Well, turn with me and your Bibles to the book of Ruth. Book of Ruth. It's very early on in your Bible If you don't have your Bible with you You can just pull the one out in the seat in front of you and it's page 260 If you've taken a marketing class or taken a sales class or advertising class you have probably heard this pitch and even if you haven't It's one of the most famous sales pitches ever to be used and it goes something like this When I sat down to play the piano all my friends laughed, but when they heard me play they were amazed Or you can hear that same pitch does different ways when my first Decided to to order in French all my friends laugh, but when they heard me order blah blah blah They were impressed or when I said I was going to become a scratch golfer all my friends laugh But when they saw me swing from the tee they laughed even harder. No, that's mine, but You know, that's sort of sales pitch. It was first developed by an advertising writer by the name of John Capel's in 1925 and it's been copied literally Hundreds and hundreds of times because it's an example of how you're supposed to grab a motion But not only that it it's committed to the number one rule and selling any product the number one thing You do when you're trying to get anyone to buy your product and salespeople know this because I've heard you say this The number one rule is Push the benefits, right? If you want to get someone to buy your product the first thing you've got to do You've got to tell him you got to push the benefits because all of us naturally Instinctively our human nature is in tune to this radio station W.I.I. FM W.I.I. FM it's a radio station that plays all the time in your head and it is what's in it for me What's in it for me? That's what we we are all about what's in it for me And if we want someone to do something we have to appeal to that motivation. Here's why you should do this because here's what's in it for you Now you hear that and that sounds kind of crass, doesn't it? I mean we're appealing to the basis of human emotions. Are we only motivated by self-interest? I mean aren't there good people out there who do good things without any concern for self-interest at all? I mean doesn't religion teach us just to do the right thing because it's the right thing to do isn't that right? Well, no not exactly in fact The more you understand the gospel in some ways what you discover and what we're gonna see this morning that the key to living a life of Nobility where you do the right thing and put others first is Is rooted in the firm confidence that the W. I. I. F. M. Question has already been answered? That what is in it for you has already been covered? Did you want to know here's what we're gonna look at this morning? Do you want to know how to have the courage always to do the right thing in every situation? I mean you know knowing right and wrong is is rarely the problem. You know Mark Twain said he said it It's not the parts of the Bible. I don't understand that bother me. It's the parts of the Bible. I do understand And I think for most of us that's the issue. It's it's not knowing the right thing is having the courage to do the right thing What you love to always have the courage to do the right thing at every situation where you love to have the courage to always show mercy When mercy is needed when when you love to be that kind of person and you say you know I'm just not like that. You know I know some people I'm you know I know some people who are so good they do that and I wish I was like that but I'm not like that Well, you can be Here's what we're gonna see is the gospel really does change people you can be you can have the courage to do the right thing at the right time in all Occasions you can have the courage to do mercy when it mercy is called for and we're gonna discover how here in Ruth chapter 4 Now as when Ruth chapter 4 we are in the fourth and final episode of a four-part story and it's In order for you to understand the fourth episode I'm gonna have to keep you caught up on the story so this is gonna take a little time in episode 1 We meet a woman named Naomi. She's married to a man named Alimolec and Naomi and Alimolec lived in Bethlehem But a famine has come to Bethlehem so in quest for a better life They leave Bethlehem and they go to the foreign country of Moab, which is a place of bad people Put it that way they go to Moab and search of a better life and they go with their two sons Well, while they're there Alimolec the husband dies and then Naomi's two sons get married But then the two sons die and they have no children say Naomi and her two daughter-in-law's two Moabite women are stranded in Moab they have no means to support themselves It's a man's world. They have no way to control their own destiny and they're stuck there So Naomi says I'm going back home to Bethlehem and starts back home who two daughter-in-laws Ruth and Orpa go with her And she turns around and says to them she says look you've been kind to me You've been good to me, but you can't go with me because I have no life for you I release you go back home find a nice husband settle down if you come with me I'm just going there to die. I've got nothing to give you. I'm not gonna get married again I'm not gonna have any more sons for you. Just you're free. Go back home And they say no and she pushes harder finally Orpa leaves but Ruth says I'm not leaving you She says wherever you go, I will go your people will be my people your God will be my God and made the Lord deal ever so severely with me if anything other than death separates me from you So Ruth without it giving any thought to herself is Loyal to her mother-in-law Naomi. They get the Bethlehem Naomi is a bitter old widow She is angry about how God has Directed her life. She believes that God has angry at her that he is her enemy And so she is just there in bitterness Ruth on the other hand gifts up and goes out his harvest season And Ruth goes out to collect scraps from the harvest field just try and get enough food for the two of them to survive Ruth just so happens to go to a field owned by a man named Boaz Boaz it just so happens was a very wealthy man and a man-of-high character It also just so happens that Boaz was a relative of a limelight Naomi's deceased husband when when Boaz sees Ruth Rather than running her off as a as a as a beggar He showers her with compassion. He invites her to his lunch table He then gives her food to eat and during that day she gathers enough grain to feed them for a whole week She not only does that he says come back every day and during the harvest season She probably gathered enough food to feed her and Naomi for an entire year Boaz out of the generosity of his own heart feeds this woman and her her mother-in-law for an entire year This isn't a couple of bucks to go to the 7-11 He takes over their entire meal plan sustains them for a year Well after this harvest season goes through Naomi and Ruth are sitting around and Mike Osborne told you about this last week The sitting around and Naomi says that Boaz sure is a nice fellow isn't he Ruth? Why don't you go asking to marry you and she does and In this dramatic scene Ruth goes up in the middle of the night and cuddles up next to Boaz now the translation says she crawled into his feet She probably cuddled up next to him not at his feet. She's right there next to him It says will you marry me? And Boaz is a little bit older man and he's got this young cute thing cuddled up next to him and he says man, I'd love to but I can't because of someone else in line now here to understand this I have to explain an ancient concept here He says there's a Kinsman Redeemer who's closer than I am here's the idea in those days the way they care for the poor The primary means not the only means but the primary means was the family and so if a man and also the other point was Land was very important to the people and land was to stay in the family line So if a man died and he had no air then his brother was supposed to marry his widow and they were supposed to have a child And that child would inherit the dead man's property and so that would keep the family line going the other principle was that if an Israelites became poor and they had to either sell themselves in the slavery or sell their property in order to To cover themselves in their property one of their Kinsmen was supposed to redeem that property and buy it back for them And so they were supposed to care for them in that way and this person was called the Kinsmen Redeemer And so Boaz what Ruth is asking Boaz to do is she's saying will you be my Kinsmen Redeemer your Kinsmen will you be the Kinsmen Redeemer And Boaz says I would love to but there's someone who has dibs on this first and I have to give them the dibs have to give them first Opportunity and so so here we have this tension Ruth's thrown herself this man. She's asked in a merrier and he says We'll see we'll see what happens and so chapter four. Let's see what happens This is God's holy and inspired word he had mentioned came along but I said come over here my friend and sit down So he went over and sat down Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said sit here and they did so then he said to the Kinsmen Redeemer Naomi who has come back from Moab is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Alimolek I thought I should bring this matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here And in the presence of the elders of my people if you will not redeem it if you will redeem it do so But if you will not tell me so I will know for no one has the right to do it except you and I am next in line I'll redeem it he said Then Boaz said well on the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabite You acquire the dead man's widow in order to maintain the name of the dead man with this property at This the Kinsmen Redeemer said then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate you redeem it yourself. I cannot do it Now in the earlier times in Israel for the redemption and transfer of property to become final one party took off a sandal and gave it to the Other this was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel so the Kinsmen Redeemer said to Boaz buy it yourself And he removed a sandal then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people today Your witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Alimolek Killian and Melon. I've also acquired Ruth the Moabitus Melon's widow as my wife in order to maintain the name of the dead with this property so that his name will not disappear from Amangus family or from the town records today your witnesses Then the elders and all those at the gate said we are witnesses May the Lord make the woman who's coming into your home like Rachel and Leah who together built up the house of Israel May you have standing in a paffra and be famous and Bethlehem though the offspring through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman May your family be like that of Perez whom Tamar bought board to Judah So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife then he went to her and the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son Then the women said to Naomi Praise be to the Lord who this day has not left you without a Kinsmen Redeemer May he become famous throughout Israel he will renew your life and sustain you in your old age for your daughter-in-law Who loves you and is wettered to you than seven sons has given him birth Then Naomi took the child laid him in her lap and cared for him the women living there said Naomi has a son and they named him open. He was the father of Jesse the father of David This then is the family line of Perra's Perra's was the father of Hezran has run the father of Ram ran the father Amin and Daab Amin and Daab the father of Nashon Nashon the father Salman Salman the father of Boaz Boaz the father of Obed Obed the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of David. This is God's holy and inspired word Well this morning we have just one point one point should be simple enough one point and our point is simply this Count the cost Count the cost but be sure to check the math Count the cost but be sure to check the math before you do anything you want to evaluate you want to count the cost figure out What it's going to cost you but you better check the math to make sure you're doing it right? We'll explain what this means a little bit more as we go on Boaz goes to the city gate and look for this fellow who is supposed to be the Kinsmen Redeemer and he gets the city gate By the way, it wasn't just a place of coming and going as often the place where the town leaders would sit and be the place for legal Transactions to take place it would be In many ways kind of like the supreme court the court of the land that sort of thing and so he it's it's a place for This sort of business to happen so he goes there and it just so happens in the province of God's right when he gets there The fellow that he's looking for shows up and so he says to him friend Actually, that's not what he says and in our translation it says friend But but throughout this passage the man is not named and Boaz doesn't call him friend Many people try to figure out how to translate what he calls him and it's just so-and-so And Mr. So-and-so it being more like dude over here is as what it is. He's not calling a friend It's it's not there's no warmth here at all the guy is unnamed. He doesn't merit having a name and so Boaz calls him says Hey, dude, I got some business. Let's let's let's go over this. I name me once to sell her land You are the closest kinsman to her therefore, you know, you have this this Privilege and opportunity to buy the land where you buy it if you don't want it I'll buy it and the man begins to calculate the cost. He says I buy the land Yes, I have to take care of Naomi this widow, but she's old she'll die soon Then I get the land and then my family gets the land after that. It's a great deal It's a very good real estate transaction. So he says okay, I'll buy it Then then Boaz being a great negotiator says oh by the way, this is fine print When you buy the land you also get Naomi and Ruth the Moabitis and you know according to our law You're supposed to then raise up a child from them who went here at the land and suddenly this great Surefire real estate deal doesn't look to be all that great because now what he's gonna do is he's gonna buy the land Take care of Naomi and Ruth with the proceeds of the land and then when they die He's got to give it to the child that he will have with Ruth and he doesn't get anything and so all he's doing is Giving them something and he gets nothing in return and he so he says I I can't do this because this this really There's nothing in it for me. I'm gonna. It's gonna cost me. It's gonna cost my estate to do this. It's a bad business deal Now what the man does here and here's why he doesn't deserve mentioning As he's portrayed so negatively because first of all number one, he's neglecting his responsibility as the closest Kinsman he's supposed to be caring for Naomi is relative and it refuses to do so Instead what he does is he simply says what's in it for me if there's nothing in it for me than I'm not doing it It's not a good deal for me. Therefore. I'm not gonna do it. Now now contrast this man with Boaz Boaz and even with Ruth Boaz is a man who shows mercy without counting the cost Do you remember when Boaz first met Ruth? Here's when they first met Boaz owns a field he comes up into the field The Ruth is this foreign woman picking up scraps in this field and he sees her and he's heard about her great mercy That she has shown to Naomi and he calls her over and he says come you can dine at my table and then he gives her food He doesn't you just don't just pick up the scraps gather all you want and he says come back day after day He feeds her for an entire he gives her enough food for her and Naomi for an entire year Think of the personal cost that was to him What would it cost you to feed another family for an entire year? That's what he does and he's getting nothing in return that he could possibly see from this He has no he has no vision of ever being paid back and so yet so yet he does it anyway We see the same thing with Ruth Ruth had the opportunity when she was there on the road back to Bethlehem Naomi says leave me Ruth could have said you know I Don't need to go with Naomi. I'll die with Naomi my only hope for a better life is to go back home and find a nice husband But she doesn't do that. She doesn't consider what it's going to cost her instead She considers her loyalty to Naomi greater and she says no matter what it cost me even if it cost me my life I'm going to be here for you all the way and Yet this man as he calculates the cost sees the cost as being too high Now the question is why why why are some people like Ruth and Boaz incredibly merciful Compassionate and do the right thing and others more like this man who's calculating and only does the right Thing if it benefits him Well, I think is we look at this a little bit more we begin to see that the key to selfless living the key to living a life It's characterized by mercy and doing the right thing is not discipline Determination or willpower those will not do it if you simply say I'm going to be a better person I think I can I think I can I think I can that will not work that is not the key It's the right thing to do to be merciful therefore. I'm going to do the right thing Won't work. Here's the key the key is faith and we see this in Boaz description of Ruth when Boaz first met Ruth He commends her for the mercy that she has shown to Naomi and he and how she gave up everything to care for Naomi And here's what he says Ruth chapter 2 verse 12 He says may the Lord by the way again remember when you see Lord in all capital letters in the Old Testament That's God's covenant name. It's his name of it. The referencing is faithfulness almost like his proper name It says may the Lord repay you for what you have done May you be richly rewarded by the Lord the God of Israel under whose wings you have come to take refuge Here's what he's saying says you've done the right thing you cared for Naomi and Ultimately God is going to care for you now There's something very important that we you have to notice here Boaz is describing faith to Ruth He says that the reason Ruth has the courage to pour out her life for the sake of Naomi is because she believes that the Lord the God of Israel Will care for her the reason Boaz is able to sacrifice for Ruth and Naomi without giving any thought of what's in it for him It's because he believes that God will care for him and so so again Let's look at this little chart. I think I know illustrates it a little bit better It's compared the two people Boaz and the unnamed Kinsman. Here's the challenge Challenges to show mercy both are faced with the same same challenge. Do I show mercy to these poor women who are in need or do I not? Then both of them both of them go through this cost benefit analysis and the unnamed Kinsman looks at it says the cost is Greater than the benefit. I'm gonna buy this land. I'm gonna take care of them and I'm not getting anything back It's gonna cost me. It's a bad deal But Boaz looks at it and he says the blessing of God is going to be greater than the cost They're looking at the exact same thing exact same business transaction yet one of them says it's a bad deal One of them says it's a good deal. What's the difference? One of them is only looking at what he can see Boaz is looking at what God can do and that's the difference the difference in the way you act is Ultimately then is the different result the unnamed Kinsman no identity He's a nobody Boaz goes on to be the father of Obed is the father of Jesse who's the father of David. Do you know who David is? Just the greatest king Israel ever had that's all the greatest king the one and then from David You know what great king comes up from him? Who else is born and Bethlehem? The answer in every Sunday school class is Jesus right Jesus. I mean Boaz and Ruth are the line of Jesus the unnamed Kinsman Mrs. Out he misses out completely he doesn't get his name mentioned Boaz is blessed richly now you might say well There's no way that unnamed fellow could have known this was going to happen and that's the whole point You don't know what God is going to do You don't know what God is going to do and to live by faith is the trust that he's going to care for you no matter what You know now does this mean if I do the right thing the God will reward me Does this mean that God rewards good works do good works then you get God's blessing? No God does not reward good works God does reward faith Here's what Hebrews says about faith Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that exists and rewards those who earnestly seek him You see God and you believe in God and ultimately you're going to get God and he's going to care for you That that's what he's saying and so ultimately what happens then is your faith Motivates your behavior what you believe determines what you do Boaz and Ruth do not show mercy so that they will be blessed by God That's not why they do it they show mercy because they trust that God is caring for them big difference They're not showing mercy in order to earn God's blessing They're showing mercy because they believe they already have God's blessing They already believe that God is caring for them It's their confidence and God's provision and God's care that causes them to be generous and kind and merciful and to do the right thing Now here's the point if you live by faith Then you are liberated from ever having to do cost benefit analysis ever again You don't have to ever ask ever again what's in it for me because the what's in it for me question has already been answered You know in the end God will take care of you. You may not know how here's the amazing thing Here's the amazing thing Well, I think one of the major points of the book of Ruth is that is they did not know how God was going to take care of them You look at Naomi her situation looked hopeless. That's why she was so bitter She saw no way that God could care for her She had no husband and no son all she had was his daughter in law tagging along and she was a Moabite at that and Yet this Moabite woman the most unlikely of sources Because such a blessing to her that the end of the book the chorus of women are singing Naomi has a daughter in law who is greater to her than seven sons The most unlikely of places you don't know how God is going to provide for you What God calls us to do is to trust him Here's what the psalmist says about this psalm 55 Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you you will never let the righteous fall First Peter chapter 5 puts it this way paraphrases that psalm says cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you See what happens when you when you believe it changes your behavior your faith changes your behavior If you truly believe that God is going to care for you then that frees you up to do the right thing to show mercy without worrying about What's in it for me and it's this confidence I believe that gives us a strength and enables us to live a bold life of faith To do the right thing to trust God because ultimately we know that he's going to care for us You know you wonder how do people have the courage to do the right thing? How do people have the courage to suffer? You know I think they're John and Sarah file the missionaries we prayed for they go off to Japan They leave everything how in the world could they do that? Because they believe ultimately God is going to care for them How is that the some Christians even have the courage to die for their faith? I mean how do you do that? How do you how do you have the courage to lose everything? Because ultimately you believe that God is going to care for you and that changes your perspective on everything Let me give you one concrete example Of this example I've used before but I think it it fits um A number of years ago. I was speaking. I was a I was a youth director. I'm not very good one But I was one and I was speaking to our youth group one night and and everybody's in college over here So I can talk to y'all is It's I'll speaking to them and I asked everyone in our youth group. I said how many of you have ever cheated? And everybody raised their hand. I mean everybody. I mean the the little goody two shoes kid raised her hand And so I said you didn't understand the question. I mean how many of you have ever cheated? Everybody raised their hand That's okay. Let me let me make them more relevant. How many of you have ever cheated like recently? Everybody raised their hand again I said oh boy, and uh, and now these are kids all of them growing up in the church most of them going to a Christian school and so I'm going Okay, well, you know help me understand why I mean, you know, I mean, I know why but help me understand why and they said when I'm said Well, sometimes you have to cheat Sometimes you have to cheat like it's required or you know, what do you mean you have to cheat? Well, well Sometimes you have to cheat and I said well explain. Well, I said Well, let's say you know, you have soccer practice and it gets over five o'clock And then you got youth group and it's a seven o'clock and you got to eat and you get to youth group and you haven't had time to study And the next day you have a test and there's no way you're gonna pass the test or do well in the test Because you haven't studied and if you get a bad grade, you get in trouble so you have to cheat And I thought well, that's good logic. I mean, you know, you pass a logic class with that sort of And then you get their thinking But but the saying is I looked at the cost and the benefit and of course we would all say wouldn't everyone rather be honest than cheat Well, of course we would all rather be honest than cheat But they looked at the cost of being honest They said the cost of being honest was a bad grade a bad grade means I get in trouble with my parents And that's too high of a cost. I can't afford that price and therefore the cost benefit of being honest is too great I've got to cheat Now what would it be like to look at that same problem through eyes of faith Rather than simply by sight You got the same problem the same challenge cheat or not to cheat the same cost The cost the same either way if you don't cheat You're probably and you haven't studied you're probably not gonna do well on the test I've taken many me tests in my time. I prayed fervently before many many tests in my time And I can say without a doubt that the Holy Spirit has yet to give me an answer. I didn't study for already You know, it just never worked. I've got the transcripts to prove that one too And it just doesn't happen and so the cost is the same just because you say I'm gonna honor God and I'm not gonna cheat This not mean you're gonna get an A you're probably aren't So what does it mean to look at it with eyes of faith? Well the eyes of faith means say ultimately I believe That God is gonna care for me and while this may be costly now I believe that ultimately I can trust him to do what is best for me and yes the price may be high now But I believe that following after him He's gonna care for me. He's gonna do right by me Cast your cares upon him for he cares for you Now if you really believe now here's the question if you really believe that God is really going to care for you If you really believe that and if you believe that he loves you he's gonna care for you and that he's always gonna do right by you Then then in every single situation where you face the choice do the right thing don't do the right thing You can say I have to trust you say but mark I don't see how this is gonna work out if I do the right thing The cost is gonna be too high Bow as couldn't see how it was gonna work out Naomi couldn't see how it's gonna work out Ruth couldn't see how it's gonna work out But guess what Jesus is here proving that it worked out And God calls us to trust him even in situations where it doesn't seem like he's trustworthy Even in situations where it looks dark now start applying this to every area of your life Here's the key. It's not willpower. It's not discipline. It's faith now if I really believe That God is gonna care for me and I'm faced with an opportunity to be generous or not be generous How is that gonna affect my decision you say mark? I cannot afford to give away my money in the way the Bible talks about I just cannot afford that Yes, you're right. You cannot afford that without it having having pain That is that is true But the question is do you believe that ultimately God will care for you and see that's that was the question before bow as he says I got an opportunity to show mercy to these poor people Do I trust that ultimately God is gonna care for me or am I only looking out for myself? If I've already have the what's in it for me question answered If I already know that the benefits are already there Then I can be generous in biblical proportions Because I know what's in it for me is already covered And so that's what enables us to live lives of boldness of obedience of courage of generosity and of mercy Do you want to be bold? Do you want to do you want to really be different in your life? Do you want to be one of those people who stands strong and does the right thing and shows mercy and shows compassion? Then cast your cares upon him for he cares for you go to the God of Israel under whose wings you seek refuge And know that he will care for you. Let's pray Our Father we do thank you That you are a God of mercy that you are a God of compassion And Lord there are times when we don't see how in the world It can be to our benefit to do the right thing There are times when we don't see how possibly showing mercy could be a good thing for us Lord we pray that you'd help us to do the math once again To look at the equation all over again But to factor in this time you're great loving kindness and mercy that you've shown towards us Father we we are so bad when we calculate the benefits because we we only do those things which we can see We fail to take you into account Lord we pray give us the faith that trust you Give us the faith to believe you And to know that you will care for us we pray all this in Christ name amen