hereDo you ever feel like an orphan in the world? Do you feel like the circumstances of your life – some of your doing and some of others – have conspired to place you in a situation where no one really cares what happens to you? It’s best not to indulge these self-defeating feelings but it’s not good to pretend they don’t exist. Very often we feel like everything depends on us and if we fail no one else will even notice that we are gone. But someone does notice, and we get a glimpse of that in the story of Boaz in the Old Testament.
Boaz was a rich farmer who noticed a widow in his fields trying to scrounge some of the leftover grain that fell during the harvest. What intense work that must have been. “Here’s a grain. There’s a grain, oh no, that’s a pebble. Wait here’s a grain, I think!” Imagine your life scoped down to gathering a handful of sustenance with no hope of any change. But Boaz saw Ruth and took pity on her. After what appears to be a rather PG-13 night on the threshing floor Boaz set off to the town gates to make Ruth his wife.
At the city gates the Book of Ruth records an exchange takes place that is very important for us, I think. Boaz meet’s the widow Ruth’s closest relative and tells him he should buy his dead relative’s land. At first the Guardian-Redeemer agrees. But then Boaz tells him he has to take Ruth as well. At this news the Guardian-Redeemer balks.
“Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”
All of a sudden, the prospect of having to take on this woman, her needs, and her problems seems like too much. And so, he backs out.
It is interesting that the Guardian-Redeemer says no because he doesn’t want to endanger his estate. He wants to ensure his name lives on in the village. And yet we have no idea who he is. He is no one. His estate has disappeared. But Boaz was the ancestor of Jesus Christ through King David. And many believe Boaz serves as a prefigured image of what Jesus would be like. And we should hope Jesus is like Boaz.
Notice Boaz doesn’t care at all about the added burden of Ruth and her Mother-in-law. Notice Boaz isn’t thinking at all about protecting his estate and his own name in the city or society. And notice Boaz doesn’t wait for Ruth to earn his protection. Boaz is a decisive person of action who sees a need and pours all he has into meeting it.
In this season of Advent you may find yourself feeling alone. You may find yourself feeling overwhelmed by the size of your problems and mistakes. You may feel like someone scabbling for just one handful of sustenance. In these dark moments I hope you will think about Boaz and Jesus. I hope you will sense that the Lord sees you.
He has taken pity on you, and he has already gone all the way to Calvary to claim you.
As Paul tells us in Philippians 2, Jesus “existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even to death on a cross.” He was happy to risk his entire estate in glory to gain his relationship with you.
So, during this dark period of waiting when we feel the magnitude of our need and see no solution for our predicaments remember the words of Naomi to Ruth, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.” No verse can more completely encompass Advent. Just wait my Sister and Brother. You’ll see!
Jesus is already moving heaven and earth to get to you even on these dark December evenings!
— This post comes from Jim Moore. A fan of the podcast and preacher’s kid, Jim is an attorney for the Federal Government. In other words, he has a lifetime of sinning that’s prepared him to proclaim God’s Grace. Jim lives in Alexandria, Va. Check him out here.
