Judges and Smudges (A Reflection on Judges for Ash Wednesday)
Yesterday (March 2), we observed Ash Wednesday and
began the Season of Lent. If you want to know more about Lent, you can read a
basic introduction online: (CLICK
HERE)
If you would prefer to watch a video introduction to Lent:
If you would prefer to watch a video introduction to Lent:
- Chuck Knows Church Intro to Lent (United Methodist)
- Ridiculously Charming Catholic Priest’s Intro to Lent
Things are moving quickly with my weekly sermons.
- Last Sunday I preached on Joshua. You can watch that message online: CLICK HERE
- For Ash Wednesday I preached on Judges. I’ve included that message below
- And this coming Sunday (March 6), I will preach on the Book of Ruth. Stay tuned!
Way back at the beginning of The Bible Year, we learned three important truths from the opening chapters of Genesis. These truths frame everything we will read in the Bible.
- God has made us in the divine image and we part of a good and beautiful creation. (Genesis 1:26-27)
- We struggle with a downward spiral of sin, rebellion, and disobedience. (Genesis 3-4)
- God never gives up on creation, or us, but continually works for our redemption and restoration (2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2; Galatians 3:26-29).
Keep that framework in mind as you reflect on the readings of Joshua and Judges. We certainly see the pattern of sin and God’s determination to redeem us. And that is our focus in Lent: confessing our sinfulness, receiving God’s forgiveness, and allowing God to redeem us, restore us, and reform us into the image of Christ.
Here is my message from Ash Wednesday. I used ideas from the Amplify video on Judges, as well as, some key insights from my Study Bible and previous Ash Wednesday messages.
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The scriptures we read tonight (Joel 2:1-2,12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6,16-21) are the traditional readings for Ash Wednesday. They are calls to confession and repentance, reconciliation and grace. We will spend the next six weeks focused on getting right with God as we prepare ourselves for Holy Week and Easter, walking once again in the footsteps of Jesus through his passion, death, and resurrection.
The journey always begins with those words from the prophet Joel - 12Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart.
Tonight we begin with dust and ashes. We are marked with ashes as a reminder of our mortality. We are dust and to dust we shall return. But Lent also points us beyond this dust. The ashes that we wear on this day are a reminder that death is not the end of our life in God.
If we accept that message, then everything changes. Every moment that might be counted as loss instead holds the potential for new beginnings and new life.
· Instead of anxiety, we live in hope.
We face situations that break our hearts daily, and yet we declare those same hearts belong to God. We acknowledge that we have strayed from God’s ways, and yet we repent: we change our hearts and our lives towards the good.
Return to me with all your heart, says the Lord. This is the call of Lent.
So how do we do it?
The invitation is to observe a holy Lent. As we know from our readings in the Torah, holy is defined as “set apart.” So we set apart these six weeks for God.
We commit to spiritual disciplines for the good of our souls: self-examination, prayer, reading and meditating on scripture.
And we let go of some things to make more room for God in our life. We practice self-denial and fasting. Giving something up for Lent is one form of fasting. As you consider making that commitment, simply ask if what you are giving up is giving more space for God in your life.
Or ask it the other way: what do I need to give up to make more room for God in my life?
This year, our congregation is reading through the whole Bible. If you haven’t yet participated, or have fallen behind, prayerfully consider whether following the readings during Lent might be a good discipline to take on.
Right now, we are in the Book of Judges and I was not sure how to make that fit into an Ash Wednesday message. Turns out, it fits quiet well.
As Judges begins, the Israelites are in possession of the land promised to Abraham’s descendants all the way back in Genesis 12. They are now free. They are no longer nomads like Abraham. They are no longer slaves in Egypt like Jacob’s descendants. They are no longer wanders in the desert, as their parents were under Moses.
And yet, despite their good fortune, they struggle to be faithful to God. Remember, God has called them to live as a holy people because God wanted the whole world to see the people of Israel and through them, come to know who God is and worship him alone.
But the Israelites are stuck in this cycle of disobedience. And the disobedience has its consequences. They hit rock bottom and cry out to God for help. God calls them to repent for what they have done wrong. And then God sends help to deliver them.
That help are leaders called judges, not in the sense of our judges today who administer the law. These judges, both men and women, were leaders who helped rescue Israel from opposing forces, getting them back to the Covenant and an obedient, holy life.
Twelve times in the book of Judges we see the cycle repeat: disobedience, a cry for help, and God’s deliverance. Does that sound familiar? How many times have we been stuck in that same cycle? We hit rock bottom. We cry out to God – Lord help get me out of this. I promise I’ll never do that again. And this time, I mean it.
My favorite judge is Gideon.
We first meet Gideon in Judges 6. The Israelites have once again done things that the Lord saw as evil and so the Lord handed them over to the Midianites. Every time Israel planted crops or increased their herds, tribes would invade from across the Jordan River and destroy everything. So they cried out to the Lord and the Lord heard their cry.
The Lord chooses Gideon as the deliverer.
Gideon is not an impressive man. We meet him threshing wheat in a winepress to hide from the Midianites. Not exactly a bold, brave leader. And yet the Lord’s messenger greets him: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!” Irony is not lost in the Bible.
Gideon says, “With all due respect, my Lord, where have you been?” (summary translation)
The Lord responds, “Well, I’m sending you now to rescue Israel. You have the strength.”
Gideon says, “With all due respect, my Lord, are you mental? (my rough interpretation). My clan is the weakest of this tribe, and I’m the youngest of my household.”
Gideon was neither the few nor the proud. He was neither the best nor the brightest. But that is why God called him. If Gideon can do it, no one will deny that Lord is with them.
But Gideon requires some convincing. So he asks God for a sign. God gives him a sign. And then he asks for another sign, and then another one after that. Gideon is conflicted, he is fearful, reluctant, and doubtful. God is patient with him. God is forgiving. God is faithful.
Gideon is God’s answer to everyone who has ever said, “the Lord would never call me to do anything.” If he can make use of Gideon, he can make use of anyone.
In chapter 7, Gideon is ready to lead the Israelites into battle against Midian. He has this huge army – 32,000 strong. The Lord said to him, “You have too many people. Tell anyone who is afraid or unsteady that they can go home.” 22,000 went home. 10,000 were left.
The Lord said to him again that there are still too many people. He tells Gideon to take them down to the water to get a drink and separate them based on how they drink the water. If they lay down and lap the water like a dog, set them to one side. If they bend down on their knees and drink from their hands, send them home. 9,700 went home. 300 were left.
Yet with a little bit of nighttime strategy, a few hundred trumpets, and some help from God, the Midianites went into a panic, turned swords on each other, and fled.
God was faithful. And God is still faithful today.
What is the lesson of this story for us on Ash Wednesday?
First, like the Israelites, we too are trapped in a seemingly inescapable sinful routine. We try over and over again to get a fresh start and turn over a new leaf, but then the same temptations come and we fall on our face again.
The Book of Judges reminds us of the reality of sin in our own lives and that we can so easily slip back into the same patterns if we are not diligent.
Where are you in the cycle of obedience and disobedience right now. Chances are there are areas of your life that are at relative peace with God.
But it is also likely that other areas of your life are not in such a good place. Where are you struggling to be totally faithful and obedient? Lent calls us to be honest about where we are in our relationship with God.
Second, once we are clear on where we are struggling, and what parts of our life need to return to God, we then need to pay attention to Gideon.
Now we aren’t fighting the Midianites. But dealing with our sinful habits is still a battle. We are wrestling with our pride. We are fighting our greed. We are battling our lust. We are struggling against envy and jealousy of others, wishing we had what they had. We are combatting despair, depression, and dejection. We are besieged by apathy, fatigue, and burnout. We feel burdened and overwhelmed. We long to breathe in deeply the new life promised by God.
Like Gideon, the path forward requires letting go. He went from 32,000 to 300. What is the equivalent for you? What do you need to give up, so that God can do what God needs to do in your life? What do you need to let go of? What do you need to strip away?
It is up to us to acknowledge our sins, to confess them, and to repent. Lent is a time of stripping away everything that keeps us from God.
Only then are we able to receive what God is offering.
Only then can God’s grace and forgiveness begin to heal us and put us back together again.
Only then will we truly know God’s salvation and the new life that awaits us at the end of Lent, in front of the empty tomb on Easter morning.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
INVITATION TO THE OBSERVANCE OF LENTEN DISCIPLINE
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
the early Christians observed with great devotion
the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection,
and it became the custom of the Church that before the Easter celebration
there should be a 40-day season of spiritual preparation.
During this season, converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.
It was also a time when persons who had committed serious sins
and had separated themselves from the community of faith
were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness,
and restored to participation in the life of the Church.
In this way the whole congregation was reminded
of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ
and the need we all have to renew our faith.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church,
to observe a
holy Lent:
by self–examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self–denial;
and by reading and meditating on God's Holy Word.
by self–examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self–denial;
and by reading and meditating on God's Holy Word.
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May the almighty and merciful God,
who desires not the death of a sinner
but that we turn from wickedness and live,
accept your repentance, forgive your sins,
and restore you by the Holy Spirit to newness of life. Amen.
[United Methodist Book of Worship]
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