Loyalty and Redemption

1. Loyalty and Redemption

2. David Platt: The Romance of Redemption - Ruth “Preaching from Ruth, Platt reminds us how Christ, as the ultimate kinsmen redeemer, seeks the destitute as his family and showers them with His grace,” (Southwestern Seminary). David Platt, a Pastor at Brook Hills Church in Birmingham, Alabama has taken the Biblical story of Ruth, a Moabite woman in Bethlehem, and showed the audience how they were all just like her; lost, alone, and destitute (physically and spiritually) until they were adopted by God as His sons and daughters, redeemed by the Gospel.

3. “In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.” Ruth 1:1 The husband and sons died and the wife, Naomi was left with her daughters in law alone. She decided to return to home and encouraged the daughters in law to remain. One, Ruth, refused and accompanied Naomi.

4. Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem just as the barley harvest is beginning. They are destitute and alone. According to Platt this is the perfect time for, “sorrowful tragedy to set the stage for surprising triumph.” Ruth goes to glean the leftover barley from the field so she and Naomi will not starve. There she meets Boaz the lord of the harvest. Platt effectively demonstrates the hand of God in this meet up when he says she is in the middle of a field that just happens to be owned by Boaz who is a bit of a relation. It could have turned out much differently as Ruth was on her own without protection. Boaz is told she is a Moabitess and he still offers her food, safety, and extra grain to take. Platt clearly articulated that as a Moabite, Ruth was a pariah as the people of Moab were descended from Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughter. Moabite women were also guilty of seducing and causing the destruction of Israelite men. Ruth can barely believe he is favoring her, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me —a foreigner? ” (Ruth 2:10b). Ruth ends up returning home with somewhere between 30 and 50 lbs. of grain and leftovers.

5. For our good and His glory4 marks of the Redeemer He seeks the destitute as His family Boaz tells Ruth to stay with his women He saves the destitute from harm Boaz protects Ruth by telling her to stay at his field He serves the destitute at His table Boaz serves Ruth food and gives her extra grain to take He showers the destitute with His grace Boaz as “guardian-redeemer” paid for responsibility of Ruth David Platt effectively points out that Ruth would have been considered the lowest of the low and a woman of loose morals simply because of where she was born. She would have been ripe for attack and no one would have been her champion. But the Lord was! What a loving God! He chose Ruth to be part of His family. He chose Ruth to be protected. He chose to serve Ruth truth only He could provide at His table. He chose Ruth to be an antecedent of Jesus.

6. Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah Platt’s sermon and the story of Ruth reminds us that, like Ruth we are all adopted sons and daughters redeemed by the Gospel. Clearly this is something God wanted us to take to heart which is why He mentioned Ruth by name in Jesus’ lineage recorded in Matthew 1:1-6. Jesus died on the cross as our guardian-redeemer rescuing us from a physically and spiritually bankrupt life and through Him we became grafted onto His tree. “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,” Romans 11:17.

7. David Platt’s sermon caused me to reflect on the, “why me?” of redemption. God’s grace is truly astounding! The Pastor of my church recently attended T4G (Together For the Gospel) a conference created by pastors designed to encourage other pastors to stand together for the Gospel. It is astonishing to me and heart hitting that I should continually hear this message. As I listened to Platt’s sermon what struck me was my own recent recommitment to God and reacknowledgement of the Gospel. My heart has been full and the blessings many since I began to live the Gospel message and attempt to pass it on. I understand Platt’s assertion that we are “captivated by the mystery of mercy” and “compelled to a ministry of mercy.” I grasp the full measure of God’s love for me and I am finally willing to risk everything I have and everything I am to follow Him. I have taken His message to heart, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me,” (Matthew 16:24). I have come to appreciate the term “dying to self” and have made a concentrated effort to do just that. I have cast aside my self centered egotistic tendencies to do things I know will bring glory to Him. I have acknowledged idolatrous behaviors that I previously did not know existed. I seek to glorify God and not myself. This is something that Ruth has taught me. She could have remained in Moab amongst her people instead she chose Naomi and her God. She was rewarded and we will be too.