Being A Means of Grace...

We must be submissive vessels of grace before we can be effective vessels for change or correction. In the public sphere, we often see Christians arguing for what they believe to be right. In the political arena, many Christians call for legislation that would either keep the status quo—hindering others from some transgression, real or perceived, that they are wanting to be free to engage in—or would engineer outward social righteousness—which would, in many cases, produce nothing more than white washed tombs. The debates rise in temperature quickly, and anger ensues rapidly when each side does not get its respective way. Like many objects exposed to extreme heat, those not insulated by grace harden, and rigidity sets in. Their causes becomes cold causes, causes fought out of spite and not love. At all cost, these people will have their way, or they will burn out trying. In this, many have lost all effectiveness. Have we forgotten that without grace, no change is possible? This is not simply to suggest that we remain humble, forever recognizing that God is sovereign and in control of the situation, but it is also a call to action, a call for us to remember that we have a duty to show grace as our Lord has shown us grace. We are in some sense and by some degree His means of grace in the world. We are His salt and light in a dark, tasteless, and decaying word. If we want others to be transformed, not simply because we want to control the world and have an engineered, pseudo-peace, but because we actually care for the lost ones, then we will first need to demonstrate grace before we act to see change happen. Grace always goes before. If it does not, any change will not be lasting. Moreover, this does not simply happen in public, but also happens in the heart first and foremost. Check your heart the next time you see the representative “opponents” of whatever issue or issues it is you are concerned about. Take stock of your feelings as you hear these "others" lobbying for their side on the news channel or social media. What feelings fill your heart? What words come to mind? What is it that you wish for them? Are you filled with compassion or malice? Do you say of them that they are precious souls in need of help, or do you call them fools, or worse? Do you want them to know peace or would you rather see some sort of vendetta visited upon them? If your heart overflows with negativity, perhaps it is you whom you need to work on. If it is love that you feel, remember how to love them. We, the representatives of Christ in the midst of this present evil age, influence, not by power struggles, but by service. When was the last time you served those who you wish to see transformed?

It’s Not About the Haircut: (Expanded transcript for study)

A reminder from Samson’s life to remain spiritually awake…[1]

This post is dedicated to Patricia Bell who has been looking for some reading material while she is in recovery. I pray God returns you to full health, Mrs. Patricia. In the mean time, I hope you will enjoy this manuscript from my sermon last Sunday.

Note: I actually wrote the transcript after the sermon so that I might adapt it for reading and study. Therefore, it is not the exact wording I used in the sermon, but it is a close approximation, expanded somewhat for the sake of study clarity. This is actually a really long post, so you might want to plan to break it up into several readings…

No one has ever really accused me of being the most vigilant person in the world. No one has said, “You know, that Tab guy really pays attention to what’s going on around him.” My wife, my parents, and my schoolteachers would all attest that I spend more time in a dream world than I do here on this earth. When I was younger, I was that kid in little league baseball who would rather dig rocks up in the outfield and toss them at the fence behind me than I would paying attention to the game going on in front of me. My only indication that I was indeed paying baseball was the coach yelling, “Miller! Get the ball!” Little league coaches take the game way too seriously if you ask me.

By the time I made it to high school, I began to care more about academics, and that carried on into college and beyond. However, in middle school, I couldn’t care less. One sunny afternoon I was sitting in class, and the teacher was is the midst of a coffee fueled lecture when he apparently said, “Take out a sheet of paper. Number it one to three, and answer the following questions.” I missed all of that. It was in the middle of a lecture, and if you know anything about daydreaming, you know lecture time is prime time. Anyway, my only indication that we had taken the quiz is when the teacher asked us to pass them forward, and the guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder to hand me his paper. Missed that opportunity. Oh well.

But, before you begin to believe this was just a childhood problem and that I eventually grew out of whatever it was that kept me in the clouds—ADD perhaps—let me tell you a recent story. My wife might not know this, so I might be in a little hot water now that I am telling it. We bought a juicer some time ago, because, you know, we want to be healthy and all. Anyway, we had not used it in some time, and I just thought that was so ashamed. So, I surfed the web and found the perfect juice. You know, the one that is to make you run faster, jump higher, and live to be 105.

Well, I went to the store and purchased around twenty-five dollars of produce. I got home, pulled out the juicer and examined it, trying to remember how it worked. I keenly observed a container on the side and thought, “Of course, that is where the juice comes out.” So, without further delay, I began to juice. I was more fascinated with watching the fruits and veggies being ground up than anything else. I had made it near the bottom of the bag and decided to look into the container to see how much delicious juice I had made, and that is when I saw it. The container was not there to catch the juice, but the solid waste, the pulp. The juice had been steadily pouring out the other side and upon the counter. Oops.

Practically speaking, being oblivious can be dangerous. I am on the road with unsuspecting civilians everyday (only a joke, I am a good driver). If my pinkie toe could talk, it would tell you that it hates my guts. At least three times a week, I crack it on the same coffee table that has been in the same place in relation to the couch for years. I think my toe has spent more time broken than intact in my adult life. Having said this, if being mentally oblivious is dangerous enough, then being spiritually oblivious is all the more dangerous.

In his first letter, Peter says, “Discipline yourselves, keep alert (be vigilant, be awake). Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour” (5:18). If you have ever watched a nature program with lions, you will know that they usually attack when the animal they are pursuing is not on its guard. So, Satan seeks out those who are not paying attention, thinking that temptation is really not a threat. Be mindful that when Peter is writing here, he is addressing Christians. The adversary is not simply looking to devour the people of the world, but us as well.

Now, I am thankful that, even while we have a real adversary, we also have an Advocate. The Scriptures warns us as Christians not to sin, but, if we do, the Bible also tells us that Christ is there to pick us up and offer us grace (I John 2:1). This is a comfort to know, but just because Christ offers us grace, this does not mean that there are no consequences for the sins we commit. If Christ served as some sort of cosmic clean up crew or garbage man, making sure that nothing ever affected us, why then would Peter waste his time warning the Church to “keep alert”? The truth is, sin still can hurt us, and it can leave us miserable.

We see this truth all the time. We see Christian brothers and sisters in our very communities in pain and misery. We see Christian families that are broken, because of sinful decisions, and it is not as if a person wakes up one day and all of the sudden says, “You know what, I am going to cheat on my spouse today.” No. It happens by degrees. Perhaps it starts off by holding animosity against one’s spouse, and not being willing to work it out, to talk about it with each other and with God. So, it leads to the person doing little things that they think really don’t matter, like a click of the mouse as he or she seeks intimacy online. This then leads to flirting with others, perhaps at work, and then, the next thing the person knows is that everything has imploded, and the family has fallen apart.

It is the same thing with drug use. No one wakes up saying, “I think I’ll get hooked on heroin today, or, perhaps prescription drugs.” No. It happens by degrees, and, although we will always be forgiven when we take it to Christ, this does not mean that we should take down our guard. It would be best to live as Christ has called us to live, and to avoid pain and misery.  

We are now going to turn to Judges 14:5-9 to see how being spiritually oblivious can be very dangerous. Now, before we read the text, I will say this: This is not an easy text to understand if you have never studied it or its background before. But, there is going to be a payoff for our studying the text. We can easily become frustrated with the Old Testament. It is largely a collection of ancient stories about a people a world away, and the author does not end his tale with the statement, “And the moral of the story is…” We are left to figure it out. The New Testament is more didactic, easier to access, and it gets down to the brass tacks. It says things like, “Be alert.” That is straightforward. However, if we can see the Old Testament stories, like the one we are about to read, as opportunities to learn, instead of obstacles to overcome, the pay off is great. The story will serve as a lifelong reminder of being spiritually awake.

It is one thing to be in the midst of temptation, perhaps there is a link online that we know we should not click, and we remember a New Testament idea, like Peter’s words: “Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.” Yes, we know we are supposed to avoid temptation, but, doesn’t Satan have bigger fish to fry. Clicking this link in the privacy of my own home, when no one is around, this won’t hurt anyone. Without really seeing what the author is talking about, it is easy to toss aside.

It is quite another thing to see the slow decline of sin in the story of someone’s life, as we read it in the Old Testament. Stories get etched into our mind, and, believe me. This story, once you really hear it, will be etched into your mind. This is the beauty of the Old Testament stile of teaching. Each Testament has its merits, but the Old Testaments is often ignored.

This story, believe it or not, is about a man who is not being spiritually vigilant. But, we will soon explore the story together to see how it is indeed a warning to us, and, it will hopefully be forever etched on your mind. So, let’s look at it. As we go through, I will be providing a little bit of information to make sure the story is as clear as it can be upon first read:

Judges 14:5-9:

⁵ Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. Just prior to this, Samson has told his father and mother that he wants to marry a Philistine woman. At this time, parents arranged marriages, so he had to have them go with him to set the marriage up, and while they are not happy he is marrying a Philistine, he demands that they go. So, they are on the way when this story begins.

When he came to the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion roared at him. Samson has walked ahead of his parents and is out of sight from them when a lion attacks him.

⁶ The spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and he tore the lion apart barehanded as one might tear apart a kid. Here we see the gift God has given Samson in full affect. The lion is no match for Samson, and he kills the lion, dismembering it as one might a kid, a young goat, perhaps bringing to the Israelite’s mind a sacrifice.

 But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. When his parents catch up with Samson, he does not mention the lion to them.

 ⁷ Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson. Samson’s mission to arrange his own marriage was a success.

 ⁸ After a while he returned to marry her, Some time has passed, and Samson and his parents are making the same journey back to Timnah, this time for the wedding.

…and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. When Samson comes to the place where he had killed the lion, he walks off the path, again his parents being out of sight, and he checks out the body. Inside he see that bees have made a nest and have also made honey.

⁹ He scraped it out into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion. He decides to get the honey out as a snack for the road. He also gives some to his parent, and they eat some as well. He again does not mention the lion.

Strange story, right? What does this have to do with being spiritually unaware? In fact, what does this have to do with anything? As a matter of fact, Samson’s story only gets stranger. If you have ever been a part of Sunday School, you will undoubtedly know the story nearer the end of Samson’s life, the story of Samson, Delilah, and the haircut (Judges 16). This is a strange story too. In this story, Delilah, who is being bribed to betray her husband, tricks Samson into telling her the secret to his power, and he eventually tells her it is his long hair. She cuts it, and sure enough, Samson loses his power.

Now, as modern readers, we are tempted to look at all of this and dismiss it as an ancient fable. We know this is not how the world works. First of all, God does not give us magical power for growing out our hair. Second of all, God would not be so petty as to punish us for being tricked. We know Samson has been forbidden to cut his hair, but he doesn’t. Delilah does, while he is asleep, and a man has to sleep sometime, right? This seems sort of mean of God, does it not? So, we are tempted to toss this story out as a fairy tale. Worse, if we go back earlier in the story to try and find a key as to why God would do this to poor Samson, all we find is a strange story of a man eating honey out of a dead animal.

But, what if I told you that, in fact, the story of the honey and the lion is indeed the key to unlocking the rest of the story? What if I told you that one does indeed lead to the other? It certainly does not jump off the page at us, but if we begin to understand some background, this story becomes much clearer. So, that is what we are going to do. We are going to step back from the story to get some context.

I apologize for putting the story on pause right now and not giving you an answer right away, but it will be worth it. Also, I apologize for what I am about to do, which is to load you up on information. As you read this information, you might think to yourself, “What does this have to do with a dude eating honey out of a dead lion,” but I promise it will all make sense soon enough. Just hang in here with me for a moment.

Let’s first talk about Samson’s world. Samson is, of course, an Israelite, and he belongs to the tribe of Dan. At this time, Israel has not yet fully established the land. So, they are not a geo-political entity yet, in the sense of having defined boarders. Instead they are somewhere in between a nomadic people and a sedentary people, as they are in the midst of the conquest begun by Joshua. Remember that Israel really started as a slave people in Egypt. Through Moses, God delivers these people and sends them to Canaan, via a forty-year sojourn in the wilderness. He has sent them to Canaan as part of a promise to give them the land, and under Joshua, everything is going well.

However, after Joshua’s death, where the book of Judges begins, the people of God begin to forget about their duty in conquest. God has commanded them to drive out all the inhabitants of Canaan so that they will be the only people in the land. Many people have found this kind of strange. Why would Yahweh demand displacement of all these peoples? Is this not cruel? In order to understand this command, we must remember why God has called formed Israel. He has called Israel out to be a “holy nation,” “a royal priesthood.” In other words, Israel was called into existence for the express purpose of being a ministry to the world, a light to the nations.

God is setting up Israel to be different, to have a character unlike anything else in the world. In this, the other nations will see Israel’s life and begin to ask, “What makes these people so different,” and this will lead them to seeking after Yahweh. So, in truth, this conquest is actually for the world, but, in the meantime, others could not live with Israel for several reasons, but we will highlight two. First God wants Israel’s light to be clear. He wants this land to be full of holy people. He does not want a mix of people, for He wants to ensure others, when passing through, will know as soon as they reach this area that something is different. Second, Paganism, which was ubiquitous in all other cultures of the world, was too big a temptation for Israel, and threatened God’s Holy ministry.

So, why did God have to pick the land of the Canaanites? Why could the Israelites not find some nice place in the middle of nowhere? Well, the very purpose of their existence was to be noticed, to be in the midst of the world, but not of the world. While God did not want others settling in their midst, he still wanted Israel to interact with the world, and, in the Ancient Near East, Canaan, this little strip of land on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, was the crossroads of the world. All the world powers traveled through here to make trade. It was the perfect local for such a ministry. This was for the world, but first, Israel had to be established. At first, when Joshua was leading the conquest, Israel was very successful in completing the will of God for their lives, but things changed after His death.

When the book of Judges opens up, the Bible tells us that Israel had forgotten about their call. They had taken only part of the land, and they were satisfied with this. They had accepted as much of God’s promise as made them comfortable and had simply said, “No thanks,” to the rest. They wanted to have the gifts that God had promised without having to live the life God had asked them to live. Because they had forgotten God, He allowed them to feel the repercussions of living out from under his protection.

Across the Mediterranean, an Aegean Sea people were making their way to Canaan. These people were seeking a place to live as they were being displaced elsewhere. They landed on the coast of Canaan, and began to settle, which, again, was a big problem for the conquest of Israel. Moreover, they clashed with Israel. In the book of Judges, they especially clash with the Danites, Samson’s people. At this time, the Israelites are living a little inland, in the hill country. Each group is looking to expand, and each has something the other wants. The Philistines have the fertile land of the coast, and the Israelites have access to major trade routes and resources. Thus, these peoples were on a historical collision course, and the Philistines had the upper hand. They were effectively threatening the existence of the Israelites, and were well on their way to extinguishing the light God had sent to the world.

Israel was in need of a savior. So, God sent judges. These men and women where not judges in the sense of a modern judge, a person who presides over a court hearing, although Deborah does fulfill this role to some extent. Instead, these people are ad hoc military leaders, persons sent as heroes and heroines to deliver Israel from their enemies. There is one judge that this book spends an extended time focusing on, and he is the focus of our discussion here.

Samson’s story begins just before his birth. An angel of the Lord comes to Samson’s parents, and he tells his father and mother (Manoah and his wife), that, although Manoah’s wife is barren, they will conceive and have a son, and he will “begin” to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines (13:5). The angel also tells Samson’s parents that Samson is to be a Nazarite from birth (13:7). This is essential to understanding our story today.

As we have discussed, Israel was to be a “Holy” nation, set apart as a ministry for God to the world. Their lives were to be different, and God gave them the Torah, the law, to show them how to live. On top of these regulations, a Nazarite was to take an oath and limit himself or herself to yet three more regulations (see Numbers 6): 1) A Nazarite could not come in contact with a dead body of any kind. 2) A Nazarite could not partake of wine or liquor. In fact, he or she could not even eat grapes or raisins. 3) A Nazarite could not cut his or her hair. This would be a sign of being further set apart to the Lord for a special purpose. A Nazaritic oath was an outward sign of an inward relationship with God, and, just as an Israelite was to be a sign to the world of God’s work in the world, a Nazarite would serve as a special reminder, a ministry to Israel, reminding them that God is doing special things among them.

Usually, a person was not a life long Nazarite. The oath would only last for a set amount of time. Traditionally speaking, there were only three Nazarites in Scripture who were Nazarites from birth. Samson was the first. Samuel was the second, and John the Baptist was the third. Interestingly, all three of these men were born to barren women. Samuel was the priest that anointed David and introduced him to Israel. In other words, he was responsible for introducing the greatest king ancient Israel ever had. Pretty big deal, right? John the Baptist was the man who introduced Jesus to the world. Pretty big deal, right? In other words, this exclusive club Samson was in was for men who had a destiny of greatness in the ministry of God. So, what happened to Samson? His life did not quite measure up. It ends with him having his eyes gouged out by his enemies and a building falling on top of him. Perhaps our story today will help us figure this all out.

Now that we have all this information, we can now pull it all together and return to the story we read earlier to see if we can make sense of it. First, we know that Israel is in a dark place, in need of a savoir, and there real issue was not an all at once rebellion against God, but a slow forgetting of their purpose: “Israel frittered away its inheritance a little bit at a time. Before any claims of overt apostasy appear, the text impresses on the reader a process in which the nation simply compromised the divine. Before settling for something other than Yahweh’s covenant promises, Israel settled for something less than Yahweh’s covenant promises.”[2] What we are going to see in Samson’s life is more of the same. Samson was called to serve God by being a hero to the Israelites, one who would begin driving out the Philistines, but what we will see is a microcosm of Israel’s slows decent, as Samson also slowly forgets his place.

We begin right before our reading in Judges 14:5-9, with the speaking of the reason Samson is on the journey we find him on in our reading. He has demanded from his parents that they go arrange a marriage for him to a Philistine woman (Judges 14:1-4). Samson’s parents are distraught. They want him to marry an Israelite. This is not about race relations, but about putting one’s will before God. Samson’s parents know that marriage to a Philistine will mean that Samson will willingly bind himself to the very people that are lording over his people, the very people trying to snuff out the light of God to the world.  Samson is willing to compromise his calling and his people to have his desires. So, the story of Samson’s slow decline begins with this:

1.     Sin begins in the heart when we put our on wants in front of God’s will.

Now, we finally get back to the weird story of Samson and his eating honey out of the dead carcass of a lion. The first thing that we should note in this portion of the story is that, while Samson might have been on the path of putting self in front of God, God is still with him. The Scripture reports that while Samson was walking through the vineyards of Timnah, which must have been like the valley of temptation for a Nazarite that was not even allowed to eat a grape, a lion attacks Samson, and “the Spirit of the Lord” rushed on Samson so that he could kill the lion. In other words, Samson strength was not his own. God was his source of strength and his deliverer.

After the body had been decomposing a while, Samson passed back by alone, and decided he wanted to see the body. Now, he is forbidden by his Nazaritic oath to God to come in contact with a dead body. So, he is actively seeking temptation. He sees in the carcass of the lion something sweet. In the midst of that which is forbidden is something sweet. Samson is alone, and he probably thinks to himself, this is no big deal. No one will ever know; my Nazaritic testimony won’t be damaged because I am alone and I do not have to be accountable to anyone. The Scripture says he scrapes the honey out. He doesn’t just dab the honey; he scrapes it out.

2.     Sin that begins in the heart soon manifests when we are alone and no one is looking.

We are often tempted to think that our secret sins don’t matter. They do not hurt anyone. No one will know if I click on this link. No one will know if I harbor this bitterness. No one will know if I take this pill. Only I will know. And, often, like Samson, we think we get away with it. Samson even tempts fate by giving some honey to his parents. I bet he is being like the child who, upon doing something wrong, immediately goes to see if his parents can tell or if they know something. How they did not smell the dead carcass all over him, I will never know. It is like the kid that goes out smoking with friends. How do the parents not smell smoke all over them? Samson’s parents don’t say anything, and Samson assumes he is in the clear. This is why our story today is so important, because it is so common, and it is really the rest of the story that shows us that the little sins, like this one, lead to deeper and deeper decline.

So, what happens next, after our reading from Judges 14? Well, Samson goes on into Timnah, and he decides he will throw a party with the Philistines in celebration of his marriage. The English translations of Judges 14:10 obscures the real issue here. The word for party (or feast) here indicates a drinking party, a party of wine. Now, wine was not forbidden for the Israelites, but for a Nazarite like Samson, it was. Remember, drinking wine was so forbidden that he was to abstain from all forms of the vine, but now he is supplying a party of wine. The implication seems clear. Samson is a part of this party. He has already sinned in secret by breaking the oath of not touching a dead body. Now he is with the Philistines, partying with wine, breaking his second oath.

3.     What begins in the heart and moves to sinning in secret soon moves to hanging out with the wrong crowd.

I am sure Samson thought to himself. Well, no one at home will ever know about this. He is like a kid gone off to college for the first time. He is thinking to himself, well these people are already accustomed to party. I am not going to be a bad influence on them. They already do this. No one will get hurt.

And just like all muscle heads at a party, Samson begins to get cocky and starts acting stupid. He says to the Philistines: “Let me now put a riddle to you…Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet” (Judges 14:12,14) He is of course talking about the lion he killed, bragging cryptically, showing that he is actually growing arrogant in sin. He makes a bet, knowing the Philistines will have no clue how to figure out the riddle. He tells them that if they can crack the riddle, he will give them riches, but if they can’t, they have to give him riches. In their drunkenness, they agree. But, after they sober up, they realize that Samson is cheating them, and this leads to a long back and forth fight.

4.     What begins in the heart and moves to the secret places and on to the company of people who will only bring you down, eventually leads to pride, even in the midst of losing control.

Samson’s conflict leads to his wife first being given to another man, and then leads to her and her father being burned to death. It leads to the devastation of crops and to many deaths, but Samson is still thinking to himself, “At least this is not hurting anyone at home.” But, he is wrong. In Judges 15, the Philistines attack the Israelites. Now Samson’s sins have made it back home, and his people say to him in essence, “Samson, you are supposed to be our protector, but, instead, you have lead us into loss and ruin. We have to get rid of you.”

Samson allows his people to tie him up and deliver him to the Philistines. But, in the last moment, he breaks free, and he picks up a fresh jawbone of a donkey. Do you see how far he has come? It all started with him flirting with the forbidden, a dead corps, in secret, and then to partying off with the Philistines. Now, he is touching what is forbidden, he is sinning, in front of, not only the Philistines, but also his own people, the people of God. And what is worse, I believe in his mind he justifies his sin. He thinks, “I am about to die. I need a weapon. I have to touch this dead thing.”  Isn’t this how it happens. We finally get so caught up in sin that we take it home, and no matter how much it hurts those we love, we make excuses for doing what we will.

5.     What begins in the heart, moves to the secret places, then to being with the wrong crowd, eventually leads to be defiant in front of those that most love you, the people of God, and you eventually lose respect for even them.

So, now we finally get to the story of Delilah. Remember, Samson has already broken two of three oaths he has made with God. He has touched a dead body, twice, and become drunk. Now the Scripture recalls his allowing Delilah to cut his hair (Judges 16). He is not deceived. He knows that each time he tells her how to take his power, she tries, but he lies to her each time. Finally, he tells her if she cuts his hair, he will lose his power. Instead of protecting himself from her by getting away from her, he falls asleep. This is not just a physical sleep; he is spiritually asleep as well.

When he awakes, she has cut his hair, and listen to what he says: “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free” (Judges 16:20). He has finally forgotten the source of his strength. Throughout the story, he asks God for strength, but now, he says, “I will…” This is why he lost his strength. The haircut is just a representation of the final step. His outward signs of his inward relationship with God were all gone, and he had, like Israel, finally forgotten God. The Scripture continues in v20 by saying: “But he did not know that the Lord had left him.”

6.     What begins in the heart, then with a secret sin that seems so insignificant, finally leads to forgetting God’s place in our lives.

There is a silver lining. It is never too late to repent and turn your situation around. After Samson loses his strength, the Philistines gouge out his eyes, and tie him up in a mill, and he spends his days grinding grain. As he is grinding grain he has time to reflect, and his hair begins to grow (16:22). This is a sign of his remembering his calling. He is brought into a building to be put on display in front of the Philistine elite. The room is full of men and women leading the campaign against the Israelites. They are mocking Samson. They feel they have one. Now, they will once and for all snuff out the light to the world.

Samson’s strength returns to him, and he pulls the building down upon himself and the Philistines, turning the tide for the Israelites. So, even in the midst of sin, God still accomplishes through Samson what He set out to accomplish. But, this does not mean Samson has had everything God intended for him. He is no Samuel or John the Baptist. The good news is that even when we do not live up to our calling, God’s ministry and purposes will still go on. God will win, but that does not mean that we have no reason to be spiritually obtuse.

We have a choice as God’s children. We can still do things our way, or we can choose to follow after God. The Scripture tells us that when we choose God, we will be given strength. Let’s go back to that passage in I Peter and keep reading: “Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world will suffer” (v9). The truth of the matter is that no matter what, we will face adversity. No matter what, Samson was going to face the Philistines in his life. The question is this: “How will you face your enemy?” Will you do like Samson, and try to go it alone. This only leads to misery. Or, will you stay steadfast in Christ. I Peter 5:10 tells us what the outcome will be if we choose to do it God’s way: “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.”

For Samson, his demise was not about a haircut, but about a slow decent of forgetting God, which started off with a seemingly insignificant sin. For Christians, Satan is like a lion, but he is really a dead lion. Christ has defeated sin on the cross, so the only way Satan can have power over you is if you give it to him, if you fall prey to his temptation. Again, it is easy to dismiss Peter’s words in the midst of what seems to be a small, insignificant sin, but next time you are tempted to think it won’t matter, I hope Samson’s story is etched on your mind. Therefore, choose to be vigilant, to remain spiritually awake, and to live in all the hope and strength that God wants to give you through Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN.

 -TM

---

[1] All Scripture cited from NRSV unless otherwise noted:

The New Revised Standard Version. Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. 1989

[2] Lawson Stone: Philip W. Comfort, ed. Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Vol. 3 (Carol Stream: Tyndale. 2012) p.222

In Spite of Our Gifts: What I Learned During My Mission Trip.

There is a big hype in the church centered upon finding our place in ministry in light of our spiritual gifts. I think this is a great thing. Obviously enough if God has given us certain gifts, we are meant to use them. To ignore our God-given gifts is to be irresponsible with God’s grace. We need only look to the parable of the talents to see this as true. Even so, it seems to me that the Church’s obsession with gifts can and does often become reason to limit our ministry, instead of reason to do ministry.

While some might disagree, I feel that I have been given the gift of writing. I thrive in the solitude that sitting behind a screen offers. At times I know what I write is not of me, because, at least to me, it seems profound.  I am granted peace in the quiet of writing. I could be perfectly happy doing nothing but writing for the rest of my life.

On the other hand, I am not naturally gifted at being a team leader. I enjoy following instructions much more than giving them. While I do well at public speaking, there is a separation between the speaker and the audience when an actual speech is being given. However, being a public speaker does not make one automatically gifted at social engagement or at leadership. I have a bit of social anxiety, and I can be socially awkward. I do not like being in the midst of a large group of people, and I am certainly not gifted in ministry to children. So, who am I to lead a team out to the Navajo Reservation to serve a group of kids for VBS? This is not where I thrive.

If I was into the latest church trend, I would be able to show my skills assessment and get off the hook for this sort of job. I have taken two different and very well respected skills assessments and neither suggested I have the slightest gift for such a leadership position. I have heard so many other church goers say, “Well, that is just not my gift,” and it has seemed to get them a free pass. As a person who enjoys avoiding problems, I like free passes. So, I told God long ago that I was not to be a team leader for VBS missions. He did not accept the pass.

Why will this not work for me? I tried two years ago to do my best to have the mission trip canceled, and God kept pushing open the doors I was trying to shut. It made me so angry, and I protested that if He wanted to have me serve in such a capacity he should gift me with the skills I would need to confidently do the job. He gave me no such comfort. But, He called me out anyway. And guess what: The trip went just fine, in spite of me, the leader, and it has gone well ever since, even this year, when Murphy’s law was in full force.

The truth of the matter is that God calls us to use our gifts, but His call on our lives is certainly not limited to the gifts He gives us. If we were able to dismiss our calling on the grounds of insufficient gifting, no human would be in ministry. If we look to the Bible, we see several of its key figures coming up with very reasonable objections to His call in light of their own gifts. In fact, objection to God’s call on the grounds of lack of gifts is prolific in Scripture:

Gideon: “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” Judges 6:15

Moses:  But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt…suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice… Suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’…O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue…O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” Exodus 3:11; 4:1, 10, 13

Jeremiah: Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth. Jeremiah 1:6

Isaiah: Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; Isaiah 5a.

Of course, seeing one’s self as inadequate before God and in light of His call is not limited to these figures: Jonah runs, Mary questions how she can carry the Messiah, the Disciples are often showing their own shortcomings, the list goes on. But, what God sets out to do in the lives of these inadequate persons, He does.

I never feel more inadequate in my calling than when I lead a team to the Reservation. When I go by myself to teach pastor-training classes, I am fine. I am in my element. I know how to teach. When I am there to lead a VBS, I am out of my league. I do not know anything about organizing a team, or about children’s ministry. But, it is a calling I cannot escape. And, although I know that God is the one who has called me, and He will lead me through, I cannot help but to object in light of my own flaws, just as those who were called before me.

Before I left, I laid awake for several nights imagining all the possible problems that could arise, or so I thought. Two of the biggest concerns were no kids showing up, or having our vans get stuck in sand, like last year. What happened instead was a series of unimaginable events.

After the team arrived safely to Albuquerque and we all made the 6 plus hour trip to our destination, I thought I was going to be ok. But, that night, Esther, one of the Navajo ladies who helps us out during our week there said: “Tab, you better start picking kids up early, there is another VBS mission across the river that is competing with us.” I smiled and said, “If we are all doing Christ’s work, we are not competing.” She smiled back and said, “Well, they think we are.” That is when it hit me; my worst fear was coming true. No kids were going to come.

In years past, our highest number of kids was 70 on the last day, the highest for the first day being no more than 48, if I remember correctly. I was going to be happy with 30. We left the next morning earlier than expected to see if we could find any kids, by the end of it, we had over 60…on the first day. My number one fear was, even in light of unforeseen “competition,” no concern for God.

The pick up and drop off trips take a little more than an hour and take the drivers to really remote places on long dirt roads where it is easy to get stuck in the sand, but after making it through the first day, I thought my second fear had been done away with. So, after our first successful day of VBS had ended, I took my team for some much deserved sight seeing. Clouds coalesced in the distance, but nothing to be too concerned about. I mean, how much can it rain in the desert, right? When we made it to town to buy groceries for dinner, the bottom fell out.

It began to hail. We hurried to get groceries and rushed to the church, but when we got to the highway leading to the church, the rain and wind was sweeping down the plateau so fast that I could not see ten feet in front of me. We pulled over, but the wind was so strong it felt as if it was going to tip the van. We crept to the turn off to the church, and we turned down the little dirt path. There was a problem. For lack of a better term, a river had formed in front of the church.

I have never been in a flash flood in the desert before, so I thought to myself that perhaps we should wait it out. That is when the road around the vans began to wash out underneath. Sitting still was no longer an option, so I gunned it across the river, Bill, the driver behind me, following. We made it, and just in time. The river, just minutes after we drove across it, began to cut into the desert ground. It created a wash out about four feet deep and fifteen yards across and ran for as long as the eye could see as it swept the earth away, leaving a crevasse between the road and us. There was another river behind the church that met up with the one in front just beyond us. In other words, we were now stuck on an island.

When we got inside, the power was out, and reports came in from across the river, as we yelled back and forth to the locals on the other side, that the black top on the road had been washed out. If there were no road in the direction of the reports, there would be no way to pick up kids for the rest of the week. Moreover, there was no way to drive the vans back over the river. Stranded.

The next day, the sun came out and began to dry up the desert. My team made food for the local village and many were very appreciative since they were without electricity and had no means to prepare food. We also took the time to pack over 200 backpacks for many of the kids on the reservation. Road crews pushed the washed up mud from the road, revealing the blacktop had not washed, it had just been buried, and by the next morning, Bill, found a way to get both vans across the crevasse. The power came back on the next day (and went out again, and on again). We had another day of VBS.

On this day, a kid without a license pulled up to drop off some siblings, not an uncommon thing on the reservation, and he backed over a spigot, effectively knocking out water to the whole church. But, we had bought plenty to last us during our VBS, and Bill, again being the hero, fixed the line before the day’s end. Our final day of VBS went off without a hitch. We had a record number of kids show, many of which never heard the name of Christ until our visit.

The week went on to prove to be the best yet. The team made it home safe, and I stayed to teach and be a part of an incredible pastor training session. And, as I sit here in the airport, I cannot help but thank God for ignoring my objections. While the task and even more so, the disasters, seemed too much to handle, God accomplished what He set out to accomplish. Praise Him!

If He calls you, don’t listen to what your fears say, don’t listen to what the assessment test tell you that you cannot do. Only listen to Him.

Is the Bible a Weapon?

I have said it before, but I want to say it again, if only for my own sake—I certainly need to be held to the same discipline(s) I promote: To fully appreciate Scripture for what it is and what it is for, we need not simply read it against the world around us, but we also need to be able to read the Bible against ourselves.

If my Scriptural reflection only produces a sense of agreement, a collection of nods and “amens,” and never produces a sense of scandal or proffers a challenge against the self, then I am not approaching the text correctly. The Scripture, in conjunction with the Spirit, is meant to work towards the transformation of the self, at least for the truth seeker, much more than I, or any other truth seeker is to work to transform others by the knowledge of the Word that the individual has gained. In fact, I have no such power, even with all the Scriptural information I can muster.

This is not to say that my being transformed by His Word has no social dimension. To suggest such would be too selfish and antithetical to the Word itself. Even so, Scripture is not mine to wield, as I will.  I can work in love, as the Holy Spirit leads, to sow seeds by speaking Scriptural truths, but I am not the Redeemer. Too often, both the Spirit and the Word are seen as mere weapons to smite, not the Kingdom of the World, but those persons within. Too often both the Spirit and the Word are seen as weapons, not against the sin in myself and in others, but merely against others that I do not agree with.

The Bible is too often used to bash others, to merely criticize their lives. However, admonishment without love, without hope, without His guidance, is mere critique, for it offers nothing of a real solution. We are meant, not to attack our enemy, but to fight for them in love, to reach out by the proclamation of His Good News. Instead, verses of Scripture are wielded against others, and the sad fact is that many—and I have been guilty of this manner of abuse as well—who wield these fragments of the text do so without ever looking up the context for themselves; that is they do not research the author’s intent for saying what he said.

Many simply Google: "What does the Bible have to say about..." They then find the article that best suits their needs, the verse that they did not even know existed, but confirms their own opinion, and then without making sure that the segment the text is set in confirms the text itself, they attack. The verse is never used for reflection upon the self or for transformation, but instead is used merely as an argument.

 Don't misunderstand, there is nothing wrong with an internet search for that ever-elusive reference, but to find it and then scurry off to whatever blog wall we were wanting to comment on, without as much as looking it up in our own Bibles, meditating on it, and seeking His counsel upon it, that is nothing less than a sin, bottom line. We are not the sole interpreters of Scripture. We are called to read in the presence of others, not least the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit works in and through us, and without Him, we cannot truly operate. If we find a verse on our own and use it on our own, it will become as good as any work we do on our own, worthless. Again, I confess, I have worked on this level many times, simply to protect my own statements and worldviews when challenged. The Bible is not meant to simply insulate us from a sinful world. It calls us out into that world, for the sake of others.

The Bible is not merely meant to be the means by which I can say that I am right and others are wrong. It is meant to transform me so that I can lovingly serve those of the world who are in need of the same healing of which I am now a part by the renewing nature of the Word when the individual submits to it. 

The Spirit will not submit to me, nor will the Word. I can pretend that they can and do, but I will suffer for it. Moreover, the world will not submit to the Word, no matter how much I try to force it upon them. Instead, the Spirit will work through my own submission, and, as He transforms me to His Word, I can be a light to the world, so that some might forsake their old ways, leaving the world behind, and they too might join me in submission to Christ’s rule.

The Bible is a sword of truth, but the battle we fight is not like worldly battles. This sword is for my enemies. I am to fight for the lost and dying world. If the sword pierces the heart, it does not bring death, but life. 

The Unexpected Gift of Easter: The Risen King

This is God's plan, His great gift to us? 

This young Jewish man went and met that enemy of every man, that enemy that eventually wins every battle fought, and that enemy is death, the inevitable offspring of sin. Here this man stood, in the face of our enemy and He did so without any discernable defense. He allowed the beast to inflict its finishing move, its checkmate. So, death crawled upon this seemingly insignificant life that hung upon the Roman cross, and delivered its fatal sting, that sting that has taken out every person before, that sting that was always known as final, and Christ drew His last breath. Christ died, even Christ.

What gift is this?

God has given us a man, and before He makes any real impression on the world, other than in the hearts of a few Israelites, He is stripped of His dignity before His servants and of His life. Can you imagine the horror that must have washed upon the shores of the disciples' hearts? We see it in Peter, even before the crucifixion, when he denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26: 69-74). Even this miracle worker, this man Peter, on behalf of the disciples, acknowledged as the "Son of the Living God," (Matthew 16:14-16) died, and He died before accomplishing anything that human history would have acknowledged as an accomplishment. In other words, if the story had ended at the cross, there would be no story to tell. This Man through whom they drew so much strength had, in an agonizing moment, been separated from their midst.

How dare these apostles think so highly of their Rabbi? They hailed from a remote nation ruled by a mighty emperor a world away. They could have no real bearing on the world, even if they tried. A man more powerful than anyone they had ever met, a king of kings, ruling the earth from his Roman throne, the emperor, had no idea of their existence. They were insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Israel might have been a mighty nation at one time, but that time had gone, lost to antiquity, and every great hope that had come down the line had been defeated; why would this Jesus be any different? Why would He matter to Caesar, or any other mighty ruler to come into human history?

Here the gift hung, a lifeless corpse? What gift was this?

He came into the world, from the world's perspective, in less than spectacular circumstances. Yes, we know the miracles that took place to bring about the incarnated One, but if one simply observed the physical circumstances without much thought, Christ would seem less than extraordinary, a star being the only real recognizable phenomenon, and only by those who paid attention to the stars. His parents, at the whim of Augustus, their emperor, had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, while Mary was nine months pregnant. In other words, He was not the direct descendent of powerful parents, but to people who obeyed the rule of another, and He never takes a thrown, not once, while He walked the Earth, other than the throne of His followers' hearts.

His birth was eventually recognized by some wise men, and even noted by Herod, but this was some time after His actual coming into the world. At the time He was born, He was delivered into a stable, amongst the beasts of the field, and the only persons to be heralded by the angels concerning the arrival of the baby happened to be shepherds, a lowly group of men indeed. The elite of society looked down on shepherds, and these men, as Luke tells us, were in the fields at night, which more than likely meant that they were homeless.  And so, we find this child, born amongst animals, visited by the homeless, to a insignificant family in an insignificant part of the world, and He would grow up only to die by the hands of the same mighty empire that He was born under. At the time of His death, He had changed nothing that matters to humans as they write history. Some were privileged enough to witness His miracles, but the vast majority of the world in which He lived, He was a nobody by their standards, a nobody like everyone else.

How, then? How did He start such a movement? He was nobody, was He not? And, after all the miracles, He still died a nobody, did He not? He shook Pilate to His core, but who was Pilate in the grand scheme of things?

Yet, this man is known. He is not only known, but He generates interest. He not only generates interest, but He is still studied. He is not only studied, but He is followed. He is not only followed, but He is worshiped. How? Why? What made the difference? His life ends in tragedy and defeat, or so it seemed.

In short, Christ proves great because God orchestrated a great surprise, a surprise that we would have scoffed at if we were in the planning room, a plan we would have said of, "I would do it differently." He used an insignificant nation to bring about this insignificant man, who would eventually be realized to be the greatest gift ever given to man: Our Messiah, Our Savior. While this seems odd, it was not so unexpected. That Messiah would come from such humble and forgotten history was prophesied long before His arrival, and it is in this knowledge that people in retrospect begin to understand the significance.  Against such odds, God said it would be so, and it is undeniable, practically speaking, that this is phenomenal. Some bow in worship, and others act in fear, trying to snuff out this light from Israel, but all hear...and one day, all will take notice:

             " But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

                  Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,

                  Yet out of you shall come forth to Me

                  The One to be Ruler in Israel,

                  Whose goings forth are from of old,

                  From everlasting."

                  Therefore He shall give them up,

                  Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth;

                  Then the remnant of His brethren

                  Shall return to the children of Israel.

                   And He shall stand and feed His flock

                  In the strength of the LORD,

                  In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God;

                  And they shall abide,

                  For now He shall be great

                  To the ends of the earth;

                   And this One shall be peace. Micah 5:2-5

From nowhere, amongst a little group among an insignificant people, will come a king that will be from everlasting and will have the strength of the Lord. Just as His coming was an unexpected expectation, so the life He lived was an unexpected expectation.  What do I mean by an unexpected expectation: It something foretold and acknowledged, but so unbelievable it was unrecognizable to many who knew of its eventual coming and paid its realty lip-service alone. He was to be the suffering servant, and although this was known of Him, it angered His fellow Jews that He would not take a more political rule that typified human power and might, ruling with a heavy hand. Instead, He walked everyday towards a submissive death, the death on the cross, and while His death was foretold years and years before His coming, and He even spoke of it often, when He died, His followers felt defeated. If they had only known...

And God looks down on us and says, "This is my Son, whom I give to you." This unknown man, He is our gift. The greatest gift ever given, and we must, at times, wonder why. Why is Jesus the gift of God? What does He offer me...which is the typical human question, not always without warrant, but often ungratefully asked nonetheless.

We ask because we often think to ourselves, “If I were God, I would have done it a different way…How is this the best God could do? How is this a gift for me?”

The reality of Jesus unexpected, expected reality teaches most about ourselves, that what God would plan would not be our plan. God did not send His Son in such unexpected ways just for surprise, In fact, He told us exactly what He planned to do, and it made all the sense in the world to our Father. It is our own unbelief and twisted ways that lend to our surprise. Why would God come as One who would not use His might to punish others into submission? Why would He not rule from a human thrown? Why would He be so different? Because God is different. God does not rule and provide peace like Rome, or any other fallen nation for that matter. Through heavy-handed rule and power humans reign. God rules in love, and Christ is that ultimate gift of love.

Let us indulge the human question: How is Christ a gift for me?

Jesus' coming in human flesh is a gift on so many levels. First, it is a demonstration of God's self-giving character. God's love for His Son extends throughout eternity past, present, and future. Throughout eternity, up to the point of the incarnation, God the Father had enjoyed complete unity with Christ, the Son, but the Father had to give Him up to send Him to us to die (John 3:16). Not only did the Father give away His Son to live on earth away from the intimate Triune community He had always enjoyed, the Son also sacrificed. He gave up His divine rights in order to walk amongst us (Philippians 2:6). He gave up His power in order to walk as we walk, so that we might know Him.... So that when we ask the question, what would God have us do as humans in this or that situation, we can look to Christ, God in flesh.  Just as written Scripture is God's Word in language we can understand, so too the Son comes in a form understandable to our mind, human form. He teaches us that our path is through Him, in communion with the Holy Spirit. He is our model.

Jesus’ coming was an intimacy not yet known by sinful humanity. Not only could God be approached as He was in the Holy of Holies, He could be touched. He could be held; He could hold. He could be kissed; He could kiss. He could be seen; and we could see Him seeing us. He would come to be with us, and would forever be closer than ever before (since Eden), through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was here. God was walking amongst us once again, and because He came, He is still here.

Perhaps the greatest part of this gift is that He has opened a way back from exile. The exilic human race is on a path to once again be the Edenic people of God. We are going home, back to the garden, which will be a beautiful city once we finally get there, New Jerusalem. Once sin entered the world, a gulf was formed, a non-negotiable ocean born.

When we say, "I would have done it a different way, God might just reply, "And who would you suggest die for your sins?"

God could have manifested Himself in countless ways, but He came as a human, for sin demands human death. And if He had not died, we would be forever hopeless. Instead, He came, and death has been split in two, and we walk in its wake by His grace, back to God's Kingdom.  That death that had defeated all men before, in its spreading upon the Christ, met its own demise. By taking Christ, it dragged into its depths a being too powerful to contain, and He burst forth, leading the captives out of captivity. 

It is true, if the story had ended at death, it would be no story. But there was a big surprise; death has died, for it met a man too powerful to destroy.

Christ is the gift of life, the promise that God still loves this fallen race. Our story is a tragic tale without Him. We are hopelessly lost without Christ. Ours would be a life not worth having, if that great gift had been never given. The gift of the baby boy that would save the world came into a world in a less than magnificent manner when we reflect upon the whereabouts of His family in physical and social standing, but then again, knowing the supernatural nature of His birth, it is the most amazing story ever told. We still tell it. And even with all the mundane, less than elite people involved, His coming still drew the wisest of men to see the child. His birth still struck fear in the heart of Herod. Imagine Herod's thoughts. Here a child is born to a couple of no real import, yet somewhere deep down Herod knew this child represented real opposition to His rule, to the rule of tyrannical men. And for some unknown, seemingly illogical reason, He lies awake at night in cold sweats, knowing the boy is alive, and growing in stature.

Herod would not succeed in killing Him on behalf of the empire, but the empire would kill Him nonetheless. He would have the audacity in His own lifetime to speak of His gospel, to suggest it would one day be told worldwide. How foolish this must have seemed, no more foolish than at the time His body hung lifeless on the cross, and, yet, somewhere deep down they knew it to be true, and they had killed Him for it. The centurion knew it, and we all have to face His reality. In this death, His message would become concrete. His death would complete exactly what He came to accomplish, to die so that we do not have to die as well. By the time of His death, His story had just begun. Christ is that gift we look at and at first think, why would I ever want that. There is nothing special here. But once opened, the gift becomes the greatest possession we can know. 

He is the difference between having nothing and everything, not just because He died, but because he also rose!

On Friday, the veil was torn in two because of Christ’s work on the cross. As it ran down from top to bottom, the tear continued downward, creating a fissure down into the depths of Death and Hades, but Death did not notice. In swallowing up Christ, death unwittingly sealed its own fate. For three days, death silently and smugly boasted in its victory, as it had defeated even the most perfect Man to ever walk the Earth. Just as it swallowed up the first Adam, the second Adam had been defeated as well, or so death thought. On this day, Satan watched as His child, Death, was defeated, and he as well was delivered a mortal blow to His head. Today, Christ rent death into, becoming the first fruits of the resurrection.

When He rose, He reminded us all that the Messiah was to be crowned King, as it was written:

“I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.

Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14).

For a time, Christ humbled Himself to serve us through suffering, but that was finished. Now, He has taken back His rightful place. Thus, He states:

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore[a] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)

We have a King! Happy Easter…