Choose Integrity

Sermon Notes - February 6, 2022
Choose: Ruth - Chapter 3 - Brian Becker

Setting: Time of the Judges
"Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes."

Choices:
Some choices are forever.
Some choices are bigger.
Some choices are harder.

Desperation thinking:
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Desperate times call for unethical measures.
Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes.

Choices that honor God:
Week 1: Choose Bravery
Week 2: Choose Generosity
Week 3: Choose Integrity
Week 4: Choose Purity
Epilogue: Choose Legacy

Ruth 3:1-5 (ESV)
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”

Ruth 3:6-13 (ESV)
So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

Ruth 3:14-18 (ESV)
So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”

Ruth 3:1 (ESV)
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?

Ruth is asking…
How is this going to work out?
What am I going to do about it?

Structural Integrity:
The ability of a structure to withstand its intended load without failing due to fracture or fatigue.

Structural Integrity:
When a load-bearing structure fails, the load is transferred to and potentially overloads surrounding support structures.

Ruth 1:8-9 (ESV)
But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother’s house… that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!"

Ruth 1:16-17 (ESV)
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.

Ruth 3:1-4 (ESV)
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”

Integrity:
Choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them. -Brene Brown

Ruth 3:7-9 (ESV)
Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”

We don’t know if integrity guides us until maintaining integrity costs us.

Integrity:
What guides you?
Who guides you?

Matthew 11:28-29 (ESV)
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.