Living Legacy: Ruth 4:1-22 - Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

4 No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin of whom Boaz had spoken came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over; sit down here.” And he went over and sat down. ² Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the town and said, “Sit down here,” so they sat down. ³ He then said to the next-of-kin, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. ⁴ So I thought I would tell you of it and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.” So he said, “I will redeem it.” ⁵ Then Boaz said, “The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.” ⁶ At this, the next-of-kin said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷ Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging to confirm a transaction: the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. ⁸ So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal. ⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.” ¹¹ Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; ¹² and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. ¹⁴ Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin, and may his name be renowned in Israel! ¹⁵ He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.” ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse. ¹⁷ The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸ Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, ¹⁹ Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, ²⁰ Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, ²¹ Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, ²² Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David. (NRSVue)

Story of Ruth. Estate of John August Swanson, https://www.johnaugustswanson.com

 

What do you want on your tombstone?

If your answer is pepperoni, black olives, or sausage, you watch too much TV! This was the punchline for the TV advertisements for Tombstone® brand frozen supermarket pizza (which you can still buy). Ironically, if you consume too many Tombstones, a tombstone is exactly what you’re going to need.

The question I’m really asking is this: when your life is at its end, how do you want people to remember you? What kind of legacy do you want to leave?

In today’s sermon text, we turn to the final chapter of the book of Ruth—and in the final verses, we learn what the legacy of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz will be: Ruth and Boaz will marry and give birth to a son, Obed, who will be the grandfather of David, the greatest king to ever rule over Israel. This makes Ruth David’s great-grandmother, and Naomi his great-great grandmother.

This is quite a remarkable ending to a story which began in the lawless time of the judges, during a famine, in an enemy country where three women lose everything. Out of these heartbreaking tragedies, God will fulfill a promise for which the children of Israel had waited expectantly for a thousand years. It all comes about Through three women who had nothing to offer each other but themselves. God graciously leads the destitute but determined Ruth to a grainfield belonging to Boaz, who just so happen to be a relative of her deceased father-in-law, who was so inspired by Ruth’s selflessness that he not only sent her back to her mother-in-law with forty pounds of grain; he gladly receives her as his wife.

Love is how God brings people together to make their lives better. Love is how God provides whatever is lacking through the people who have it in abundance. Love is how God brings new life out of death.

To answer the question, what kind of legacy do you want to live? I can tell you God’s answer: God wants everyone to know Jesus Christ because they know you. This includes the strangers you encounter on the street, the people you work and go to school with; the friends you make; the people you serve; to the church you belong to. The sum of your life does not consist in how many things you accomplished; how much money you made; how many children or grandchildren you had; the sum of your life doesn’t even consist of the number of lives you’ve touched. The sum of your life is in how much you allow for God to live in you.

Realize that the riches of Boaz and the poverty of Ruth and Naomi are equally useful to God.
You don’t need to have riches; you don’t need to have answers to every question and solutions to every problem. All you need to make a difference is yourself, living out the love God has for you. There’s no limit to what God can accomplish through the love you give and the love you receive. And even if people don’t remember you when you’re gone, the love you gave will still be making a difference. You will live forever when Jesus lives in you.