Friendship, Week 2

Krystal Walker | February 9, 2025

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Transcription

Hey, before I get started, I want to remind you of one of my favorite Sundays is baptism Sunday. So yeah, so if you are a born again Christian, and you have not gone public with your faith through baptism, sign up. It is Sunday, February 23rd, and we cannot wait as a church family to celebrate with you. Amen. Like Pastor said, we are in a series called Friendship. Doesn't that just sound feel so warm? Friendship, and today it is all about the singles. If you're unmarried, make some noise. If you're single, lemme hear you. Lemme see you, you in this piece. Okay? We going to talk about it. I am so excited to share with this particular group, and I felt so impressed in my spirit before I get into the word and get into my sermon, just to look you in the eyes and tell you that as a church, we see you, we love you,

And your relationship status does not define you. You have intrinsic worth. You have intrinsic value because of your relationship status with him, with God. So before a man or a woman look you in the eyes and profess their love, I need you to know you are already loved, and we want you to know that today. Come on church family. Let's encourage and just to love on you a little bit more. We randomly placed gift cards throughout the worship center, okay? We placed them under your seats. Do not look yet. I want you to know in a moment, I'm going to ask you to look, and if you're that special someone, we will celebrate with you if you happen to be married and you get a card, all right? Today's not your day, all right? Come back later. I want you to pass it. This is what I want you to do.

I want you to pass it to the right until someone who is single, unmarried get that card. So go ahead, look under your seats in the family room. This includes you in the overflow. This includes you. If you're online, go ahead and write your name in the chat. We will do a drawing and you are included as well. Come on. Where they at? Where they at? If you got a gift card, wave it in. Okay. All right. Right there. Yes, yes, yes. Where's this section right here? Who got a gift card here? Somebody sending in Z. Okay. Okay. Okay. Hey, y'all clapping up for all those who got blessed, didn't know they was coming to church and getting blessed in that way. So lemme tell you, don't you love when people give you a gift and tell you how to use the gift? That's what I'm about to do.

Now, that card is not for you to take yourself out to brunch or get your nails done or to get an edge up, okay? We're in a friendship series, so we want to help you friend a little bit better, all right? So I want you to lean in and see who God will put on your heart to go a little deeper in friendship this week. Okay? So find someone, take him out the brunch, take 'em out the coffee, and we are talking to the singles today. So some of y'all might get encouraged to shoot your shot today with that gift card. However the Lord leads you. Let 'em lead you. Pick wisely. Pick wisely.

Oh man. Hey, I do need to say this. We do have a lot of married folks in the room, and though I'm talking to singles today, I don't want you to tune me out. The cool thing about God's word is that it transcends relationship statuses, right? So as we get in God's word, I believe there's something in it for you to as well as you have already picked your special friend, you're stuck. I've been stuck with my special friend for 10 plus years, and so y'all hang out with us, the merry folk, and I believe God has something for everyone who's in the room. Can we pray? God, thank you for your word. Do the supernatural work of convicting hearts, of showing us your love, illuminating scripture. Lord, I give you this time, this space I have prepared. I have notes, but do what you want to do.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. The title of my sermon today is called Stewarding singleness, stewarding singleness. Today we're going to talk about how to steward your singleness well, and we're going to, alongside of that, we're going to talk about how friendship can play an important role in this season of your life. Okay? We're going to hang out in the Book of Ruth. We are going to spend most of our time there, and I want you to know that the name Ruth actually means friendship. Did you know that? Or companionship? We're going to see the sub theme of friendship in the book of Ruth, and at the same time we see a little romance. So I was like, this is the perfect book for us to walk through today. We're going to see Ruth, she's going to be married, she's going to become a widow. She's going to become single again and then married.

I want to observe from her life how she steward her single season, okay? I believe it can help us in our conversation today. There are four chapters in the book of Ruth. We're going to walk through the entire book. There are four chapters. I have four points that I believe would help everyone, men and women who are single or even dating, navigate that season. Well, here's what you need to know before we start reading that. The book of Ruth starts with a woman in her family, Naomi. Naomi is married. She has a husband and she has two sons, and they live in Bethlehem. A famine breaks out in Bethlehem, so they decide to move to Moab. Alright? So she and her family are now in Moab. While they're there, the two sons, they marry Moabite women. One son married a woman named Ora, and the other son married a woman named Ruth.

Now, at some point while they're in Moab, after some time, all three of the husbands die. So we see in the opening of this book, three women who are widowed and who are single again, I can only imagine the grief that they shared together, the pain, the disappointment of going through circumstances of losing a spouse. Because of this shared grief, they built a really close bond in friendship. How many, there's nothing like having a friend that has gone through some of the stuff you've been through, right? They can relate. You don't have to explain a lot, right? They get you. They understand your scattered thoughts. They know what to say and what not to say. So you can imagine their friendship was really, really tight. They had a really tight bond. Well, Naomi learns that the famine from her hometown is gone. All right? So she decides that, Hey, I want to go back home, move back to Bethlehem.

The two women decide to go with her, alright? The two daughters-in-law go with her to Bethlehem. This is huge because they're leaving their own country. They're leaving their own family to go back to be with Naomi. So you can again, imagine how close their bond is. So they pack their bags, they go back to Bethlehem, and on the journey, Naomi stops them and say, Hey, y'all should just stay home. Go back home to your mother's home and her exact words so that you can have the security of marriage because I cannot do anything for you. I am too old to have a spouse. I cannot give you any children, any sons. I have nothing for you. There's no benefit of y'all coming with me to Moab. Well, after much debate or PPA listens to her advice and she leaves. It's a very scripture talks about how they wept and she kissed them goodbye.

So it was really hard for her to make that decision. But Ruth, on the other hand, she scripture says that she clung tightly to Naomi. Let's listen to her exact words. We're going to look at Ruth chapter one, verse 16. Okay? Ruth says, don't ask me to leave you or turn back wherever you go. I will go wherever you live. I will live. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us. When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said, nothing more. So here we have Ruth. She's a young woman. She has her whole life and front of her, and she decides to make this strong commitment of friendship to Naomi. Naomi could do nothing for her. She was considered poor. She had no son. She was at her lowest low. She was depressed, but she decided to make this strong commitment of friendship. Here's my first point. If you're in this single of this season of singleness, one way you can steward it is by practicing covenant. So point number one is practice covenant. What I mean by that is practice commitment.

A covenant is just a very serious promise, and in ancient times it was very common for people to make covenants with one another. We hear about God making covenants to his people, but neighbor to neighbor. Very often they would make the strong promises to one another. We see this in the friendship of Jonathan and David. If you go to one Samuel 18, it says that Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. So we see Ruth doing something very similar. She's using very strong covenantal language. She says, where you go, I will go where you live. I will live your God will be my God. She even invokes judgment on herself from God if she doesn't keep her promise right? Did y'all see that? May the Lord punish me severely. Y'all, this is such a foreign way to go about friendship nowadays.

Friendship is so watered down nowadays. Friendship is very transactional. It's only if it benefits you. The language I hear a lot, if it's not serving me anymore, I don't want to do it. I'm trying to protect my piece. It costs too much. Friendship is not sacrificial. There's no commitment. And can we as the people of God, cancel, cancel culture? Can we us? I'm talking about us. I don't care what they do out there. I'm talking about the people who serve a covenant keeping God. Can we cancel the cancel culture and say, we going to create a culture of commitment where I'm going to stay even if even I'm going to love you, even on those days that you're not lovable, I'm going to commit to working out my conflict with you because I feel called to you. You can't get rid of me that easily. I'm going to walk with you. I'm going to be ride or die. Where are you at? Where are those folks at?

Practice covenant. See, what I really want you to understand, practice covenant. Now, especially, especially if you want to be in a marriage covenant someday. See, people are so quick to get in a marriage covenant with a lover, but can you be a good friend? Commit to being a good friend first, can we start there? Let's start there. What I want you to understand is that the behaviors that you have on this side of the altar create habits. I'm just going to walk it real slow and with these habits, you're either practicing for divorce or practicing for covenant, creating a culture of commitment. See, it ought to be a red flag. If you are dating someone or thinking to date someone and you don't see commitment in any other area of their life, like bro, if she's not showing up for her friends, she's not loyal to her friends, she's not showing up for her girls, don't think all of a sudden she's going to be committed to you. The math ain't math. It doesn't work like that. If when you get in an argument and all the time they threaten to break up with you, they shut down for five days, you ought to be raising a red flag on that one. That's a little sketchy, ain't it? Yes.

I'm trying to help somebody today. I'm trying to help somebody today.

My coach would tell me this all the time. How you practice is how you're going to play. And I'm just trying to help the singles of Embassy City Church to practice covenant. Now, commit to something. Commit to a friend. Keep your promise, keep your work. Commit to that gym, commit to that church, commit to that group. You're going to sign up for tonight or today because all this will help you in your next season to help you become all that God has for you. Y'all got that? I think I rung it out. When I preach. I always think about a sponge. You study, study, study. So you get soaked, and then when I preach, you got to ring it out. So I believe I rung that one out. We going to move on to punk 2.2, work your field in your time of singleness, work your field.

In chapter two, they finally make it to Bethlehem. All right, and let's look at verse two. It says, one day, Ruth, the Moabite said to Naomi, let me go into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it. So Ruth gets settled in Bethlehem and she wants to get to work. Now, remember, Ruth and Naomi, they are widows and in that society they are classified as being very vulnerable and poor. Well, the poor had rights in Israel. They were able to gather grain behind the harvesters. After they had passed by, they were able to get the leftovers. The law also said that the harvesters in the field could not harvest the entire field. They had to lead the corners for the poor. Alright? So she knew that and she was going to take advantage of that.

So she wanted to get to work. So she found a field, and the field she ended up in was a field that belonged to Boaz. Boaz was a very wealthy man. He was prominent in that area, and he happened to be a close relative to her deceased husband. Now, put that in your pocket. That's going to become important later. So let's see how things transpire. So she's working in the field and verse five says of chapter two, then Boas asked the for who is that young lady over there? Who does she belong to? Y'all? See what I'm saying?

Is Boaz interested? He says, who does she belong to? Basically he's like, is she taken? Who's her daddy? Does she have a husband? Who does she belong to? I talked to my husband and he was like, yeah, yeah, guys, when they interested, they usually ask their boys like, who is she? Where she come from? Where does she come from? Well, the four men, the servant answers and says, well, she's the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes rest in the shelter. So sis was working and she was working hard, and I don't know if she got noticed because she had quick hands out there or something like that, or had a little bop to her. To her.

I don't know. I don't know why she got noticed, but she got noticed. And all I want y'all to see, all I want y'all to see is that that in her time of singleness, she worked her field and she worked it well. My question to you is, are you working your field? What is your field? Anything that God has called you to do in this season, anything he has called you to harvest in this season, anything he has called you to do that is your field, and I want to encourage you to work it and work it well. So the job that he has led you to work it and work it well. The ministry that you sign up for, work your field. And I believe with my whole heart that if you do everything God has called you to do in this season, so if you're at the job that he has called you to be at, if you're in the ministry he called you to serve in, if you've done everything that you were called to do, this is not the promise that you're going to meet your future spouse because Ruth did not have a word from God that if she go to work that day and do what she was called to do, that she was going to have this divine connection with boas.

No, she didn't have that word. What she was doing. She was simply doing what she felt called to do what she felt was needed, and she was working unto the Lord. So I believe that if you do that, you have done your part, you have done all you can do, and it's up to the sovereign God and the providence of God to do the rest. All right? So I need some of y'all to work, and then I need some of y'all just to rest, all right? Just to rest in the knowledge that knowing that God knows your desires, he knows your cry, and all you have to do is be obedient. That's all he asks, and he will do the rest. Amen? Amen.

I love to notice that it seemed like that day Ruth harvested more than grain that day. She began to harvest, catch this that day, some of the relational seed that she sowed in her relationship with Naomi. Let me show you. And if you keep reading in that book, in that chapter, you'll see Boaz is extremely nice to her. He comes up to her and gives her exclusive access to the water that they have drawn from the well. He says, Hey, don't go to no one else's field. Stay here. We got you. I have talked to the men. They're not going to treat you roughly. So he creates safety for her. He even give her strategy on how to yield the most grain. Okay? And listen, listen, listen, listen. The same way she was loyal and kind to Naomi, she's experiencing that and more from Boas. Listen to this verse 11, boas says, but I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. May the Lord, the God of Israel, I love this under whose wings you have come to take refuge, rewards you fully for what you have done. Because catch this, y'all. Because she did not dismiss developing deep and meaningful friendships in her singleness.

She's seeing fruit from that decision in her relationship with boas. See, in single seasons, you can get so preoccupied and fixated on getting a man or getting a woman and you asking God for more, but you're not even stewarding what you have, what you sow you will reap. So I'm saying you got to sow good seeds in the ground for the get the harvest that you want someday. Amen. Point number three, trust in God's timing. The way that Ruth and Boaz end up married is very interesting. When I say interesting, very interesting, you have to read it all for yourself. Their story is rich with Jewish history, and you kind of have to know a little bit of it to appreciate the story. Okay? So let me help you understand. You remember Ruth's husband died. She's a widow, all right? And the Jewish law says that a close relative had the responsibility of marrying the widow of the deceased relative.

And they will do this so that they can preserve the family line and property. Okay? Does that make sense? Yes. So Boaz, remember I told you he was a relative, so he was eligible to marry her to continue the family line. They call that person a kinsman redeemer, someone who's eligible to marry the widow to preserve the family line. So Naomi knows the law because she's Jewish, she's from Bethlehem, she knows the law. So one day she recommends that Ruth goes to Boaz and let him know that he is a kinsman redeemer. And she says to her, she literally says, take a bath, put on some perfume and put on your nicest clothes. It is funny, the chapter opens up where it says, the time has come for Naomi to find a husband for Ruth. So I don't know if Ruth was getting on her nerves and she's like, I got to get her out my house.

I need to find her a man. But she had a sense of urgency. You got to read the chapter, chapter three. She had some. She said, this going to happen tonight. So she coaches her and tells her to do all these things, go to Boaz, and she follows her instructions. And Ruth does exactly what she tells her to do. She let Boaz know that, Hey, you are a kinsman redeemer. And this is his response. Verse 11, he says, now don't worry about a thing, my daughter, he says, I will do what is necessary for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman. But while it's true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am, stay here tonight and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you very well, let him marry you.

But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself. Now lay down here until the morning. So she learns that there's someone closer relative that can redeem her. So she goes back home, still single. And Naomi asks, how did it go when she got home? And she tells her like, yo, there's someone closer that can redeem me. We have to wait to hear back. And Naomi says to her, just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens, the man won't rest until he has settled things today. Did y'all see what Naomi said? Just be patient. I believe Naomi and Ruth, they had expectations that were not met. You don't tell somebody to be patient if there's not some tension of unmet expectations. And maybe they were hoping that things would happen sooner or that Boaz would marry her on the spot or at least agree to marry her. But they are in a waiting period. Things didn't happen as planned. And some of you may find yourself there today

Where you're waiting, where you're like, I cannot believe I'm not married yet. Or I cannot believe my first marriage ended in divorce and I'm single again. I cannot believe that I am in the place I am. And I just want the words of Naomi to wash over you today, to be patient, to trust God. God is either sovereign or he's not. God, either orders steps or he doesn't wait for God. Let him do it because when God does it, you're not going to have to force a shot. He going to create a shot for you. I remember the day I decided to trust in God's timing. I was in college, undergrad, university of Wisconsin, and born and raised in Wisconsin. And I watched my friends go in and out of dating relationships, and they were always go on dates and they would have all of this romantic interest. And I noticed nobody was trying to talk to me and nobody me out. And I got a little worried. So I asked one of my really close guy friends, we were doing ministry together. He was like a brother to me. And I was like, shoot it to me straight. What they saying out there?

I said, true story. I said, am I too goofy? Do I play too much? Is it the natural hair? Natural hair was just coming out. It was just a weird thing back then. And I said, what is it? Just tell me. Just tell me. And he said to me, he said, crystal, it just seems like you're taken already. And when he said that, I was reminded of a prayer that I prayed because I was watching my friends go in and out of these dating relationships. I was watching them fall and sexual sin and have all the drama and all the baggage. And I said, I don't want to sign up for that. And I prayed this prayer. I said, Lord, I only want to date my husband. Y'all feel me on that, just like I was working my field, I was doing campus ministry, discipling my peers, and I was so sure of the calling on my life. I was so sure of the field that he gave me to steward. And I didn't want any distractions. I didn't want any knuckleheads slowing me down. I said, Lord, I only want to date my husband. Have y'all ever prayed a prayer that God actually answers and you get mad?

It's like, Lord, if the job ain't for me, close the door and the Lord be like that door. She slams the door and you mad. Oh, that's how I was feeling. I was mad. There were lonely nights, lonely days. I doubted myself. I became insecure. But I had to decide that God's plan was better than my five year plan. I had to decide that I was going to trust God with this area of my life, and God blocked everyone. Well, I'm telling y'all. I'm telling y'all. I tell people my story. It's like, oh, what? It's not like people were knocking down my door to come talk to me. The Lord put a hedge. He put a hedge. It was like a peg hole. Only one man could get through that hole. He had to be the stature of my husband today, Amory Walker to get through that door. I only dated my husband. My husband is my only boyfriend. And y'all talk to him on whether that was a good idea or not.

But listen. But listen, I hope this encourages somebody to let you know that you have to trust God's timing. And when you do, God does it better than you could ever imagine. If y'all agree with that, give God some praise. Trust God's timing. Last point, y'all. It is always bigger than you always. I say that because what God is doing in your life and what he's going to do, it's always going to be bigger. So you remember we left off in the story, Boaz, he's supposed to be checking with the cousin. I don't know if he was a cousin, but the cousin to see if he wanted to redeem Ruth. And so he goes off to talk to him, and the cousin didn't want to a redeemer, and he didn't want to be the kinsman redeemer. So Boaz was eligible to marry Ruth, and he became her kinsman redeemer to preserve the family line.

I want to observe what their union produced. Verse 13, chapter four says, so Boaz took Ruth into his home and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. So they got married and they had a son. This is huge. A lot of people don't talk about this, but in Ruth's first marriage, she was married for about 10 years or so, and they had no children. Theologians say it is safe to assume that she was barren in that season. So in one season where she is barren, the Bible says the Lord enabled her to get pregnant. And I want you to see that you can be in a season, a time in your life where you're barren, where you're in famine, when doors are shutting doors after doors after doors, there are no prospects.

And all the while, God is working it out for your good. All the while He is working the exceedingly and the abundantly for you. He's working it out where he's doing what eyes had not seen and what ears have not heard, and what have not entered into the heart of men, for he is preparing something good. Have I told you this, that my mama's a good cook? I use this illustration a lot. My mama's a good cook, and she, I don't care what she cooks, it's good. And I have confidence that when I sit at her table, I'm going to eat some good food. And even if it's something I've never heard of, it's good because she's a good cook. We have a father that all he can do is good. That's all he's stirring up in. That pot for you is good. And I just want you to sit at his table and say, whatever you have for me, Lord, I know it's going to be good.

I might not have seen it. I may not have heard it. I don't know what this is. I don't know who he is, who she is. This wasn't how I wanted him to look. This ain't how I wanted her to look and what the job for her to have. But God, if it's coming from your hand, I know it's good. Every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord. So she has a son. And this son, his name is Obed. And if you know anything about genealogy of the Bible, oh, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of King David. So Ruth, the Moabite, the Gentile, the widow, the one who needed a redeemer, she's in the genealogy of Jesus, our redeemer. She never would have thought that this would be her life. The Union of Ruth and Boaz produced something much bigger than them.

So if you think about it, the story of Ruth is bigger than a love story between two people. It's a book that is a book of redemption, of salvation of Christ in his church. Boaz is a type of Christ. Ruth symbolizes the church, the bride of Christ. And if you read this story through those lenses, you will see this rich beauty of God's redemptive plan for mankind. Now, I know I gave you four points to help you and steward your singleness. I want you to see that those same four points, we'll remind you of the greatest love story ever told. And that is the gospel

Of Jesus Christ. Think about it, practice covenant. We have a covenant keeping God who had the new covenant that said he would give us a new heart and that he will wash our sins away. He would forgive us of our sins, and he will remember them no more. And that new covenant was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our redeemer. And one day Jesus is coming back for his bride and we will celebrate a marriage supper in eternity with our bridegroom. But until then, we ought to work his field. We are in his vineyard. The Bible says that we ought to work while it's still day. He said, we should be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Work your field. And then I said, trust in God's timing. The gospel of Jesus Christ is all about precision and perfect timing. After 400 years of silence, Jesus was born.

And then the Bible says, after the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. And though we don't know the day or the hour, he's coming back at the right time to redeem us and to take him back. And I said, it's bigger than you, right? It is always bigger than you. This gospel, this love story ought not stop with us. It ought not stop in this room. We should share this gospel. How beautiful is the feet of those who carry the gospel to the masses, to your job, to the nations? This redemptive story doesn't stop with us. It is bigger than we can imagine. Y'all, Ruth was a widow, a foreigner. She was marginalized, and all the while God was weaving a story of redemption through the details of her life. To me, that sounds like a God that we can trust. And I want to invite you to put this area of your life singleness in the hands of God, a trusted savior who knows the plans that he has for you.

I believe a lot, some of you may have checked out of this season. You're just waiting for the perfect one to come by, and you have checked out completely. Some of you are mad at God. You're so disappointed. Some of you need to be reminded of this good God that we serve, that when we do cry, he hears us and he answers every time. So everyone on your feet, please, we're going to sing this song again. And whoever you are, whether you're single or married, I believe there's an area of your life that you need to profess again, that you're going to trust God with all of your heart and all of your mind.

I trust in God my Savior, the one who will never, he will never. I trust in God. God Savior will never I in God. He is my savior, the one never. He will never. I trust in God. He will never fail. He will never. I saw the, oh, I saw the Lord said, I saw the Lord. That's why I him. That's why I trust Him, said I saw, oh, when I cried out, he heard, oh, he heard me. And he just me. I so Lord, I so Lord. He inclined his ear un. That's why I said I trust in God my savior. Come on and lift your hands and say He won't. He will never. I trust in God, savior the one who will never. He will never.

God thank you that we have that promise that we can give you our disappointment. We can give you our hurt and our pain, and we know that you will hear our cry. So I pray for everyone who have a heavy heart today. I pray for everyone who is disappointed. There are unmet expectations. God, that we pray that they will trust your timing. I pray God that they will work in the field that you have given them God, that they would steward this time wisely. The enemy will love for them to squander their singleness. He will love for them to check out of this time. God, I pray that right now you will lift up their heads, God, right now that they will stand firm and trust you and know that you have great plans for their life.