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by GLENN PEASE
04/25/18
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Based on Ruth 3:1-4, 4:1-10

     A young couple who had just gotten married, and who had received many valuable wedding gifts, established their home in the suburb. One morning they received in the mail two tickets for a popular show in the city. A note said, "Guess who?" The couple were amused as they tried to find the identity of the donor, but they could not find out who sent them. They used the tickets, and they had a delightful evening. On their return home, late at night, still trying to figure out the mystery, they found their house stripped of every article of value. On the bare table in the dinning room was a piece of paper on which was written- "Now you know!"

      Crooks have so many clever ways of robbing people that it has given the word clever a bad name. Vincent Teresa in his book My Life In The Mafia tells of numerous clever schemes he used to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from innocent people, and sometimes not so innocent people. One that shows the thought and planning of these people is one I want to share. There was a big horse race called the Constitution Handicap. They put a fortune on Flauntless Light to win. Non-clever people would give their horse drugs to help him win, but the Mafia knows the winner will be tested for drugs, and so they bribed the stable boys of the other five horses in the race. They juiced those five with a depressant. Their horse won by 7 links, and they made a hundred and sixty three grand. There was a big stink over the race, but the only horse that was checked was their horse, and he was clean. Clever schemes like this enabled them to rip off billions of dollars a year.

     Because history is full of the clever schemes of con men, and because the fall of man began with the clever, cunning, and crafty scheme of that old serpent the devil, we have a tendency to put cleverness in the category of vice rather than virtue. The Jews did not do so, however, but recognized cleverness as a great virtue, and one of the most powerful weapons in the cause of righteousness. Yes, they said, evil is clever but it is the task of the righteous to outwit the evil. The book of Esther is about a very clever man named Haman, who out of personal pride almost succeeded in getting the Jewish people exterminated. He was only foiled in his plot because Mordecai and Esther were even more clever, and they were able to turn the tables on him, and he was hung on his own gallows.

     The whole theme of wisdom in the Old Testament deals with the virtue of being clever enough to outwit the clever appeals of evil. The fool falls for the wiles of the devil, but the clever stay one jump ahead of him. After all, what is the battle of life all about? It is about outwitting all the clever ways of the evil one to keep us from fulfilling the will of God. Cleverness is part of the image of God in us. He is the most clever of all Persons in the universe. His wisdom is a marvel as we study His creation. His cleverness in figuring out how to outwit Satan, and save a lost world, when Satan seems to have all the advantages of a fallen free willed creature who tends toward evil.

     Jesus faced the clever tempter, but He was more clever than the first Adam, and He outwitted the old serpent and all his agents. No trap set for Him by the Pharisees could ensnare Him. Jesus said that we are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, and He practiced what He preached. He lived His whole life outwitting the devil, and He died a spotless Lamb of God for the sin of the world. He was, without question, the most clever man whoever lived. He was a perfect man, and a perfect man by definition is clever. There are few, if any, who become key links in the plan of God who are not in some way clever, and this goes for both Ruth and Boaz. They were just ordinary people, but they were clever people, and from their story we can learn why it is important for us to strive at being clever. By their cleverness they got themselves into the blood line of the Messiah. The first thing we want to see is that-

I. COMPLEXITY DEMANDS CLEVERNESS.

      Boaz and Ruth had something of a romance going, but it was not what you would call a whirlwind romance. He watched her labor in the fields, and they ate lunch together. They both found it pleasant, but this was not going anywhere. Ruth was dressed in her old work clothes, and after a hot morning in the sun she probably did not have an attractive aroma about her. The point is, Boaz had never really seen Ruth at her feminine finest. She was just one of the gang.

     A woman has to be clever in such a situation. How can she ever convey her feminine charms while dressed like a farmer, and smelling like the farm? This is where the clever female mind has to be creative to overcome the obstacles to true romance. When two women like Naomi and Ruth put their heads together to figure out how to entice a man into a relationship, you can count on it, he is as good as hooked. Fishing for men was a female practice long before Jesus called His disciples to the task with a whole new slant.

     You will observe that carrying scrolls of Moses to the field was not one of their ideas. In fact, there is nothing spiritual about their plot at all. They sound as secular as Hollywood hussies trying to entice their third husband. It seems so worldly clever to be getting Ruth all dolled up and perfumed to go and entice Boaz. The clear command of Paul was to not be conformed to the world. But if the world uses common sense and cleverness to attain evil goals, does this mean the Christian is forbidden to use common sense and cleverness to reach godly goals? Of course not. The Bible describes the temptress out to entice men into sin, and she is bathed and perfumed, and dressed to kill.

     Here we see two godly women trying to make a big impression on a godly man, and they are using the same strategy as the temptress. The reason, of course, is that godly men are just as attracted to nice clothes and pleasant perfume as are the ungodly. These two ladies are not trying to get Boaz to give them a loan so they can set up a shop in Bethlehem to sell perfume and women's clothing. They are out to make Ruth look and smell so attractive that Boaz will say, "I must be out of my mind risking the lose of this beautiful creature by not taking action." Their clever scheme of giving Boaz a vision of Ruth in all her loveliness, in the middle of the night, so that she was like a pleasant dream, worked like a charm. The next day Boaz was up bright and early resolving the legal issue that kept him from having Ruth with him as his wife every night. Now that was clever work even though it added to the complexity of their lives.

     How can God bless this seemingly secular scheme? Many Christians feel that all attractive dress is worldly, and some go so far as to forbid their men to wear ties. It is a sign of spiritually to be plain, drab, and the opposite of the world where diamonds are a girls best friend, and mink is a close second. Some have learned to be clever in just the opposite way from Ruth and Naomi. Amy Charmichael was the first missionary to be appointed by the Keswick Convention.

      For 55 consecutive years she served in India. Before she went to India she went to Japan for training, and there she learned a valuable lesson on clothing that changed her whole life. She went with a fellow worker to visit an elderly lady who was ill. She listened to the Gospel, and seemed ready to turn to the Savior. Then she noticed the fancy gloves Amy was wearing, and she was distracted from the message. Amy went home saddened, and she removed her English gloves, and put on a simple Japanese garment, and never again wore anything but simple clothing lest they detract from the Gospel.

     Her life was blest of God, as was Ruth's, yet they were being clever in such opposite ways. One wore clothing to be attractive, and the other used clothing so as not to be attracting away from the Gospel. There is no contradiction in these two beautiful lives. They were each doing what was clever in a complex world to achieve goals God had called them to reach. It is time to focus on definition. What is cleverness? It is the showing of great practical intelligence. It is being resourceful in attaining goals in spite of obstacles and difficulties. Ruth and Amy had different goals, and that is why each was being clever even though they were doing just the opposite thing.

     Ruth's goal was to marry and bare a child. That was God's calling and purpose for her life. The use of all her femininity was wisely used to achieve that goal. Amy never married, and never had any reason to try to be attractive to the opposite sex. Her calling was totally different, and she achieved it fruitfully by giving up the need to show any feminine charm. Not all people are called to the same goals in life. Many are called to remain single. Our goal is to be as clever as possible in fulfilling our calling, and not to judge those who have a different calling because they approach some things from an opposite perspective. I have always been middle class, but I once heard the testimony of a man who lived and worked among the upper class. He did things I would never do because he had to in order to be a part of his circles, and be a witness there for Christ. He wore clothing and ate in places I would never dream of doing, because it was a part of his culture. It made sense, and so we need to recognize people have to be clever in different ways to do the will of God in their circumstances.

     Mary Liu was sold as a slave girl to a Chinese women, and after much abuse she was thrown out on a trash heap to die. Throw away people have always been a part of our tragic world. A missionary walking passed heard the smothered sobs of this pathetic creature. She reached in the pile and found this mutilated mass of misery. Both of her feet had been burned off. Her life was saved, however, and in the mission hospital a pair of wooden feet were made for her. Her mangled fingers had to be amputated, but one thumb was saved. The long story of her recovery and redemption in Christ leads to her becoming the editor of two Christian magazines for women. The two were The Messenger, and The Star.

     When the Japanese took over her town she had to use her wits to preserve her precious stock of paper. She took all her trash and the junk she could afford to lose, and she stacked it all in carefully arranged bundles in a conspicuous place. Her valuable paper she threw in a dark corner, and made it look like worthless stuff. It was made to look sloppy, and with no care or order. When the inspectors came they saw how she treated the trash with concern, and they ordered it carted away immediately, and they left all her good stuff.

     The World Day Of Prayer Committee marveled that Mary Liu went on publishing her Christian literature month after month, and year after year, when all others in China had ceased for lack of paper. Her cleverness kept her in business for the Lord. It is not everyone's calling to be deceptively clever toward those who would hinder your ministry, but it was Mary's calling, and who would want to criticize her for outwitting her enemies, who would have shut down her ministry? David faked madness when he might have been killed, and his life was saved. She faked concern for junk, and indifference to valuables, and her ministry was spared. It is a complex world, and cleverness is sometimes essential to the achieving of good goals.

     The world recognizes this. They have to deal constantly with obstacles to good profit making goals. A major oil company built 5 pilot gas stations near Los Angeles, and 3 near Philadelphia, which require no human attendant. The motorist puts his credit card into an outdoor computer terminal. If the card is valid, the customer pumps his own gas. The computer issues a receipt, and later tallies a monthly total. That is clever enough, but the added touch is what makes it great. If the card is listed as stolen, or lost, the computer swallows it, and gives the motorist no gas.

     Even the world is in constant battle with the evil forces that hinder good and honest goals. If you are not clever, you are a sucker for the clever schemers who will rob you blind. Cleverness is vital to godliness simply because ungodliness is so clever. If you are not clever you will not be very effective in overcoming evil with good. It you are not victorious over evil, you will be a victim of it, and so you have to be more clever then evil is.

     Let's look at Boaz for awhile, and see his cleverness in a situation where there is really no evil foe, but there is competition. The competition here is not between good and evil, but between the good and the best. It would be good for the nearest of kin to redeem Ruth, but in the light of the fact that Boaz and Ruth were in love, this good would be bad in comparison to Boaz having the right to marry her. It is sort of like, it is good to lose one eye compared to losing both of them, but that does not make it the best alternative. The best is to lose neither eye. The best in this setting is for the good not to happen so the best can.

     We know that is just what did happen, but it could have been different had Boaz not been clever. He had to so present the whole issue in such a way as to be an un-salesman. I don't know if there is such a word, but that is what Boaz was doing. He was not trying to sell his relative on a deal. He was trying to unsell him. This called for the clever use of psychology, just as selling does. I had to be an unseller myself with my grandson. We were talking about good guys and bad guys, and he said he wanted to grow up and be a bad guy. I could see he was testing my reaction. I calmly accepted his statement and proceeded to look at whether this was a goal he really wanted to aim for. I pointed out that bad guys often have to spend a lot of time in jail, and they often lose the love of the people they care about, and they make God angry at them. He agreed it was not the best way to go. I had to unsell him on the idea of being a bad guy.

     Boaz had to unsell his relative on the idea of being the kinsman-redeemer of Ruth. He does this by first being a seller, and telling him the good news. He tells him that he is first in line to buy the property of Elimelech. Boaz suggests that he use his option of nearest relative, and he talks as if it is a matter of indifference to him. He is as cool as cool can be. He says, "I'm next in line, but only if you don't want to buy it, I will. Why don't you go ahead?" It all seems like a mere matter of business, and the nearest kin says, "It sound good to me. I will redeem it."

     Now Boaz uses his shock strategy, and he throws in the
bad news. His relative is thinking this is a good deal for me. I will have more property, expanding income, and greater status. Boaz says, "I just thought you ought to know that on the day you buy the land you also acquire the widow of the man who owned the land, in order to maintain his name." J. Vernon McGee says, "He was using some of the wisdom of the serpent here." Right away the man felt the pressure of this demand. He was frightened to think how close he was to making a deal that would back him into more complexity than he could handle.

     When it was only land it was all to his advantage, but if he has to take Ruth and raise up a child for her deceased husband, then that child will eventually get the land anyway, and not his own children. So he backed out of the deal, and he gave Boaz the right to redeem. Boaz was really doing his relative a favor by presenting the case in such a way as to unsell him on the idea. He was clever because he got what he wanted, but he did it, not by deception, but by a shocking and overwhelming presentation of the truth with all of its implications. It was too much for the man to absorb, and the complexity made it look too risky, and so he backed out.

     Cleverness is the ability to skillfully work your way through complex circumstances to a goal that is your aim to reach. Godly cleverness is aiming for a goal that is pleasing to God. Boaz was blessed with godly cleverness. This is a virtue that has changed the entire world in which we live. The example of one man's life that is astounding in its cleverness is that of Cameron Townsend, the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators. He died in April of 1982 at the age of 85. His career in missions started in 1917 as a Bible salesman in Guatamala. He discovered that 60% of the people could not read the Spanish Bibles he was selling, and so he, with no linguistic training, just settled down in a small Indian village, and translated the New Testament into the Indian language. He spent 11 years doing that. His philosophy was, "Do one thing and do it well." As he learned more about the fact of hundreds of languages with no Bible, he founded a school called The Summer Institute Of Linguistics.

     He learned another lesson in Guatamala, and that is to cooperate with the local authorities. He was dragged before the mayor of a town for distributing Bibles without permission. He apologized and never forgot that missionaries are guests, and the government is the host. We must get their approval. This became a distinguishing characteristic of his organization. The first copy of the New Testament he sent to the president of Guatamala. He spent hours waiting to see officials to get them involved in his projects. There is no other mission movement like Wycliffe. It reports to the government, and not the national church. He gets contracts with the government, and so he is serving them.

     He got into Mexico where other missions were being rejected, and he even got the government to pay for part of the work. His workers had special favors not granted to other missionaries. There visas were made permanent when all others had to get theirs renewed every 6 months. This pattern continued all through South America and the Philippines. While other missions were fighting for survival, they saw pictures of Townsend in the paper with the Presidents, generals, and leaders of the land. Other missionaries became jealous of this special treatment, but it was his clever strategy that enabled him to achieve his goals.

     In 50 years he went from one employee to 4,255 people, and became the largest Christian mission in history. At the beginning of the 20th century there were only 67 languages that had the Bible. Now, some portion of the Bible exists in over 2000 languages. All because of his cleverness in doing what others did not see as the key to reaching goals. Cleverness got the Word of God into the language of millions, and cleverness got Ruth and Boaz into the Word of God. Cleverness committed to God is one of the most powerful tools in history. We need to ask ourselves about what we are doing to love God with all of our minds. What are we doing to use our minds and cleverness to achieve goals for the glory of God and the good of His people? May God motivate us to learn from this clever couple to be clever ourselves for the kingdom of God.

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