Judges 6:11-17

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Act on God’s signs to achieve the victory.=

A sermon preached by

Dr. William O. (Bud) R= eeves

First United Methodist Church

Hot= Springs, Arkansas

July 6, 2008

I recently found a web= site that had some of the strangest signs from around the world. Right here in the U. S. A., there is a sign in Redwood National Pa= rk that says, “Beach access.”&nbs= p; Then right underneath there is a sign that says, “No water.” It seems to me = that water is a prerequisite to have a beach.&n= bsp; Otherwise, all you have is a sand dune or a desert.

There was a sign on a convenience store marquee that advertised, “Worms and Coffee.” Either they were catering to early morning fishermen, or they had a strange idea of a nutritious breakfast. (I prefer orange juice with my wor= ms.)

Another sign in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was posted next to a traffic light. It read, “This light never turns green.” That’s got to be frustrating= . No telling how long some of those snowbirds have been sitting at that intersection!

An equally frustrating= sign was spotted on a game refuge in Namibia, in Africa. It said, “Toilet,” but= then in red letters it said, “Do not get out of car.” How to make the tourists miserable= .

But the grand prize wi= nner for odd signs on this website was found on a street in Australia. In the middle of a four-lane road,= a little sign announced, “Blind persons cross here.” We can only = hope that in Australia they teach the guide dogs to read![1]

Gideon was one of the = heroes of faith, whom God called to leadership during the period of the Judges. But he never would have done what = he did if God had not given Gideon a sign. Actually, God gave him three signs, although it was mostly because Gideon kept asking for proof that God was still with him.

The time of the judges= was a period in Hebrew history in which the people would continually fall away fr= om God, some foreign people would conquer them, then God would raise up a lead= er to restore his people and get them back on the right track. This would last until the foreign gods or the foreign women started to look good again, at which point the whole cycle would repeat itself.

When Gideon lived, the= bad guys were the Midianites. The= y were terrorizing the Hebrews so much that Gideon was threshing his father’s wheat in the wine press, a big hole in the ground, trying to hide from the Midianites. Now some Bible illustrations may picture Gideon as a big, macho warrior, but I picture him= as more like Woody Allen, a crafty but wimpy little Jewish guy. If Woody Allen is before or after = your time, think of Barney Fife, the deputy in Mayberry. Or Steve Erkel, the nerdy boy from= Family Matters. Make your own generational con= nection there.

One day the angel of t= he Lord appeared to Gideon, called to him, and said, “The Lord is with y= ou, you mighty warrior.” Gideon told the angel he was the weakest man in = the weakest clan in the whole territory—not exactly a good candidate for military leadership.

Besides that, Gideon h= ad some theological issues: “If the Lord is with us, why has all this bad stuff happened? I know the Lo= rd brought us out of slavery in Egypt and all that, but lately it’s been kind of rough around here.”<= o:p>

The angel responded, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midia= n. I hereby commission you.”

Gideon responded, “Yeah, me and what army?”

The angel said, “= ;I am with you, and that’s all you need to destroy the Midianites.”

But Gideon wanted proof. So he told this strange visitor to think of a sign to give him while he fixed him something to eat. When Gideon brought back a nice plate of meat and bread and broth, the angel touched it with his staff and the whole thing caught fire and went up in smoke. I think that would qua= lify as a sign! The Scripture says= , “Then Gideon perceived that it w= as the angel of the Lord.”[2]

So Gideon began the anti-Midianite campaign, first of all by destroying the local Midianite idol-worship center, the pillar of Ba’al. The faithful Hebrews began to gath= er at his side. The battle was imminent. But again Gideon was unsure. He wanted another sign. So he said to God, “I’m going to put this fleece outside during the night. If I wake up and there’s dew= on the fleece, but not on the ground, I will know you are with me.” So he did, and so it was.

Gideon said, “How about two out of three? IR= 17;ll put the fleece out again, and if the fleece is dry and the ground wet, then it’s off to war we go!” The next morning, the fleece was dry, and the ground was wet. So they prepared for battle agains= t the evil Midianites.

Now God had a problem.= Gideon had amassed such an army th= at it really was conceivable that they might actually defeat the Midianites. God wanted to show that he was the= power behind the Hebrew victory. So= he had Gideon announce, “Everybody who is scared can go home!” When the dust cleared, two-thirds = of the army was gone. But it was sti= ll too large, so God had Gideon lead the army to the river, and whichever men drank from the river like animals, lapping up the water like dogs, those were the ones who got to stay. (Don= 217;t try to figure this out; just go with the story.) So with three hundred fearless wat= er-lappers, Gideon faced the massive Midianite army, poised for victory. Despite the odds, Gideon was confi= dent because he had been given the signs.

Don’t you wish sometimes that God would = give you a sign of his presence? W= oody Allen, our Gideon prototype, once said, “If only God would give me so= me clear sign! Like making a lar= ge deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.”[3] That’s not the kind of sign = God usually gives. But if we open= our spiritual eyes, we can see the sig= ns he gives to people of faith. = We know God is with us.

Look around.&= nbsp; See what God is doing in this community of faith. This church is a sign that God is = with us and that God is still at work in the world.

Look inside.&nbs= p; Inside of you is where you know it’s real. We experience the presence of God.= We feel the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit witnesses to our spirit that we are his children.= = = [4] That’s a sign.

Look outside. The activity of God is bigger than= the four walls of this church. We= are called to go outside the boundaries of our sanctuary, to reach out to those= who are lost and broken and hurting. Lost people matter to God, and the opportunities for ministry with t= hose outside the faith are signs that God still has work for us to do in the world.

Look to Jesus.&nb= sp; When we talk about signs of God’s love and mercy and power= and salvation, Jesus is the ultimate sign.&nbs= p; His name, Emmanuel, means God is with us. His death and resurrection prove God’s love toward us. Look at this table, covered with the bread and wine, his body and blood, the best sign we have of God’s continui= ng presence with us. We have the signs.

Now, follow the signs. It’s not enough just to see the signs of God.&n= bsp; We have to act on them. We can perceive the signs and even understand the truth claims of Christianity= and still die in our sins because we failed to do what the signs told us to do.=

In Italy, there is a volcano called Mt. Vesuvius. It is still an active volcano, last erupting in 1944. Its most famous eruption was in 79= A.D., when it literally exploded with a force that scientists estimate was equal = to 40 atomic bombs. The nearby c= ities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were rapidly covered in 20 = feet of superheated volcanic ash and debris.&nb= sp; The destruction was so swift that people were killed in the midst of their daily routine—children at play, women at the market, slaves at = work, the rich in the baths—it was total and almost instantaneous annihilation.

The sad thing is, the = people didn’t have to die. Rom= an writers record and geologists confirm that there were plenty of signs of the coming explosion. Weeks of ru= mblings and tremors preceded the eruption. A plume of smoke rose from the central vent of the volcano. If only they had paid attention to= the signs!

Jesus told his discipl= es the night before he died, “If you= know these things, blessed are you if y= ou do them.”[5] You know the signs of the liv= ing God; act on them!

Gideon was blessed with victory because he not only saw the signs, he followed God’s call into action. Having amassed his ar= my of 300 fearless, water-lapping Hebrews, they devised a plan to surprise the massive Midianite force. He a= rmed each soldier with a torch, a clay jar, and a trumpet—real weapons of destruction. They were to sne= ak down to the Midianite camp in the middle of the night, surround the camp, b= reak the jars that covered the torches, blow their trumpets and shout, “For the Lord and for Gideon!”

The plan worked to perfection. The crash of the = jars woke the camp, and they could see by the light of 300 torches that they were surrounded. The sound of 300 trumpet blasts ignited fear in their hearts. If there were 300 trumpeters, how = many warriors must there be out there in the darkness? Then the shout went up, “A s= word for the Lord and for Gideon!” (It wasn’t what they practiced, but it sounded more aggressive.) The Midianites f= lew into a panic and began to kill each other, and the ones who weren’t killed ran for their lives. Gideon’s army, joined by forces from the surrounding tribes of= Israel,= chased the Midianites completely out of the country, and peace was restored.<= /o:p>

Gideon achieved the victory because he saw the s= igns of God, and he acted on them.

Our national pastime depends on signs to bring victory to a team. Baseball p= layers have to watch for the signs. Pitchers have to watch the catcher for the sign of which pitch to throw. Batters have to watch = the coach for instructions about what to do—take a strike, bunt, hit away, and so forth. These instructi= ons are communicated through signs.

Back in the 1970’= ;s, Bill Veeck owned the Chicago White Sox baseball team, and one of the coache= s he hired was a former White Sox star named Minnie Minoso. Minoso had a good pro career in the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s.&n= bsp; But Bill Veeck, being a whiz at promoting his baseball team, began to play Minoso in an occasional game. People would pay to see this old guy, now in his fifties, who could still play with the younger men.

One day Minoso was pla= ying in a game and was up to bat. = He looked at the third base coach and got the sign to hit. On the very next pitch he swung mi= ghtily and dribbled a slow ground ball into the infield. It was a pitiful thing. But what was great was the way Min= oso responded to his hit. He took= off down the first base line with all the passion and pride of a real professional. He was in his f= ifties, and he couldn’t run as fast as he used to, but he could still move pr= etty well. He ran that ground ball= out all the way, never slowing down until he had crossed first base at a dead run. He was out by a mile, bu= t the White Sox fans loved it. It w= as so inspiring to see Minnie Minoso give it his all that they gave him a standing ovation.

He had seen the sign; = he had acted on the sign; and in that moment Minnie Minoso had become the sign. = He was a sign of the passion and love for the game that was more important then whether or not he had actually made the hit. He was the spirit of baseball. He was the love of the game. He was victorious because of who h= e was.

There is our goal as p= eople of faith today. See the sign.= Follow the sign. Become the sign. Let your life b= ecome a sign to others of the K= ingdom of God in our midst= . When there is a consistency between your beliefs and your behavior, you win a personal spiritual victory. B= ut you also become a witness of the power and presence of God—a light to the world!

Look for the signs of = God today—in the church around you, in the Spirit within you, in the opportunities before you, in Christ at the table. Follow the signs; act consistently= like a disciple of Jesus Christ. A= nd you will achieve the victory. You= will become a sign of the King= dom of God! Amen!