Redeeming AttitudesJune 8, 2008
with Matt Johnson
Intro:
Attitude Check assessment.
What is your attitude like? How do you view the world and the people around you? Your attitude says a lot about you. It tells other how you see life.
Negative attitudes – the glass is half empty. You expect the worst from people and wait for them to prove you right. Life is a chore. Nothing and no one ever satisfies the way you expect them to. All in all, this world is just a big disappointment. Ever met someone like that? Maybe you are like that.
Positive attitudes – the glass is half full. You let other people act before responding because you expect their actions to be good ones. Life is an adventure. Sometimes people and things let you down, but it happens and life goes on. All in all, this world has a lot to offer. Ever met someone like that? Maybe you are like that. Ever wanted to punch someone like that in the face? So here’s the question… Does your attitude matter to God? Does he care about it? Does it make a difference to him how you view and relate to the world around you? What does your attitude have to do with God? I’ve met lot’s of Christians with crappy attitudes, so it can’t matter that much right?
Last week Adam introduced our main characters for the coming few weeks. Two women – Naomi and Ruth. They’ve both had a lot of hardship in their lives. Naomi is Ruth’s mother in law, and she has lost her husband and two sons while being far away from her hometown. Ruth has lost her husband, but has sworn her allegiance to serve and comfort Naomi. Together, they return to Naomi’s homeland of Bethlehem to start over. Naomi is bitter and angry with God and life, to the point that she has changed her name to “Mara” meaning bitter, instead of “Naomi” meaning pleasant. Now she is left with no male in her life to take care of her, protect her, and provide for her. She is a vulnerable woman in a patriarchal society. Life has been hard for Naomi.
It’s also been difficult for Ruth. She is a Moabite woman from a distant land, now living in Bethlehem. She is a foreigner, a natural enemy living now amongst a new and completely different people group. She has recently lost her husband to death. In committing to follow Naomi, she’s left behind the protection of her father and her country and her God to move to a land of her enemy where the God of the Israelites is worshiped – all because of her loyalty to Naomi. Her loyalty to Naomi has also brought a conversion of her faith, as she has made a promise to now follow Naomi’s God. This was no doubt a difficult and foreign concept for her as well. Life has been rough to Ruth, and she too could easily play the “bitter” card that Naomi has and go through the rest of her life waiting for death to finally end her suffering. The story doesn’t end like that though, so let’s see where we find Ruth and Naomi in this week’s passage.
Read Ruth 2:1-3
Ruth ASKS to go and work to gather grain. Life has given Ruth lemons and here she is ready to go to work to provide for herself and for Naomi. A young, foreign woman, alone without protection in the fields gathering the leftovers of the crop left behind. Most women would scoff at the idea out of fear – Ruth jumps right in.
She goes to the task of “gleaning” which is a term used to describe how people went behind the harvesters of the crops to pick up what they missed. According to the law of Moses, landowners were to leave what the harvesters missed so that the poor, the foreigners, and the widows could glean from the remains enough food to meet their needs. Ruth fit the bill on all three accounts – she was a poor foreign widow out gathering food – and doing so, of all things, with a positive attitude.
Read Ruth 2:4-13
Boaz arrives at the field – the boss coming out to his workers – with a greeting of grace and blessing! How wonderful would it be if we were greeted by our boss each morning when we see them for the first time with “May the Lord be with you…” and MEAN IT. Wouldn’t that be a great way to start your day? Do you think your attitude at work might be different if that were the case? For you bosses out there, do you think your employees might have a different attitude towards you if you approached them in this way? Boaz shows a very humble and grateful attitude even to his workers of the field.
Boaz inquires about Ruth, and is told that she asked permission to glean behind the harvesters. It’s possible that this question came because Ruth was a foreigner and wanted reassurance as to the Mosaic Law, but it is more likely that she asked out of a grateful attitude to make sure that she was welcomed. By law, it was her right to do so without question, although it would have been somewhat common for her to have been mocked and even mistreated while gleaning.
Boaz approaches Ruth, and tells her that she is welcome in his fields to glean and that he has provided her protection by telling his staff to leave her alone as she works. Even more, he provides her with access to water, which would have been a great necessity in the hot, dry weather of the season. This is above and beyond what Boaz is required to do by law. Yet his humble and caring attitude shines through, reaching out to the woman he has just met.
Ruth bows, knowing that she has been treated with a great deal of mercy by a man who has no reason to do so. Boaz responds by telling her that he is aware of her commitment to Naomi and he prays a blessing over her – asking God to reward her work and provide for her. The first signs of many that we will see that perhaps God does care about your attitude. It’s amazing how quickly word spreads in the small town, and Boaz is fully aware of Ruth’s commitment to Naomi. The word is out that this foreign woman has gone far above and beyond to take care of Naomi, and she’s done so with a humble and gentile attitude.
Read Ruth 2:14-23
Have you ever met someone with an attitude of generosity that just overflows? Boaz continues to show grace and mercy to Ruth as he invites her to eat in the fields with he and his workers. Furthermore, he even lets her eat the good food.
His generous attitude overflows further, as he tells his workers to “kindly intentionally leave some grain behind for her to get and don’t rebuke her for picking it up…” Talk about generous – this is clearly above and beyond his requirements as a land owner. He is now giving from his own harvest to take care of Ruth and Naomi.
Ruth takes home her harvest for the day – about three fifths of a bushel, which was a really large amount to gather from the gleaning process. Her willingness to work and her humble attitude has netted she and Naomi food for the coming days.
Ruth tells Naomi of her day and her interaction with Boaz, and you can hear the walls begin to come down as Naomi speaks – “the Lord has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead”. Even Naomi’s attitude has been changed by the events of the day, which all started because of Ruth’s positive and willing attitude.
Some people would say “what a difference a day makes…” about this passage. In the events of a single work day, Ruth has found food for she and Naomi, she has been befriended by Boaz, and she has helped to bring Naomi out of the bitterness that she carried. I, however, would say “what a difference an attitude makes…”.
I am amazed at Ruth’s attitude through the events of the day.
Her willingness to go gleaning – a task that would be emotionally demeaning at best and physically harmful at worst. Naomi makes her suffering clear – call me bitter – but Ruth has suffered greatly too. Yet here she is, willing to go to the fields to gather food.
Her humility as she asks the workers of the field for permission to do what is her legal right. This shows a great attitude of humility as she asks for what she knows is her right just to make sure that she is accepted.
Her gratefulness to Boaz. Ruth shows such a great gratefulness to Boaz for his kindness to her. She bows before his feet, and thanks him profusely. Ruth had an attitude of gratitude long before Christians overused the rhyming phrase.
Her kindness to Naomi – in all of her encounters with Naomi, Ruth is the epitome of kindness and patience with Naomi. When she could easily be mourning the loss of her husband, Ruth instead chooses to care for Naomi and her needs. Her kindness opens up Naomi’s heart once again to the thought of God’s blessing in her life.
This series is about redemption – about paying the price to make things right that are messed up and broken. Last week Adam talked about redeeming the Tragedy in your life. He shared with us from the first chapter of Ruth and helped us to see that God is big enough to make right the messed up and broken tragedies that you’ve experienced in life.
So here’s the question – does your attitude matter to God?
It seems like too often the hope and peace of Jesus that we profess and the attitude by which we live our lives don’t measure up too well. I know we’re all human, and we all have our bad days. BUT days become weeks, become months, become years, of negativity, bitterness, cynicism, anger, and frustration, our attitudes fail to reflect the relationship with Christ that we have.
If we have the hope and the peace of Jesus, why does our attitude reflect anything BUT that? I mean seriously, shouldn’t that kinda change our outlook on life? Yeah, today might have been crappy, but I know Jesus… Yeah, life has been rough, but I’ve been forgiven… Yeah, that guy that cut me off really made me angry, but c’mon – it happened two hours ago – I need to pray about it and let it go…
One of the movies that I could watch pretty regularly is Remember the Titans. It’s a good football movie, a great story of overcoming the odds and coming together for a common goal. There’s a scene in the movie during their football camp when Bertier, the captain of the team, pulls Julius aside and begins to ride him about his play. He tells him it’s selfish and is going to mess up the team. In the heat of the argument as it closes, Julius says this “Attitude reflects leadership – Captain.”
What does your attitude reflect? What do the people around you understand to be important in your outlook on life?
Hear this today – God is big enough to redeem the messed up and broken attitudes of your life because you are HIS and you should reflect HIM.
Attitude Check assessment.
What is your attitude like? How do you view the world and the people around you? Your attitude says a lot about you. It tells other how you see life.
Negative attitudes – the glass is half empty. You expect the worst from people and wait for them to prove you right. Life is a chore. Nothing and no one ever satisfies the way you expect them to. All in all, this world is just a big disappointment. Ever met someone like that? Maybe you are like that.
Positive attitudes – the glass is half full. You let other people act before responding because you expect their actions to be good ones. Life is an adventure. Sometimes people and things let you down, but it happens and life goes on. All in all, this world has a lot to offer. Ever met someone like that? Maybe you are like that. Ever wanted to punch someone like that in the face? So here’s the question… Does your attitude matter to God? Does he care about it? Does it make a difference to him how you view and relate to the world around you? What does your attitude have to do with God? I’ve met lot’s of Christians with crappy attitudes, so it can’t matter that much right?
Last week Adam introduced our main characters for the coming few weeks. Two women – Naomi and Ruth. They’ve both had a lot of hardship in their lives. Naomi is Ruth’s mother in law, and she has lost her husband and two sons while being far away from her hometown. Ruth has lost her husband, but has sworn her allegiance to serve and comfort Naomi. Together, they return to Naomi’s homeland of Bethlehem to start over. Naomi is bitter and angry with God and life, to the point that she has changed her name to “Mara” meaning bitter, instead of “Naomi” meaning pleasant. Now she is left with no male in her life to take care of her, protect her, and provide for her. She is a vulnerable woman in a patriarchal society. Life has been hard for Naomi.
It’s also been difficult for Ruth. She is a Moabite woman from a distant land, now living in Bethlehem. She is a foreigner, a natural enemy living now amongst a new and completely different people group. She has recently lost her husband to death. In committing to follow Naomi, she’s left behind the protection of her father and her country and her God to move to a land of her enemy where the God of the Israelites is worshiped – all because of her loyalty to Naomi. Her loyalty to Naomi has also brought a conversion of her faith, as she has made a promise to now follow Naomi’s God. This was no doubt a difficult and foreign concept for her as well. Life has been rough to Ruth, and she too could easily play the “bitter” card that Naomi has and go through the rest of her life waiting for death to finally end her suffering. The story doesn’t end like that though, so let’s see where we find Ruth and Naomi in this week’s passage.
Read Ruth 2:1-3
Ruth ASKS to go and work to gather grain. Life has given Ruth lemons and here she is ready to go to work to provide for herself and for Naomi. A young, foreign woman, alone without protection in the fields gathering the leftovers of the crop left behind. Most women would scoff at the idea out of fear – Ruth jumps right in.
She goes to the task of “gleaning” which is a term used to describe how people went behind the harvesters of the crops to pick up what they missed. According to the law of Moses, landowners were to leave what the harvesters missed so that the poor, the foreigners, and the widows could glean from the remains enough food to meet their needs. Ruth fit the bill on all three accounts – she was a poor foreign widow out gathering food – and doing so, of all things, with a positive attitude.
Read Ruth 2:4-13
Boaz arrives at the field – the boss coming out to his workers – with a greeting of grace and blessing! How wonderful would it be if we were greeted by our boss each morning when we see them for the first time with “May the Lord be with you…” and MEAN IT. Wouldn’t that be a great way to start your day? Do you think your attitude at work might be different if that were the case? For you bosses out there, do you think your employees might have a different attitude towards you if you approached them in this way? Boaz shows a very humble and grateful attitude even to his workers of the field.
Boaz inquires about Ruth, and is told that she asked permission to glean behind the harvesters. It’s possible that this question came because Ruth was a foreigner and wanted reassurance as to the Mosaic Law, but it is more likely that she asked out of a grateful attitude to make sure that she was welcomed. By law, it was her right to do so without question, although it would have been somewhat common for her to have been mocked and even mistreated while gleaning.
Boaz approaches Ruth, and tells her that she is welcome in his fields to glean and that he has provided her protection by telling his staff to leave her alone as she works. Even more, he provides her with access to water, which would have been a great necessity in the hot, dry weather of the season. This is above and beyond what Boaz is required to do by law. Yet his humble and caring attitude shines through, reaching out to the woman he has just met.
Ruth bows, knowing that she has been treated with a great deal of mercy by a man who has no reason to do so. Boaz responds by telling her that he is aware of her commitment to Naomi and he prays a blessing over her – asking God to reward her work and provide for her. The first signs of many that we will see that perhaps God does care about your attitude. It’s amazing how quickly word spreads in the small town, and Boaz is fully aware of Ruth’s commitment to Naomi. The word is out that this foreign woman has gone far above and beyond to take care of Naomi, and she’s done so with a humble and gentile attitude.
Read Ruth 2:14-23
Have you ever met someone with an attitude of generosity that just overflows? Boaz continues to show grace and mercy to Ruth as he invites her to eat in the fields with he and his workers. Furthermore, he even lets her eat the good food.
His generous attitude overflows further, as he tells his workers to “kindly intentionally leave some grain behind for her to get and don’t rebuke her for picking it up…” Talk about generous – this is clearly above and beyond his requirements as a land owner. He is now giving from his own harvest to take care of Ruth and Naomi.
Ruth takes home her harvest for the day – about three fifths of a bushel, which was a really large amount to gather from the gleaning process. Her willingness to work and her humble attitude has netted she and Naomi food for the coming days.
Ruth tells Naomi of her day and her interaction with Boaz, and you can hear the walls begin to come down as Naomi speaks – “the Lord has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead”. Even Naomi’s attitude has been changed by the events of the day, which all started because of Ruth’s positive and willing attitude.
Some people would say “what a difference a day makes…” about this passage. In the events of a single work day, Ruth has found food for she and Naomi, she has been befriended by Boaz, and she has helped to bring Naomi out of the bitterness that she carried. I, however, would say “what a difference an attitude makes…”.
I am amazed at Ruth’s attitude through the events of the day.
Her willingness to go gleaning – a task that would be emotionally demeaning at best and physically harmful at worst. Naomi makes her suffering clear – call me bitter – but Ruth has suffered greatly too. Yet here she is, willing to go to the fields to gather food.
Her humility as she asks the workers of the field for permission to do what is her legal right. This shows a great attitude of humility as she asks for what she knows is her right just to make sure that she is accepted.
Her gratefulness to Boaz. Ruth shows such a great gratefulness to Boaz for his kindness to her. She bows before his feet, and thanks him profusely. Ruth had an attitude of gratitude long before Christians overused the rhyming phrase.
Her kindness to Naomi – in all of her encounters with Naomi, Ruth is the epitome of kindness and patience with Naomi. When she could easily be mourning the loss of her husband, Ruth instead chooses to care for Naomi and her needs. Her kindness opens up Naomi’s heart once again to the thought of God’s blessing in her life.
This series is about redemption – about paying the price to make things right that are messed up and broken. Last week Adam talked about redeeming the Tragedy in your life. He shared with us from the first chapter of Ruth and helped us to see that God is big enough to make right the messed up and broken tragedies that you’ve experienced in life.
So here’s the question – does your attitude matter to God?
It seems like too often the hope and peace of Jesus that we profess and the attitude by which we live our lives don’t measure up too well. I know we’re all human, and we all have our bad days. BUT days become weeks, become months, become years, of negativity, bitterness, cynicism, anger, and frustration, our attitudes fail to reflect the relationship with Christ that we have.
If we have the hope and the peace of Jesus, why does our attitude reflect anything BUT that? I mean seriously, shouldn’t that kinda change our outlook on life? Yeah, today might have been crappy, but I know Jesus… Yeah, life has been rough, but I’ve been forgiven… Yeah, that guy that cut me off really made me angry, but c’mon – it happened two hours ago – I need to pray about it and let it go…
One of the movies that I could watch pretty regularly is Remember the Titans. It’s a good football movie, a great story of overcoming the odds and coming together for a common goal. There’s a scene in the movie during their football camp when Bertier, the captain of the team, pulls Julius aside and begins to ride him about his play. He tells him it’s selfish and is going to mess up the team. In the heat of the argument as it closes, Julius says this “Attitude reflects leadership – Captain.”
What does your attitude reflect? What do the people around you understand to be important in your outlook on life?
Hear this today – God is big enough to redeem the messed up and broken attitudes of your life because you are HIS and you should reflect HIM.
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