Last weekend my father-in-law, Kelly, and I were putting a tire swing in our backyard for Noah and Abigail. Somebody had to climb the tree and get the rope over the branch we wanted the swing from. So I bravely volunteered myself, and started to climb the tree. There is one catch though – as I get older, I am getting more and more fearful of heights. But I pushed through my fear for my children. The tree was a little wet from the rain earlier that day so I put on my tennis shoes thinking I would get a better grip on the tree. About half way up to where I needed to be, I slipped! I grabbed on to a dead branch (bad idea). Well the branch never broke – but I was hugging it as tightly as I could. Now my wonderful wife and father-in-law thought it was pretty funny. In fact they thought I looked like a Kuala Bear hugging a tree branch. We did get the swing hung a different way. But, I was trying to be a hero for my family.
What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word hero? Who is the first person you think about? I am amazed at the resurgence of super hero’s in the media of recent days. We have a TV show titled hero’s. In the movies this summer we will find; Ironman, another Batman, and the Incredible Hulk. This is not to mention all the other movies up to this point – Superman, Spiderman, The Fantastic 4, The Incredible’s, and any other’s I have failed to mentioned. Our society is infatuated with these people who are fearless and to stop at nothing to accomplish good.
Deep down, I think we desire to have the same tenacity and boldness we see in these hero’s. We see all these positive traits like strength, intellect (always doing the right thing at the right time – never making the wrong decision), and personal charisma. When we compare ourselves to these hero’s, we see our weaknesses and then we look up to these fictional screen characters. Let me ask you, do you ever feel too weak to do what God is telling you to do? Do you feel like the most unlikely candidate to do anything significant for the Kingdom of God? This type of fear grips every person in this room at one point or another in our lives. We say things like; “I am too old…” or “I am too young…” to accomplish great things for God. Or “What can I really do?” “I really do not have much to offer anyway” Let me ask you this – what do you find the hardest thing about doing what the Lord desires of you? These are all tough questions that we all ask ourselves. If that is you, right now, today – I say great! Why? Because that is a great spot to be in; God loves to work in and through people who are in that spot. God is a master in using ordinary people in extraordinary ways. You see, those who think that they have arrived and have all the answers, those who think that they can do everything, are always to busy listening to themselves, to even hear what God has to say. God is looking for men and women of faith, who are willing to step out and do great things for Him in unknown times. As you senior go to college – there will be a lot of unknowns in the next 6 months. God is looking for people like you to do extraordinary things for Him. God is looking for hero’s.
There is a hero’s of the Old Testament that we can really relate to today regarding our fears. He ended up doing great things for God – he became a hero.
Now right before our hero comes to the scene life was good for Israel. In fact life was great… God was blessing (the bills were paid, the kids were behaving, the camels were not in the shop, they just graduated high school, and the birds were singing). Then the people turned away for God. They started to accomplish things using their own abilities. They thought that they arrived, and did not need the Lord anymore. They were doing pretty good on their own. Before long – life began to stink. Not one enemy – but several, came in and began to oppress them and take all their processions, crops, livestock, everything. Now life began to get really hard. So what did Israel do? You guessed it – cried out to God to help them. This is were our hero comes in.
We find our hero full of fear, excuses, and hiding. (Read Judges 6: 11-16).
Now I am not going to read the whole account of Gideon, but I challenge you to take time this week to read Judges Chapters 6-8 and allow the Lord to penetrate your heart.
Now chapter 6 opens up with Israel suffering a 7 year oppression at the hands of the Midianites. Now the Midianites were a cruel and powerful people. Every year at harvest time they would come sweeping into Israel with a powerful army. Scripture says that like a locust plague they would strip the land, stealing all the grain and destroying the crops. Verse 4 says “they left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey.” Every year was it was the same routine – invasion, run and hide in the caves and mountains and have no food.
When we first meet Gideon, he was hiding in the wine press. It was harvest time again and Israel knew it was only a matter of days before the Midianites would come swarming in. Therefore, Gideon was in a wine press threshing wheat. The wine press at this time was carved out of stone and usually underground. Normally 2 cistern areas were carved out, with one slightly lower than the other. The upper area is where a man would tread out the grapes and as the liquid rose to a certain height it would drain down into the lower vat where the wine would be stored. Many of these were large enough for a man to hide in, and Gideon was probably down in the lower vat hiding, hitting the wheat with a stick while he covered the upper opening with perhaps some brush. He did this so that the Midianites would not find him and take his food.
And this is where the Lord finds Gideon. But before God could really use Gideon as a hero, He had to some serious business with Him.
First, God shows Gideon His plan and eliminates Gideon’s excuses. Verse 15 Gideon gives an excuse to be used be God, “my family is the weakest, and I am the youngest.” Look at God response in Verse 16 says, “I will be with you.” Very simple but think about it. The creator of the universe says, “Move forward, I’ve got your back… I will be with you.” – no matter what your excuse is.
Secondly, God has Gideon eliminate the idols in his life. The things that were drawing not only Gideon’s heart away from God, but the whole nations. (Read Judges 6: 25-27).
Now God is looking at us and telling us the same thing, “I will be with you” and commanding us to tear down the alters in our lives. Do you want to be used by God for something awesome? Give all you affection to Christ and He will be with us. You see, faith is not measured by our fearlessness, but by our obedience. Gideon was obedient. What happened was that Gideon ended up routing the Medianites and Amalekites with only 300 men. Gideon started by hiding and ended being bold and tenacious. What are the idols in your heart? What is God telling you to do? And are you trying to accomplish the task before you in your own power?
God is looking for modern day Gideon’s right now. Are you one? What type of legacy are you going to leave on this planet? I am always intrigued by tombstones. They have a birth date and a date of death. In between these is a dash. It is in this dash that lies your legacy. What is your dash going to say about you? He doesn’t call those who are perfect; Christ calls those who are willing. We all have the potential of becoming a hero of the faith. The next time you think God cannot use you, I want you to remember something:
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
Mary Magdalene was, well you know
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer.
Lazarus was dead!
And Gideon was afraid.
