God takes the willingness of Ruth and Boaz to do their duties, and he blesses them with a son, Obed. Does the combination of the birth of Obed, and the loyalty of Ruth, cure Naomi's bitterness towards God? Sounds like it! So there is one reconciliation that Ruth and Boaz can witness in their lifetimes, as a result of their doing their duty.
But Obed has a much larger destiny, that we can see from hindsight. Obed becomes the father of Jesse, who becomes the father of David, whom God chooses as the second king of Israel, and to whom God promises an everlasting descendent to sit on the throne. Obed is in the thousand-year family line between Judah and King David, from which, another thousand years later, will be born in this place, Jesus the Christ. Ruth and Boaz could not possibly have known this. But their selfless fulfilling of their duties made the salvation of humanity through the cross of Jesus, possible.
Which souls are saved as a result of our care for families in hosting and catering funerals? Which children that attend our Vacation Bible School, will later enter the ministry, or be parents to children who enter the ministry? Which person, whom we make to feel welcome on a Sunday morning, will consider this church their home moving forward? We don't know. And one of the joys of the resurrection will be to see, in hindsight, exactly what resulted from the works we did for God's kingdom. We will see what God made from our selfless fulfilling of our duties.
And, to be honest, I don't like the word duty, either! I like the language used on our bulletins: opportunities! We have opportunities to serve. We have opportunities to experience growth in ourselves, and in our relationship with God. We have opportunities to express our loyalty to God. And we trust that God will put our opportunities to best result, like he did the opportunity his Son Jesus had, to secure our salvation.
Gracious God, we thank you for giving us opportunities to play a role in the coming of your kingdom. Keep us confident and enthusiastic in taking on these roles, in Jesus' name....