Knowing Your Own Strength

 Judges 16:20 “Samson, the Philistines are upon you! ”He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

 Who are the “Philistines” in your life these days?

 Perhaps the news of the day has brought you to despair, and you feel like the ‘Philistines’ have won.

 Or perhaps the ‘Philistines’ in your life are health, finances, addictions, even old age’s creakiness. Perhaps you are beset by doubts, grief, shame, or guilt.

 The real lesson of Samson’s story is that he gave in to the wiles of the world, trusting in his own strength, which was too weak to defeat the enemy.

 Are you trusting in your own strength to overcome your enemies? Are you despairing of your future because you refuse to dwell with the Lord?

 We all have enemies which we need to defeat if we are to become the person God intends us to be.  Don’t rely on your own strength. Draw on the strength of the Lord through prayer, worship, community.

 Invite the Lord to be with you today, to provide you with the inner strength to defeat your ‘Philistines.’

God? Test, Test (pt. 2)

Judges 6:17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.”

After the first sign God gave to Gideon, God sent Gideon to destroy the false gods Gideon’s neighbors worshiped. (See ‘God? Test, Test’ Pt. 1)

 Gideon’s second request for a sign is the famous fleece test. Gideon set up a test to see if God was really with him as he was going into battle against Israel’s enemies. (Judges 6:36-40)

 If God played along with Gideon’s test, there was every expectation that Gideon would lead an army into a battle in which he could very well lose his life. Before you ask God for a sign you had better be ready to go to work for God.

 You cannot say ‘no’ to God’s ‘go.’  If God has confirmed that God is with you in the battle into which God is sending you, then you need to gather up the courage to confront the enemy.

So, before you decide to do a little microphone check on whether God is really there, be prepared to say ‘yes’ if God answers,  ‘Here I am. You will go.’ 

God? Test, Test (pt. 1)

 Judges 6:13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?”

 God’s people felt abandoned.  Their 401k’s were drying up. The streets weren’t safe.  Running away and hiding seemed like the only good option.

 Why had this happened? God’s people forgot their identity. They worshipped false gods. They expected all of God’s blessings, but they refused to live lives that showed their gratitude to God. You couldn’t tell God’s people from their neighbors.

 The people abandoned God.  But God is more faithful to his people than God’s people are to God. God appointed Gideon to lead God’s people in battle to restore peace and prosperity.

 The first step was to get rid of the false gods people were worshiping. If we expect the Lord to be with us, shouldn’t we be willing to demonstrate with our lives our own loyalty to God?

 The second step was defeating the enemies.

 Gideon wasn’t so sure that God was really the One giving orders.  He didn’t want to go out and engage the enemy unless it really was God who was speaking.

 How do you know if God is speaking to you?

 

 

When Women Lead God's People

 Judges 5:7 Villagers in Israel would not fight;

    they held back until I, Deborah, arose,
    until I arose, a mother in Israel.

 On Pentecost Peter quotes the prophet Joel to make the point that the Spirit of God falls on both women and men. (Acts 2:18)

 The people of Israel knew this truth because of Israel’s “Mother Deborah”, their Judge who led God’s people in a victory over their enemies through her willingness to lead the men into battle.

 Is one reason for the Church’s current decline because so many refuse to see that women as well as men are called to lead God’s people? Many in the Church are intentionally deaf to the leadership voice of women, to their songs which brings wisdom and courage to the battle against the enemies and evil that surround us.

 My prayer on this Pentecost weekend is that the Spirit of God will open the eyes, ears, and minds of the worldwide Church to the truth of God’s Word: when women lead God’s people, offering up God’s prophetic words, God’s people are victorious.

 I thank God for all the “Deborahs” with whom it is my privilege to serve God’s people. Lead the way!

You Have a Choice

 Joshua 24:15 “…Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve….But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

 Don’t you love that you get a choice?

 God doesn’t force anyone into service. You might say that some are ‘strongly encouraged’, but no one has the final choice made for them.

 The LORD loves us so much that the LORD desires a voluntary response motivated by a reciprocal love for God. “We love because God first loved us.”

 You have a choice. You can serve the gods worshiped by society, gods like profit, ego, possessions. Or you can choose the LORD, who commands love as his servants first and second priorities.

 Choices have consequences. That’s why we get to decide.

 Choosing to serve the LORD means that we make room to actively participate in worshipping communities. If our lives are so busy that we do not ‘have time’ to attend worship, whom have we chosen to serve?

 Serving the LORD means that we choose to love our enemies, care for the poor, and walk humbly.  Or do we prefer the choices society’s gods are offering: revenge, selfishness, and pride?

 Don’t you love that you get a choice?

Courage for the Journey

 Joshua 1:7a “Be strong and very courageous.”

 Second on my ‘power walking playlist’ is Bad Day (ironically, by Daniel Powter).

 One of the lines is “You're faking a smile with the coffee to go”. Who cannot relate to that picture? Then the song works toward the chorus:

'Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around…

 My playlist moves on to other, happier lyrics. But I keep Bad Day second because it reminds me of how I sometimes feel at the start of a day or a walk.

 After Moses died God passed the baton of the leadership relay to Joshua.  Joshua had been in training, but now he had to lead.  God didn’t promise him it would be an easy journey, but he did promise, “I will give you ever place where you set your foot.” (v.3)

 God’s next instruction was critical: ‘be strong and very courageous.’  Very. Courageous.

 You, my dear friend, may be having a bad day, walking a very difficult part of your journey. God encourages you: listen for the reminders to keep on movin’ and groovin’. Very courageously.

 The songs get better. Alleluia.

"Out of the Depths"

 Psalm 30:1a I will exalt you, Lord,

    for you lifted me out of the depths…

 I didn’t understand the poet until 2:00 a.m. on Easter morning, April 17, 2022.

 40 hours after a stroke, lying in a hospital bed unable to sleep, unable to feel most of my right side, I finally grasped the poet’s meaning.

 In seminary I read a textbook titled Out of the Depths. In all the years since, I hadn’t experienced ‘the depths’ until that morning. Then, out of the depths, I cried out to God, “Jesus, what is the point of going on with my life?”

 Then, out of the depths, Jesus answered. Not with an audible voice, but with an answer my brain, my heart, my soul, heard as clear as a bell. “There’s more work to do, Bill.”

 Understood. My call to work with the beautiful people of Hope Church, feeding and caring for the sheep, was not over. We have more work to do. And I should be there to help.

 I understand what it feels like to be lifted by the Lord out of the depths.

 This is resurrection life.

     Lord my God, I will praise you forever. (v. 12)

Amen.