We continue on in Through His Eyes: God's Perspective on Women in the Bible by Jerram Barrs. It's my turn to post the rotating discussion with Kristy and Megan. This chapter finishes up the story of Naomi and Ruth - A Portrait of Redemption.
I've always loved this book of the Bible. Ruth is brave and Boaz is valiant. And of course, they fall in love and live happily ever after. What's not to like? But Barrs went at this story a little differently than I had expected. He gave a great explanation of gleaning and related it to God's generosity to us and His command of generosity from us. "The fundamental issue is to remember the undeserved kindness of God for oneself and to therefore be generous to anyone in need, for at the heart of these laws is the call to imitate the character of God and to remember his mercy in redeeming his people." (page 141)
What I focused on most in his discussion was this: "The laws simply spell out the basics - they are the floor of what should be done by us - not the reality of the spacious room of obedience to the Lord. Rather, we are to ask ourselves, what is the intent of the Law? What is the principle that God desires us to observe? God's people (in Ruth's time and today) are commanded to be generous to those less fortunate, not simply to tolerate those in need who have the courage to take advantage of such laws as the gleaning laws. This generosity, this obedience to the spirit and intent of the Law, is that we see in the life of Boaz." (page 143)
Ouch. What a great word picture...the floor versus the spacious room of obedience...
This whole discussion was very timely and convicting to me. So here's just a moment of honesty...Matt and I, like probably just about everyone right now, are looking over our finances, redoing budgets, trying to figure out how to best make ends meet. We're starting to see friends who are losing jobs, getting hours cut back...prices seem to be increasing... everything is so expensive! In a week we add a teenage driver to our insurance - yikes! And we'd like to figure out a way to give her something to drive, but even well-used cars seem out of our range. We think our jobs are secure but you never know what's around the corner... And then there's college coming up ever so fast...And let's not even talk about 401Ks or retirement plans. We quit even opening up our statements! I want to just stay at home, sock away every dime we have, and wait for this season to be over. And, just to be totally honest, out of fear and lack of faith, I wonder does God really want us to give money to Him when we still have debt? Shouldn't we get our finances straight before we give to our local church and others? (For an interesting short answer on that question from author Randy Alcorn, click here.)
Sigh.
Thankfully, God so often pairs us with those who will help us in just the area of sanctification that we need. He has blessed me with a man full of compassion and generosity, who is faithful to give to God ungrudgingly and without fear for tomorrow...a man who takes his eyes from the floor and looks into the spacious room of obedience. This is the example, and leadership, I need. Reading this chapter was an affirmation of what I already knew to be true, but needed to hear again. And again. My faith can be very, very small. Infinitesimal.
Barrs goes onto explain Levirate marriage and the concept of the kinsman-redeemer. He talks about the concept of the Year of Jubilee and what an impact it would have on us if we still practiced this concept today. Oh - just get the book and read it!
Bountiful blessings to you and yours on this Easter day! Go to Half-Pint House for links to previous chapter discussions.
(Art by Tamar Messer.)
I've always loved this book of the Bible. Ruth is brave and Boaz is valiant. And of course, they fall in love and live happily ever after. What's not to like? But Barrs went at this story a little differently than I had expected. He gave a great explanation of gleaning and related it to God's generosity to us and His command of generosity from us. "The fundamental issue is to remember the undeserved kindness of God for oneself and to therefore be generous to anyone in need, for at the heart of these laws is the call to imitate the character of God and to remember his mercy in redeeming his people." (page 141)
What I focused on most in his discussion was this: "The laws simply spell out the basics - they are the floor of what should be done by us - not the reality of the spacious room of obedience to the Lord. Rather, we are to ask ourselves, what is the intent of the Law? What is the principle that God desires us to observe? God's people (in Ruth's time and today) are commanded to be generous to those less fortunate, not simply to tolerate those in need who have the courage to take advantage of such laws as the gleaning laws. This generosity, this obedience to the spirit and intent of the Law, is that we see in the life of Boaz." (page 143)
Ouch. What a great word picture...the floor versus the spacious room of obedience...
This whole discussion was very timely and convicting to me. So here's just a moment of honesty...Matt and I, like probably just about everyone right now, are looking over our finances, redoing budgets, trying to figure out how to best make ends meet. We're starting to see friends who are losing jobs, getting hours cut back...prices seem to be increasing... everything is so expensive! In a week we add a teenage driver to our insurance - yikes! And we'd like to figure out a way to give her something to drive, but even well-used cars seem out of our range. We think our jobs are secure but you never know what's around the corner... And then there's college coming up ever so fast...And let's not even talk about 401Ks or retirement plans. We quit even opening up our statements! I want to just stay at home, sock away every dime we have, and wait for this season to be over. And, just to be totally honest, out of fear and lack of faith, I wonder does God really want us to give money to Him when we still have debt? Shouldn't we get our finances straight before we give to our local church and others? (For an interesting short answer on that question from author Randy Alcorn, click here.)
Sigh.
Thankfully, God so often pairs us with those who will help us in just the area of sanctification that we need. He has blessed me with a man full of compassion and generosity, who is faithful to give to God ungrudgingly and without fear for tomorrow...a man who takes his eyes from the floor and looks into the spacious room of obedience. This is the example, and leadership, I need. Reading this chapter was an affirmation of what I already knew to be true, but needed to hear again. And again. My faith can be very, very small. Infinitesimal.
Barrs goes onto explain Levirate marriage and the concept of the kinsman-redeemer. He talks about the concept of the Year of Jubilee and what an impact it would have on us if we still practiced this concept today. Oh - just get the book and read it!
Bountiful blessings to you and yours on this Easter day! Go to Half-Pint House for links to previous chapter discussions.
(Art by Tamar Messer.)
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2 comments:
Bother. I had comments written last night, hit the wrong button, and lost the entire thing. I hate it when that happens... So, starting over this morning...
First, Belinda, I so appreciate your comments on the challenge of stewardship and obedience today. I do believe that our encouragement in that should be, as Barrs wrote at the very beginning of the chapter, "God delights to give gifts and rewards to his people in ways that are far beyond what we deserve or what we expect...,"(p. 137) "exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think" we are told in Ephesians 3:20. I love that phrase, "exceedingly abundantly"!
In this chapter, I appreciate the exhortation to care for those in need. Barrs writes, "The fundamental issue is to remember the undeserved kindness of God for oneself and to therefore be generous to anyone in need, for at the heart of these laws is the call to imitate the character of God and to remember his mercy in redeeming his people."(p.141) Barrs outlines the categories of those in need: the poor, the lien, the orphan, and the widow, still pertinent standard today.
I adore the picture that Barrs paints of Boaz, "of the lovingkindness of God himself,... of what Christ would do for us as our kinsman-redeemer."(p. 148) What an encouragement, to read in Ruth of that example of Boaz and know that "in Christ God has loved us in just the way that Boaz loves Ruth and Naomi, for Christ buys us back from the desperate need and the bondage in which he finds us. Jesus is our nearest kinsman, our elder brother, who has paid the price for our redemption, so that we might belong to God and so that we might have an inheritance in his eternal kingdom."(p. 148)
Finally, what a terrific example we find in Barrs' father in law, of how to live all this out in the real world. To ask "what would be pleasing to the Lord, what was just, merciful, and fair."(p. 150) To give generously, "without thinking about how much precisely he could afford."(p. 151) To be "extraordinarily hospitable."(p. 151) To find our families "profoundly affected"(p. 152) by those practices. That kind of legacy is my prayer and my hope for my family as well.
Another good chapter! Thanks!
This is pretty darn late in coming, but I did want to say that the statement on page 141, "We should notice that there are no statements in these laws about whether the poor are "the deserving poor" (as some speak about such matters of charity). Whether a person was poor because of tragedy or because of sin and laziness is not an issue for consideration in these commandments." - this statement has been with me consistently ever since I read it. I think about it when I go to baseball games and see people with their cups and their signs. I think about it when I see someone standing at intersections with begging eyes. And it convicts me for judging them. It is not up to me to decide whether or not they are deserving poor or not. It is up to me to be charitable when charity is due.
Now then, to figure out how to do that...
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