Latest / HBCWestminster / 12.18.22 Ruth 3 Pastor Danny Gardner

Transcript

12.18.22 Ruth 3 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  What is your proposal story, you who are married? Did it involve dinner, probably a cool setting or a place that was special to you as a couple? I've heard of people getting engaged at the beach or in the mountains or on airplanes or in boats. I even heard of a couple who met each other as employees. They were co-employees at a Home Depot. And so he proposed to her in the middle of an aisle in a Home Depot, right? It probably had something to do with your story as a couple.
• 0:29
  We did have a young couple from our church get engaged just yesterday. I heard this news. There's Max and Sandra. Max Mosley and Sandra Hoskins. Are they at this service? I didn't see them. I was watching. I think they're going to come to 11. And so we are celebrating with them as he proposed. And she, I'm assuming from the picture, said yes. I think their faces probably would have been a little different if she had not. We're so excited for them and cannot wait to hear their...
• 1:01
  proposal story. Here's another young couple on their day of their engagement, 25 or so years ago when I proposed to Hallie. And you may be thinking, did you ever have hair? I'm like, no, I didn't. I just, I never did. And so there are Hallie and I, 25 years ago, that was September of 2008, not 2008, 1998, right? I'm off by about 10 years, 1998.
• 1:29
  September of 1998, almost 25 years ago, as I took her to the beach. We were living in Southern California at the time, San Luis Obispo, Pismo area. And we're hiking all over rocks. I had the ring in my pocket the whole day. And you guys know, if you remember the day you bought your ring, you may have plans to buy the ring in January and then propose in like May.
• 1:50
  right? There is no way. Once that ring is in your pocket, like it burns a hole in your, you cannot wait to drop that thing. There is no delay. And so I had this thing, I'd had it for several weeks.
• 1:59
  But I had played it cool. I had the ring in my pocket. We were hiking all over and playing at the beach and whatever. But I knew what was coming. And I knew that we were going to work our way up to these bluffs like a cliff overlooking the ocean, the ocean crashing against the cliff below us. We were going to sit down on this cliff. I had prepared this whole thing, you know, picnic and all these other things. And I was going to propose to Hallie as our feet were dangling over this cliff and watching the waves below. And at one point I thought, I'm going to pull a prank. I thought this would be a good time for a prank, right?
• 2:27
  I thought about buying a fake ring, right? It's something just cheap or whatever, but it looks okay unless you were holding it. I thought about buying a fake ring. And as I was proposing to her, fumbling it and dropping it over the cliff, I thought about doing it just to see what she would do. But then I thought, you know what? What if she jumps? Like, what if she goes in after it? That's not going to be good. You know, that's not a good proposal story. So I just, I forewent the whole, you know, fake ring. I just gave her the real one. It's obviously the one she still...
• 2:56
  Whereas today, that's how we got engaged. I always appreciate the creativity and the enthusiasm and the work that these young grooms put into trying to convince this young lady to spend the remainder of her life with them. It was 48 years ago on Christmas that my dad gave my mom this as a Christmas gift. 48 years ago, it was 1974, Christmas of 1974.
• 3:25
  And the idea was he didn't know how to propose to her. And so he wrapped up a clock and gave it to her and said, it's time. And that was it. That was his proposal to my mom. It's time, right? And she was supposed to look at this and probably be disappointed. This is what you got me for Christmas? A clock. And then he just said, it's time. Let's get engaged and let's be married. No matter.
• 3:50
  how creative or unique the stories you may have heard, I would be willing to bet that you have never heard a proposal as unique, as creative, and as backward as the one we will study this morning. You'll recall that Ruth and Boaz's first encounter turned out to be an eventful day. When the sun rose in chapter 2, Ruth was a foreign woman. Do you remember that? Gawked at, perhaps even mistreated, harassed. Boaz came to her rescue.
• 4:19
  offering his protection and his provision. When the sun set that same day, Ruth had become a highly favored servant of Boaz. She was entreated to stay with his servant girls for the remainder of the harvest season, which would last about two months. And by the time we get to chapter 3 and verse 1, that two months has passed. You can imagine Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, now getting a little bit anxious.
• 4:44
  Two months has come and gone. They've been seeing each other every day, enjoying most lunches together, talking, questioning each other, getting to know one another. And now the harvest season had provided this daily opportunity to see each other, but the harvest season was coming to a close. And so Naomi's fear was, is this whole thing, now that the harvest season is over and they don't have to see each other every day, is it going to fizzle? Why hasn't Boaz made his move?
• 5:13
  Is he still interested? Has something changed? Two months seeing each other every day in Naomi's mind was enough time for the two to fall in love. What was he waiting for? Knowing that the harvest season wouldn't last much longer, chapter 3, Naomi decides to force Boaz's hand. The chapter begins, you'll notice, with a pair of negative questions. The first negative question states the problem. The second negative question states the solution.
• 5:43
  Okay, so let's look at the first negative question, verse 1. Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? The text literally reads, My daughter. It's interesting that Naomi took seriously Ruth's commitment from chapter 1. Do you remember?
• 6:02
  When Ruth said, your people will be my people, your God will be my God. Where you go, I will go. Where you die, I will die. Where you are buried, I will be buried. She makes this lifelong vow to her mother-in-law. She says, I am no longer your daughter-in-law. Ruth says, I am now your daughter. Naomi, we see, took that seriously as well. She's not her daughter-in-law anymore. Now she says, my daughter. And then she says, should I not seek rest for you?
• 6:30
  Should I not seek for you a home or a place of tranquility, a place of repose where you will be well provided for? Another way of saying it would be, I want to look out for your future, Ruth. I will be around forever. I want to make sure that you're secure. Should I not find a home for you? Should I not find a husband for you? There's negative question number one. Look at verse two. She answers it by saying, is not Boaz our relative?
• 7:01
  Is not Boaz the answer to our problem? Is not Boaz our kinsman? Maybe the fact that they were related to him by marriage, maybe the fact that they were related to him would mean that he'd be more open to a proposal. She says, is not Boaz our relative with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Winnowing barley in the ancient world looked a lot like winnowing barley today. Here is a man in recent times.
• 7:30
  winnowing or threshing, wheat, grain, barley, whatever you would harvest, you would let dry, then you would bring it to this threshing floor. You would take a large stick, a tool, with forks on the end. We would call it a pitchfork. You take this pitchfork, you jam it into this pile of stuff, you chuck it up in the air, whatever is good falls down, the chaff then is blown away. But you'll notice it always involved some kind of a pitchfork, right? This long tool with blades on the end of it.
• 7:59
  And you start swinging this thing around, which means what? What would be true of a man winnowing or threshing? Now, what is true of this man in the picture? This is not a group activity. You see that? You're not going to be taking these, can you imagine, six pitchforks flinging around? This is not going to be good. There's no safety there. And so Naomi knows he is going to be threshing, which means what? He's going to be alone. He'll be all by himself.
• 8:31
  And so Naomi sees an opportunity here, and in verse 3, she begins to give advice. Now, for the parents in the room, maybe you've already grown your kids and they're gone. Remember sending your oldest child off on their first date. Maybe your kids are still young and it hasn't come to that point yet. I know the dads of young daughters usually think that's never coming.
• 8:54
  right? Celibacy for life. I will just provide for you, sweetheart. Don't ask questions, right? That's usually how it goes when they're real little. Never, never, never, never. But imagine sending your first child, your oldest child on their first date. Will you not have some advice to give to them? Of course you will. Of course you will. And will your advice not sound something like this? Look at verse three. First word, wash.
• 9:23
  Will your advice not sound something like that? You're going to go out and find Boaz. Wash, therefore, and anoint yourself. It means putting on perfumed oil. Make sure you smell good. Put on your cloak. Literally, Ruth is being instructed to wear her best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don't make yourself known. Wash. Put on some cologne.
• 9:51
  Dress to impress. I mean, would you not tell your son this? Feel free, my boy, to take a shower. Wear clean clothes. Iron your shirt. Learn what shoes go with what pants. And if you don't know how to do those things, ask. Ask. And listen, if your dad doesn't know how to do those things, ask any one of the guys here at Highland. We would love to help you. We want to see you succeed, don't we?
• 10:22
  We want this to go well. Put your best foot forward. This is good advice, right? Shower, put on some lotion, wear cologne, dress to impress. I've never understood the young men. And if maybe you're a high school or college age guy and you are on the prowl, if you don't mind me saying it that way, you just can't figure out why no young ladies will show you any interest when you never shower, you don't use mouthwash, you don't comb your hair.
• 10:52
  You don't care how you dress. Gents, young gents in the room, I'm going to give you some really, really good advice. You feel free to write it down. No beautiful woman ever was ever, ever impressed by a pair of sweatpants and a neck beard. It's never happened in the history of mankind. I'm telling you, it's never happened. A good rule of thumb, and this is advice. This is not biblical advice. This is just advice from your pastor. A good rule of thumb would be if you normally sleep in it, don't wear it on a date.
• 11:25
  And here's some more good advice. If it comes out lower than your Adam's apple, shave it off. We have the technology. It's amazing. If you don't know how to do it, ask. It's all good and pretty ordinary advice that Naomi gives to Ruth. Wash, put on perfume, put on your best clothes. But then the advice gets a little bit strange. She says, go down to the threshing floor.
• 11:51
  But notice, in secret, don't make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Now here the advice gets a little bit different. I wouldn't advise our young men to do this, right? Secretly watch her, stalk her, and wait to see where she lives. That's not good advice, all right? In that case, I'll be on the side of her dad, okay? I'll be on his side. Then she says, go and uncover his feet and lie down.
• 12:21
  and he will tell you what to do. What she tells Ruth is, wait to see where he lays down when he's asleep. Uncover his feet and lay your head on his feet. And Ruth replied, all that you say I will do. Now there exists a possibility to this point, and I think this is what's going on. Ruth had been presenting herself this whole time until now as a widow in mourning. She'd been wearing dark or black.
• 12:50
  clothes. She was veiling her appearance. She was avoiding laughter, avoiding any merriment, celebration, joy, any places of mirth. I mean she was just avoiding all of that because she was still in mourning for her deceased husband. And so what we see here I think in this advice is Naomi telling her specifically to stop her mourning. It's going to change Ruth. Present yourself to Boaz as available.
• 13:22
  This whole time. They've been hanging out every day. That's true. And I do think Boaz has been falling in love with her every day. But this entire time, she has still been wearing her wedding ring. Does that make sense? She's presenting herself as a married woman. And so now, Naomi is telling Ruth, take off your wedding ring. That would be today's symbolism. Take off your wedding ring. Stop your period of mourning. The language she gives.
• 13:47
  To Ruth is very similar, in fact, to King David in 2 Samuel 12 and verse 20. David had just lost his son that he had conceived with Bathsheba. And after losing that son, after that period of mourning was over, 2 Samuel 12 and verse 20 presents it this way, that David arose, the king arose from the earth, and look at what he did. He washed, he anointed himself, he changed his clothes. It's the same thing.
• 14:16
  He went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He was a man in mourning, but then when the period of mourning was over, he changed everything about himself, even his physical appearance, and went back out. He presented himself differently, and that is what she's telling Ruth to do. Pay attention, watch where he goes, and then when he's asleep, uncover his feet and lay down at his feet.
• 14:46
  Now listen, any one of you come and lay at my bare feet while I'm sleeping, we're going to have words. They will not be matrimonial, all right? And you're like, that is weird. What is going on? I think there's some cultural history tied into what she's about to do. There was a book floating around our Christian college campus 25 years ago when Hallie and I were in school.
• 15:07
  It was kind of taken the church by storm. Maybe some of you remember it. It claimed that there was a biblical model for dating. It claimed that the way we date today was unbiblical. It was broken. And so it said there is a biblical model called courtship.
• 15:23
  This courtship involved the uniting of not only two kids, but their families as well. And it was fine. It worked for some people. But let me tell you that as a single 20-year-old who was actively considering which girl I was going to ask out, to hear that the bulk of the student body, female student body, were reading a book entitled, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, sent all of the other single young men into a panic. Like, whoa, what are we supposed to do?
• 15:49
  It claimed there was one biblical model for finding a spouse. And so it sent me down a rabbit hole of study. What does the Bible say about dating? Is there a specific biblical expectation on how to do it? How much say does our culture get? How much say do our families get? And let me tell you, church, I can't find anywhere in the scriptures where dating, the way we do it, is prohibited, where courting is mandated.
• 16:19
  Hallie and I began dating when we were in college. We started as good friends. We were hanging out in large groups. We enjoyed each other's company as we continued our friendship. Those groups got smaller and smaller. Eventually, we began hanging out on our own, and dating began, kind of by default. We got engaged after nine months. We were married another seven months later. I considered writing a book of my own entitled Dating Worked For Me, but I couldn't figure out who would read it, and so I never wrote it.
• 16:49
  The Bible doesn't say anything specifically about dating as we define it. And it does, if you're going to argue for biblical models of courtship or of finding a spouse, it does provide quite a few examples of how to get a spouse. Here's one. Take the attack that Adam took. The Lord God said, it's not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him.
• 17:12
  So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept, took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh, and the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man, he made into a woman and brought her to the man. You're looking for a biblical model on how to get a spouse. Let the Lord know that your pets are insufficient, because that's what Adam did. None of these animals will work, Lord. You're going to have to make me something else. And then in the middle of the night,
• 17:40
  The Lord rips out a rib and makes you a wife. Listen, if that happens for you, consider it God's will. It's a biblical model, right? Here's another one, Joseph and Mary. I like this one. The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph. We don't do betrothals anymore, but...
• 18:00
  arranged marriages were standard operating procedure in the ancient Near East. They still are in many places. I'm actually in favor of this one. I think that parents could do a pretty good job choosing a spouse for their kids. Can I get an amen from the parents in the room? That sounds great to me, but our culture frowns upon it. It's a biblical example, a biblical model. Here's my favorite. Let me give you some quick context on the Benjamites at the end of the book of Judges.
• 18:26
  The tribe of Benjamin, and the country was so broken during the judges, we've talked about that, that the tribe of Benjamin had actually declared war on the other Israelite tribes. Benjamin had suffered tremendous losses. All of their young, marriable young men had gone off to fight and many of them died. In fact, by the time you get to Judges 21, only 600 single young eligible bachelors remained.
• 18:52
  The Israelites, in turn, because they'd been fighting against the Benjamites, had sworn an oath not to give their daughters to the tribe of Benjamin for marriage. We're not giving you our girls, right? You're walking in wicked, idolatry, rebellion against the Lord's will. We're not offering up our daughters. But then they became concerned for the survival of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. If we don't give our girls to them, Benjamin will be no more.
• 19:17
  And so they devised a plan. And look at their plan. And tell me, if you were one of these young ladies, if you would have been in favor of this. They commanded the people of Benjamin saying, go and lie in ambush in the vineyards and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin. Literally show up during the party.
• 19:43
  grab yourself a girl and drag her off back home that's what it says now you think oh no they're not going to do that but look what it says right at the end and the people of benjamin did so and took their wives according to their number 600 kidnappings all in the same night and this way they thought benjamin will survive but none of us gave our daughters away in marriage they thought our hands are clean
• 20:11
  It's a biblical model, right? We're like, wait, that's not, I don't think the Lord's will. That's not what we should do? Go and club a girl and take her home? Get back to Ruth chapter 3. What does this have to do with Ruth chapter 3? There are some, I think, good and timeless pieces of advice here. There are also a few that have some cultural baggage. Naomi, we see, and the point is that Naomi had done everything she could think of to ensure the greatest chance of Ruth's success.
• 20:42
  She had told Ruth to come out of mourning, present yourself as available. She encouraged her to present herself in the best and most beautiful way, dress to impress, make sure you are clean and smell good. She told Ruth to wait until Boaz was at his happiest. In fact, the text we're about to read even says that his heart was merry. Ruth had come to Boaz when he was alone, and what Naomi told Ruth to do
• 21:09
  was perfectly within the bounds of Scripture, nothing was violated, and yet perfectly acceptable in their culture. And if you want to know, the best dating advice I can give is that advice. Stay within the bounds of Scripture and stay within the bounds of your family culture as well. And that is exactly what she does. We pick up in verse 6. She went down to the threshing floor and did justice. Her mother-in-law had commanded her.
• 21:38
  When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. She came softly, same word as secretly. She came secretly and uncovered his feet and lay down on his bare feet. All right, now to say that Boaz was going to be alarmed here when he woke up is probably an understatement. You look at verse eight. At midnight, the man was startled. Okay, startled is the Hebrew word for shivered. He was shivering at midnight. Why?
• 22:08
  She uncovered his feet, right? She took all the blankets off, okay? And now this lady is laying on his feet. He's shivering. It startles him. It wakes him up. He turns over and behold, a woman lay at his feet. You notice the exclamation point, right? The translators are trying to get across that this guy was not expecting this to happen. He said, who are you? He wakes up in the middle of the night, cold, and notices a woman laying on his bare feet.
• 22:38
  When I was in college and still single, a friend of mine and I traveled across Western Europe, nothing but backpacks and a little bit of money. We had no real plan or agenda. It became common for us because we had no money to determine the next city we would visit based on the overnight train schedule. Where do you want to go next? Well, where is there an eight-hour train, right? We'll just go wherever that is going because then we can sleep for free on the train.
• 23:03
  uncommon for us to sleep on those train cars even on park benches which we did or in youth hostels youth hostels are like crazy cheap and mildly disgusting hotels for broke college kids one evening while in rome i and my friend rented a room from one of these hostels we were delighted to find that the room had two beds in it one of which was a full size one a twin one a full after playing rock paper scissors
• 23:32
  It was determined that I would get the larger bed. We both went to sleep, not knowing one very key detail about youth hostels in Rome. We thought we had rented a room, but apparently they don't rent rooms per se. Rather, they rent bed space. So I went to sleep thinking I had this two-person bed to myself, but was alarmed to find out that the owner of the hostel rented the other side of the bed in the middle of the night.
• 24:02
  to some girl from Australia. So when my eyes opened, I was expecting to see nothing and instead see this g'day mate kind of girl on the other side, a foot from my face, this girl I don't know. Like what in the world? I was surprised. I was startled, you might say. You go back to verse 8. At midnight, the man was startled. You think?
• 24:29
  He turns over and behold, a woman lays at his feet. Then his response is perfect. Don't think this is a calm response. Like, excuse me, who are you? Like, that is not how it went. Who in the world are you? How did you get in here? Why are you laying on my feet? Right, everybody following? So he is startled. I mean, this guy goes from sleeping to wide awake in a fraction of a second. And notice what she says. I am Ruth.
• 24:56
  Your servant. Okay, there's that word servant again. If you guys have been tracking Ruth with us, you'll recall that last week when Ruth and Boaz met for the very first time, Ruth addressed herself to Boaz by calling herself a nokria, a foreign woman. After Boaz expressed kindness toward her,
• 25:17
  and even commended her faith, Ruth began calling herself a shifa, a servant, the lowest form of servant, but no longer a foreign woman, now an acceptable servant of Boaz. Now this third time that she calls herself this, it's still translated servant, but it's a different Hebrew word now. She calls herself Amah, still a servant, but now specifically in this context, Amah brings with it a whole host of baggage.
• 25:47
  And Amma was a female servant in need of help or protection from a more powerful male. She words it well.
• 25:59
  His feet are uncovered. Ruth basically asked that when he covered his feet back over, he would cover her as well. Notice she says, I am Ruth, your servant, your Amma. I am a female servant in need of your protection. I need your help. And then she says, spread your wings, literally the corners of your garment, spread your garment over your servant for you are a redeemer. When you go to cover your feet back over, Boaz, cover.
• 26:28
  me as well for centuries jewish men and even today would wear something called a talit a prayer shawl okay and it was this shawl that they would wear underneath their other garments it was meant to remind them to pray all the time it would usually have four tassels white tassels that would hang off of it and even today if you see an orthodox jewish man he'll be wearing black shoes black pants a black jacket a black hat he'll have a black beard
• 26:58
  But maybe hanging out just in the corners will be four little white tassels. You'll just be able to barely see them, these four little tassels. Those are the four corners of that tallit, this prayer shawl. Many times they would take that prayer shawl when they're praying, like this guy is in this picture, would cover their heads as a form of respect. It's interesting. We in the United States uncover our heads as a show of respect, right? I tell my boys, when we're praying, you take your hat off.
• 27:24
  It's respectful. They do the exact opposite. They cover their heads to remind themselves they're under something. They're submitted to something. So they would cover themselves with this tallit. They have a really cool tradition. They still do it when a young groom is going to be married. He'll be wearing that tallit. It's the same one he's been wearing for years when he was given it many years ago, probably on his bar mitzvah. He'd be wearing this tallit, this prayer shawl.
• 27:48
  When his bride comes into the room, a portion of the ceremony would be him taking that tallit, that prayer shawl, and covering his wife with it. I am now covering you. I look out for you. I'm responsible for you. I will cover you with prayer. I will cover you with provision and protection. You are now under me. As I am under the Lord, you are under me. And so now consider what Ruth is asking Boaz to do. Cover me.
• 28:21
  Cover me with your tallit. Cover me with your garment, with the corner of your garment. She's referring to that prayer shawl. When you go cover your feet, would you consider covering me as well? This is absolutely a proposal from Ruth to Boaz. Now listen, church, I've had some crazy nights, but none as crazy as that. Look what he says in verse 10.
• 28:51
  He said, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first, and that you have not gone after young men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask. For all my townsmen, all my fellow townsmen, know that you are a worthy woman. Same descriptor, same adjective used of Boaz in chapter 2 and verse 1. He was a worthy man. Now he says, you are also a woman of worth, and everybody knows it.
• 29:20
  Now it's true, he says, that I am a redeemer, yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Every good fairy tale has a wrinkle, right? And here is our wrinkle. It turns out after all of this, Boaz says, yes, I will marry you. And then he says, but I'm not first in line. There's a guy closer than me who actually has first right of refusal. You know, he's the only character in the whole of the book of Ruth, he's the only character that remains unnamed.
• 29:51
  You want to refer to him, you can refer to him as, what's his name, right? I prefer the title Mr. Wrinkle, all right? Mr. Wrinkle is what we're going to call him. He is the wrinkle. Boaz says, I will marry you. She says, will you marry me? And he says, yes, I will marry you. They should have skipped ahead, flipped the page and look at chapter 4 and verse 13. That should have been the next verse. So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. That should have been it. Wedding bells and...
• 30:20
  flower petals from the sky and doves flying off and the people rejoicing and all of that and merriment and everything else. But that's not what happens. There's a whole chapter in between because of Mr. Wrinkle. You pick up in 13. Remain tonight, he says, and in the morning. If he will redeem you, good. Let him do it. But if he's not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning. So she laid his feet until the morning.
• 30:46
  but arose before anyone could recognize another, and he said, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. He's afraid for her character, for her integrity, for her reputation around town. He's afraid that people will assume the worst. They've been out there in the field together, and so he says, bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out. So she held it. He measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. That way, when people saw her, they would assume she was out threshing, right? You can't go home empty-handed. She went into the city.
• 31:16
  She came to her mother-in-law. She said, how did you fare, my daughter? Hebrew phrasing there is better. It says, who are you now? Who are you now, my daughter? Is your name going to change? Did it work? Did Boaz say yes? Are there wedding bells in our future? Who are you now, my daughter? She told her all that the man had done.
• 31:41
  saying, These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law. Not only did he say, Yes, Mom, but he's going to go work this stuff out with this kinsman, Redeemer, and now we just need to wait. I think verse 18, it's a short verse in the book. I think it's the longest day in Ruth and Naomi's life because she would have to wait the entire day to hear Boaz's reply. They say that...
• 32:08
  watched kettles never boil and watched phones never ring. You can imagine verse 18 as they just sit there together in their living room waiting for Boaz to work this stuff out with Mr. Wrinkle. Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. The man will not rest, but will settle the matter today. And church, what is your proposal story? I don't mean to your earthly spouse, but rather to your heavenly spouse. When did he propose?
• 32:39
  How did he do it? We would call that your testimony, right? When he asked you to marry him, when he asked you to become his spouse. I'm so excited for Max and Sandra, brand new, right? 24 hours. You can imagine how many times they will tell their proposal story in the next couple of weeks as word begins to spread and people will ask to see the ring. And Max, how did you propose? And what did you say? And where was it? But eventually over the course of time, that begins to wear off.
• 33:07
  right after you're married for a year or 10 years or 20 years or 50 years you're like how long has it been since you told your proposal story right the enthusiasm the excitement begins to wear off as time ticks by other things take precedent but may i encourage us with this church to consider sharing our proposal story in the next week as it comes up in conversation we're hanging out with people we don't normally at christmas parties at work at school as you have family gatherings
• 33:35
  Consider sharing your proposal story. How is it that the Lord asked you to marry him? Lord, thank you for your grace and love and mercy toward us. And God, I pray that our proposal story, our testimony of how you proposed to us, Lord, would be told again and again as we have opportunity, Lord, that we could testify to the grace and goodness of our God. We thank you, Lord Jesus, for having us. We are so thankful that you were willing to come.
• 34:06
  to be born in a manger, to die on a cross in order to redeem your people from their sin. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.