Better Than Any Hallmark Movie: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

Have you ever watched a Hallmark movie and found yourself cheering for the characters, even though you know exactly how it's going to end? I'm a big fan of Hallmark movies - yes, those "chick flicks" with the same plot line but just different enough to keep you engaged. In fact, "several years ago, the Kirkpatricks, who are members of our church, gave me this blanket" - my Hallmark Christmas movie watching blanket. But let me tell you something: "this thing beats any Hallmark movie I have ever, ever seen. The story we're going to look at this morning makes these movies look pathetic. I mean, this is so, so, so good."

The story I'm talking about is found in the book of Ruth, and it's not just a love story - it's a masterpiece of God's providence that will leave you amazed at how He works in ordinary lives.

When Life Gets Rough

"The route of this story" takes us back to around 1300-1200 BC, "at the tail end of the Judges" when "the Israelites were getting settled into their promised land." There was this man named Elimelech - "nice Jewish name, nice Jewish man" - with "a wonderful bride, named Naomi" and a couple of boys. But then "things got rough. Things got really, really rough" because of a famine.

"What do we do when things get rough?" People move, right? Just like "when my parents moved up from Alabama, the jobs weren't there" and they came north looking for better opportunities. Well, Elimelech made a decision that would change everything. He decided to take his family east to Moab - enemy territory where "the Jews weren't supposed to have anything to do with these folks. I mean, these were the bad guys."

But sometimes when we're desperate, we make choices that take us away from God's plan. Elimelech "went there, you know, defying God, rejecting God's plan."

From Tragedy to Faithfulness

The story takes a tragic turn. Elimelech died. Then both of his sons died, leaving three widows: Naomi and her two Moabite daughters-in-law. "So all of a sudden you have this nice little family of mom and dad, son A, son B, wife A, wife B. All of a sudden the guys are gone, they're dead."

When Naomi decided to return to Israel, one daughter-in-law stayed in Moab, but Ruth made a declaration that reveals the heart of this story. She told Naomi: "your people are my people. Your land is going to be my land. Your God is my God. That's an important idea and concept, okay, because that was her profession of faith in God right there."

Ruth had seen something different in this Jewish family - something that drew her to their God.

God's Provision in the Details

Back in Bethlehem - yes, "that same Bethlehem" - these two women had to figure out how to survive. Ruth told Naomi, "I'm going to go out and I'm going to get some grain." She was going to follow the harvesters and "pick up the scraps."

Here's where we see God's amazing provision. In Leviticus 19:9-10, God had given specific instructions: "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest... You shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God."

"When God designed things, he really did a good job. You really see the mercy of God coming through in his provisions for his people."

The "Coincidence" That Changed Everything

Now here's where it gets really good. Ruth "happened to be on the field of a family member of Naomi. His name was Boaz." But as Ruth 2:3 tells us, "she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz."

"You and I both know that that was not an accident. That was God's working in her life."

Boaz was "a good dude. Everybody liked Boaz. He was wealthy, he was a little bit older in life, but he was very, very, very, very, very kind." When he came back to his field, he greeted his workers saying, "may the Lord be with you" instead of barking orders at them.

When Boaz noticed Ruth, he asked, "whose young woman is this?" His workers told him about this hardworking woman from Moab who had been gathering grain all day. What happened next shows us the kind of man Boaz was.

Character Over Appearance

Boaz went to Ruth and said, "listen, my daughter, stay right here with us. When you gather grain, don't go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field... And by the way, I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly."

Notice how "he refer to her" - "my daughter. So there's a little bit of an age thing going on here." But more importantly, "Boaz was attracted to her character" rather than her appearance.

"We live in a day and time when guys are so obsessed with what a woman looks like that sometimes we get lost in the external things when we ought to be focused on the internal character things." But Boaz told Ruth: "I know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I've heard how you left your father and mother in your own land to live here among complete strangers."

"The man just got back into town and he had already heard all that stuff about this woman. He knew lots about her. There was definitely some interest that was going on, but it went back to her character, not her appearance."

Fueling the Fire

The relationship continued to develop beautifully. "At mealtime, Boaz called her, come over here and help yourself to some food... She sat with his harvesters. Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some leftover. She was comfortable with this guy. He was comfortable with her."

Boaz even told his workers to "pulled out some heads of the barley from the bundles and dropped them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up and don't give her a hard time."

When Ruth returned home with an entire basket full of grain, Naomi asked, "where in the world did you get all of this?" When Ruth mentioned Boaz's name, "Naomi's face just lit up. Boaz, really. Boaz." He was "one of our kinsmen redeemers" - a family member who could legally marry Ruth and provide for both women.

"The seed is planted. The seed is planted in Ruth's mind."

Taking the Next Step

After months of Ruth working in Boaz's fields, Naomi decided it was time to take action. "One day, Naomi said to Ruth, my daughter, it's time, time that I found a permanent home for you so that you'll be provided for."

"This kind of reminds me of Debbie's grandmother" when we were dating. Her grandmother kept asking, "Why hasn't he asked you to marry him yet? Why hasn't he? Why? Why? What's taking him so long?"

Naomi gave Ruth specific instructions: take a bath, put on perfume, wear your best clothes, and go to Boaz at the threshing floor. When Ruth found him sleeping, "she lifts up part of his blanket... and she laid down at his feet."

When Boaz woke up startled, Ruth said, "Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer." She was essentially proposing to him!

The Perfect Ending

Boaz was thrilled but had to handle one legal matter first - there was another relative with first rights. The next day, that relative declined when he learned about the full responsibility involved. This opened the door for Boaz.

"Boaz took Ruth into his home. She became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant. She gave birth to a son" (Ruth 4:13).

"One commentator put it this way: The book of Ruth opens with three funerals and closes with a wedding."

But here's the amazing part: "that little boy" they named Obed "grew up and obviously Obed became a pretty prominent guy. You see, Obed grew up and Obed had a kid, and that kid's name was Jesse... Well, Jesse grew up and gave Ruth a great grandson. That great grandson happened to be David, who was a wonderful little shepherd boy" who "grew up to be the king of Israel."

And the lineage continues: "there's Ruth mentioned. And then you drop down a few lines, and there's David mentioned. And then you drop down several more lines, and there's Jesus."

Life Application: Trusting God's Plan

"This has been a wonderful love story, but this has been so much more than a love story. This has been a story, a true story about how God has a plan. And that plan is for each and every one of us."

Trust the Process

Ruth "had a hard life. She moved. She left her family. Her husband died... It was not an easy life. But to end up being the great granny of the King of Israel, who in turn kept the chain going. And you became a great, great, great, great whatever, grandmother of the savior of the world."

"My point is, you don't ever know what God is doing in the background, but you need to follow him. I need to follow him."

Treat Every Intersection as Holy

"Furthermore, if we can take a lesson from Boaz out of this: We don't know what God is doing in the lives of the people around us. That little kid, that teenager, that senior adult. We have no idea. But if God has allowed our two paths to cross, we better treat that intersection as being holy, because God may very well be up to something."

Stay Faithful in the Ordinary

Sometimes we're just "doing the same thing day in and day out. We deal with the circumstances, like death, like in-laws, with God's help the best we can. But we try to be faithful to God. And then one day we watch God opening this package called the plan" for our lives, "and we start seeing some things and we're in an absolute state of amazement."

The story of Ruth and Boaz reminds us that God is always working, even when we can't see it. He takes "simple people" and does "miraculous things." So stay faithful, treat others with kindness, and trust that God's plan for your life is better than any Hallmark movie ending you could ever imagine.