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by GLENN PEASE
04/26/18
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Based on Ruth 3:10-13, 4:1-6

     Not far from the scene where Ruth proposed to Boaz in the middle of the night, Musa Alami made a proposal of his own. This Arab boy was educated at Cambridge, and he went back to Palestine where he became very successful. But political turmoil came and he lost everything. He went out into the bleak desert between Moab and Israel, and proposed to turn this desert into a rose. Where nothing had ever grown before, he would make it into a farm by the use of underground water. He got the same response that Noah got in building the Ark. The people laughed and ridiculed the idea as preposterous. The Bedouin sheiks all said it could not be done. The government official agreed it could not be done. The scientists confirmed it that it could not be done.

     To add to these minor complexities he had to face the fact that he had no well drilling equipment. Based on this preliminary information most people would have given up before they started. But people who know that life is complicated do not turn back because of complexities. Musa used poverty stricken refugees to dig with shovels. They had nothing to lose, and the project gave them some hope. Day after day, and week after week, they dug and dug the bid hole in the desert. They became the laughing stock of the area. For 6 months they dug deeper and deeper into the dry sand. One day the sand was wet, and so were the eyes of the diggers, for they wept when water was found in the desert. The sheik laid hands Musa and said, "Thank God. Now Musa, you can die." They meant, you have done what none other thought could be done. You have fulfilled your purpose in life, and you can die happy.

     Musa went on to develop a ranch in the desert. It was 3 miles long and 2 miles wide with 15 wells. He raised vegetables, bananas, figs, and citrus fruit. He build a training school to teach farmers and technicians. Others followed Musa until 40 thousand acres were under cultivation where once there was only sand. The shortest distance between two points may be a straight line, but seldom is life so simple that we can reach our goals by traveling a straight line. Usually any goal worth reaching calls for traveling an up and down winding road of complexity with obstacles, road blocks, and detours. Life is seldom a 100 yard dash where you get ready, get set, and go, and a few seconds later the goal is crossed. Life is more like a cross country marathon through winding trails, over hills, through swamps, and you cross the goal line weary and battered.

     The story of Ruth seems so simple on the surface. Ruth meets Boaz; they fall in love; they get married, and they live happily ever after. But as we read the story carefully we see it is more complex then this. Boaz loves Ruth, and she loves him, but he is not free to respond to her proposal of marriage. There are technical legal matters that throw a monkey wrench into this otherwise simple romance. There are rules that govern the marriage of a widow, and so there are rights of other relatives that Boaz is obligated to respect.

     The whole chapter is about the complexity of responsibility. Naomi is fine now, and in her own life she is adjusted, but Ruth complicates her life. She feels responsible to try and find a secure future for her. Love always complicates life. If you demand that life be simple, then avoid love at all cost, for love is complicated, and it adds a load of responsibility. The hermit has the truly simple life, but for all who develop relationships there is the inevitability of complexity.

     The civilized people become the more complex they become as well. There are more and more laws that are needed to regulate the relationships of people. The law of levirate marriage is the issue here in Ruth. It was designed to keep the name of every man alive in Israel, even if he did not have a child. This was cared for by the law that demanded the man's brother, or if he had none, the closest relative, to marry his widow, and have a child that would carry on the name of the deceased. Elimelech and Mahlon were both dead end branches of their family tree, and their only hope of survival in a genealogy of Israel was for Ruth to have a child. This was a great law for preserving the names of the dead, but it often became very complex for the living. For example, the Jewish Rabbis had some very confusing and contradictory issues arise out of this law.

     It was permissible for a man in Israel to marry his niece, that is his brother's daughter. Now suppose this man died childless. The law said that the brother was to take the widow and marry her, but in this case the brother was the father of the widow. This would be incest which is clearly forbidden by the law. So in this case the man is both commanded and forbidden to do the same thing. The Jewish Rabbi's wisely said, there has to be exceptions in complex cases. In this case it could not be the nearest relative, but the next nearest relative who was responsible.

     Boaz was the next nearest relative in the case with Ruth, but the exception did not apply here, and so he has to level with Ruth. He makes it clear that he is saying yes to her proposal. He excepts the offer to redeem her and become her husband, but it is not that simple. He has to give the nearest relative his legal right to take that option for himself. So what we see here is-

I. THE BURDEN OF COMPLEXITY.

       I cannot imagine that either one of them got any sleep that night. They had just agreed to become husband and wife, and yet the whole outcome was up in the air, and depended upon a third party who was not involved in their romance at all. What a burden that life cannot just be simple and easy. Why must there always be some obstacle, or some crazy flaw in the thing that adds pain where there should be only pure pleasure? Why must there always be a but at the end of so many good sentences? I adore your work, but. I agree with you, but. I love you, but.

     If only it was true that only the ungodly had to face the complexity of life. They do, of course, and in fact, add enormous complexity to the already normal complexity of life by their ungodliness. I read of two thieves who had the most simple robbery planned. They jumped out of their hiding place to relieve the 20 year old restaurant manager of his 17 thousand dollar night deposit. He was so frightened that when they told him to put up his hands, he threw them up and the money sack went flying onto the roof. It was now too risky to take the time to get it, and they fled away empty handed. What a delight it would be if only robbery and things in that category were complicated. Unfortunately, every day life of ordinary people gets complicated too.

1. The worst toothache comes when your dentist is out of town.

2. The vacant parking space is so often on the other side of the street.

3. The lane you just got out of now speeds up, and you are sitting still.

4. Grass seed always grows better in the driveway cracks than on the lawn.

5. The worse damage comes after the warranty has run out.

     These and a thousand other such complexities do not happen to publicans and sinners only, but to the saints as well. We all live in the same fallen world where life seldom stays simple. Sometimes the ungodly have an advantage, for the simple thing is so often the sinful thing. Just do as you please, and do what comes natural, and do what is self-centered, it is easy and simple. While the way of
righteousness may be very difficult and complex. You have to figure out how to control your old nature, and suppress the tendency to sin. You have to argue yourself in to obedience to the will of God. The sinner has such a simple decision, and you are struggling and wrestling with emotions and convictions.

     C. S. Lewis expressed in a letter to a child the complexity of his task as a teacher. He wrote, "I am so busy marking examination papers that I can hardly breathe! The very good ones and the very bad ones are no trouble, but the in-between ones take ages." This is so true to life. The very good and the very bad are easy to distinguish, and they are simple concepts to deal with. The complexity is in that vast gray area that covers most of the controversial issues of politics, ethics, and religion. Christians tend to end up on all sides of an issue, because there is always some truth and value being fought for in every perspective. This is the world where we really live. The ivory tower is attractive, and a fun place to visit, but we can't live there.

     Lavonne and I have many times asked each other, as we drive together, "Is that a male or a female thumbing a ride?" It is a complex world where even a simple thing like determining the sex of someone is so difficult that you are never sure. One man complaining in a store of this very thing said to the customer next in line, "I don't understand youth today. Look at that youngster over there. Is it a boy or a girl?" "It's a girl," was the reply. "She is my daughter." "I beg your pardon," the man apologized. "I wouldn't have said that had I known you were her father." "I'm not," was the comeback. "I'm her mother." Such is the complex world we live in.

     Jesus had a perfect life, but He never escaped the burden of complexity. How do I honor my mother and father, and also be about my heavenly Father's business? That was one of His burdens of complexity. How do I love my enemies, and yet let them know just how intolerable their evil ways are? Jesus had to love the Pharisees; even eat with them; call some of them as His disciples, and yet denounce them as the hypocrites that they were. He had to live in obedience to the Word of God, and yet reject false interpretations of it that would lead Him to abuse it for self-centered goals. This He could have done by turning the stone to bread, or by jumping off the temple. It can get complex when someone is saying, "Don't you trust the Lord? Don't you stand on His promises? He said that He will lift you up and not let you dash your foot against a stone. Prove your faith, and show that you believe by jumping." It can seem so right when it is all so wrong, and the complexity can lead to confusion. This has caused believers to take a leap of faith, and end up crushed by their presumption.

     Jesus told His disciples to pick up all the leftovers after He fed the multitude, and they had 12 baskets full. Jesus was not wasteful, and yet He let Mary pour out valuable ointment on Him that could have fed the poor. He had to face the complexities of living a conservative life, and yet know when to enjoy the luxury of extravagance. He faced the complexity of looking on men who were doing history's most representative sin. They were rejecting God's gift and killing His Son. He, as the Lord of justice, had to respond to this injustice with wrath. But as the Lord of love, who came to die for all sin, He had to pray, "Father forgive them." Jesus carried the burden of complexity all through His life.

     Coming back to Ruth, our Redeemer's ancient ancestor, we see that Jesus understands the complexity of life, and we can recognize we do not face them alone. He will help carry the burden of life's complexity. One of the burdens we see in Ruth is the burden of secrecy. There is no immoral behavior between Ruth and Boaz, and yet it is understandable that he urged Ruth to slip away before sun up, and not let anyone know that a woman had come to the threshing floor. Secrets are legitimate just because life is complex. You can't explain everything to everybody so that they understand or believe. You are better off not having to explain. People know they can't believe everything they hear, but they can repeat it, and much gossip that is damaging to others is based on information that should have been kept secret.

     I read of a very unusual accident where an elephant crushed in the side of a woman's station wagon in Vancouver. The vehicle was still able to move, and so after exchanging insurance information with the elephant owner, she was on her way. But then she got caught in a traffic jam caused by another accident. When the ambulance arrived she was next to the scene of the wreck, and the ambulance driver ran to her car to assist her because of seeing the side caved in. "Oh no," she said, "I was not involved in this accident. An elephant just sat on my car." Hearing this the ambulance crew and a policeman quickly pulled her from the car and got her to a hospital for possible shock and head injuries.

     The woman would have been wise to keep her elephant event a secret. That was just not the place to try and explain things. A mere statement that this is an old accident could have prevented the whole silly scene and inconvenience. Secrets are the only sensible way at times, and certainty this was the case with Boaz and Ruth. The whole world is told in God's Word, for it was innocent, but this was not the time to let the neighbors know. There are many things you have to keep secret in life because explaining them is just to complicated.

      Sometimes, however, the secret gets out, and then the burden becomes even heavier and more complex. There is a natural human tendency to judge the actions of others. Elimelech is harshly judged by many Christians as under the judgement of God because he left Bethlehem during the famine. Naomi is harshly judged for letting her two boys marry Moabites. She is also blasted for encouraging this seemingly naughty night on the threshing floor. It is amazing how critical and judgmental Christians can be toward those whom God has clearly used to accomplish His purpose. God has not given the slightest hint that He is displeased with their behavior.

     It is no wonder that Paul makes a big issue of the idea that servants stand or fall before their master, and not before the other servants. If other servants are the judges, there are few, if any, who could escape judgment. But thank God He is the judge, and He honors Ruth and Boaz, and He rewards them richly for their behavior. God could have kept this whole story secret, as he did the story of others in the blood line to His Son, but this story He has made known just because it is so unique and complex, and reveals all the more the wonder of His grace. These two were doing their best to find God's best, and He honored them for it. Now let's look at-

II. THE BLESSING OF COMPLEXITY.

      We need to see that if life was simple, and all we had was straight lines, the story of Ruth would not have a happy ending. The whole beautiful outcome of this romance was due to life's complexity. The rival relative who had first choice wanted to redeem the property of Elimelech, and so the whole romance of Boaz and Ruth could be coming to a screeching halt if he is willing also to take Ruth as his wife.
'
      When Boaz confronted him with the fact that he would have to take Ruth with the deal, he immediately saw how this would complicate his life, and endanger his own estate. It was too risky, and too complicated for him, and so because life is not simple Boaz got the chance to choose Ruth for himself. His greatest blessings came to him because of complexity. He was second in line, but that was good enough, for because of complexities he ended up first in line, and was able to have love, marriage, and family. Many of the kings and queens of history were people who are far from being heirs to the throne, but because life gets so complex the highly unlikely thing happened, and they were able to become the next in line.

     If life was simple because God's nature was simple, we would not even exist. God would have destroyed the world long ago. But God's nature is complex, and His love restrains His wrath. It makes Him longsuffering, not willing that any shall perish. All are saved because of the complexity of God's nature.

     If life was only simple, Boaz would have married a Jew, and all Jews would marry Jews, and no Gentile would ever get into the blood line to the Messiah. But life is complex, and so the unusual happens all the time, and this produces many of life's greatest blessings. Jews were not suppose to marry Moabites, but because life is complex Ruth became an exception to the rule, and a symbol to the whole world that God is not a legalist, but a God of grace. If life was simple Goliath would have fed David to the birds, for he had superior strength and weapons. But life is complex, and victory does not always go to the strongest. Complexity makes it possible for the weak to triumph, and God uses the foolish to confound the wise. Complexity is what makes the wonders of God's working in the world possible. Complexity is what makes life possible for all men, and abundant life possible for sinners saved by grace.

     If God granted your request for ultimate simplicity you would be an amoeba. This one celled creature has very few problems in its simple life. But as life becomes more and more complex, life takes on higher and higher qualities, and has the potential of receiving greater blessings. Do not denounce complexity just because it can be a burden. The alternative is to lose the image of God in which we are created. The more man regresses from the image of God the more simple and primitive he becomes. He lives for the flesh only, and for simple greed and self-centered satisfaction. The more man moves toward God the more complex he becomes, for he develops the higher self; the inner man of the spirit. He becomes more creative and complex in all of his values, and he reaches out beyond the self to love others. Jesus is the only perfect example of the ultimate in complexity.

     Because life is complex Ruth and Boaz became mates, and because life is complex we have the highest privilege of life of being a part of the bride of Christ. If life was simple Ruth would have listened to Naomi and went back to her people, and she would have lost her chance to be a part of God's people. Complexity is what enables people to see life from different perspectives so that not all are made pessimistic by the burdens of life. Complexity is the basis for the blessed differences that gives us balance in life.

     Gigi, the oldest daughter of Billy Graham has 6 children of her own. One summer afternoon with 6 weeks left before school she was running out of creative ways to keep these energetic children entertained. So she hit on the idea of fixing up the old sandbox. After pulling the weeds, and getting it in shape, she called the local sand company. When the truck arrived it was so heavy that it made deep trenches in their yard, and it broke off several branches from their trees. Then the driver began to slide down the hill toward the lake, and he plowed a gaping hole on the way.   He sank up to his axles, and he could not move. He had to call in another truck. A large tow truck came and made more deep trenches in the yard. In trying to pull the other truck out he dug into the yard and broke the sprinkler pipes, and up rooted some small trees. He also got stuck. Another call to the company resulted in a 18 wheeler arriving.

      By 8 o'clock that night, after 5 and a half hours of destruction, they had five tons of sand beside the sand box, and a yard that looked like a battlefield.   It was a disastrous day, but as she tucked in her 8 year old for bed he prayed, "And thank you Lord, for the exciting day, and for all the entertainment we had." She had to laugh and recognize that God wants us to see life through the eyes of children, and see the fun and humor even in the ridiculous and difficult. Complexity makes us aware that there is more than one way to look at things. We don't have to be locked into the negative, but can see that life is complex, and so we always have choices. The happy ending of the story of Ruth, and the happy ending for millions of stories, are due to the reality of the complexity of life.

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