Hearing God's Call

This morning I delivered the sermon at church using the story of Gideon from Judges 6 & 7 as our text. I love this story. Gideon (which means "Hacker") is threshing grain in a winepress hiding from the Midianites. The Israelites are living in caves and dens in the hills trying to stay alive from those whom have invaded their land. An angel of the Lord appears to Gideon announcing "The LORD is with you, you mighty warrior!". One might conclude that God has a sense of humor! But, this statement also shows that for an all-knowing God, Gideon was already what he would become. Gideon's initial response was probably what many of us would say, "Who? Me?" Then his next question is "Why?" But the LORD's answer is:

"Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die." 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it, The LORD is peace.

While Gideon did not get all of his questions answered, he did experience the "shalom" of God. His response was to worship. His relationship with God begins quietly at night when he actually does what God asks of him. It was a small first step of faith. He was worried about the reaction of his friends and family. Indeed, when the townspeople find out that he has destroyed the alter of Baal and the place of worship for their Cananite fertility goddess, they storm his house. While the people of the town demand that his father, Joash, bring out his son so that he can die for tearing down the alter of Baal and chopping down the Asher'ah pole, his father stands up for his son! Gideon's actions are already changing his family dynamics in a move towards faith in the Lord God. Sometimes, it simply takes one person to stand up in front of one's peers to proclaim his or her faith that sparks a revival. Years ago I was sitting in a classroom with about 30 lawyers learning how to teach tax and estate planning matters as part of a team teaching process. We went around the room and began to introduce ourselves telling a little about each of our backgrounds. About half way around the room, a young lawyer from Indiana stood up and began to tell his life story which included his conversion experience and his belief that Jesus Christ was his personal savior. When he concluded and sat down, you could have heard a pin drop. It was not what people were expecting; but, as we continued around the table, the next speaker, and then amazingly many who followed (including me) told of how God was working in our each of lives. It was truly a faith-building experience that began with one man's testimony. Even my Jewish partner shared his journey of faith and how God was working in his life. The story of Gideon is a testimony that the battle belongs to the Lord. It is a living example of how faith, as small as a mustard seed, can move mountains.

Gideon, like us, has his doubts along the way. Gideon asked God to confirm his promise, not once; but, twice with a fleece. Yet, the story shows us that God invites the testing of the relationship between himself and those whom he has chosen. He even arranges for Gideon to go down to the camp of the Midianites to hear for himself a conversation that is a prophecy of his future victory over the Midianites. God uses even our enemies to mold and shape us.

Even though God grants to Israel a great victory through the actions of Gideon, the end results in a loss of relationship with God. We read that:

"As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and played the harlot after the Ba'als, and made Ba'al-be'rith their god. 34 And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; 35 and they did not show kindness to the family of Jerubba'al (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel."

When a nation turns it back on God and his principles of morality and justice, it falls prey to spiritual wickedness and the rule of the powers and principalities of this dark world. The lesson of Gideon is as applicable to us today as it was in his time.