It is grace that sets Christianity apart from every religion of the world. Grace is our secret weapon; and every born again believer ought to understand what the Bible teaches on this all-important subject.

Twenty two years and six months ago, I said those exact same words standing in the pulpit of our church. Those were the opening lines of my very first sermon series as the pastor here.

Teaching grace is still my passion, and always will be. I want to die with the message of grace on my lips. On my tombstone, I want you to put, "He proclaimed the grace of God in Jesus Christ."

Grace is more than a word. It's more than just a way of saying that God is nice or kind. It's more than another way of speaking of God's love. Grace is more than a good feeling.

As a case study in grace, we're turning to the Book of Ruth. Ruth puts flesh on grace. This book is like fireworks; it begins slowly, but finishes with a finale that takes your breath away. Today, I want to start arranging some fireworks. The fireworks will start pretty soon. I hope you don't miss it.

The book begins with loss. The opening paragraph tells the story of a woman named Naomi. Famine in the land drove Naomi, her husband, and her two boys to an alien land. In literary circles, that famine is what would be called "the inciting incident." It's the one thing that makes all the other things happen.
Famine drove them to Moab. And then everything fell apart.

Naomi's husband died. Her two boys grew up and married. Then her sons died. Both of them, both of them, one after the other.

Her travels are marked by graves. Each footfall represents a funeral for a dream that died and a heart that's broken.

The setting for grace is always this: a broken world filled with loss, disappointment, and pain that we didn't cause and can't control.

That is our story. That is Naomi's story.

Now, it's time to go back home... let's pick it up in Ruth 1:6.

"Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread" (Ruth 1:6).

I just want to point out something crucial. What was the problem that drove Naomi from Israel to Moab in the first place? Famine.

In those days was famine something humans could fix by human power? No.

I believe in free will. I believe in human dominion. We were meant to reign and rule in life (Romans 5:17).

But our power is limited. You can't fix everything.

 

When your beloved son goes prodigal, you can't control him.

When the technician says your baby's heartbeat is gone, you can't bring him back.

When new technology drags your business into bankruptcy, sometimes you can't stop it.

When the labor pains of a fallen world keep coming in wave after wave with no delivery in sight... you're powerless to stop it.

We are living in a fallen world and we are members of a fallen race. That's true for everybody. It was true for Naomi.

And now, there's a follow up premise: There is nothing we can do to reverse either the Fall or its effects in our lives or our world.

This traces back to a reality as old as Adam's stupid fig leaves. This principle is called the DOCTRINE OF HUMAN INABILITY: Human Inability means that human beings, by human power, can do absolutely nothing to reverse the Fall or to make ourselves acceptable to God.

Not your sacrifice. Not your dedication. Not your efforts. Not your performance. Not your love. Not your payment. Not your religion. Not your morality. Not your improvement. Not your anything. Not your commitment.

So, look carefully at our verse here and tell me who it was who resolved the problem of famine.

The inciting incident is undone... I wonder what other calamities might get undone too?

"Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, 'Go, return each to her mother's house. The LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.' Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, 'Surely we will return with you to your people'" (Ruth 1:7-10).

Here is a woman who has lost everything. She is supremely unhappy. And here are two other women, ready to go with her.

Let's call this the second ray of hope in her life.

In fact, verse 8 uses the word "kindly." Naomi tells Orpah and Ruth, "May the Lord deal kindly with you." The word kindly translates one of the most important Hebrew words in the Bible: the word HESED (the H is hard, like you're clearing your throat: often transliterated HESED)

Here is our first hint of the core of this book. Ruth is going to show Naomi what grace looks like... she'll show us too.