Beautiful Living in a Broken World
Beginning Sunday, 31 January, Reality Church London will begin a four-week sermon series on the book of Ruth: “Beautiful Living in a Broken World.” This article serves as an introduction and overview for the series.
Good stories don’t just entertain; they also teach. The biblical book of Ruth is a great story, so while it is captivating on a narrative level, it’s also deeply instructive. Ruth has a timely message for our church right now, but in order to hear that message we need to appreciate the historical setting of the story.
The very first verse of Ruth tells us when the story of Ruth took place: “In the days when the judges ruled…” Those days, recounted in the biblical book of Judges, were not a bright spot in Israel’s history. The period during which the Judges ruled were days of darkness and brokenness.
During those days there was physical suffering caused by a famine, which meant the most basic resources like food and water were scarce. Those days were also marked by political disappointment and disillusionment, as many of Israel’s leaders chose to serve themselves rather than honor and care for the people they were expected to lead. And finally, the days of the Judges were days of moral and spiritual bankruptcy. Rather than love God and live according to the wisdom of his law, the vast majority of people simply “did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Physical suffering, political disappointment, spiritual bankruptcy: if ever there was a broken world, it was Israel during the days of the Judges.
And that’s why the book of Ruth is so stunning. Because in those days of darkness and brokenness, the story of Ruth stands out as a piercingly bright light of beauty and courage. The three main human characters in the story are Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz. As we learn their story we see that they are very ordinary people doing very ordinary things. They are not kings or queens, nor prophets or miracle workers. Their story takes place not in the courts of the palace or in the big cities, but in the fields of the small, overlooked town of Bethlehem. Everything about them is ordinary, and that’s what makes their story extraordinary.
In days of profound suffering, Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz lived with unassailable hope. In a world of individualism where everyone did what was right in their own eyes, they prioritized friendship and self-giving rather than self-serving. In days of moral compromise, they lived with integrity, relishing in the joy of living after God’s commands. And in days of corruption and self-promotion, they demonstrated what it looks like to use power rightly.
Underneath all of their words and actions, what makes the lives of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz beautiful is their honest faith in a glorious and sometimes mysterious God. God himself is the main character of the book of Ruth, and he is the one we need to see.
The book of Ruth shows us people who lived beautifully in their broken world, and invites us to experience how, in the midst of the mundane and ordinary circumstances of our lives, we can be a people that live Godward, hope-filled lives that point others to the power of the gospel.
Join us as we look at the book of Ruth and explore the characteristics of living beautifully in a broken world:
31 January: Hope in the Midst of Hardship
7 February: Friendship in an Age of Individualism
14 February: Conviction in a Culture of Compromise
21 February: Redeeming Power
