Love Opens Doors - Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. And she fell on her face and bowing to the ground she said, why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner?

And I can tell you why. Love. Love. He's doing a loving thing. Love is consumed with the needs of others and she finds this completely and totally unexpected.

You see, that's the way it works sometimes. You give and receive love in the most unexpected ways. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. And I don't know if there are more beautiful words written about love in the entire Bible than these words.

Ruth said this. Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you. For where you go, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die. And there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me. And worse, if anything but death part you and me. And when she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

Wow. What is she doing? She's doing something that's unreasonable. See, she's doing something that God didn't ask her to do and it seems unreasonable. She puts all of her eggs in the love basket. All of it.

I mean, think about that. Of what she's saying. She's not saying, hey, I'll go back to the land with you and then go back home. I'll make sure you get there safely. She said, I love you.

I'm in. I'll be with you for the rest of your life. I'll take care of you in your old age. And when you die, I will stay there until I die so that I can be buried where you're buried. How do you think Naomi felt when you heard that? How would you feel when you hear someone loves you that much?

And by the way, something I haven't said yet, but put it through your own grid. This is a daughter-in-law talking to her mother-in-law. He's not talking to her mom.

She's talking to her mother-in-law. You see, love finds doors that personal protection never could find. We live in a culture that's very similar in this way. Our culture says, look, you need to be reasonable. You need to be prudent. You need to be secure about yourself. You need to be safe. And normally that's sound advice, but you know what? Every once in a while when there's a door in front of you, you have to bet it all on love.

Wow. So she chooses. She chooses love. Love opens doors. At this stage, Ruth has no idea what's going to happen.

You see, she has no idea, but I'm going to tell you something. Whenever love opens a door, it's amazing how God steps in and controls the situation. Love finds doors that personal protection never could, and love is consumed with the needs of others.

Love is consumed with the needs of others. Notice down in chapter 2, verse 1 now. Now, Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth. He says of the same family as the Limelik, whose name was Boaz. Ruth, the Moabitess and Naomi said, please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor. And she said to her, go, my daughter.

They're still starving. She said, but Boaz is a relative, and he owns a lot of land. Can I go and get into his fields and glean?

Now, watch. She's departed. She went and gleaned in the field after the Reapers. And she happened to come to a portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of a Limelik.

This is an interesting scene, but she said, I need to find favor. In Israel at the time, or in Judah, whenever there was a crop to be harvested, they were required by the law to not harvest the corners of the property. In other words, you leave the corners go so that the poor in Judah could go, see, and into the corners. And that was the way, a sense of social welfare for them. They could actually go and glean enough food to keep themselves alive. The other thing they did, even in the field, is they followed the Reapers. The Reapers were professionals who worked, in a sense, for the landowner. They would follow them.

And what they didn't get, they would pick up and save. Now, for her to be able to do it, she said, I need to find favor with someone. I need to have a sponsor. I need someone. Why? I'm a Moabites.

Moabites are the archenemy of Judah. You see, they're not going to let me in the field. But if I find favor, and guess what happens? There's another door opening here, the door finding favor.

And guess what? There's a man named Boaz. And Boaz is consumed by the needs of others. He chooses love. You see, he chooses love because love is consumed by the needs of others.

And that's what happens. Now, watch in verse four. Now, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the Reapers, may the Lord be with you. And they said to him, may the Lord bless you. And then Boaz said to his servants, who was in charge of the Reapers, whose young woman is this? What did he do? He noticed her.

I think he liked what he saw. He said, who is this? The servant in charge of the Reapers said she is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. And she said, please let me glean and gather after the Reapers among the sheaves. Thus, she came and has remained from morning until now. And she's sitting in the house for a little while.

It's not really a house. It's a lean to. It's a lean to that they'd put in the fields for shade. And so if it was the middle of a sunny day or something like that, you could go and you could rest there.

Probably sit on a stone or a small wooden bench or something like that. But that's where she's at. She's still there. Then Boaz said to Ruth, listen carefully, my daughter.

Do not go to glean in another field. Furthermore, do not go on from this one. You stay here with my maids. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap and go after them.

Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink what the servants drink or what they draw. That's important because drawing water is hard work. And he said, no, I don't want you to have to leave the field and go find a well. You just stay right here and you drink what they drink.

Someone else can draw the water. And she fell on her face and bowing to the ground, she said, why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner and I can tell you why? Love. Love.

He's doing a loving thing. Love is consumed with the needs of others. And she finds this completely and totally unexpected. You see, that's the way it works sometimes.

You give and receive love in the most unexpected ways. This past week I read a story of a woman, a middle-aged woman, who was driving her car in, let's say, a more difficult or threatening part of town. And then all of a sudden she gets a flat tire and she has to pull off to the side. She's a Christian woman. And she pulls off to the side of the road and she thinks, oh, boy, I'm in real trouble here.

She said, I don't know what to do. So she starts praying. And she says, Lord, please, please send somebody here that can change my tire. And so as she's standing there, she hears and there's a motorcycle that comes up to her.

Big burly man on it, tattoos all over him, skullcap. And he gets off and he says, can I help you? And she says, oh, she said, yes, I have a flat tire and I need to have my tire changed. And so he then went to the trunk of her car and was going to get out of her spare tire.

But it wasn't open. He said, oh, could I have the key? And then she realized she had locked her keys in the car. So her keys are now locked in the car. And she said, oh, no, I locked the keys in the car. And he said, no problem at all. So he goes and he finds a way, very quickly opens up the door and gets out the keys.

He gets out the keys and changes the tire in the car. And she just hugs him. And she said, I am so glad, I am so glad that you came along. She said, you are such a good man. And he said, I am not a good man. I just got out of prison this morning.

He said, I was in for two years for Grand Theft Auto. And you know what the woman did? She looked to heaven and prayed out loud to God and said, thank you, Lord, for sending me a professional. Acts of love. Completely unexpected. Sometimes you receive them.

But the important thing is, do we do them? Love finds doors that personal protection never could. And love is consumed with the needs of others.

Thirdly, it's this. Love for others can lead to the most unexpected rewards. You see, something happens now. Chapter three.

It says, then Naomi, her mother-in-law said to her, my daughter, will I not seek security for you that it may be well with you? Now is not Boaz our kinsman with whose maids you were? Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight. Barley is a big cash crop, their best cash crop. And he is going to be there in his own field. He's going to have the winnowing fork and he's going to be winnowing barley tonight.

This is a time of great celebration for them at the harvest. She said, here's what I want you to do. And notice this again. Listen, when ladies get involved in fixing people up, it's not new. Naomi's doing this thousands of years ago. She's fixing her up.

She's figured this out. It says, wash yourself, therefore, and anoint yourself. That would be with oil. And put on, it says, best clothes. It's not really best clothes in poverty. The word there for clothes means a mantle. It means a large garment you put over top of yourself. Normally to try to keep you warm.

Harvest time is normally when the nights are very cool. And she said, I want you to put all that on. And then she said, and go down to the threshing floor.

But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. It shall be that when he lies down that you shall notice the place where he lies and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down. And he will tell you what you shall do.

And she said, all that you say I will do. And it's like, what do you mean? What it means is he has an outer garment on as well to keep himself warm. And after he's eaten and they've had a great time and they're celebrating, he's laying there, I want you to take his garment and pull it up. What do you mean? That's going to give him the chills.

He's going to be cold. You see? And you think, well, how does this work?

Watch. So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to what 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. And she came secretly and uncovered his feet and lay down.

Right at his feet. And it happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward. He woke up and, man, I'm cold. Wait a minute, there's someone laying on my feet. Please understand, no night lights here.

I mean, this could be extremely dark. And it says, and behold, a woman was lying at his feet and he said, who are you? And she said, I am Ruth, your maid.

So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative. Do you know what she just did? She proposed.

She just proposed to him. Interesting. I am at your feet. Wow. And it says, and then he said, may you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first. He said, I'm astounded. He's an older, probably middle-aged man. He's affluent. Notice what he says next. He says to her, it was better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.

You didn't wait for a young man. You proposed to me. Because I'm your kinsman. He says, now my daughter, do not fear.

I will do whatever you ask. For all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. That's another thing love does. Love precedes you. Acts of love. She is a woman of tremendous character.

You know why she's so attracted to Boaz? He's a man of character. They both see character in each other. And it says, now it is true that I am a close relative.

However, there is a relative closer than I am. Remain this night and says, when morning comes, and if he will redeem you, good. Let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you as the Lord lives.

You just lie here until morning. And there was another. And Boaz does go to her, the other one, and says, would you want to redeem her? And he goes, no, I'm really not in a position to do that. So Boaz covered the law and says, then I'll do it. And he redeems her. Now, love for others can lead to unexpected results.

Now, watch what happens. In chapter 4, verse 13, it says this. So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went into her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive. And she gave birth to a son. Now, just imagine what's changed with her. She's now married to a wealthy man. She now is no longer without a child. She has a son. You see, the question is, how did she get all this?

What stimulated all this? Love opens doors. Her selfless love for Naomi opens all this up. Notice he also said the Lord enabled her to conceive. This is the Lord's hand all over it. And it says, and then the women said to Naomi, blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today.

And may his name become famous in Israel. And may he also, he says, be to you a restore of life and a sustainer of your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth. Wow, what an analogy in that culture. These women, remember, all they prayed for was a son because you had to have an heir. And these women say to her, you know what? Your daughter-in-law is better than seven sons.

Why? It was her act of love. You see, her act of love was so astounding that even people in Judah scratched their head. Why wouldn't she stay in Moab? Why didn't she do the same thing? Why would she become as a Moabite to Judah? Why would she be so devoted to you, our mother-in-law?

Why? Love. And then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap and became his nurse. And the neighbor women gave him a name saying, a son has been born to Naomi. And so they named him Obed.

Wow, what a happy story. But wait. There's more. You see, there's something more here. His name's Obed. And he has his own little boy. And his little boy's name is Jesse. And Obed has a grandson because Jesse has a little boy and Jesse's little boy's name is David, the greatest king. But wait. There's more.

And you go to Matthew chapter one and you read the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Someone's name is going to show up right there. A woman. Ruth. A Moabite. David's grandmother is a Moabite.

And in the lineage that Jesus Christ himself is a Moabite. Astounding when you think about it. Who would have ever thought that? Think about how this whole thing started. Terrible circumstances. Famine in the land.

Be a refugee. Your husband dies. You have two sons, they marry two Moabite ladies. Ten years later they both die.

You have nothing. One does the rational thing, goes back among the Moabite, and the other one sticks with you, but you still have nothing. But love chooses and love opens doors.

And it's unreasonable and risky. Love finds doors that personal protection never could. Love is consumed with the needs of others and love for others can lead to unexpected rewards. Any time in your life that you use love to step through an open door, that you're motivated by love to step through an open door, your little story, your little story becomes part of his story.

The big story. Others are blessed because of your act of love. Not only are others blessed, but God is pleased. God is pleased. You know there's probably nothing we can do on earth that's more like God as one of his children than when we love others unconditionally. And we're willing to sacrifice for their welfare.

Boy, that's not too good in the Facebook generation, but it's certainly good in this book. It's certainly the way God sees it. Others are blessed.

God is pleased. And there's one important thing for you to remember. If you walk through doors with love, you will never suffer from FOMO.

You'll never have the fear of missing out. Let's pray. Father, I fear that almost all of us and almost all the time when there is a door put in front of us, we always want to do the safe thing, the thing that most protects us, the thing that most looks out for our own welfare, the thing that makes the most common sense and seems the most reasonable to us. But sometimes, Father, those doors are put in front of us to see if we would do exactly what Jesus Christ said is the greatest thing we can possibly do, love you with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and love others as we love ourselves. Father, our acts of love can have an enormous influence on the people of lives around us. Ruth loved Naomi so much that the people of Judah heard about it, and her reputation preceded her.

She was known as a woman of excellence. And even though she wasn't Jewish, a man of the caliber of Boaz redeems her, embraces her, loves her, marries her, and gives her a great life. Father, I pray that in this next week, month, whenever we see there's an opportunity for each of us to use an act of love, to go through an open door, to show how devoted we are, to show how we are not looking out just for our benefit, but as Paul said to the Philippians, we consider everybody else as more important than ourselves, that if we do that, we can bless others. You will be pleased, and we will have taken a hold of what Jesus Christ calls life indeed. Father, use us, and thank you for loving us so that we can love others.

In Jesus' name, amen. At that website, you will find not only today's broadcast, but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word, we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help this radio ministry continue its broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly or with just a one-time gift.

Support for our ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word, 4600 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, Louisiana 7006. If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcnola.org. That's F-B-C-N-O-L-A dot O-R-G. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word. .