(Audio and Text Available)
Title: “asah chamowth tsavah”
Intro:
I wrested with wanting to do more than just one verse, but I really feel like we need to dwell in this single verse and study ONE huge truth that this verse gives us.
(read/pray)
“So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her.”
I’m going to begin with biggest point of today’s message first:
Ruth’s obedience to Naomi was both immediate and complete.
“asah chamowth tsavah”
asah: to do, fashion, accomplish, make
chamowth: mother in law
tsavah: to lay charge upon
Rough literal translation: “Ruth FULLY ACCOMPLISHED the charge that Naomi laid upon her”
If I ask my children to clean their rooms because we have company coming over for community groups, and I have no wish for others to see the constant state of filth that we allow our children to operate in, there is potential for Vaeh and Silas to fail me in at least two ways.
If they do not clean their rooms immediately, then we risk missing the entire point of having them clean their rooms in the first place. (And the point, which we’ve established, is to fool company into thinking my children are neater than we are.)
On the other hand, if they obey my instruction immediately, but do not completely obey me, and do a shoddy job, stuffing clothes and toys under the bed instead of putting them into their proper place, then we run the risk of not achieving the desired results of actually accomplishing the task of cleaning the room.
How This Applies to Us:
Isn’t this often the case with us and God’s movement of the Spirit, urging us to do something?
What are some examples of this?
Examples?
1. God, through the Holy Spirit, convicts us of something we must do, perhaps it’s a conversation for reconciliation that we just know the Spirit is leading us into.
2. Perhaps it’s the Spirit urging us to confront someone (perhaps even our own child) with something that needs correction.
In both cases, if we do not act immediately AND completely, we may miss the opportunity to properly address the situation in the manner that God would have us to.
In Ruth’s situation, if she waits too long to heed Naomi’s advice, she may all-together miss the opportunity to present herself to Boaz.
On the other hand, if she does not fully follow through with Naomi’s instructions, it could be made to seem that she was being inappropriate with Boaz, attempting merely to seduce him, instead of pleading with him to become her Kinsman Redeemer.
Going back to my previous two examples, if we act immediately, but not fully, we are only partially addressing the issue. And if we act fully, but not immediately, the situation itself may have changed and the correction may no longer be relevant.
(How many of you, by show of hands, have had a situation where you find yourself being confronted by someone over something that happened weeks, or even months ago?)
How does that make you feel? Why?
On the other hand, if someone confronts you, and the information is recent and relevant, and the person fully explains their issues, (they don’t “pull and punches”), then we get a full view of the what the issue is, and can better work toward resolution.
Potential Objections:
- Doesn’t immediate action also run the risk of being reckless? Shouldn’t we think over the situation thoroughly before acting?
- How thorough do we need to be? Do we really need to beat a dead horse?
- When do we bring in outside council? (An appeal to Matthew 18)
- Other potential objections?
Pray/QA