The Sword Goes In… | Sunday, February 18, 2024

Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods. So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia... when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother... So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. (Judges 3:5-11)

When God's people cry out, He raises up ordinary, uniquely enabled deliverers—and He still works through anyone willing to show up.

God Always Answers Prayer

God always answers prayer. Sometimes He says no, and in time you learn to thank God for those nos. Sometimes He says wait, and those are really hard for me, because I'm a pretty impatient person. And then there are times He says go. We need to learn to wait upon Him, which is not easy, so you can pray for me as I seek to constantly wait upon the Lord.

I also want to remind you that we need your help. Beginning March 31st—Easter—we are planning three Sunday morning services: a 7:30 service for early risers, then 9 and 11:00. We need people to be part of the teams that welcome people. Why? Because God is bringing new people here every week, and we desperately need God to do a work in San Diego County. There are about a million people within ten miles of this building, and many are not connected to Christ. Look in your bulletin for the card that says "Become an Essential Worker," and plug in to serve.

An Assault on the Family

The best thing for our families and kids is to grow up in a strong, good church. I'm a little biased—I think this is a good church. The children in our community are desperately in need of the good news of the gospel, and we need your help in children's ministry.

There is an assault on the family and on kids in our culture. This was driven home last night as I watched a documentary called The War on Children, posted free on Twitter by Elon Musk. It's two and a quarter hours long and incredibly depressing, but it shows what is actually happening. The temptation is to think this is some conspiracy of mean people behind closed doors. No—it's just demonic. The enemy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, and that is exactly what is going on in our culture.

One challenge is that we immediately assume the answers are legislative or political. I'm not convinced that's the case. That's not to say legislation and politics aren't important—they are. My friend Dr. Andrew Walker from Kentucky put together a PDF on how a Christian should be engaged politically, and you can get it free at our website.

Hope in Dark Times

I do have hope, because our God is good and still on the throne. If you consider history, God works even in dark times. You don't have to look far back. This church is the product of a move God made in Southern California in the 1960s and 70s—the Jesus People. Some of you became Christians out of that movement.

God has chosen to use you, His church, to reach a dark world—to be salt and light. A lot of people think California is hopeless and unredeemable, and many friends have left the state because they think so. I don't think that. I'm not planning on leaving. As I travel and tell pastors I serve in California, they'll say, "Are there any Christians in California?" I love to tell them: there are 40 million people here, the fifth largest economy in the world, and there are more Christians in California than there are people in your state. God moved mightily here in the last century, and it can happen again.

A Perspective Problem

Many times we misjudge the size or greatness of things because we have a perspective problem. Two Lego figures can look like one is bigger when they're actually the same size—it's a perspective issue. We bring this same problem to the Bible.

When we read about the nation of Israel in the Book of Judges from 3,400 years ago, we read it through our 21st-century American conception of "nation." We live in a country of 340 million, so when we hear "a judge delivered the nation of Israel," we imagine something huge. But in the 14th century BC, the nation of Israel was probably less in population than San Diego County—around 3.4 million people or fewer—living in a land mass about double the size of this county.

Why does that matter? Because when we hear "nation," we think enormous, and we imagine the judges were extraordinary, standout spiritual giants. In reality, we have localized problems and ordinary, average individuals whom God used. Israel was a relatively small, regional, tribal people, divided into what amounted to counties—the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Benjamin. They would be invaded by neighbors, and then delivered by a judge—an ordinary person dealing with a local problem.

Personal Responsibility and Subsidiarity

This leads to our first observation: the Scriptures teach us the value of personal responsibility and subsidiarity. Personal responsibility we understand. From the time our kids were small, my wife and I agreed we were not raising children—we were raising adults. We wanted to teach them to put toys away, put dirty clothes in the hamper, make their beds, and brush their teeth without constant nagging.

Subsidiarity is a word philosophers and theologians in the Roman Catholic Church have used for a long time, but the concept shows up in Protestant teaching too, and in the founding documents of our country. You've heard of "of the people, by the people, for the people." The Ninth and Tenth Amendments express that the federal government has ascribed powers, and anything not enumerated to them is handed down to the people at the local level. Subsidiarity is the idea that social decisions are made locally first—in the home, then the family community, then the neighborhood.

From this also comes the Protestant doctrine of the lesser magistrate—that lower officials are to restrain higher officials. These two ideas work in tandem, and all of it comes out of the book of Deuteronomy, the book most frequently cited by our founding fathers. It's being played out in the Book of Judges.

Big Problems Are Usually Local Problems

This matters because as we watch Israel slide into idolatry and immorality, experience crisis, suffer oppression, cry out to God, and receive a judge, we must remember the crises were regional and local, and the deliverers were average, ordinary people. One of our big problems is that we think all problems are big problems, and we see big problems through our smallness and conclude there's nothing we can do.

That's the temptation if you watch that documentary. As I watched it, I kept thinking, "What on earth are we supposed to do?" In the last fifteen minutes I was hoping they'd tell us—they don't, because they're not offering answers. But in reality there are a lot of little problems in local areas that need to be dealt with by people who know the truth, who understand that truth, goodness, and beauty are objective, that morality is real, and that lives given over to immorality and idolatry bring chaos.

That brings us to point two: responsibility flows to those who show up, and authority falls to those who take responsibility. I taught this for years in a church leadership class, and it's key to my philosophy of life and ministry. We think responsibility flows to those who are qualified, trained, and uniquely gifted. No—it flows to those who show up. Look at the Book of Judges: a few people stand out simply because they showed up, and many of them had all kinds of problems. Just mention Samson—he had all kinds of problems.

Apathy and Amplification

When we see problems in our family, on our street, in our neighborhood, county, state, nation, or world, they seem massive. But most big problems are actually local problems to be dealt with at the local level. We live in a mass-media and social-media age that takes local problems from other places and amplifies them until they feel unsolvable.

We've all experienced this. We had some rain a couple weeks ago, and there was flooding in Mission Valley—there's always flooding in Mission Valley. But you get a call from a family member out of state: "Are you okay? I saw flooding on the news." Most things people get freaked out about in our culture are actually things one or two people can handle. My hope as we study Judges this year is a renewed awareness that you must take responsibility where you are, using the gifts, talents, abilities, and experience God has given you, for such a time as this. In many ways American Christians have become apathetic and indifferent to the issues right in front of them.

The Cycle of Judges

Turn to Judges chapter 3, verse 5. We're introduced to the first judge, Othniel, whom some commentators call the ideal judge. We've already met him in Joshua, so we won't linger, but his story shows the cycle that makes up the seven sections of Judges.

The cycle is always the same. Verse 7 says, "So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD." Each of the seven sections begins exactly that way—chapter 2:11, 3:7, 3:12, 4:1, 6:1, 10:6, 13:1. But the cycle has about ten steps: the children of Israel dwell among their enemies; they make covenants and marriages with them; they are seduced into idolatry; God's anger is stirred; God passively punishes them through their enemies; they cry out to God; God raises up and empowers a delivering judge; God delivers them; the people serve God as long as the judge lives; the judge dies; and the cycle starts again.

This was recorded for our instruction, even living 3,400 years later. That brings us to point three: patterns in the past are predictive of the future. I know—mind-blowing. It's not meant to be amazing, but it's true. We all know it personally. We've done certain things more than a few times knowing we shouldn't, and afterward we say, "I knew exactly what would happen." We live in an ordered universe; certain causes produce certain effects, over and over.

Idolatry Today

"Play stupid games, win stupid prizes." Idolatry and immorality led to devastation 3,400 years ago. What do you think they will lead to today? You might say, "We have plenty of immorality, but we don't really have idolatry." Watch the documentary, or maybe you tuned into the Super Bowl last week—idolatry is all around us. At its most basic level, an idol is something you devote yourself to, value, worship, or trust in that is other than God.

If you sell yourself to idols and immorality, you will sell yourself into slavery to that thing. Some of you who sold yourselves to addiction in the past know what it's like to be a slave to that thing. We might say God punishes that, and the way He punishes is to allow them to be given over to it. Romans 1 says three times that God gave them over—to uncleanness, to vile passions, to a debased mind.

Eglon the Fat King

The same cycle repeats immediately. After Othniel died and Israel had forty years of rest, verse 12 says, "And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD." So the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel. Eglon gathered Ammon and Amalek, defeated Israel, took the City of Palms, and Israel served Eglon for eighteen years—almost a whole generation.

The name Eglon plays on Hebrew words connected to a round calf, and verse 17 adds the editorial note that "Eglon was a very fat man." Whoever wrote Judges—many believe Samuel—had a comedic streak; there's real satire here. I was a junior high pastor for a while, and middle-school boys love passages like this. You're picturing Jabba the Hutt, waiting for Luke Skywalker to show up.

Three nations are named: the Amalekites, Moabites, and Ammonites. The Amalekites first fought Israel in Exodus 17, attacking the stragglers and the weak at the edges of the camp; Deuteronomy tells Israel to remember what Amalek did, and commentators connect Amalek to the flesh that attacks us at our weak points. Israel was told to utterly destroy them, and didn't—so Amalek remains a problem for a long time.

The Moabites and Ammonites first appear in Genesis 19. They descend from Lot's two daughters, who, after Sodom and Gomorrah, assumed the world was destroyed and that it fell to them to repopulate it. So they got their father drunk and conceived through him—a wholesome bedtime story—and the products were Ammon and Moab. So you see wickedness and the flesh embodied in Moab, Ammon, and Amalek. They came from the east side of the Jordan, conquered, and took the City of Palms—Jericho, the first city Israel had taken and consecrated to God. This reminds us that the places we think are secure points of victory are often the things we guard the least. "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

Ehud, the Left-Handed Deliverer

But when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length)... (Judges 3:15-16)

Notice that word "when"—it makes me wonder whether God would have delivered sooner if Israel had cried sooner. Our deliverance is often delayed because we dither and delay in self-loathing and defeat—out of pride, self-pity, shame, a sense we lack power, or a feeling we deserve what's happening. As Isaiah 30 says, God waits to be gracious to you. Here Israel cries out, though it doesn't say they repent; they simply cry that things are hard, which is the human impulse, because God made us to seek Him.

There's a play on words: Benjamin means "son of my right hand," yet Ehud was a left-handed man from that tribe. This likely doesn't mean simple handedness or a disability—a withered right hand would have tipped off the Moabites to inspect him differently. More likely Ehud belonged to a class of warriors trained to be strong with the left hand for battle. We'll see in Chronicles a group of Benjamite warriors better with the sling in their left hand than others with their right. Like the swordsman in The Princess Bride, something uniquely suited Ehud for his opportunity.

This gives us point four: God has uniquely enabled you to be effective for His exploits. A lot of you don't believe that, but it's true. We look around and say, "That person is suited for great things—they have a mind, an ability, a gift," and then we look at ourselves and say, "I could never." But the more I know God and His people, the more convinced I am that every one of you has been gifted and empowered by God in unique ways. He has placed each of us into His body for a specific purpose. The key is not your ability or inability—it's God's power working in and through you. One with God is a majority.

Have you ever wondered why you were born in this place at this time? I think God placed you here for a purpose. You may not yet recognize your gifting or fully see your task, but it's there. Consider Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." And Jeremiah's response was, "Lord God, I cannot speak, I am nothing." We all feel that way when God says, "Come, I have something for you to do."

The Sword Goes In

Ehud made a two-edged sword about a cubit in length and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. For the Bible nerds, Hebrews 4:12 says, "The word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword." Ehud hid it where they wouldn't look—and they didn't, because they were fat numbskulls, though they'd still dominated Israel for eighteen years. He risked everything; if caught, he'd be executed on the spot.

So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." So he arose from his seat. Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. Even the hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade... (Judges 3:20-22)

The King James says the sword went in and the dirt came out. The middle schoolers love it. But remember—the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and when the word goes in, the dirt comes out. It has a cleansing, purifying work.

Ehud went out through the porch, shut and locked the doors. The servants assumed the king was attending to his needs in the cool chamber and waited until they were embarrassed. Finally they took the key, opened the doors, and there was their master fallen dead—one big stinky mess. Ehud had escaped, blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and led Israel down. "Follow me, for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand." They seized the fords of the Jordan, killed about 10,000 stout—fat—men of Moab, and the land had rest for eighty years.

Show Up

That brings us to point five: do not underestimate what can be accomplished when you show up. I was 14 or 15, growing up in this church, when I heard the invitation to show up and help. So I did. I folded bulletins—something a machine does now. I thought, "I can't do much, I'm 14, but I can fold a bulletin." In a very short time, people would come in with questions and be told, "Go talk to Miles, that's his responsibility." People twice my age would come to me. How did that happen? Responsibility flows to those who show up, and authority falls to those who take responsibility.

Then an amazing thing happens: when you're in over your head, you rely on God—and when you stand up and show up, God shows up and empowers you by His Spirit to do exploits you could never do on your own. He opens doors into things and you wonder, "How on earth did I end up here?" Ask Larry—he probably has hundreds of stories of starting as a teenager folding the equivalent of bulletins and ending up sharing the gospel in other countries.

If you want transformation in yourself, your family, your neighborhood, your business, your school, your county, state, nation, or world, it starts with you in that small thing, in that small place, when you say like Isaiah, "Here am I, send me. I don't know what I'll do or how, but the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself mighty on behalf of those who simply say, 'I could try.'"

Plugged In

Hold up your phone for a moment. Most of you have one of these—powerful, capable of amazing things, and completely useless if it's never plugged in. The same is true for every device that takes power. You are like that device: totally useless on your own, but with phenomenal potential power. As you plug into God and into His body, the church, and you serve, God will do great exploits—even through something as simple as folding a bulletin or handing out a donut. Don't worry, we'll never get a machine to hand out donuts; we'll always use people, and we sure need you.

He who is faithful in the little things, God gives greater responsibility and opportunity. We are in a desperate time. Eglon looked like a giant compared to little Israel, but his were local problems—the kind God has gifted and called each of us to be involved with. Would to God that we would stand up and show up and see God show up powerfully in and through us. The answers to our cultural problems are not political or economic—they're spiritual, and we need people filled with the Spirit of God to address them, beginning in the smallest, simplest ways.

Closing Prayer

God, thank You for Your word. It is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It cuts deep and exposes the thoughts and intents of my heart, but it also cleanses us. Would You purify and cleanse us, renew our minds, transform us. Help us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by Your word and by Your Spirit at work in us, so that we shine brightly in a dark world. It seems so dark at this moment in time—God, do a work in us, we pray. We ask this today in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, Amen.