Advent 2022: Love
Call to worship:
Pastor Andrew loginow
John 3.16
Light 4th candle
Song:
Sing we the song of Emmanuel
Historical reading:
pastor brett eckel
Book of Common Prayer advent 4 collect
Song:
O come all ye faithful
Confession & Pardon:
pastor michael champoux
christmas offering:
pastor kevin mcguire
song:
Doxology
song:
The love of God
Sermon:
dr. alex loginow
Advent 2022: Love
Ruth 4.1-12
Introduction
This week I googled, “what are the greatest love stories ever written?” The various lists had all of the usual suspects that wouldn’t surprise you – Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, etc. You know what none of the lists included? The book of Ruth and that’s a shame. Some theologians have said that if you take into account the literary genius and the theological prowess of the book of Ruth, it may be the greatest love story ever written.
Because we carry the baggage of enlightenment hermeneutics we’re prone to view the book of Ruth primarily as a history book. In our English Bibles Ruth follows the book of Judges because they’re set in the same time period and we think of them as history books but we’re wrong. Ancient Israel did not view the book of Ruth that way. The Hebrew Scriptures – the Bible Jesus used – was structured differently than our Bibles. Israel divided their Scriptures into 3 sections called TNK – the Law (torah), the prophets (navim), and the writings (katuvim).
In Jesus’ Bible Ruth was grouped with the Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs and others in the Writings. Ruth belongs with poems and songs because it is a love story. Now we come this morning to the climax of this love story. And this is a perfect fit because today is the 4th Sunday of Advent – the week that we celebrate love.
Throughout our advent series in Ruth we’ve noted how Boaz is a type of Jesus Christ. Charles Spurgeon said, “Jesus is our glorious Boaz.” That theme continues in Ruth 4.1-12. As we contemplate the love of advent in this pericope we will see how Boaz typifies Christ using the 4 letters that make up the English word love and this is our sermon summary: advent means the unworthy bride is redeemed by the love of the redeemer groom.
Boaz Pictures Jesus By His Leadership
We start with the letter L. First Boaz pictures Jesus by his leadership. The redeemer groom takes the lead in redeeming the unworthy bride. Maybe you haven’t been with us for all of our Ruth sermons and you’re like, “whoa! Why is Ruth unworthy? Why is Boaz the redeemer? What kind of chauvinistic garbage is this?”
I would refer you to all of our Ruth sermons on our website or YouTube or Facebook, if you’ve missed them because we don’t have time this morning to rehearse everything we’ve already covered. But to summarize: Ruth is culturally and covenantally unworthy. Ruth is culturally unworthy because she is a poor, foreign, childless widow in a patriarchal ancient Near Eastern culture. Ruth is covenantally unworthy because she is a Moabite. YHWH covenantally cursed the Moabites because they were born out of incest.
In contrast, Boaz is worthy by character and by covenant. Ruth 2 told us that Boaz had worthy character. But Boaz is also covenantally worthy. He is legally able to redeem Ruth. But he is second in line so Boaz takes the lead to redeem his unworthy bride.
Boaz leads through his initiative. The redeemer takes the initiative to redeem his unworthy bride. Last week in Ruth 3 Pastor Kevin noted that on the threshing floor Boaz told Ruth he would take care of it. At the end of chapter 3 Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz will not rest until he takes care of it. And now in chapter 4 Boaz takes care of it.
Chapter 4 verse 1 says that Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. The gate was like the Israelite town hall. It’s where the elders made decisions. It’s where legal transactions were made. Boaz acts like a man. He assesses what needs to be done and he executes.
Boaz is able to redeem Ruth and he takes the initiative to do so. Ruth is unable to redeem herself. In the same way Jesus Christ takes the initiative to redeem those who could not redeem themselves. Jesus is the better redeemer who takes the initiative to redeem his unworthy bride. Jesus did not have to leave the honor of his throne for the humiliation of the Christmas manger, but he did so because of love.
Not only does Boaz lead through his initiative but Boaz also leads through shrewdness. We get more providential language as verse one continues – behold the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken came by. Behold is the Hebrew word הִנֵּ֨ה. The narrator is cluing us in once again that God is sovereignly overseeing this happenstance. The guy just happens to walk by. What a coincidence! This is no coincidence at all.
And like the business manager in Luke 16, Boaz has a godly shrewdness with how he accomplishes his mission. Tension builds as Boaz tells the nearer redeemer that Naomi is back and is selling Elimelech’s land. This other guy is first in line but if he doesn’t want it, Boaz will redeem it. At this point we’re on the edge of our seat and we’re fully expecting this nearer redeemer to turn the offer down and for Boaz and Ruth to live happily ever after but then the guy says he will redeem the land.
But Boaz is shrewd. He says, “oh by the way, if you want the land, you’ll have to marry Ruth and have children in the name of her dead husband.” The nearer redeemer says, “I don’t want to do that.” So they swap sandals and the deal is done. Boaz was not just worthy in his character but also in his intellect. He was shrewd.
This is another way in which Boaz points us to Jesus Christ. In his ministry Jesus displayed a godly shrewdness. He commanded demons and humans to keep quiet about who he was and what he did because he needed to wait to die until the time was right. He taught in parables so that only the elect could understand with the help of the Spirit. In Luke 16 Jesus told the parable of the dishonest business manager and commended him for his shrewdness and Christ commands his people to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matt 10.16).
Boaz Pictures Jesus By His Obedience
Not only does Boaz picture Jesus by his leadership but he also does so by his obedience. The redeemer who follows God’s law redeems the unworthy bride. Boaz obeys the law as he redeems Ruth. Boaz does not selfishly take Ruth for himself before following the law, which he could’ve done on the threshing floor. Who would’ve known? God would’ve known.
Boaz sits 10 elders down because this was legally required. Boaz explains the whole situation to the nearer redeemer. He may be shrewd but he doesn’t lie. He doesn’t withhold information. Boaz is law-abiding. To close the deal Boaz trades shoes with the other guy, which the narrator tells us was the custom in Israel at the time.
Boaz’s obedience to God’s law prepares us for Jesus. Jesus Christ is the final redeemer who follows God’s law to redeem his unworthy bride. This is an important element of the gospel. You see God is the holy creator of all things. God created Adam as the federal head of humanity and Adam bore the image of God. But Adam sinned and all humanity fell in him – all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3.23).
For us and for our salvation the Son of God, the eternal 2nd person of the Holy Trinity, became human in the incarnation. This is what we celebrate every advent and Christmas – advent means, “Jesus is coming!” “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see! Hail the incarnate deity! Pleased as man with men to dwell; Jesus our Emmanuel!” Jesus is truly God and truly man and he followed God’s law perfectly. Jesus never sinned (Heb 4.15).
This had to be the case because Jesus had to reverse Adam’s curse. Adam is the federal head of a sinful humanity. Jesus had to become the federal head of a redeemed humanity. Jesus earned righteousness on our behalf so that when we trust in him, his righteousness is imputed to us. Christians have righteous standing before God because we are in Christ. It is our union with Christ that bridges the gap between God’s holiness and our sinfulness.
This is why Jesus had to live. This is why his life and ministry had to fulfill the Old Testament promises. Jesus obeyed God’s law fully. He never sinned in thought, word, or deed. He never sinned by what he did or by what he left undone. 2nd Peter 1.1 says we’re saved by Jesus’ righteousness. Jesus was a worthy redeemer because he was an obedient redeemer.
Boaz Pictures Jesus By His Vicarious Redemption
Boaz pictures Jesus by his leadership and his obedience and most importantly Boaz pictures Jesus by his vicarious redemption. The redeemer stands in the place of another to redeem his unworthy bride. In fact, Boaz stands in the place of many as he redeems Ruth and Naomi. First of all he stands in the place of this nearer redeemer who is too selfish to help these destitute women.
Second, Boaz stands in the place of Mahlon, Ruth’s late husband, as Boaz will perpetuate Mahlon’s name in his place. And finally, Boaz stands in the place of Ruth and Naomi who cannot redeem themselves. Boaz takes the loss himself in the place of all of these others to redeem his unworthy bride. This is the clearest way in which Boaz is a signpost pointing us to Jesus.
Jesus Christ is the true and final redeemer who stands in the place of another to redeem his unworthy bride. Jesus is our glorious Boaz. Jesus stands in the place of Adam who was the federal head of humanity. Jesus is the last Adam in whom we find righteousness. But Jesus Christ also stands in the place of all of the elect as he bore God’s wrath for us on the cross.
When Jesus died on the cross God poured out all the wrath for all of the sins of all of the elect. Think about the guilt and shame that you feel for your sin. Think about what it would feel like to experience God’s judgment for your sin. Now multiply that by every Christian who ever lived. That’s what Jesus experienced on the cross.
In our place condemned he stood. But that’s not all, church, in our place he rose on the third day. Because Jesus was worthy, righteous, death could not pin him down. Jesus kicked out before the three count. And because he died in our place, his resurrection means we will resurrect too. The promise of the gospel means the hope of resurrection.
What you must do is repent and believe this gospel. To repent means to turn from your sin. It means to acknowledge that you are a sinner and that there’s nothing you can do to save yourself. To believe means to take the knowledge who Jesus is and what Jesus did, to assent that it is true, and to trust in Jesus alone. If you reject this message Jesus will not stand in your place and you will pay for your sins by eternal conscious punishment in hell. If you will repent and believe, you will receive the forgiveness of sin and the hope of eternal life.
Boaz Pictures Jesus By His Example
Boaz pictures Jesus to us by his leadership, by his obedience, by his vicarious redemption, and finally by his example. Let’s remember that as we read Scripture there is truly only one hero – Jesus Christ. Everyone else is a sinner who needs salvation. But while there is only one Hero, there can, at times, be heroes.
Hebrews 11 celebrates many who came before us in faith. In 1st Corinthians 11.1 Paul commands, be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Men and women in redemptive history can be godly examples to us even as we acknowledge that they’re only good examples in so far as they act like Jesus. And here in Ruth 4, Boaz acts like Jesus.
We’ve already noted many ways in which Boaz is an example to us but let’s consider one more as Boaz is contrasted with the nearer redeemer. This nearer redeemer should have been the godly example we’re talking about, but he’s not. And you know what, he’s not remembered. We don’t even know his name.
The Hebrew phrase describing the nearer redeemer is פְּלֹנִ֣י אַלְמֹנִ֑י. It’s a Hebrew idiom that means, “a certain one.” It’s basically the Hebrew equivalent of “Mr. So & So,” or Joe Blow. He is Mr. Irrelevant because he wanted the land until he realized he’d have to take Ruth too and then he wanted out. Remember also he was a relative of Naomi’s; he lived near them; he probably knew about her situation and was doing nothing to help.
He’s Joe Blow because he’s irrelevant. His name is not remembered because he’s not worth remembering. He’s not Boaz. That’s the point.
But we remember Boaz’s name. Not only is Boaz remembered in the book of Ruth but Boaz is also mention in both genealogies of Jesus Christ from Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Boaz was a godly example. Boaz acted like Jesus. Boaz redeemed his unworthy bride at his own cost.
But as we mentioned Boaz is only a hero. Jesus Christ is the only true Hero of the Bible. Jesus was not only vicarious for us through his life, death, and resurrection, but Jesus was also an example for us in how we should live. We call this doctrine Christus Exemplar – the example of Christ.
Jesus showed us what it looked like to love God with our whole heart. Jesus showed us what it looked like to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus modeled courage and humility. Jesus lived faithfulness and obedience. We can rest in the fact that we’ll never be like Jesus but we don’t have to because he lived, died, and rose in our place, while at the same time trying as hard as we can to be like Jesus. And there’s no pressure; we’re playing with house money.
Because we have the Holy Spirit we have a desire to follow Jesus and kill our sin. But we also know that when we do sin Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1.9). So let’s do that, church. Let’s kill our sin. Let’s live in holiness. Let’s humbly love our neighbors and offer them the gospel while we courageously stand for the truth of the gospel even in the face of persecution.
Husbands let’s lead our families and not pass that responsibility off to our wives, or the church, or the schools. Parents lets raise our kids in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Let’s make the local church the center of our lives and not view it as an option if we’ve got nothing else going on. Lets give to the church instead of whoring our hearts out for our money. Spouses let’s be faithful to one another and love one another and reject the world’s lie that marriage sucks and lust and fornication and adultery is better.
Children let’s obey and honor our parents. Singles and empty nesters let’s give our excess time and energy to the church for the glory of God and the building of his kingdom. Deacons and Deaconesses, let’s serve others in humility and love as Jesus did when he washed the disciples’ feet. Elders, let’s preach, pray, love, and stay so that Christ Community Church will be protected and provided for until Jesus comes back.
James 2.17 tells us that faith without works is dead. We are saved by faith in Christ alone. But if we are truly born again, we will obey Jesus. Church, let’s follow Jesus boldly knowing that we’re playing with house money. If we fail, it’s ok; he was righteous in our place. And when we succeed, it’s just him working in and through us. Soli deo Gloria!
Conclusion
The book of Ruth may be one of the greatest love stories ever written but in reality Ruth is but one chapter in the true greatest love story ever written – the Scripture. The Bible begins with a wedding as God marries Adam and Eve. The climax of the Bible comes in the first advent of Christ where he redeems his bride through his life, death, and resurrection. And the Bible ends with a wedding when at the 2nd advent of Jesus we will celebrate the marriage supper of the lamb as Jesus takes his purified bride. Advent means the unworthy bride is redeemed by the love of the redeemer groom.