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November 12, 2006

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

"The beginning of something great"

Have you ever really thought where things come from? You know, those great inventions that you could never do without. For example, the car. Who would have thought that when it was first invented in years to come that everyone would have at least two cars in their driveway? What do you think Henry Ford was thinking when he invented the car? Here is an ordinary man, tinkering in his garage, building this machine. And you know the neighbors were talking. They all probably thought he was crazy. They all probably thought, “What a waste of money?” Who is going to want to buy one of those?”

Another one invention that comes to mind is the computer and Microsoft. I know that I could not survive without my computer. Each day, I sit down, check email, and see what’s going on in the world. And my computer’s operating system: Microsoft Office. I use excel to pay my bills. Word to write my sermons, outlook to email. Bill Gates has influenced my life. And I am sure that he has influenced yours. And just think about it. Just an ordinary guy who grew up in Seattle, had a passion for software and computers and begins to write software. From this ordinary person, his passion and dream has developed into a $ 6.2 billion business.

Just ordinary people. I am sure that you have had the thought: I wish that someone would invent…blank and then a few years, later you realize that someone did invent blank and you wonder why you didn’t do it. You discover that it was just some ordinary person who had a brainstorm and now are making millions and influencing people every day. Just ordinary people.

Usually behind every great invention or concept, there is a rag to riches story. Just an ordinary person who had a lucky break or a great idea and worked to capitalize on that idea. Every day people that you pass on the street. Every day people that maybe grew up right in our neighborhood now are these big wigs in business or multi-millionaires because they had a great idea.

Just ordinary people. Like you and me.

Last week, we heard the beginning of the story of Ruth and how things were going bad for their family. Naomi decides to head back to Judah and Ruth makes the vow to go with her. And this week, we hear the rest of the story. The lectionary this week skips a whole chapter and we miss out on how Naomi and Ruth develop their great, life-changing idea. Naomi and Ruth make it back to Judah and realize that there is a distant relative that might be able to help out. Ruth gets a job gleaning in a field and it turns out that the field is Naomi’s distant relative, named Boaz.

Boaz takes a liking to Ruth and watches out for her in the field. Boaz also appreciates everything that Ruth has done for Naomi and this is his way for returning the favor. Everything is going along great but Naomi realizes that the one thing that she can do is to provide more security for Ruth. So Naomi has this life-changing idea and develops a plan. And this is where we join the story today.

Just ordinary people who see an opportunity and seize it. Just ordinary people who realize that God has opened the doors for them. Just ordinary people whose course of action and dreams will influence lives to come.

The interesting thing to note is that no where is God mentioned as intervening in these characters course of action. No where is it written in the Book of Ruth that God came to Naomi and said, “Tell your daughter-in-law to go to Boaz. She will conceive a child and it will be the beginning of great things.” There are no angel messengers. No burning bush. Just ordinary people going through life, trying to create a life, challenging the norms and refusing to settle for lives that are not complete and fulfilling.

God is only mentioned twice in this story. Once in the first chapter when it mentions that God considered his people and gave them food. The hand of God reverses the hopeless situation of famine and sparks the beginning of Ruth’s and Naomi’s journey of redemption and restoration.
And the second mention is when after Boaz and Ruth have married and it states the Lord made her conceive, very similar to the story of Sarah, to the story of Hannah, and to the story of Mary. With that one sentence, we as readers now that this baby is special. That this baby is unique. That this baby is the beginning of something great. Once again, the hand of God reverses a hopeless situation of loss and sparks another journey of redemption and restoration.

Just ordinary people. Naomi. Boaz. Ruth. I mentioned last week about Ruth’s heritage and her family history. Needless to say, not people that you want meeting guests or people that you hold up as upstanding citizens. Ordinary people. Boaz also has a scarlet family history. Did you know that his grandmother was the prostitute, Rahab who helped the Israelites who first entered the land of Canaan? Did you know that his mother Tamar, a Canaanite daughter-in-law who reminds her father-in-law about his responsibility of taking care of her and his son’s line of family? Once again, Boaz’s family history is scarlet and filled with well, let’s just say interesting people.

Just ordinary people. Maybe not with the perfect lineage or the proper heritage but these are the people, Ruth and Boaz that God chooses to use to start something great. Their child is named Obed and he becomes the father of Jesse, who becomes the father of David, the most famous king in Israelite history. And for us, Christians, it is this line of genealogy of prostitutes, foreigners, and nobodies that Jesus traces his heritage.

Just think about that for a minute. Jesus, the Son of God, can trace his lineage back to, a prostitute, a Canaanite, a Moabite, a simple carpenter, a shepherd and a young girl. Jesus’ family history makes an interesting story and not one that people would expect for a King who came to bring salvation to all. All questionable backgrounds. All questionable personalities. But that is who Jesus’ family is. The King of Kings’ family history is filled with prostitutes, foreigners, and nobodies. But that is who God uses to bring about the beginning of something great.

All this is to say that it is about God’s grace. God offers God’s grace before any human action or worthiness. It is about God choosing to use those who seem unqualified according to our standards, human standards, to do something great and to accomplish God’s purposes in the world.

Just think about it. What an amazing statement of grace! It is through vehicle of Ruth’s faithfulness, Naomi’s resourcefulness, and Boaz’s kindness that God is enabled to do wonderful things. And not just for that family, but for Israel and later on, for the world. Just think about it. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

God uses ordinary people to do amazing things. Just ordinary people. And not just in Bible times. It is happening right here, today. People from right here in Midway doing extraordinary things and making a difference. They may be your neighbor. Or they may be sitting beside you in the pew. Or they may be staring back at you when you look in the mirror.

God is doing amazing things. And that is just the beginning of something great. We are just ordinary people, but God is doing working through us, pouring God’s grace out on the world and we are just the vehicles.

This is just the beginning of something great. Amem.

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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