The Burden of Potential -- A Message for August 2, 2026

 

        A few weeks ago, on Lucia’s favorite scripture Sunday, we heard a little bit about the time of the Judges in Ancient Israel. During the roughly 400 year period after the Jewish people entered the Promised Land following their flight from Egypt, they were led by Judges. The Judges were often regular people who were recruited by God to lead the people – and while they led, things went ok. But after the judge passed away, the people of Israel turned away from God and started worshipping idols. As they fell away from God, they were persecuted by the armies of their enemies….things would go from bad to worse for the Jewish people…they would turn towards God..God would send them a Judge…they would fall into line and everything would be ok until the Judge passed away….the same dysfunctional cycle would happen again and again.

When I asked you to share what your favorite scriptures or stories were for this summer’s series on Trinity’s favorites, Ned came to me and said he was interested in the story of Samson from the book of Judges. This is someone we perhaps read about as children – Samson was often pictured as a superhero of the ancient Jewish people. But, when we read the story of Samson, it is much more of a tragedy than a story about a hero. Samson was born with a lot of advantages, making him almost a superhero, but he ended up making a lot of mistakes. Eventually, his mistakes caught up with him….he sort of epitomized the story of God’s relationship with the people of Israel –  they were given a lot of advantages, but their mistakes caught up with them again and again.

Samson’s story included 4 chapters in the book of Judges….listen now to an overview of his life and story as we turn to Judges chapter 13….

The Scripture A Selection from Judges 13-16

13 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 

3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 

4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 

5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, 

Pause….

Samson was born and was raised as a Nazirite – he couldn’t drink fermented beverages like wine or beer, he couldn’t touch any dead bodies, and a razor or blade could never cut his hair. 

After Samson grew up, he proved to be the physically strongest man alive. The Nazarite vow gave him super-strength.

Although Samson’s parents followed the Angel’s instructions, and raised Samson very strictly, Samson did what he wanted when he grew up. And, this led to problems.

Samson insisted on marrying a Philistine woman – the Jews were forbidden from marrying outside of their religion. But, Samson didn’t follow the Jewish law. On his way to his wedding, he killed a lion with his bare hands – again, he was a Nazarite who wasn’t supposed to touch dead people…or animals. He later found honey inside the lion’s carcass, so he again touched the lion when he ate the honey. Afterwards, Samson posed a riddle to the guests at the wedding feast, and then was angry when the bride told her Philistine guests the answer. Samson was enraged – he killed 30 of his wedding guests and immediately abandoned his new bride.

A little while later, Samson decided he wanted to return to his wife. In the meantime, her family had married her off to another man. This enraged Samson, so he attached flaming torches to the tails of foxes and burned up the crops of the Philistines. He also killed 1000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey.

But, did these tragic and strange events convince Samson that he shouldn’t marry outside of the Jewish faith?  Evidently not…because he married another Philistine woman….

4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.

 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels[a] of silver.”

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

Samson made up stories – lies – fibs to tell Delilah instead of admitting to her the source of his strength.  But, she caught on to his teasing….

15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” 

16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would 

become as weak as any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 

19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[a] And his strength left him.

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. 

22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

23 Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”

24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,

“Our god has delivered our enemy
    into our hands,
the one who laid waste our land
    and multiplied our slain.”

25 While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.

When they stood him among the pillars, 

26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” 

27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 

28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 

29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 

30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. 

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray….

The Message The Burden of Potential

Samson had everything going for him…he was the long awaited only child of a formerly childless husband and wife. He was doted on by his parents. He was blessed by God. He was a Nazarite….he never had his hair cut, he never drank fermented beverages like beer and wine, he never had to do dirty work. He was the strongest man who ever lived. He became a leader of the Jewish people. He was a mighty warrior.  The enemies of his people, the Philistines, could not figure out how to defeat him…Samson had everything going for him, yet he messed up…he royally messed up.

If we grew up attending churches when we were little children, we probably heard the “G-Rated” version of Samson’s life. Stories that said he was a superhero for God…..he was super strong and super smart – his riddles could only be solved by trickery. He defeated the enemies of God by killing them with the donkey’s jawbone…and burning up all of their crops….

Nevermind the foxes…and the falling into “lust” with all the wrong women. And, I don’t remember hearing about him being blinded after his capture….the “G-Rated” version of the Samson story leaves out a lot of details…and smoothes over many rough edges.

Samson had everything going for him and yet his anger, his lust, and his drive for vengeance messed everything up.

We probably have all known people that fall into the Samson trap – they have everything going for them and it all comes crashing down….a friend who lost their house because of a secret gambling “problem”....a high school friend who was brilliant and yet  they lost their life to a drug addiction….a relative who had a family, a great job, a beautiful home and yet lost everything when they started drinking alcohol. We all know people, or have known people, who have opportunities and possibilities for wonderful things, and lose it all.

In that way, Samson’s life is very relatable to us…we are all given talents and interests and callings. And as our lives progress, we have to find ways to use them for good. 

Samson didn’t use his talents for good…. If we read our way through the book of Judges, reading about Samson’s life seems like a reading of failed opportunities…of missed opportunities. The people of Israel, the Jewish people, asked God to help them stand up to their tormentors, the Philistines. God had Samson groomed to lead them and protect them from the Philistines…but, Samson squandered his talents by using them to settle personal scores – a stolen wife, a rigged riddle, a personal betrayal. He was “into” retaliation — when he was asked why he was responding by killing his enemies, he said, according to Judges 15:11 “I merely did to them what they did to me.” Samson did not fight the battles God called him to fight – instead he put his energy into settling personal grievances.

When Samson became a Judge in Israel, the people probably looked at his super-human strength and thought everything would be ok….they would stand up to the Philistines…they would live in peace…they probably saw Samson as a deliverer of the people of God – a savior.

But, we know the true savior…he wasn’t Samson…he wasn’t “into” retaliation….he didn’t use his powers for his own glory or to avenge his own grievances. We know Jesus – the true savior of humanity.

Like Samson, Jesus had a miraculous birth…instead of being born to a barren woman, he was born to a virgin.  Samson was raised by parents who kept him pure – he was a Nazarite set aside to lead a holy life. Jesus’ parents knew he was the messiah – they protected him from harm and set him aside to lead a life of redemption for all people. Both men died with their arms outstretched….but again, Samson died demanding personal revenge (“Let me be avenged for my two eyes.”)...Jesus died praying for forgiveness for his executioners. Samson took his enemies down with him out of wrath. Jesus defeated death through sacrificial love. 

Samson’s life is a morality tale with a sad ending. Samson was given tremendous gifts by his community, his parents, and our god. Instead of using those gifts for good, he used them for folly. 

We have also been given tremendous gifts – we may not have the gift of super-human strength, but as i look around this room I see teachers and crafters and singers and pray-ers and nurturers and people who can build things and people who can fix things and people who can invest money and people who can take care of the environment….plus countless other gifts and talents. Samson’s story is a reminder that we have been given our gifts and talents by our loving God to be used by us for good.

And, we have a Savior – Jesus the Christ – who demonstrated sacrificial love to all people – not squandering his talents for personal gain or glory, but for the betterment of all the people in the world and for the glory of God.

Let us thank God that God has planted in us our gifts and talents and callings – and let us use them to help each other, to glorify God, and to serve God’s world..

Amen.

God Meet Us Exactly Where We Are -- A Message for July 26, 2026

 

This morning, we read Harry Crossgrove’s favorite scripture: Ecclesiastes 3. Harry has a beautiful voice and loves to sing, and this scripture is familiar to us because it is part of a song made famous by the Byrds: “Turn! Turn! Turn! – To Everything There is a Season.”  This scripture is probably the most familiar portion of the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes. Although this book has traditionally been attributed to King Solomon, many English translations of the book begin with: “The words of Kohelet, a son of David, king in Jerusalem.” Scholars think Kohelet means “the teacher” and so many commentaries about this book refer to the author as “the teacher.”

Listen now to these familiar words as Harry reads Ecclesiastes Chapter three, verses one through fifteen:

The Scripture Lesson Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What do workers gain from their toil?

10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.

13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.

Amen.

Let us pray….

The Message God Meets Us Exactly Where We Are

When I was in my mid-twenties, I had a few months to  prepare to leave St. Louis before I moved to Pennsylvania and began serving my first church as their pastor. One weekend afternoon, my mother and friend from high school, Jen, came along with me to Burlington Coat Factory to help me purchase clothing for my first professional job. We headed to the part of the story I was familiar with….the Juniors Department. And, I tried on a few things, but nothing looked right. Finally, my mother gently told me I was too old to wear Juniors clothing – the clothing was designed, and cut, for teenagers. I needed to head to the women’s department…..I wasn’t a junior anymore. 

So, that’s what we did….I picked out and tried on…and bought…clothing from the women’s department. And, that is what I wore to my first church when I served them as their pastor.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…including your season to wear Juniors clothing.

Our reading from Ecclesiastes is focused on how everything in life has a proper time – Each season of life has a beginning and an end and each season also has a purpose. As much as we want to have control over our lives, and the season of life we are in, only God has control over time.

The first part of our reading is the familiar poem we know from the song: 14 pairs of opposites. The pairs focus on the full spectrum of human experience – the pleasant, the painful and the ordinary. This scripture was probably written two-thousand four hundred years ago, yet it still describes universal themes and realities in our 21st century lives: we have all been born and we will all die; we will break things and build things; we will be healthy and we will be ill; we will learn and grow and we will forget; we will be sad and we will be joyful; we will have times when we shouldn’t speak and times when we shouldn’t be quiet. Each opposite is true – we will all experience these realities over the course of our lives – there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

Sometimes, we try to fight the season we are in – we look back at our pasts and want to recreate them in our present. Sometimes, we linger or obsess over what used to be – we want to go backwards instead of forwards in time. We get nostalgic about how the world was during our childhood, or how great a romantic relationship was before a break up, or how wonderful a job was before we left it – even if we didn’t like the job while we were doing it. Sometimes, we spend a lot of energy dwelling on the past or on ‘what could have been.’

Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that every season of life has an expiration date. And, we shouldn’t mourn or regret the season we have exit-ed. We are just in a different season now…for the time being. Each season has advantages and disadvantages.

God meets us in whichever season we are in. So, there is no point in trying to get over things prematurely or trying to hurry through a season. Sometimes, we see children trying to appear older than they are – a 6 year old who wants to dress like a teenager – a 14 year old who tries to look 21 with extra make-up or revealing clothing ... .they are so young they fail to realize how obvious their attempt to look older seems to adults. God wants us to savor the season we are in….to work to accept, and possibly find joy, in the season we are experiencing. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

We don’t know who the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes was – we just know he had a lot of questions about why we are alive and what the purpose of life is – what is the meaning of life. He seemed to think everything was cyclical – each person’s life will cycle through good times and bad times, times of joy and times of suffering until we reach the end of our days. He wrote that only God understands eternity…and God’s plan for us, for humanity is so intricate, so complicated, it is unfathomable for us lowly people. 

Some of the questions the Teacher, the writer of Ecclesiastes, asked were answered by Jesus Christ. In Ecclesiastes it says that each thing happens at its appointed time…In Galatians 4, Paul writes: “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”  Jesus’ arrival on earth came at the time appointed by God. Jesus came to earth to help us understand God’s plan for the world and how God wants us to treat other people.

The Teacher, the writer of Ecclesiastes, suggested that because we can’t control time, or the stage of life we are in, then we should “be happy and do good while we live.” Easier said than done. Jesus didn’t tell us our ultimate goal in life is just to “be happy.” Instead, Jesus gave us more clear guidelines – We are commanded to Love God and Love Other People, including strangers, as much as we love ourselves. We are called to love our enemies. We are called to forgive others and not to judge other people hypocritically. We are called to be humble and to work to reconcile with people with whom we have disagreements. Jesus told us that following him, and living out his teachings, would be difficult….we may face trials and persecution for being Christians…but that God loves and blesses us, and we must endeavor to bless and love others as much as we can.

Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us to be patient. We can’t change the past….we can’t recreate the past in the present. There is an order to life that we cannot control. But, we must endeavor to do all we can to serve God and live out the teachings of Jesus. 

John Westley, one of the founders of Methodism, said;
“Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.” 

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Let us work to incorporate doing good, loving God, and helping other people into each and every season in our lives. 

May it be so, today and all days. Amen. 

Why We Walk Together -- A Message for July 19, 2026

 

This morning we turn to Deb Clewell’s favorite scripture, the 23rd Psalm. This short chapter of the Bible is probably the most memorized portion of scripture – even people who are not devout know it.

This Psalm is believed to be written by King David – in his childhood and teen years, he was a shepherd. Yet, when he was a king, he penned these words – he declared that God was the true shepherd, the true king, of God’s people.

Please say the words of the 23rd Psalm with me – we all probably have slightly different versions memorized. Just say it the way you know it….

The Scripture Lesson Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

Amen.

Let us pray….

The Message Why We Walk Together

We are living through a weird time in American history, in world history. We are more connected to each other than ever before, and we simultaneously are more lonely than ever before. I can pick up the phone and talk to my friend in Switzerland at any point of the day or night, or even drive to the airport and hop on a plane and fly around the world to visit her, but I can go for weeks at a time without talking to my next door neighbors. Many of us are isolated and lonely.

In former times, people lived surrounded by family members. People lived in inter-generational households…children shared rooms with each other…aunts and uncles and cousins lived nearby. Whole extended families lived in the same neighborhoods or small towns – we all went to the same schools and churches. And, even if you weren’t actually related to your neighbors, people became almost like family with them. When you are sharing a bathroom with 12 people, it is hard to feel lonely…being lonely was uncommon.

But, now, things are different. Many people work from home. We have our own yards, our own cars, and locked doors to conceal our private struggles from other people. Everything looks good from the outside, but sometimes what is going on inside is a mess – a lonely mess.

Everyone in this room, and watching online, is either coming out of a dark valley, currently going through one, or will eventually enter one. Let me repeat that: Everyone in this room, and watching online, is either coming out of a dark valley, currently going through one, or will eventually enter one. Sometimes the dark valleys surprise us and are totally unexpected.…They often require a lot of endurance and patience. Part of being alive, of being human, is that we will face dark valleys…they are unfortunately universal.

(Pause)

Many of us have the King James Version of the 23rd Psalm memorized – that only fashioned thee, thou, thy languages, so we may not notice this…but, The first three verses of the 23rd Psalm are different from the final 5 verses ... .the grammar changes. In verses one through three, the writer of the Psalm, King David, talks about God as a “he.” David is describing how God works – describing him from a distance, in a more remote way. But, in verse 4, when the Psalmist enters a dark valley, he shifts to talking about God as “you.” In the dark times David stopped talking about God abstractly and shifted to God as a real presence in the Psalmist’s life – a You. God isn’t distant and far away, but is someone who we can speak to directly….have a real relationship with….know personally. God is someone who is right there in the dark valley with us.

When sheep walk through ravines and dark valleys, they don’t walk through them alone. They walk as a flock. They survive because they are part of a herd of sheep. The shepherds’ rod and staff are used to help the sheep – they are tools to keep them connected to the group and to pull them out of thickets away from harm. 

Like sheep, we need each other just like we need the good shepherd. Our church is not this building. Our church does not have a legitimate address. Our church is not this physical location. Instead, the people sitting in these pews are the church. The people who are tuning in from home are the church. Our church, Trinity Christian UCC, is the people who chose to be part of this community – we covenant with one another and our God to share the burdens of each other’s valleys. 

We are called to be the arms of our Good Shepherd for one another. When we shake each other’s hands, or give each other a hug, or even a fist-bump, we are the hands and arms of our Good Shepherd on earth. We figuratively pull each other out of the brambles – we figuratively prod each other along so that we stay part of the group. We help each other as we journey through the dark valleys and we face those valleys with each other. 

Sometimes, we are afraid to tell other people what is going on with us. We don’t want to be downers or we want to keep our personal dark valleys secret. But, we are here for each other.  We are called to pray for each other. We are here to drive each other to appointments or bring a hot dish over when our fellow brother or sister in Christ is too sad to cook…or too tired to cook. We are here to offer suggestions on job searches or offer support when our children are far away. We are committed to being here for each other when we wade through the darkest valleys…or crawl through the darkest valleys.

As people of faith, we can take comfort in our relationship with God. God is a YOU for us – when we pray, we can talk directly to God – we don’t need anyone to be an intermediary, to intercede for us. And, it is also a comfort and a privilege that we are here to support each other, to help each other on our journeys of faith and our life journeys. God is our comfort all of the days of our life and as we transition from this life to life-eternal. In addition to our loving God, we are also called to be comforters, and supporters, and cheerleaders for each other as we live out our faith in Jesus, and care for one another….we are called to care for the other sheep in our flock.

Praise God that we get to be God’s sheep. Thanks be to our Loving Good Shepherd, and thanks be to the brothers and sisters we have in Christ. Amen. 

The Peril of "Doing What is Right in Our Own Eyes" -- A Message for July 12, 2026

 

It is difficult being a minister’s child – a “Pastor’s Kid.” Pastors kids are depicted on tv and in movies as either being goody-two-shoes or rebels. Pastor’s kids are often pressured to set a good-example to other children in their parent’s churches…the whole family may feel like people are paying attention to them as being different than everyone else – maybe put on a pedestal, but sometimes people are scrutinizing them for signs of imperfections.

So, the pastor's kids grow up like fish in a fishbowl. Sometimes, in response, the pastor’s kids figure out strategies to give their parents a hard-time, a comically hard time.

This morning, we focus on the scriptural passage Lucia selected as her favorite. She selected a passage from the book of Judges about a particular judge – Shamgar. Shamgar’s story consists of two lines in the Bible….listen to Judges 3: 31 and what it says about Shamgar – 

31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

I suspect Lucia first and foremost chose this scripture to tease me – to give me a hard time. 

Perhaps, Lucia wanted me to spend my sermon trying to talk about an ox-goad….which is a tool used by farmers to guide and prod oxen. It is between 8 and 10 feet long – on one end there is a pointy, metal spike for poking oxen. The other end has a flatted chisel that is used to clear mud, roots and clods of earth off of a plaw so that it doesn’t get weighed down while it is being pulled by the oxen.

So, Shamgar became a judge in Israel after he killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. What a brutal and bloody way to vanquish an enemy army. 

Lucia knew I wouldn’t have much to say about Shamgar and his oxgoad.

But, this little scripture passage allows us to dip a toe in the water of the book of Judges.  What was going on in this little scripture passage, and what was going on during the time of the Judges in Israel?

Now, please turn to Judges, chapter 2. We will read verses 10 through 23. Listen now to the word of God. 

The Scripture Lesson Judges 2:10-23 & Judges 3:31

After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 

Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 

They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger 

because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 

In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 

Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 

Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. 

Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 

But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. 

Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, 

I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 

I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” 

 The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua. 

Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray…

The Message The Peril of “Doing What is Right in Our Own Eyes”

The book of Judges describes a difficult time in the lives of the people of Israel. A few generations earlier we find the people who followed Moses out of Egypt. They lived in the wilderness for 40 years – things were difficult, but they had the goal of soon entering and taking over the Promised land. They were first led by Moses – a capable and talented leader who was directly guided by God. God helped the people, fed them with manna from heaven, led their journey by day with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire. God was intimately involved in protecting them and providing for them.

And, then the people came to the Promised Land – they reached their goal. Joshua led them into the land promised by God. But, the land wasn’t empty of people….different groups dwelled there. And, many of those groups were actually related to the people who traveled there from Egypt – they were descendants of Abrahan’s nephew Lot….they were descendants of Abraham’s son Ishmael….they were descendants of 

Esau, Jacob’s twin brother.  So, the people in the Holy Land were distant relatives of the people who left Egypt to settle the Holy Land.

The writers of the Bible wrote that God wanted the people who left Egypt to kill all the people who were occupying the Holy Land, and take over their farms and villages and cities. But, the people who left Egypt, the descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel, had trouble doing this….they didn’t want to kill them all….these people were their cousins…and maybe they didn’t have the military strength or the ability to kill them all anyway.

So, they settled alongside the people who were already in Israel. Their kids played with the neighbor’s kids. Their sons married their daughters. They shared common hearths to bake their bread. They washed dirty clothing together in the streams that dotted the land. Soon, the Hebrew people, the descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel, started worshipping their neighbor's gods and goddesses too….what is good for my neighbor is good for me too, right?

Well, God didn’t like this. The people of Israel, the people God cared about and provided for and taught and made covenants with, were not supposed to worship false Gods….and they weren’t supposed to get married to people who worshipped false gods…and they were supposed to be loyal to our God….to remember God’s words:

 
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.“You shall have no other gods before me.”

But, the people were disobeying and worshipping other gods. And, were not following God’s laws.

God observed the people were not holding up their end of the bargain – their end of the Covenant. So, since the people weren’t being loyal to God, God wasn’t loyal to them – or so thought the writers of the Bible. So, God didn’t help the people when they were attacked by neighboring tribes and armies. God allowed them to suffer.

But, God still loved the people. And, God felt bad when they struggled. So, God would raise up “Judges” who helped the people – some of them were prophets who talked to God – others were mighty warriors who protected the people militarily. The Judge in Lucia’s passage, Shamgar, was a common farmer who used the tools of his trade, an oxgoad, to defeat an enemy. He was an unlikely warrior but God used him to help the people and protect them from their enemies.

Throughout the book of Judges, when the people were led by a helpful Judge, the people fell into line. They stopped worshiping idols and started worshipping God. They followed God’s commandments. They were faithful.

But, whenever the Judge who helped them died, the cycle started over again…..they started worshiping false gods, they were attacked by enemies, God raised up a judge, they fought off their enemies, the people fell into line, and then the Judge died and chaos resumed.

This chaos continued until God finally listened to the pleas of God’s people and gave them a king – we can read about how that went down in the books of Samuel.

The book of Judges concludes with this line: “ In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” 

As we read through the book of Judges, and as we read about human history when there has been a power vacuum, it is never good when everyone does whatever they want. Society slides into chaos very quickly – might becomes right – weaker people suffer – many people end up without the basic necessities they need for life.

The antidote to this chaos is Jesus. Jesus’s message to us was radically different than everything that came before Jesus. 

Jesus cut though all of the divisions that previously separated people. “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are all one in Jesus Christ. All people have intrinsic value….all people are equal in the eyes of God and in our own eyes. We are mandated by Jesus to care for the least of these: the hungry, the thirsty, strangers, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. We are commanded to love our neighbor as we love overself. 

And, we are to follow the greatest commandment, to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

Jesus’ antidote to chaos is love. As people of faith, we are called to take action to help other people – especially people who are weaker than we are, who don’t have the same amount of power or privilege we have. Our command as Christians, our duty as Christians, our opportunity as Christians is to work to care for each other and to care for the people in the world who are struggling. So, we can’t just do what we want. We can’t only do things that bring us pleasure, or make us happy, because we are commanded and challenged to take action to improve the lives of other people – do make them happy….to free them from their burdens.

The book of Judges is a guidebook to teach us about how people can get things wrong – As followers of Jesus, it is our opportunity to work on behalf of each other and get things right – to make a positive difference in the lives of other people.

Let us do so with love in our hearts today and all days. Amen.