The Scripture we read today is from the Book of Ruth. You may not be familiar with it.

It seems as though you don’t carry around your Bible usually. Well, the Bible is quite thick. And the Bible is actually called a covenant—God’s promise. The Bible is made up of two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. If we express them as “the old covenant” and “the new covenant,” you can probably guess which one is more important. When it comes to promises, which of them has precedence over the other? The old one or the new one? The new one would take precedence over the old. For example, suppose you first say, “Let’s meet up on Tuesday.” But later, you reschedule, “Actually, let’s meet on the Lord’s Day!” Then the updated version would be more valid. Similarly, because the Bible is made up of the Old and the New Testament, we can see that the New Testament is more important—it contains the core content.

This, however, does not mean that the Old Testament is unimportant. The Old Testament and the New Testament serve different purposes. What the New Testament reveals to us is whom we must know and serve in order to receive salvation. Hence, those who carefully examine the New Testament will come to understand this: Jesus, the Son of God, is the object of our faith. But until Jesus Christ came, it was explained through the Old Testament, how we should serve Him and who He is. Consequently, the preparatory work was done before He came by teaching who He is and how He should be treated, so that when He finally came, they would know how to serve Him rightly. The Scripture we read today is in the Old Testament. Hence, it doesn’t speak directly about Jesus Christ, yet it still provides insight into who our God is and how we are to serve Him.

In the Old Testament, there is something called the Law. The Law was a law God gave to the Israelites. You all know Israel, don’t you? Israel is located in the Middle Eastern region. Their foregather was Abraham, the Law was given to Abraham’s descendants. So, the Law was kept by the Israelites for thousands of years. And as they obeyed the Law, they waited for the Savior who was to come. If we carefully examine the Law, we can understand God who is the Law-giver. It is similar to how each country’s legal system reveals what kind of nation it is. For example, analyzing the South Korea’s legal system will give us an idea of what kind of country South Korea is and what kind of people live there. The same goes for the United States—legal system of the United States will reflect the ideas and values of the people living in the US. In the same way, when we examine the Law God gave, we begin to understand what kind of God our God is.

Some of the laws in our country can seem outrageous. Once I read a news article. It was about a woman who had escaped and came to the police station. She was a victim of human trafficking—forced into prostitution against her will. She was taken, locked up, and used. But somehow, she managed to escape and ran to the police for help. She begged them, “Please help me. Please save me.” But who do you think followed in after her? The very pimp who had been holding her captive. And unbelievably, the police officer handed this woman back over to the pimp. This actually happened. Why couldn’t the state protect a woman who had just escaped from such a den of crime and return her to that pimp? The police had made a phone call. How did the police know and make a phone call? They received a call saying, “A woman ran away after committing fraud!” So a search was put out for her. But that woman walked into the police station all by herself. Then the police rang the person who first called the police about her, and the man came and took her away. What that pimp showed the police was a contract. It said something like, “Since you can’t pay off your debt, we will use your body to pay it off!” And after seeing that contract, the police handed her over to him. That’s what the law allowed at that time. I don’t know if it has changed now, but just a few years ago, that’s how the law worked in our country.

Why is our legal system like this? These laws were made by the members of the National Assembly. And it was their way of thinking—their mindset—that allowed such laws to be passed. Then, who elected those members of the National Assembly? We did. People might say, “I will never vote for that person again!” However, they vote for people who are not much different. That is why such strange and unjust things keep happening in our country. Now, what if this had happened in the US? They would have immediately arrested that pimp. Another thing to point out is, in South Korea, when there’s violence between husband and wife, the police only get involved if murder occurs. Until then, they consider it a private matter between family members. Even if they did respond to reports of a domestic dispute, if the offender says, “We will resolve this ourselves so you can go back,” the police can’t do anything. But what happens after that? The husband turns to the wife and says, “How dare you call the police!” And in his anger, he might even kill her. Only then that the police get involved. But in the US, it’s different. If a husband beats his wife—or even threatens to hit her— and she calls the police, the police must respond immediately and arrest him. And if the husband resists, the police have the right to shoot him down. It’s seen as justified, because he resisted. Because of these laws enforced, people—especially women—can live safely in that society. In this way, each country has its own legal system, but it is ultimately the people who make up those laws.

So then, what about the Law given by God to the people of Israel? Through the Law, we can understand the nature of God who gave it. In the Old Testament, there are many laws and regulations. There are a lot of detailed rules. And among them, one of you probably know well is the Ten Commandments.

But aside from the Ten Commandments, there are many other rules. For example, there is a law regarding harvest. It says, “When harvesting barley or wheat, you must not cut all the way to the corners of your field.” Why would that be? If you worked hard to farm the land, wouldn’t it make sense to gather every last bit, so nothing goes to waste? And during the harvest, some grain falls to the ground. But the Law forbade the harvesters from gleaning the grains that dropped. That seems strange, doesn’t it? In our country, we’re taught not to waste even a single grain, but why did the Law say, “Don’t’ harvest the corners. Don’t pick up what you’ve dropped”?

It was for the Gentiles and the poor. People coming from outside had no means of making a living. And the Israelites, as a people who believed in God, lived closely together as a tight-knit community. However, God’s Law said this: Even if they are from a different nation, if they come to live in your town, leave something for them. And what about the poor? The Law deeply knew their situation, so it was saying, “There are people among you who have no land to farm.” So even if they didn’t have their own field, they could go and gather what was left at the edges and pick up what had fallen on the ground. In this way, God’s Law was considerate of the poor and the foreigners and we can see God’s nature displayed through the Law.

This is what our God is like, the One whom we believe. Isn’t He wonderful? Don’t you want to be close to Him? He is full of grace and compassion. And He is very mindful of the weak and the poor. That’s the kind of God He is.

In the Old Testament, aside from the poor and the foreigners, there are two more groups of people who are specially mentioned again and again: widows and orphans. The Law commands the Israelites, “Do not mistreat the widows and orphans. Look after the orphans and widows around you.” Therefore, those who were especially marked out in God’s law as needing protection, attention, and care were the poor, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows. How difficult and heartbreaking must their lives have been? Those who are well-off cannot understand the circumstances of the poor. No matter how hard they try to understand, they just don’t get it. Hence, they say things like, “If you don’t have rice, just eat instant noodles!” People living comfortably can never understand the reality of the poor—not being able to keep warm in the cold, not having food when they’re hungry, and having to fill up their stomachs with water.

But the Law commanded Israel to look after the poor, and this becomes a parable for us also. While it is very important as a law, this is also a parable of what God wants to teach us in the New Testament times. God was considerate of the poor, and when Jesus came to earth, He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit!” God does not look for those who are satisfied on this earth. Instead, He is looking for someone who is longing, who is distressed, who’s always feeling empty—someone who feels poor, even if they have money, a family, and a house. Not everyone feels that way. Some people, if they have money, believe that they’re rich and feel full of. If there’s plenty of food on the table, they feel at ease. However, some people are poor in spirit, even though they have money, friends, and fame. And Jesus is saying, that the latter is the one who is blessed.

What about the foreigners? We—human beings, and especially those who believe in Jesus—know very well that we are on this earth as foreigners. You and I are both Koreans. However, our citizenship is in Heaven. We are here on earth temporarily. This is not our true home. We are here only for a short time. How hard is life in this place? We, who will be going to and living in Heaven, are having a hard life on this earth. While we are strangers and foreigners on earth, God is very mindful of us. He already knows the suffering that man will undergo in this world. Hence, God cares for us dearly.

What about orphans? Orphans are without father and mother. No one has ever made them a nice warm meal.  No one has stood by them or said, “I love you.” They also get teased and shunned for being orphans. And they miss out on the good things that others enjoy. It’s sad. However, the state of those orphans, in fact, illustrate the state of humanity. We humans think we are happy on earth, but originally our Father is God—and we have been living without Him. Our souls haven’t been comforted. Spiritually, we’ve been in a painful, lonely state. We were in a most wretched state. People who are unaware of this and satisfied on earth just go on enjoying their fleshly lives until they die. But those whose spirits are awakened, they realize they are like orphans on this earth. God is mindful of our state and cares for us.

Lastly, how pitiful and helpless is the life of a widow? The Scripture says, “A man and a woman shall become one flesh.” Once a man and a woman unite to form a family, their lives become completely different from before. Before marriage, either one of them doesn’t feel lonely even if they are alone. However, after marriage, if their beloved other half passes away, particularly in the case of the wife losing her husband, she no longer has anyone to protect her. She has lost her other half. There’s no one to comfort her. No one to hold her when she is struggling. She has to go out and work to earn a living on her own, like a man. She has to face the world like a man. In such difficult conditions, she has to endure people pointing fingers at her, scorn her, and harass her. But God who cares for such widows, knows that we are in the same condition, like widows. That’s why He sent Jesus Christ, who is our true Husband. Consequently, we find true consolation in Jesus Christ.

The fact that God cared for the poor, the foreigners, the orphans and the widows is vitally important, but these all also serve as parables. That which was demonstrated during the Old Testament times symbolizes the spiritual realities that are manifested in the New Testament. We are foreigners. We humans are orphans. We humans are widows. We are the poor. And God is mindful of us.

It is because the Law was present in the Old Testament times that events like the one we see in the story of Ruth could occur. The story of Ruth is as follows. A woman named Naomi was living in Jerusalem. She and her husband moved to Moab, which was a gentile land. That means she left her country, her home. Why did she leave? Because there was no food. They were poor. Moreover, a famine had struck the land. So they moved to Moab. There, they tried to find a way to survive—to see if there was any land to farm, or if they could find work in someone’s house. But then, Naomi’s husband died.  What on earth? She moved to a foreign land, and now her husband died. She was left with their two sons.

Later, her two sons grew up and got married—to a Moabite woman from that region. Moabites were Gentiles who did not worship God but served their own gods. Nevertheless, Naomi had her sons marry Gentile women. But oh my! Could it have been a curse for marrying Gentiles? Both of Naomi’s sons died. Yes, both of them. So this woman, who was in a foreign land, lost her husband and now both of her sons. Who could she depend on now? There were only three widows left—Naomi, now an old woman, and her two daughters-in-law. Her daughters-in-law were Gentiles. After some time, they heard news that Jerusalem had a rich harvest. So Naomi decided to return to her country. After all, Moab wasn’t her home. And now, her husband and two sons were no longer with her.

As Naomi was about to return to Jerusalem, she thought to herself, “My daughters-in-law are Moabitess. There’s no need to take them with me and force them to serve God or go through any more hardship with me. I should let them stay and get married again.” So she told her daughters-in-law, “Return to your homes!” Her first daughter-in-law went back. But her second daughter-in-law refused to leave. She said, “Where can I go? I will go with you, mother! Your people are my people; your God is my God. The God you worship is not only your God but my God too. Therefore, I will follow you mother!” In this way, she expressed her faith.

So Naomi took her daughter-in-law and returned to Jerusalem. The daughter-in-law’s name was Ruth. But once they were in Jerusalem, Ruth was at a loss as to how she would make a living. She had to take care of her elderly mother-in-law all by herself. How dismal was her situation? Although she was in her mother-in-law’s home country, there were not many people she knew, and no one was willing to hire her. Despite her miserable circumstances, she decided to do something to find food and told her mother, “Mother, I will go out and glean in someone’s field!” Do you remember what I told you about the Law? Because of the grace shown to foreigners to glean in the grain fields, she could make this decision. So she went from one field to another, picking up what had fallen to the ground. She had nothing, yet she was fully grateful for the grace that was shown to her.

As she was gleaning, she arrived at a field that belonged to a man named Boaz. Boaz was a relative of Ruth’s late husband. He was the closest relative though Ruth didn’t know that. While she was gleaning, Boaz noticed her. A woman he wasn’t familiar with was gleaning in his field. So he asked his workmen, “Who is that woman?” They answered, “She is a Moabitess named Ruth, the daughter-in-law of Naomi, who came back with Naomi.” And Boaz said, “Ah, that’s her!” He had already heard the story about her.

He had heard how a Gentile woman had come to worship the God of Israel and had followed her mother-in-law to Jerusalem. And he thought, “How admirable! How amazing!”: And it just so happened—the same woman was gleaning in his own field. So he called Ruth and said to her, “From now on, do not worry. Don’t go to anyone else’s field but glean and gather in my field. And come and eat with my men! When you’re thirsty, drink water from them. I will tell my men. Come, stay here, and enjoy what’s been prepared.” For a woman with nothing to depend on, she was beyond grateful.

Ruth’s situation is our present condition. We were originally foreigners. We had nothing to do with God. We had nothing to do with the people of Israel. And yet—even to us—God’s grace has reached. The grace we’ve received is not just collecting some leftover grains. The grace God bestowed on us is like this: “Though you are unworthy, you can share in the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven—prepared by God for His beloved Son!”

Ruth was overjoyed, and from then on, she was able to follow Boaz’s men to glean without worrying. No one bothered her anymore. No one scolded her or told her to stop collecting too much. She could relax as she gleaned. But Boaz called his men and instructed them, “Be kind to that woman, give her food to eat and water to drink.” He added, “As you gather the sheaves, leave some stalks for that woman so that she may take more with her!” Thus, Boaz’s harvester left some stalks of grain as they gathered the sheaves. Ruth didn’t know that this was being done for her. She didn’t know that they were leaving the grain behind for her. But even without knowing it—she was receiving grace.

This is like the grace we are receiving. We are receiving so much grace. God is constantly bestowing many things upon us. He does so without us even knowing. We discover only a few of what He’s given us and say, “Thank You, God.” However, there is an abundance of grace God is giving us without our awareness. We are receiving such grace. Furthermore, among the grace God has already given, there are some you’ve yet to fully understand or even anticipate. All of this is hidden grace.

When will you get to sight all of this grace? It will be when Jesus returns—on that day, we will be resurrected. On that day, we will enter Heaven, the Kingdom that God prepared for His Son Jesus Christ. We will be stunned and left speechless when we go there. “He granted me this magnificent, beautiful and glorious Kingdom of Heaven!” That Heaven is already given to us. We were given it before we even knew about it.

Even in this present time, we are living in the midst of so many graces from God. You are breathing right now—do you take that for granted? It’s not. The fact that we are breathing is all thanks to God’s grace. And our hearts—they are beating. But while you are sleeping, you don’t have to make hard efforts to keep your heart pumping. It pumps by itself, even when we are still and asleep. It is by the grace of God. The Bible tells us to count all of the grace from God. How many are there? There’s so much—we can’t help but give thanks. People don’t notice His grace and grumble because they are focused only on what displeases them, on the things that didn’t go their way—and they complain. However, if there are one or two things we are displeased about, there are thousands, no—tens of thousands of graces from God we are already receiving.

Give thanks to God. Give thanks to God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. To the God who created all things. To the God who made us and gives us life. To the God who, even though we are ungrateful, continues to pour out His grace and lead us to the Kingdom of Heaven. Give thanks to Him. He will reveal more to those who give thanks. He will allow those who give thanks to experience more of His grace.

If you pretend you haven’t received grace—if you act as though you are still poor, still far from God—then one day, that grace will come to an end. When it ends, there will be no more chances. But now is the chance.

Everyone, give thanks for His grace. I am not preaching for you to receive grace now; He has already poured so much grace, yet you are indifferent to them. You have received yet act as if you haven’t. Give thanks. When you do, God will allow you to experience more of His grace. Are things not going well for you? First, give thanks. He has already given you so much. And when you give thanks, you will experience more of what God is giving. In Jesus’ name, I bless you all to experience more of His hidden grace every day. Let’s pray.

God our Father, we give You thanks, for You were mindful of us when we were orphans, widowed, poor and foreigners, and we thank You for treating us like Your Son. Help us who have received this great grace to be filled with Your happiness and joy in our hearts. Help us all to always give You thanks, finding reasons to give thanks, and in turn, experience more of Your grace abundantly. In Jesus’ name. Amen.