Luke 2:8-20 - An Ordinary Night

Merry Christmas everyone! I know I’m a day early, but I still think it’s safe to look into the Christmas story. And hoo boy, there’s a whole bunch of things we could look at. We could talk about the wise men and where they came from. We could talk about Mary and Joseph and how they found themselves on their way to Bethlehem. We could talk about there being no room at any inn, but how a kind innkeeper let Mary and Joseph stay in his stable.

We could talk about all of this, but then my word count would be through the roof. I’m sure you’ll all be hearing the Christmas story a bunch over the next few days (if you haven’t already), but I want to focus our attention on the shepherds. Or more specifically, the sheep.

So sit back with a nice cup of hot chocolate as we hear from a fuzzy little friend about what he experienced the day the Saviour of the world was born!

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I know what you’re thinking. This looks just like any old hill. But I gotta tell you… I’ve been over these hills and everywhere and I’m positive that this spot right here has the best grass in all of Israel. I know it’s late and I should be sleeping right now, but I just had to have a little late night snack.

Hi! My name’s Beth. I’m named after a little town just down the road called Bethlehem. I’m part of Shepherd Morgan’s flock. Well, Shepherd Morgan and a few others. There’s Shepherd Dave and Shepherd Thomas and Shepherd Tracey. They’re good people these shepherds. They found us this grass. I hope we stay here a while.

We’re not a big flock. There’s maybe 20 of us, but I don’t mind. More grass for me this way. But with only 20 of us, it’s not like a whole lot of stuff happens. It can actually get kind of boring. Us 20 ordinary sheep with our ordinary old shepherds. I’m not saying I want a wolf to attack us or anything – heavens no! – but it’d be nice if maybe we met up with another flock soon. It’s always exciting when 2 flocks meet. Too bad Shepherd Morgan doesn’t like other people all that much…

Anyways, I probably shouldn’t keep you. I’m getting pretty full and should probably go back to bed, and….

WOAH!!! What’s that?

What do you mean what’s that? That bright shiny thing over there? It’s… I don’t know how to describe it… It’s beautiful and terrifying and…

Huh? Wh-why are my legs shaking? Well, what do you think?!? It’s night time! There isn’t supposed to be bright lights in the sky with people inside them! At least, I think it’s a person… It looks kind of like a person, but totally different. It has wings and…

And for that matter, what about the shepherds? What do you mean what do I mean? Look at them! They’re terrified. They’re all clumped together and holding on to each other. I’ve seen them take on bears before without this much fear. What in the world is happening?!?!?

Wait… I hear words… Is the light… speaking?

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news. It will bring great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. Here is how you will know I am telling you the truth. You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:11-12 NIrV).

A baby? One of those little humans? What’s He doing in a manger? That’s where cows eat! And what does the light mean, “Town of David?” The only town near here is Bethlehem! And this baby’s the Messiah? I’ve heard that word before. The shepherds have been waiting for some great king to save them. That king is a baby in a manger? Why isn’t He in a palace?

GAH!!! The light! It’s so bright I can’t even open my eyes. There must be hundreds of those bright things in the sky now!

“May glory be given to God in the highest heaven! And may peace be given to those h\He is pleased with on earth!” (Luke 2:14).

God? Those bright things are from God? They must be angels! I’ve heard the shepherds talk about angels before. They’re God’s special messengers, but I never expected to see one!

Wait… The light went away. Oh… It seems so dark, so empty without them around. I never realized how little light a campfire gave off. But for one moment there… It was like all of heaven was rejoicing over… something… Something wonderful!

Look! The shepherds are finally getting up. And they aren’t terrified anymore. They look… happy. Really happy!

“Those were angels!”

“The Messiah’s been born!”

“Down in Bethlehem? That’s just over there!”

“We have to go find him! Quick, gather the sheep. Let’s go to Bethlehem!

Gather the sheep, huh? How you gonna do that in the middle of the night? Oh… Wait… the light woke them all up… Aaaand everyone looks terrified! I gotta help the shepherds calm them down! Don’t worry everyone, it’s okay! There’s no fire, the world’s not ending! God has sent a Saviour. And we get to go to Bethlehem to see Him! Quickly now, follow the shepherds, quickly now!

Okay good… Everybody’s getting up and getting in line. But I still can’t believe it. Why would God appear to us? I know I wanted something out of the ordinary, but I never expected this! Oh, we’re moving now! I gotta catch up with my friends. See you down there!

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Okay… Now I’m getting tired… That’s like the 50^th stable we’ve stopped at tonight and we still haven’t found the baby the angels told us about. I get He’s important, but I really hope we find Him soon!

Wait... Is that Johnston’s baa? It is! Johnston found Him! I gotta get over there! Ooh, I hope the shepherds get the message. Sometimes I think they can’t understand us at all!... Okay good, they’re following.

I can’t wait to see the Messiah. I bet He has a crown and beautiful robes and servants all around him. The stable thing is weird – never heard of a king being born in a stable – but it must be one nice looking stable. I bet it’s a gold manger! I’m coming Johnston, I’m coming!

There it is. The stable… Alright, deep breathes now Beth. I know I’ve never been before royalty, but I’ll try to make a good impression. Just be cool...

Wait, this can’t be right… There’s no gold. There’s no servants. This is just an ordinary stable! Actually, it’s not even all that well put together. I think that’s a hole in the wall back there. I could probably sneak through it if I tried! Well, maybe if my wool was a little thinner. But still! Why would God let His Messiah be born here?

But this is exactly what the angels said. We would find a baby wrapped up in cloth and lying in a manger. From the looks of Shepherd Morgan’s face, we’re in the right spot. He can’t stop staring at the child. Wait, he’s about to say something to the baby’s mother…

“Is this… Him? Is this the newborn Messiah?” 

“Yes. This is Jesus. He will save our people from our sins. One day, at least. But how did you hear of Him? How did you know where to find us?

“There were these angels!” (Shepherd Tracey this time) “We were out in the fields when a whole bunch of them appeared in the sky and told us to find a child wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger.”

“Praise God!” (that’s the mother again!).

“I don’t know why He chose us, though.” (Shepherd Morgan again). “We’re nobodies. Why would God tell us?”

“Ha! Look around you!” (the mom again) “Does any of this seem ordinary? A baby born in a stable? Angels appearing in the sky? No… No matter how normal things may look around us, God did not choose a normal way to send our Saviour to the world!”

“No, that He didn’t.” (Shepherd Dave) “But I for one can’t just stand here looking any longer. The angels said this is great news, and they weren’t kidding. We have to tell somebody, anybody… Anyone who will listen! We have to tell them the Saviour’s been born!”

“You’re right…” (Shepherd Morgan) “But what about the sheep?”

“Leave them here” (Shepherd Thomas). “At least, for now. We have some good news to spread tonight. We can come back for them in the morning! Besides, I think they realize something special has happened too.”

What does Shepherd Thomas mean? Oh… Well, would you look at that? Everyone else has gathered around the manger. I think they’re waiting for me. So if you’ll excuse me…

…What are we going to do? What, did you think you humans are the only ones who can worship their Creator?  I know we’re just ordinary sheep, but the least we can do is sing Him a lullaby.

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The thing that always gets me about the Christmas story is how everything is so ordinary and so extraordinary at the same time. God chose normal people to give birth to His Son. Jesus was born in a normal stable and met by normal shepherds. Jesus is anything but normal – He is the King of the universe! – but He came to earth in such a simple way. I like to think God did it this way so we could more easily relate to our Saviour.

But that’s the thing I hope we take away from today. Jesus makes ordinary things into something extraordinary! And that’s not just the case at Christmas. When we believe in Him, He takes our ordinary lives and makes them incredible. How? He gives us His Holy Spirit so we can do His work and love others like He does.

Jesus makes ordinary things into something extraordinary. He does it every single day, but it all started one night in a manger. So may we remember that extraordinary, ordinary night and celebrate our extraordinary King!

~Brentagious

SSS: Recontextualize, or Why Modernize the Bible?

One thing I miss about the church I go to now is having a church library. When I was younger, my parents and I attended an Alliance church. I could honestly have cared less about the books, something the English major in me cringes over now, but I loved the media section. Our church library had Veggietales DVDs, McGee and Me! videos, and my personal favourite – Adventures in Odyssey tapes.

There were a few years where I swear those were all we played in our car. We’d hear the stories of Whit, Connie, Eugene, and everyone else in the little town of Odyssey. I always wanted to have a Whit’s End or Imagination Station near me but had to settle for the Tim Hortons down the road. I get that apple fritters and Roll Up the Rim is exciting, but it was never quite the same as a phone booth that let you experience what life was like in Bible times. (Side note: I think I just realized where my obsession with Doctor Who started!)

Anyways, after exhausting our church library, my parents bought me a few of the Odyssey CD collections. I still have them packed away with a bunch of my other CDs. But one story in particular has always stood out to me, and I decided to give it a fresh listen for this post. Needless to say, I enjoyed it just as much now as I did as a kid.

SSSG has been covering Gideon the last couple of months, and I’ve mentioned that his story is my favourite Bible story. And honestly, a large part of that is because of how Odyssey told it. Instead of just telling the story or letting us experience it through a trip in the Imagination Station, “Passages” took a very different approach.

Judges in the Wild West

Odyssey has this character named Tom Riley. His son, Timmy, passed away as a child, but this story is about an adventure Timmy and his friend Alice had before he died. They were transported to another world, to the country of Marus, where they led a revolution against the Adrians.

The world they arrive is like something out of a western. The first thing they see are horse riders burning a farm. After escaping, they come to realize that Alice’s eyes are different than normal. They are normally brown, but in this world, one is blue and the other is green.

They make their way to a log cabin where they meet a guy name Fletcher. Somehow, inexplicably, Alice already knows his name. Then we get some background. Characters talk about how they have turned against the Unseen One – “the creator of all things, the ruler of our people, the judge of our thoughts, the lover of our hearts” – by choosing to worship the gods of the Adrians instead.

It’s then discovered that in this world, Alice is some sort of prophet. She can’t cook worth beans (or cook beans for that matter), but somehow a feast has appeared on Fletcher’s table. She tells Fletcher that the Unseen One has called him, a simple mountain man, to lead a rebellion against the Adrians. His first task is to burn down the town hall, which the Adrians have turned into a temple for their gods.

If you’ve been tuning in the last few months, this should sound sort of familiar. A messenger from God, an angel, appeared to tell Gideon to tear down some Midianite idols. He was hesitant at first, but willing to obey what God had called him to.

From here, the story unfolds along the same lines as Gideon’s. Fletcher rallies the Marusians to rise up against the Adrians. They gather a huge army, but they’re pretty scared at first. So Fletcher asks Alice for a sign from the Unseen One, and he gets one that involves a piece of paper instead of a sheep’s fleece.

Fletcher then sends anyone home who doubts that they can win (like Gideon), but he senses something is still wrong. Alice tells them to bring in a barrel of water. Again, like with Gideon, anyone who cupped the water to their mouth is sent home, but the people who drank from a shared cup (instead of lapping like a dog with Gideon) gets to stick around.

And then comes the battle. Fletcher’s 300 man army gathers as many torches, lamps, cowbells (because it’s a western) and trumpets as they can. They surround the city, light them all at once, and then charge in. Like in Judges, the combination of lights and sounds made it seem like there were thousands upon thousands, and the Adrians (like the Midianites) fled immediately!

Now Odyssey doesn’t go into detail about Succoth and the golden ephod. I get it – those aren’t really stories we normally tell kids. But they do talk about Fletcher refusing to be made king. He places the focus back on the Unseen One, like Gideon did with God. I can respect that. It’s a show for kids, and they’re trying to focus on the lesson about faith and trusting God even in the darkest of circumstances.

As the story closes, a grown up Alice recounts, “Maybe we were allowed to experience Marus so we could understand faith in God better in this world.” This is a lot like something C.S. Lewis says at the end of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (which I’ve mentioned before). He writes that the whole reason Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace (and technically us as readers) were allowed to visit Narnia and meet Aslan was so they could get to know God better in our world.

The Danger of Familiarity

On the “For Parents” section of the “Passages” series’ website, it says, “All of the ‘Passages’ stories are based squarely on key episodes of scriptural history. The names have been changed, the details have been altered, and the setting has been moved to an exciting land of Marus. As you listen to the story, you may recognize the basic outlines, key characters, and scriptural lessons from the Bible stories. We used this fictional device because familiarity can sometimes dull the impact of an oft-told tale” (http://www.whitsend.org/passages/forparents/).

I think this is why Gideon’s story has stuck with me all these years. I have no idea anymore whether I had heard Gideon’s story before, but how Odyssey told it made me fall in love with it. Hearing it through a different, somewhat more familiar lens, is what made the story memorable.

Now the question could be asked whether this is right. Scripture is the Word of God after all, and what right do we have to change or adapt the words of Scripture to tell a story through a new lens? Should we not simply be satisfied with reading the actual story to kids? After all, if God is going to convict them, He can do so just as easily through His Word than through some reinterpretation of it.

But at the risk of sounding heretical, I’m going to suggest that there is value in forgoing the physical words of Scripture in favour of the spirit behind its stories and its messages. I’m not saying throw the Bible away, but I am saying that sometimes the truths of Scripture will actually stand out more when we place them in a context kids, teens, or adults today will better resonate with.

There’s a reason we act stories out with kids during Sunday School. Or paraphrase the more difficult or gruesome bits. Adapting the story to make it more kid friendly or memorable is not necessarily wrong so long as we do not lose the truth in the adaptation.

I remember sitting through a hermeneutics class back in my undergrad (hermeneutics being a fancy word for the method(s) we use to interpret Scripture) where my professor told us a story that I’m going to try to repeat now with my own little spin.

It’s Sunday morning in a small town. A man hopped in his car and started driving to the next town over, about 30 minutes away, where his church was. About halfway there, he heard a loud popping noise. Oh no, not now! he thought. That’s my second flat this month, and I haven’t had time to pick up a spare!

The man quickly pulled over, got out of his car, and assessed the damage. The hole wasn’t huge, but his tire was deflating pretty quickly. His hand went to his pocket, only to realize he had forgotten his cell phone at home! So there he was, stuck between two towns, with no idea how to fix his tire.

He started pacing, hoping someone would pass by soon to help. Looking at his watch, he calculated that if God sent a tire from heaven this instant, he would probably just make it to church on time. That’s when he saw a car off in the distance. And when he saw who’s car, he said a little prayer of thanksgiving. It was the pastor’s car! If anyone was going to make sure our hero got to church on time, it was the pastor.

Or so the man thought as the pastor drove right by him. Don’t get me wrong. The pastor saw his churchgoing friend on the side of the road and even had the common courtesy to feel bad for him, but as we've already said, church time was approaching. If he stopped to help our hero, then the pastor would be late, and how could they possibly have church without him? It was missions Sunday after all, and he had to be there to remind his congregants of the mission field around them. So, absentmindedly saying a quick prayer that God would send someone to help him, the pastor drove on by.

The man was shocked, but he didn’t have too much time to dwell on it because suddenly another car appeared off in the distance. This time, it was the church treasurer. But like the pastor, the treasurer was also afraid of not making it to church on time. After all, who was going to pass out the offering plates if she wasn’t there? She felt bad, but she knew her duty to the church was more important than making sure one regular old churchgoer made it that day. And that’s what left our hero standing on the side of the road, mouth wide, not sure what to do next. If pastors or church treasurers weren’t going to stop to help him, who would?

See where this is going?

At this point, a third car appeared off in the distance. And in this car was the once conservative Christian turned atheist. Or if I can exaggerate, a terrorist. Or someone part of any other group Christians tend to marginalize or villainize. This person who had felt the brunt of overly religious Christianity pulled over, apologized he had no spare tire of his own to offer, but used his cellphone to call a tow truck. He followed after the truck to the local mechanic, stayed until the entire job was done, and then footed the bill himself.

To adapt Jesus’ words, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who had the flat tire?”

You see, a lot of us have probably heard the parable of the good Samaritan so many times that we’ve grown desensitized to what actually makes this story so amazing. We might have heard in a sermon that the Jews and the Samaritans didn’t get along, but to truly understand what this parable meant to Jesus’ listeners, we need to understand that Jews and Samaritans HATED each other.

The Jews thought the Samaritans had sacrificed all that was good and holy about them, giving up their inheritance as God’s chosen people to worship other gods. The Samaritans were the scum of the earth, but it was a Samaritan – not the priest or Levite who you would expect would be helpful – who came to the aid of the beaten up Jew.

Now please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not trying to correlate Jewish-Samaritan relations with how Christians interact with atheists or groups that disagree with our beliefs. But if we’re honest, a lot of us Christians don’t treat certain groups all that well. And that’s why I think this retelling is so effective.

There is absolutely value in Scripture. The Bible is the first and most obvious way God speaks to us, and we should never allow modernized takes like Narnia or Odyssey to replace the real thing. But there is something about Fletcher’s rebellion or the Parable of the Flat Tire that resonates with us and makes the truths of Scripture come alive in fresh ways.

In short, take advantage of the opportunity to recontextualize Bible stories in your ministries. Feel free to enjoy the odd retelling or a familiar story. But always always always encourage returning to the source material. After hearing the original and modernized versions together, you might be amazed at what truths God will open up to you.

Judges 8 - Sore Winner

PARENTAL WARNING: If this were a movie, it would probably be rated PG. If you have younger kids reading this, please read it first for yourself and decide if your child can handle it.

Let’s be honest here – it feels good to win. When I was younger, I would play a game of Monopoly with my dad and grandpa every time we went to visit my grandparents. We always made it into a huge competition. We would all get as many properties as we could as fast as possible, hoping to knock someone else out before they became too big of a threat (you know, as you do in Monopoly).

When the dust settled and only one of us was left standing, the winner would lord it over the other two. My dad, grandpa, or I would talk about how we were the best, the champion, and depending on how long we had left in the visit, that might inspire a rematch.

Now I don’t suggest you start acting like I did whenever you win a game. People like sore winners about as much as they like sore losers. It feels good to win, but we should never let a victory in a board game, a sport, a difficult time in life, or even an actual battle get to our heads.

This is what brings us back to Gideon. We learned last week how Gideon had just a tiny bit of faith, but it resulted in some big, amazing things from God. He and an army of 300 Israelites faced off against an army of thousands upon thousands of Midianites. The Israelites had a bigger army at first, but God sent most of the soldiers away so the Israelites would know that it was God who gave them victory, not themselves.

This really happened guys. A group of 300 people beat a huge army with some torches, some jars, and some trumpets. And as the Midianites were fleeing for their lives, the Israelites chased right after them!

I hope some of the soldiers celebrated God that night. I hope some of them sang songs to Him and prayed to Him and thanked Him for saving His people yet again from their enemies.

But as we keep reading the story of Gideon, we see this isn’t what Gideon did. Remember, Gideon is an unlikely Faith Hall of Famer, a super scared and unconfident guy who needed God to prove to him 4 different times that He was really with the Israelites… I’ve been saying it’s because Gideon doubted so much that I’m surprised he was included in the Faith Hall of Famer, but we see another reason in Judges 8.

One last warning – This is the part of Gideon’s story we don’t often hear in Sunday school. Because the sad thing is guys, even after all the amazing things he saw God do, Gideon messed up really badly. And his mistake didn’t just hurt him – it hurt the entire country!

The first part of this story is what Gideon did immediately after defeating the Midianites. He and his army were trying to chase down the stragglers, the Midianites who were running away after they had been defeated. Gideon especially wanted to capture Zebah and Zalmunna, two of the Midianite commanders, to make sure the Midianites wouldn’t bother Israel again any time soon. 

But the army couldn’t chase all day and night. The people were tired from all the fighting and chasing over the last few days, so Gideon decided to make camp one night among the people of Sukkoth. Now I don’t know if Gideon had planned to lead this chase or not. Probably not, given how scared he was to go through with the battle in the first place. But if this chase wasn’t preplanned, then they had probably used up most of the food they had brought with them. So, a hungry Gideon asked the people of Sukkoth if they would share their bread with the army.

Gideon had every reason to expect the people of Sukkoth would help him. Sukkoth was certainly not in the heart of Israel, but it was still part of the nation. And the Israelites had promised long ago that even though they were all from different families and tribes, they would always rally together to help each other when the nation was in danger.

So imagine how shocked Gideon was when the people of Sukkoth said no. They even mocked Gideon for letting Zebah and Zalmunna get away, saying they wouldn’t give food to troops who couldn’t finish off their enemies!

Now I don’t know exactly what made Gideon react the way that he did. Maybe Gideon got a taste of what God could do and assumed God would help him do anything now. Maybe Gideon was super excited after his victory and thought he could do anything. Maybe he was just really tired and hungry, which made him cranky.

Whatever the reason, his response is still shocking: “The LORD will hand Zebah and Zalmunna over to me. When he does, I’ll tear your skin with thorns from desert bushes” (Judges 8:7 NIrV).

…What? This is the Gideon that was scared to go after the Midianites? The same Gideon that always needed convincing to do God’s work? That doesn’t seem right!

But Gideon was a man of his word. He chased the Midianite army down, caught them by surprise, and won another huge victory. And this time, he did capture Zebah and Zalmunna. And like Gideon said, when he came back through Sukkoth on his way home, he showed the elders of the city that he had now captured the two Midianite commanders. Then he made the elders of the city pay for their rudeness with those thorns from desert bushes and whole bunch of other, awful things!

I’ve mentioned that Gideon’s story is my favourite in the Bible. I’ve always liked the battle against the Midianites. But I didn’t learn about this part of the story until much later… No amount of mocking deserves this kind of response. What the people of Sukkoth did was wrong, but Gideon’s reaction was even worse.

If that wasn’t bad enough, listen to what happened next. After returning home, the Israelites were so happy that Gideon had saved them from the Midianites that they asked him to be king. Now notice that there’s no mention of how God had saved them from the Midianites. The whole point of making the army smaller was so God would get the credit and not anyone else. But it seems the Israelites had missed the point…Again…

Gideon did try to set them straight. “I will not rule over you,” he said, “and neither will my son. God will rule over you.” But then he continued, “I do ask one thing, though. I want each of you to give me an earring.” (Judges 8:23-24). It was normal for the Midianites and Israel’s other neighbours to wearing earrings in their ears. This is what Gideon was asking for – the earrings the people had taken from the Midianites after defeating them.

So all the people gave Gideon some earrings. He got 43 pounds worth of gold. Now I’ve done some math, and if each of these earrings weighed around 5 grams, which the Internet tells me isn’t too outrageous, then that would mean Gideon received around 3900 earrings! He then took all of these earrings and melted them down into a golden ephod.

What’s an ephod, you might be asking? It’s like a fancy apron that the priests wore, but Gideon’s was made of pure gold! And instead of wearing it, Gideon set it up in his hometown of Ophrah where the people could come and admire it.

And admire it they did. A little too much in fact. People started bowing down to the golden ephod and started treating it like an idol. And they kept this up for years, even long after Gideon and his sons were all dead!

This is how Gideon’s story ends guys. It doesn’t end on a note of victory… It ends with Gideon doing some pretty awful things to some Israelites and making a golden apron that accidentally became an idol.

Gideon’s pride and greed got the better of him. Gideon knew better than to start calling himself a king, but he certainly started acting like one at the end of his life. He acted as though he could do whatever he wanted, and the Israelites let him.

They had missed the point of that miraculous battle! Instead of remembering that God was the one who gave them victory, they looked to Gideon as their hero. And while Gideon said all the right things, he didn’t act like God was the one who had done all the work. He took the fame for himself and ran with it.

And that brings us to our lesson for today. God’s victories are for His fame, not ours. He is the one who deserves the praise when He helps us through a really difficult time, gives us the strength to avoid doing something we know we shouldn’t, or who works through us to introduce someone to Jesus. Our lives are supposed to be examples to others of how great and loving God is, but we ruin that when we take the credit for the stuff God has done. When we do that, we treat Him like He doesn’t exist.

So that’s the other reason I’m sometimes surprised Gideon is in the Faith Hall of Fame. Even though he said the right stuff, he acted like he had done all the heavy lifting against the Midianites.

But if we can take any encouragement from the end of Gideon’s story, I guess it’s that even when we mess up, God still knows and acknowledges the times we have done right. He is grateful for the times we have shown our faith and done what He’s asked us to do. And when we do have faith, giving Him the credit when things go well, we can trust He will be pleased with us too.

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That's not actually quite it for Gideon. We're done with his story, but we'll be coming back to it during the Second Sunday Switch-Up in a couple weeks. And after that... Well, do the math and I'm sure you can figure out what story we'll be talking about!

~Brentagious

Judges 7 - Big Battle, Little Faith

Last time, we started hearing about Gideon and his unlikely entry into the Faith Hall of Fame. Gideon was visited by an angel, but he really didn’t want to believe God was calling him at first. But when the angel made it clear his message was from God (with a fancy fire show no less), Gideon believed. He did what God asked, tearing down a pole and statue the people used to worship false gods.

The reason Gideon probably didn’t want to listen to the angel at first was because he was afraid. The Midianites, the people ruling over Israel at the time, were a strong and mean bunch. They would destroy fields and ruin people’s lives for the fun of it, hoping the Israelites would be too scared to fight back.

Now Gideon was able to put his faith before his fear and rip down those false idols. But it seems the Midianites didn’t like Gideon’s little act of rebellion. They started gathering their troops and camped just outside of Israel’s territory, probably hoping to put down Gideon and any courage he inspired once and for all!

God hadn’t abandoned His people, though. He gave Gideon the courage to keep fighting. The Bible tells us Gideon blew trumpets and rallied people from all over Israel to his cause. For days, people came pouring into the camp, ready to fight back against the Midianites.

Well, actually, not everyone was as ready to fight as you think. And Gideon most of all. There’s this super cool story involving some sheep wool about how God convinced Gideon that He really did want Gideon to lead this army. We don’t have time to talk about that today, but look up Judges 6:36-40 when you have a chance. Or do it right now. Go ahead, I’ll wait…

Anyways, after the wool thing, Gideon was ready to fight. At least, kind of. He saw this huge army of 32, 000 people and thought, We might actually be able to pull this off! We might actually be able to defeat the Midianites!!!

But just as he was thinking this, Gideon heard God speak to him. And what God said… Well, reading about it, I think it’s amazing. But if I had been Gideon, I’m pretty sure my shoulder’s would have fell, I would’ve shut my eyes, and I would’ve started running my hands through my hair. Because what God had to say was about to complicate things.

“I want to hand Midian over to you,” God began. This was stuff Gideon knew, and he was happy about that. But then God continued, “But you have too many men for me to do that. Then Israel might brag, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ So here is what I want you to announce to the army. Tell them, ‘Those who tremble with fear can turn back. They can leave now’” (Judges 7:2-3, NIrV).

I don’t know about you, but if I were a general about to lead soldiers into battle, the last thing I would want to hear is that my army was about to shrink. I would want all the soldiers I could get.

But God had a point. Israel had a history of thinking they knew better than God or of taking credit for things that God did. So God wanted them to know that this time, this was all Him. When Midian was defeated – and you can be sure Midian would be defeated with God on the Israelites’ side – God wanted His people to know that He had been the one to save them, not their own fighting skill.

So, a shocked and confused Gideon stood up before his army. The soldiers, already kind of nervous, were probably expecting him to give some epic speech that pumped them all up. But he didn’t. Gideon just looked out over the crowd, took a deep breathe, and said something like, “Look, I know the Midianites are a scary bunch. So anyone who wants to go home can.”

And what Gideon was afraid would happen happened. A few soldiers turned around, heaved a sigh of relief, and started going home. And then a few more. And then more. And more. And soon, whole chunks of the army were putting down their weapons and going home.

This kept happening until 22,000 people – 22,000! – left. Gideon probably expected to lose a few hundred or something, but not over half his army! If he hadn’t been scared before, you can bet he was scared now!

But then God spoke to Gideon again, “Well done, Gideon, but the army is still too big…” And as God kept talking, Gideon got more and more worried. But Gideon had seen God work before. He was still super unsure how this was all going to turn out, but he trusted God with the little faith he had.

So he called out to the remaining 10,000 men, hoping his voice didn’t squeak too much out of fear, “We have a stop to make before we go to fight. To the lake!”

The soldier’s probably looked at each other all confused. This was the weirdest training program they had ever seen. Shouldn’t they be out running drills or learning how to use their weapons? Remember, not all of these people were soldiers. A lot of them were farmers or tradespeople who had come when Gideon called.

But now they were off to a lake. And Gideon told everyone to take a drink of water. As each man approached the lake, they noticed Gideon was watching closely. Most of them got down on their knees and cupped some water to their mouth to drink. But a few people – 300 to be exact – got down and drank kind of like dogs do. They lapped it up with their tongues.

When everyone had finished, Gideon called out, “Every man who cupped the water to their face is to go home. Those of you who lapped up the water…” Gideon paused, looking slightly uncertain himself, “We have a battle to fight.”

I’m sure at that point the camp exploded into an uproar. Remember, these are the people who had wanted to stay. These are the people who wanted to fight for their home, even if they weren’t sure what they were doing. But now Gideon had sent almost the entire Israelite army away! How were 300 people supposed to beat thousands upon thousands of Midianites?

I’m sure that question was going through Gideon’s head all day. His faith must have been pretty shaken after walking away from the lake with 300 people. So, to help Gideon out, God sent him to spy on the Midianite camp for a bit. While there, Gideon overheard some guys talking about a dream one of them had. This dream had the Midianite soldier convinced the Israelites were going to win!

This was a major confidence boost for Gideon. And I think that’s what I find so amazing about this story. Gideon doubted every chance he got, but God was still willing to use him and comfort him. And while I have a hard time understanding why God would include a doubter like Gideon in His Faith Hall of Fame, I wonder if it’s because Gideon continued to have faith, however small, that God would do something big to save the Israelites.

But back to our story. Late that night, Gideon began the plan God had given him. He divided the army into three groups and surrounded the Midianite camp. He gave each camp some trumpets and a jar with a torch inside.

Then Gideon told the army, “When my group starts blowing our trumpets, you do the same. And then you smash your jars and hold your torches high. Then run towards the Midianite camp with all your might, shouting, “For the LORD and for Gideon!!!”

And that’s exactly what they did. The Midianites had just finished changing their guards for the night when they heard trumpets surrounding them. They heard the sounds of things breaking, making it seem like thousands of people were on the move, and suddenly lights appeared all around them. They heard yelling and screaming form all sides. And the Midianites started freaking out.

The Midianites had no idea what was happening. The noise and the lights made them think there were a lot more Israelite soldiers than their really were. In the middle of it all, God caused the Midianites to grow even more confused, and soon they were fighting each other instead of the Israelites. Soon, the Midianites couldn’t handle it anymore. They were terrified, and the entire army took off running.

This made it way easier for Gideon and his small army to take on the Midianites. They defeated some, while others got away. But what matters is that Gideon and his little army of 300 defeated this massive army of Midianites.

The small army size was the whole point. Israel could never say, “Man, remember that time that massive army of ours took out the Midianites? How awesome are we?!?” No, they couldn’t say that because there was no massive army. 300 people shouldn’t have been able to defeat thousands of Midianite soldiers, but they did because of God. He made the odds impossible, He came up with the strategy, and He gave the Israelites a huge victory.

But all this started because one man had a little faith. Gideon was never confident. He was scared out of his mind, and even as the battle started, I’m sure Gideon was sitting there wondering if he’d made a terrible mistake. But He trusted God, and the result is something incredible.

You see guys, Big things happen with just a little faith in God. Jesus talks about that too. He says in Matthew 17:20 that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed – which is the teeniest, tiniest little seed – we’ll be able to move mountains.

Now it’s a little more complicated than that. We can’t just go around saying, “I believe God will make a million dollars will fall from the sky” and it’ll happen. We’re supposed to have faith in who God is and what He wants us to do. And when we do that – when we have even the teeniest, tiniest bit of faith that God will work in and through us – we’ll see Him do things in our lives that will blow our minds.

Again, this is why Gideon is in the Faith Hall of Fame. Gideon might have had a lot of doubts, but he trusted God. And when we do that, we might just find our names written in God’s Faith Hall of Fame too.

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That’s all for now folks. We’ve heard 2 stories so far about the cool stuff that happened in Gideon’s life, but next time, we’re going to talk about the other reason I’m surprised Gideon’s in the Faith Hall of Fame. It’s not necessarily a nice reason, but I think it tells us something incredible about God. But more on that in 2 weeks.

~Brentagious