Psalms 68:35) Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel--he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!
- Do you believe this verse to be true? In theory or in real life?
When a person faces danger, they will do one of three things: Fright, Flight or Fight.
- Fright = You are scared stiff. You don’t move
- Flight = that’s when you get a fright and you head for the hills! You are out of here.
- Fight = this is when you stand your ground and take on anything that is the potential threat.
When you are confronted with a situation, which one describes you most?
I can tell you now that at least 90% of people live in the fright and flight category! If this congregation represented the world, then at least 90% of us are living cowards.
How do I know this? Just look around at the injustices and evil in our community. We have a brothel around the corner; We have substance abuse everywhere; We have wasted resources due to people not doing their jobs. (eg. Broken Water pipes, etc).
Where are the voices of the Christians fighting these injustices and evils in Kimberley? Nowhere! Why? We are too afraid to say anything. We’d rather run and hide. We become accustomed to live in the fright and flight mind-set.
Is that what it means to be a Christian? Is that what God has in mind for us? No ways!
We are called to stand up!
Men are called to Man UP!
Women are called to Woman UP!
There was a guy in the OT by the name of Gideon who was called to do that exact thing. He was called to MAN UP and fight the evil and injustice of his time. He had a very low opinion of himself and never considered himself to be of any worth. That was until God intervened…
Text: Judges 6
Context:
- Israel was disobedient to God, so God has them punished for seven years under the oppression of the Midianites.
- It was so bad that they had to hide away in clefts, caves, anywhere where they could have a stronghold – struggling to survive.
- When the Midianites and other eastern countries invaded the Israelites they would camp in their land, steal and pillage, and ruin everything.
Vs.5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.
- Israel was so impoverished that they eventually cried out to God for help, as usual.
- Funny how nothing has changed in our attitudes today.
- When all is well we turn away from God, we get punished, and when things get really bad, we cry out to God for help.
- When, if we were obedient to God, there would be no for punishment.
7-10 = A prophet sent to rebuke Israel.
- Gideon is in hiding in a winepress (out of sight), doing menial work to help provide for his family.
- Midianites are encamped in their lands.
- Gideon is in the Fright and Flight mind-set = Afraid, scared, questioning, unsure. – ‘bangbroek’ – with the attitude of, “it’s not for me to get involved”…
Let’s see what happens… see how much of yourself can you see in Gideon.
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.
12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
- Despite what they angel referred to Gideon as, the more important words are, “the Lord is with you”.
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
- Conveniently Gideon has forgotten that they were being punished for turning against God.
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
- Notice how the Lord doesn’t even entertain the petty questions Gideon poses. God has a mission and He is straight to the point.
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
- Excuse: the attitude of, “it’s not for me to get involved”…
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favour in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.
18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”
And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”
19 Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.
21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.
22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
- Because that was the general rule if you saw the Lord or His angels…
24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace Jehovah-shalom). To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
We see in the beginning of Gideon’s call that God wants to move him from a ‘flight and fright’ – bangbroek – mind-set into a ‘fight’ mind-set. God wants Gideon to stand up against the evils and injustices of the Midianites and change everything.
Why? GRACE: Even though the Israelites turned against God, he still heard their cries and prayers, had pity on them, and sent his angel as a sign he wants to help them, and then commissions Gideon to help them.
Bottom-line it:
- There is a world of injustice and evil for God’s people.
- God hears the cries of His people;
- God wants to do something about it!
So He calls Gideon to MAN UP!
WWII - Evil and injustice of the Nazi movement:
My grandfather was man by the name of Wally Steward. He was a society steward here at BMC long before I even went into ministry. He was a MOTH - Volunteers who fought in world war 2. He was stationed in Bologna, Italy where he fought.
6 months before he died we got a phone call from the university of Bologna wondering if he was still alive. HE and the other 3 Kimberley reg. men are a heroes for fighting the Nazis and saving Bologna.
This story got me thinking…
My Grandfather stood his ground against the intimidating Nazis . He chose to fight. He had the choice to run because it wasn’t his war but he didn’t (Courage!). He faced the evil and helped overcome it. The Nazis failed and eventually lost the war.
But if my grandfather coward away from fighting injustice, Bologna could have been the doorway for evil to triumph, and this world could have become a very different place.
My Grandfather Manned up and became a hero –saving a town called Bologna.
You see, God didn’t only call the people in the Bible to Man Up and Woman up for his mission to help the world, He called my grandfather to Man up and play a role, and God still calls people today to step up to the plate to take on the evils and injustices of this world.
God is calling you today! Right now! To stop accepting evil getting its way, but to Man Up and Woman Up to fight back.
Gideon wasn’t a fearless leader who could take on the world when He was called, he was a pipsqueak hiding in a winepress.
But Gideon didn’t run away from the responsibility that God wanted to use him, he immediately worshipped God = that’s the Key to successful transformation!
The more Gideon trusted God, the more God transform him to became a mighty warrior who fought all kinds of wrongs.
Manning Up or Womanning UP requires us to worship God and accepting the call God has on your life!
Gideon wasn’t the only one who felt insignificant and worthless… He was just like Moses (and others):[i]
- He received his call while in hiding.
- God told him He was sending him on a mission.
- Gideon protested like Moses that he was inadequate for the task.
- He received the same promises Moses did from God, “I will be with you”.
- Received a sign for his call.
· It was clear, Gideon was called.
We are the same as them…
- We live in hiding – afraid of our own shadows.
- God tells us in His word that He has missions for us.
- We will protest just like them because we feel like we are inadequate for the task.
- But We have also received the promise from God that He is always with us: Matthew 28:20 “…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Hebrews 13:5b, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- Received the sign of God grace and mercy – JESUS ON THE CROSS! Just like God sent the angel to Gideon, God sent Jesus to us!
Just like God heard the prayers of the Israelites and sent people to help, so God hears the prayers of people today – God hears your prayers now and wants to come to your rescue.
But as we MUST learn here in Gideon, as followers of God, we are the ones God is calling to make the world a better place in the name of Jesus Christ!
1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of the faith.” (Fight (agōnizomai (ag-o-nid'-zom-ahee) to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize)) the good fight (agōn (ag-one') properly a place of assembly (as if led),) of the faith.)
- Prize – Holiness
- Led – By God
“Thou hast a contest to sustain in which thy honour, thy life, thy soul, are at stake. Live the Gospel, and defend the cause of God. Unmask hypocrites, expel the profligate (Recklessly wasteful), purge and build up the Church, live in the spirit of thy religion, and give thyself wholly to this work.” [ii]~ Adam Clarke Commentary
The same God who called Gideon to fight evil, is the same God who called Paul to fight who told timothy to fight.
This is the same God who is calling you to fight the good fight!
Now Man/Woman UP!
Like God intervened in Gideon’s life, Moses’s life, Paul’s life, Timothies life, my grandfather’s life, and my life, making us fighters for the Gospel… so God is intervening in your life NOW to transform you into a warrior.
Just like the Israelite cried out to God for help, and God commissioned Gideon to do the job in leading them, so God is calling you to lead in areas where He needs you to show his glory.
WHAT AN HONOUR!!!
Vs14. GO IN THE STRENGTH YOU HAVE!!! Not in the strength you don’t have or may have one day after you go to gym and become a kung-fu expert… but in the strength you have now!
Why? Because God is with you!!!
Whatever you are afraid or ashamed of, is NOTHING compared to God’s call on your life! God will help you to overcome and conquer anything that gets in the way, and transform you into the man or woman He has destined you to be.
Trust God! Earlier, You said that God gives his people strength and power. Now believe it and act on it!
Whatever it takes, do the right thing!
Now man up / Woman up, worship God and be transformed – God is with you!
Next Week - HOW: Gideon #2: Transformation through Obedience.
[i] (Inter-Varsity Press, 1998 p. 271)
[ii] (Clarke, 1976)
