." If you look at further background, what you're going to notice is Naomi is actually taking her cues and initiatives from the very Word of God. Go back to verse 20 of chapter 2, because after Ruth came back to her mother-in-law, she gave her the report that she was in Boaz's field.

Here's how Naomi responded in verse 20: "And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, 'May he [talking about Boaz] be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness…'" She is talking about the Lord here, not Boaz. The Hebrew word is checed. We translate that sometimes steadfast love. "…has not forsaken the living or the dead!' Naomi also said to her, 'The man is also a close relative of ours, one of our [ga'als] redeemers.'"

So what she is doing is she says, "This is one of our kinsman redeemers." So she is beginning to see the hand of God here. What she is referring to when she says, "He is our ga'al. He is our redeemer," is she is referring to two basic cultural practices that are found in the written law of God. In other words, she is very familiar with the Word of God, and she is taking initiatives based upon God's Word. There are two biblical laws she is aware of here that she is appealing to, that she is allowing to guide her steps: the one that is called the kinsman redeemer and the levirate marriage.

So take your Bibles. Turn over to Leviticus, chapter 25. I want you to see the part of the law she is referring to. She is not just being a matchmaker here. She is not just arranging a marriage here. She is living her life according to the Word of God. She is being obedient to the Word of God. Leviticus, chapter 25, verse 25 is talking about the land here. In both instances, the marriage and the kinsman redeemer… One deals with the land; the other one deals with the family name. Both of them are tied together. In verse 25, here's what the law of God says:

"If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property."

So God had a design that this piece of property would stay in the family. Maybe there wasn't anybody to redeem it. Eventually at the year of jubilee, it all went back to the original owners. So what we see here is that the redeemer, the ga'al, had an opportunity and a responsibility to redeem the land to keep it into the family. So she is referring to that. When she says, "He is one of our redeemers. He is one of our ga'als," she is referring to Leviticus, chapter 25.

She also has in mind here Deuteronomy, chapter 25. So turn over to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy, chapter 25… Here we have the levirate marriage. Verse 5 of chapter 25 in Deuteronomy is the same passage you may remember in the Gospels when the Sadducees came up to Jesus and were talking about the resurrection. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. So they were talking about this specific law, and they were trying to trap Jesus.

They said, "At the resurrection…" They gave a scenario. "…if this woman had a husband and he died and his brother married her and he died, so he had like seven brothers, whose wife would she be in heaven, in the resurrection?" Of course, they didn't believe in the resurrection. Jesus said, "We're not going to be married in the resurrection. We're going to be like angels." They were referring to this specific law. Verse 5:

"If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.' Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, 'I do not wish to take her,' then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face.

And she shall answer and say, 'So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.' And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, 'The house of him who had his sandal pulled off." So he had a responsibility. Not an obligation, but obviously a responsibility. If you don't fulfill that responsibility, you can experience great shame within Israel.

What I want to show you is when we look at Naomi planning out here, she is taking her initiative, she is taking her cues, she is acting upon the Word of God. So she is putting her faith into action by devising a plan. The plan is inside the will of God. The plan is revealed in the Word of God. That's what you need to see here: a woman who understands the Word of God and is moving forward with an active faith. The way you move forward with an active faith is you be obedient to follow God's Word.

So what we have in the first four verses is we find Naomi. When she hears that Ruth is there in the field of Boaz, she is not going to sit by and be passive because faith is not passive. True faith is active. She didn't sit around going, "Whatever shall be, shall be," and call that faith. She knew she needed to be obedient and follow the Word of God.

We as the people of God need to be very careful that we don't let apathy or laziness become a false piety. We sit around and just say, "We're waiting for God." Now we have to wait for God, but in the midst of waiting for God, we need to be obedient and follow his Word. That's what she is doing. So we need to take action. We need to take our initiatives from the Word of God.

What can we do now? Well, as I said a couple of weeks ago, most of what you need to know about God's plan for your life is found right there in the revealed will of God, the Word of God. Be obedient to the Word of God. That's what Naomi is doing. So Naomi teaches us that an act of faith is obedient and follows the Word of God.

2. Ruth teaches us that an act of faith is courageous and trusts God's promises. We'll take up the story in verse 5, chapter 3. After the plan was given to Ruth, it says in verse 5… Here's Ruth's response. I love it because here we see a woman who is humbly submitting not only to Naomi, her mother-in-law, but ultimately she is submitting herself to the Word of God.

Verse 5 says, "And she [Ruth] replied, 'All that you say I will do.'" What a great response. Then she responds in verse 6. "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 am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings…'" Some translations say, "Spread the corner of your garment…" "'…over your servant, for you are a redeemer.'"

So we see this humble submission on the part of Ruth. She is submitting to what Naomi commanded, but ultimately she is submitting to the Word of God. This plan was dangerous for her to follow. It was going to take courage on her part to really move forward. She was going to have to be courageous. It was dangerous for two reasons at least.

First, it was dangerous because she was putting her safety on the line. Here is this young, widowed girl, and she is going down to the threshing floor. They've finished the harvest. They've finished threshing. They're celebrating. They're eating. They're all in good spirits. So she is putting herself in an environment that is most likely hostile to a young, beautiful girl. She put her safety on the line. She was willing to do that, and she was willing to go forth.

Secondly, it was dangerous not only because of her physical safety, but it was also dangerous before her own character, because you know how people are. That's why Scripture says, "Be careful for even the appearance of evil." Perception becomes reality for people, doesn't it? You need to be very, very careful.

She could have said, "I'm not going to go because people will question my motives. People will question my character." She didn't allow that to stop her. She knew God knew her heart, and yes, she was putting herself in danger physically. She was putting herself in danger spiritually. People would question her motives and even question her character, but she did not allow that to stop her.

We see a beautiful picture of a courageous faith. The reason she was able to move forward, the reason she was able to go into the danger zone, so to speak, is because you have this young woman who is trusting the promises of God. So she is courageous. She is going into the danger. She is a model of an active faith.

I want you to see what happens because in verse 9, we have a marriage proposal. Some might say, "Man, she is being forward," but she is following the Word of God. This was the custom of their day. In verse 9, actually he says, "'Who are you?' And she answered, 'I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.'" Right there. "Spread your wings…" Some of your translations say, "Spread the corner of your garment…"

That's the very same word Boaz uses when he is talking to Ruth in verse 12 of chapter 2. Notice what he says to her. He says, "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 [the same word] you have come to take refuge!" "…under whose garment, the corner of the garment, you have placed your life. You have come to the Lord, and you have found refuge in him. God is your protector." That's what he is saying. The very same word is used here.

She is saying to Boaz, "Boaz, you are God's heart. God is using you to provide for me. God is my refuge, and you are the agent of grace God is using to bless my life, to protect my life. So we see a young woman here who says, "Listen. I understand the reason I can be courageous, the reason I can move forward is because I know I've taken refuge in God. He will protect me. He will take care of me."

Ruth trusted. She trusted the Lord to be her strength. She trusted the Lord to be her rock. She trusted God to be her strong tower, to be her safety. So she was moving forward. She didn't know what the future held. She didn't know what was before her. She knew it could be dangerous. She knew it could physically cause danger to her life. It could ruin her reputation. She knew when she started from Moab and she made the God of Israel her God, he was her refuge and her protection.

In our adventure in faith, there are going to be times when you have to move forward, and all you have are the promises of God. Of course, that's all you need, but that's all you have. I know it's true in my own life. Too many of us will not move forward because God does not show us what is going to happen in the future. Some of us are paralyzed. God is all about faith. If you want to please God, you have to please him with faith.

There are going to be times where you're not going to know what the future holds. Most of your life… God is not always going to give you a preview. Most of the time (if not all the time) he is just going to say, "Step out in faith, and you'll see what happens. You trust me with the things you can't control. You be courageous. Move forward. Just because you can't see how things are going to work out…"

I've had situations in my life where God did kind of give me an inclination to how things were going to work out, and they weren't going to work out well. They didn't work out well. Guess what? God said, "Boom! I still want you to go." Just because it's not going to work out doesn't mean it's not the will of God. Sometimes God allows us to go through suffering. All you have and all you need are the promises of God. So you commit your way to the Lord, and you act in faith.

On our prayer list, there is a couple we've been praying for, Brandon and Breanne Doyle. It's Darlene Lagrone's grandson and Brother Jim's nephew. Brandon and Breanne met in seminary at Gordon Conwell. They knew they were going to the mission field. So they made plans to go overseas and to work with Arabs, but God closed that door because of health.

Then they got reassigned to the North American Mission Board, and they were going to a refugee camp in New York City. So that was their plan, and it still is their plan. It's interesting because I got to hear just the many obstacles this young couple faced over the last year, trying to get to the place where God wanted them to serve.

They got their assignment, and so they started preparing. "We're going to move to New York City. We're going to live in this refugee camp." They were going to take their daughter, Abigail, there. In the midst of preparation, the unexpected happened, and they got pregnant again. Some of you have been praying for them on the prayer list.

About after six weeks, Breanne was sent home for total bed rest for five weeks. Then she went to the hospital and was in bed rest for another four weeks. Unbelievable. Their baby girl, of course, was premature. She was due November 11, born by C-section August 22, weighing two pounds, eight ounces. Now remember they still have this plan. "We're going to New York City. We're going to be moving."

All of this is happening in their life. The baby remained in the hospital 12 weeks. Then after that, she was followed up by three weeks of outpatient treatment, going in, I think, three days a week. Then last Sunday, at First Baptist Little Rock, they did the baby dedication. Her name is Ruth. They call her Ruthie. Isn't that great?

I think, "What a great story." This couple really demonstrates what it means to be courageous. All of these obstacles they were facing and had been facing and still are facing are unbelievable. Many people would have said, "No way. I'm not going." On December 6, Brandon and his dad left. They went off to New York City, driving all the furniture up so they can set up the apartment.

Now I think sometime this weekend, they're flying back to Little Rock. Then Brandon and Breanne and Ruth are going to drive up there because Ruth can't fly. Abigail is staying back with the grandparents. Then eventually the grandparents are coming up with Abigail, and they're all going to be, Lord willing, in New York City for Christmas. Why would they do that? To top it all off, they're going to one of the most dangerous areas in New York City. Why? Because they're trusting God's promises. They are courageous. That's what it means.

There are times when God gives you a word, and if God gives you a word, you go forward. You just trust that God is going to take care of you. There is an element of courageous, there is an element of where we need to have courage and know, "If God gave me a word and God gave me a promise, I need to keep moving." We need to be like Ruth. When Ruth heard the command and the plan, she said, "I'll do whatever you say." We need to be like the young Virgin Mary who when Gabriel came to her and gave her the plan, she said, "Let it be according to your word."

So many times we're like Gideon. Gideon gets a direct word from God, and a direct word from God wasn't enough. He said, "God, let me put out the fleece because I don't believe you." He puts out the fleece.

"How is that?"

"I still don't believe you. I'll put it out again."

"How's that?"

"I still don't believe you."

Even when he was moving forward, God knew how fickle this man was in his faith. He had to hear how the enemy had a dream. Gideon is not a picture of a strong faith. Gideon is a picture of a weak faith, a man who had no courage and a man who did not trust God. God still used him, amen?

Don't be like Zacharias when Gabriel shows up to him in the temple and says, "Listen. You're going to have a son, and he is going to prepare the way for the Lord." Do you know what he said? "Can you give me a sign?" "Sure. You're not going to say a word for a whole year." Elizabeth, his wife, was so happy. "Praise God."

All right, what can we do now? Here's the thing. We need to be courageous. We learn from Ruth you need to expect great things from God, and you need to attempt great things for him.

3. Boaz teaches us to be gracious and reflect the character of God. He is a picture of Christ. He is a foreshadow, a type of Christ in the Old Testament. All you see in his behavior are Christ-like attributes. So he says in verse 10, "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.'"

He is recognizing, "You are a godly woman. Here's this young, single woman, and you could have been chasing young men. You could have been chasing all kinds of guys, but you haven't. You have been faithful to the Lord. Your character is evident. You are worthy." He recognizes the very hand of God.

So what he does is he knows he has a responsibility according to the Word of God. Again, you have Naomi doing what she is supposed to do according to the Word of God. You have Ruth doing what she is supposed to do according to the Word of God. You have Boaz doing what he is supposed to do according to the Word of God.

In verse 11, it says, "'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. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.'" In other words, he knew he had an obligation to the Scriptures. He did not want to compromise the Word of God, because Boaz knew that once you compromise the Word of God, it will not turn out well for you.

His whole life is governed by the law of God. His whole life is governed by the Word of God. He understood, "Yes, I am the redeemer, but I also know there is one who is closer to me." So what happens is the next morning, Boaz sends off Ruth. He sends her off with a large amount of barley again.

Here's what I want to point out. We're going to reflect upon a little bit more as we get closer to Christmas on Boaz, but Boaz is a picture of Christ. What you see is a man reflecting the very nature and character of our God, our Christ. You see a man who is gracious. You see a man who is generous. You see a man who is unselfish. You see a man who is always looking out for the interest of others. That's Jesus, right?

You say, "Well, what do I need to do now?" You need to be gracious and reflect the character of God. When you follow the Word of God, you express the character of God in your attitude and your actions. When you follow the Word of God, you express because the very character of God is found in here. You express the character of God in your acts and your attitudes. So you need to be obedient. You need to be courageous. You need to be gracious.

4. Naomi and Ruth teach us that you need to be patient. Wait for God's timing. So Ruth goes back. We'll pick up the story in verse 16. She goes back. She is talking to her mother-in-law. It says, "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, 'These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, "You must not go back empty-handed…"'"

I find it very interesting because if you remember, when Naomi went back to Bethlehem, she said, "Don't call me pleasant. Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara, bitter because I left here full, but now I'm empty." Guess what? She is being filled up again. I want to say again that brokenness is the pathway to blessings. She is being blessed. She is being filled up. You don't want to come back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.

"She replied…" This is important because this is the whole point I want to make. "'Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.'" Trusting God to guide you in the things you can't control means you will have to learn patience, and you will have to learn waiting on God's timing. One moment of patience can keep you from disaster, and one moment of impatience can ruin your life.

God's guidance can be slow, and then…boom…it can be so quick that you can't stay up with it. That's how it works. You keep pressing along. You keep being obedient. You keep being gracious. You keep being courageous and moving forth with an active faith. You wait, and you wait for God's hand, and you wait for God's timing. Then as you're waiting and you're being patient and being obedient and being faithful, what happens? Well, you just so happen to end up in the field of Boaz.

One of these days, I'm convinced I'm going to get up here and tell you I'm good at my golf game. Somebody is laughing back here. My wife is telling everybody, "Hey, he's not that good," and she's right. I'm not. I pay the guys I play with. "Don't really tell them. Don't tell them how bad I am, please?" I know through a lot of prayer and doing my part…

Do you want to know God's plan for your life? It takes a lot of prayer, but it takes you doing your part. You be obedient, you be courageous, you be gracious, you be patient, and you move forward with an active faith. You don't have to know all the details. You trust God with what you can't control. You expect great things from God, and you attempt great things for him. That's true of you as an individual, and that ought to be true of us as a church, believing God has a great plan for us as a church.

If you're here this morning, God's greatest plan for any individual, for any life is that you be saved from your sins. God desires to have a relationship with you. Life begins with God. It ends with God. If you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you've never trusted in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I'm here to tell you you're not saved until you do. You need Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

The Bible says we're all sinners. We need a Savior, and Jesus is the Savior. He is the only way to heaven. That's why people are so offended this time of the year that we would actually put Christ in Christmas, because he is the only way. Some of you here today need to trust Christ for the very first time. God is leading some of you to this place to be your church home. You come forward. You be a part of this family. God wants you here today. If you need prayer today, we want to pray with you.

Father, we thank you for this time. As we have this time of invitation, we just pray that people would respond in faith. In Jesus' name, amen.