Sermon Title: Service of Lament
Scripture: Judges 8 (NIV)
Contributed by Nancy Buschart
From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household… And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god. —Judges 8:27, 33
Like each of the stories of Israel’s Judges, Gideon’s story has been hard to read. Gideon has resisted God and then obeyed God. He has led the people well and has failed them all the same. He has torn down and destroyed the idols of the land and he has created his own idol that “became a snare to Gideon and his household” (8:27). “And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god” (8:33).
God told Israel through Moses, “Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured stones in your land so you may worship them… . I will live among you, … I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people” (Lev 26:1, 11). Oh, Gideon. Oh, Israel. What are these choices you are making? How are we to frame—make sense of—the narratives we have been reading in the book of Judges?
Solomon tells us that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). In Gideon’s day, there is neither wisdom, knowledge of God, nor understanding of the covenant the Holy One has made with his people. The people fear the Living God the same as they fear the gods of the pagans around them. For the most part, one god/God seems to be as good as another—until Israel is oppressed by her enemies. Then during suffering and bondage, to whom do they cry for rescue? When all seems lost, and when the pagan gods are no comfort and have no power, “they cried out to the Lord” (Jud 2:18; 3:9, 15; 4:3; 6:7; 10:10; 15:8; 21:3).
The Lord God, the Living God, invited Israel into relationship. A paraphrase of God’s invitation and promise found throughout the books of Moses sounds like: “I will be with you. Be with me and I will be with you. Life and abundance are to be found in relationship with me—Creator and Sustainer God.” God is good. His life-giving goodness and care for his people flow from his covenantal relationship with his creation.
In the book of Judges, God’s invitation of relationship was dismissed. Israel “failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side” (8:33). They forgot God.
Oh, Gideon. Oh, Israel. Oh, Church. What are these choices you are making?
Jesus gave us extraordinary words to guide us into ever deepening relationship with the Triune. Let’s briefly remember it here.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:3-6)
In his book, Christian Counter-Culture: The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, John Stott helps us make meaning of Jesus’ words. Stott tells us that the “blessed” are “happy” because they are those who live in right relationship with God. “The poor in spirit” are those who live in humble dependence upon God. Stott writes, “the rich tended to compromise with surrounding heathenism; it was the poor who remained faithful to God… He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit” (Stott, 39).
“Those who mourn” and are promised comfort, “are not primarily those who mourn the loss of a loved one, but those who mourn the loss of their innocence, their righteousness, their self-respect. It is not the sorrow of bereavement to which Christ refers, but the sorrow of repentance” (Stott, 40-41).
“The meek … inherit the earth” because of a “humble and gentle attitude to others which is determined by a true estimate of ourselves” (Stott, 43).
Those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” “set themselves to ‘seek first’ God’s kingdom and righteousness” (Stott, 44) above and before any and every other desire. “There is perhaps no greater secret of progress in Christian living than a healthy, hearty spiritual appetite” (Stott, 45-46).
So, Church, today we lament because we see ourselves in the disobedience and forgetfulness of Gideon and the Israelites.
Consider –
╬ The Israelites didn’t need the One true God in their day-to-day lives—until their system failed them. How much do you need God?
╬ The Beatitudes invite us into right relationship with our God—Father, Son, and Spirit. Where might you become more open-hearted and humble before God and before others?
╬ Lord, we are compromised people casually living among the “surrounding heathenism” of our day. Help us to be truly poor in spirit. Lord, lead us into confession and repentance that we may mourn our sin and separation from you. Lord, we are rude and defended against those who think and live differently. Give us a true estimation of ourselves in the light of the meekness of Christ, the Lamb. Lord, give us insatiable hunger and thirst for your righteousness. In your mercy, help us to despise all lesser loves. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.