Taking A Stand: Stories Of The People Of God
Judges 6: 25-32 April 30, 2006
Intro:
There comes a time when we need to take a stand for what it right. That is rarely easy – it often carries with it a price – but the cost is worth it.
In the last book of CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, called The Last Battle, the inhabitants of Narnia are being deceived into believing things about Aslan, the Christ figure, that are categorically false. In the bit I am going to read to you, the crowd is outside a stable which supposedly houses this “real” god, which is supposedly an all-powerful and terrifying god they are calling “Tashlan”. The deceivers are attempting to rule the people through fear, daring anyone to enter the stable. Among the crowd is Tirian, King of Narnia, who has been in hiding.
“Emeth came walking forward into the open strip of grass between the bonfire and the stable. His eyes were shining, his face very solemn, his hand was on his sword-hilt, and he carried his head high. Jill felt like crying when she looked at his face. And Jewel whispered in the King’s ear, “By the Lion’s mane, I almost love this young warrior, Calormene though he be. He is worthy of a better god than Tash.”
“I do wish we knew what is really inside there,” said Eustace.
Emeth opened the door and went in, into the black mouth of the stable. He closed the door behind him. Only a few moments passed – but it seemed longer – before the door opened again. A figure in Calormene armor reeled out, fell on its back, and lay still: the door closed behind it. The Captain leaped toward it and bent down to stare at its face. He gave a start of surprise. Then he recovered himself and turned to the crowd, crying out:
“The rash boy has had his will. He has looked on Tash and is dead. Take warning, all of you.”
“We will, we will,” said the poor Beasts. But Tirian and his friends stared first at the dead Calormene and then at one another. For they, being so close, could see what the crowd, being further off and beyond the fire, could not see: this dead man was not Emeth. He was quite different: an older man, thicker and not so tall, with a big beard.
“Ho-ho-ho,” chuckled the Ape. “Any more? Anyone else want to go in? Well, as you’re all shy, I’ll choose the next. You, you Boar! On you come. Drive him up, Calormenes. He shall see Tashlan face to face.”
“O-o-mph,” grunted the Boar, rising heavily to his feet. “Come on, then. Try my tusks.”
When Tirian saw that brave Beast getting ready to fight for its life – and Calormene soldiers beginning to close in on him with their drawn scimitars – and no one going to its help – something seemed to burst inside him. He no longer cared if this was the best moment to interfere or not.
“Swords out,” he whispered to the others. “Arrow on string. Follow.”
“Next moment the astonished Narnians saw seven figures leap forth in front of the stable, four of them in shining mail. The King’s sword flashed in the firelight as he waved it above his head and cried in a great voice:
“Here stand I, Tirian of Narnia, in Alsan’s name, to prove with my body that Tash is a foul fiend, the Ape a manifold traitor, and these Calormenes worthy of death. To my side, all true Narnians. Would you wait till your new masters have killed you all one by one?” (CS Lewis, The Last Battle, from chapter 10).
Time To Take A Stand:
It was time to take a stand, and King Tirian did. Last Sunday I shared the first part of the story of Gideon, where God called him and promised to be with him as he fought against the people who were oppressing the Israelites. I want to continue that story, picking up from where we left off last week in Judges 6:
23"It is all right," the LORD replied. "Do not be afraid. You will not die." 24And Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and named it "The LORD Is Peace." The altar remains in Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer to this day.
25That night the LORD said to Gideon, "Take the second best bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. 26Then build an altar to the LORD your God here on this hill, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down." 27So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household and the people of the town. He knew what would happen if they found out who had done it.
28Early the next morning, as the people of the town began to stir, someone discovered that the altar of Baal had been knocked down and that the Asherah pole beside it was gone. In their place a new altar had been built, and it had the remains of a sacrifice on it. 29The people said to each other, "Who did this?" And after asking around and making a careful search, they learned that it was Gideon, the son of Joash.
30"Bring out your son," they shouted to Joash. "He must die for destroying the altar of Baal and for cutting down the Asherah pole."
31But Joash shouted to the mob, "Why are you defending Baal? Will you argue his case? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal truly is a god, let him defend himself and destroy the one who knocked down his altar!" 32From then on Gideon was called Jerubbaal, which means "Let Baal defend himself," because he knocked down Baal’s altar.
Background:
A little bit of background will help us understand what is really going on in the story. When God told the Israelites to enter the promised land, He gave them a very direct command to get rid of all the inhabitants of the land, because God knew that if the other people remained the Israelites would gradually wander away from worshiping God and would adopt the religion of the people in the land. Baal and Asherah were two of the local gods, and we see in the story how the Israelites had been worshiping them instead of their God.
And then God calls Gideon to take a stand against this false worship, and to do so in a very public, very explosive ,very overt act – at the risk of his own life. Verse 27: “he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household and the people of the town. He knew what would happen if they found out who had done it.”
Obedience:
What I notice most is that Gideon obeyed God immediately. Even though he was afraid, even though he knew the consequences of his actions were likely to be death, Gideon obeyed. What an amazing transformation from the guy who, earlier that day, described himself as “the least” in a family that was “the weakest in the clan”. What brought the change? What brought the courage? What brought the obedience? Gideon met God, and he chose to believe the promise that God made to him, that God would be with him. Gideon chose to believe that the miracles he had heard about as past history could happen again, he chose to believe that the God who had delivered them from Egypt could deliver them from the Midianites, he chose to believe that God could even use him to accomplish God’s will.
The first task was a defining one – it was very clearly and publicly and dangerously declaring Gideon’s change in allegiance. He took a stand.
The Rallying Cry:
In the beginning of the story, it seems like Gideon is expecting a negative reaction even from his own family – “he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household.” But something unexpected happens – as the desecration of the Baal altar and Asherah pole is discovered, and the people of the town discover that Gideon was to blame and march up to his home, Gideon’s father Joash comes to Gideon’s defense and defies the cry of the mob.
The courage of one person often has just such an effect on others. Sometimes there are things that we have tolerated, that we know deep down are wrong but that we have not done anything about, and when one person courageously stands up against them other people of integrity rally around. The same thing happens to King Tirian in the rest of the story. And the same thing happens today.
This incident confirms Gideon’s call by God in the eyes of the people – he receives a new name, and is known as the person who will stand up against the enemies of God, and if you keep reading in Judges you will see how that turns out.
How It Applies:
How does all of this apply to my life and your life? This is a great story to lead into a cry against poverty. It is a great story to lead into a cry for us to serve the weakest members of our society. It is a great story to lead into a cry for Godly men and women to step into public service where we can influence the direction of our city and province and nation, and can exert considerable influence on our entire planet. And maybe the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about something like that this morning – some situation, some cause, some injustice which you have seen around you, which you have felt God nudging you to do something about, which you are to give your life to. If so, then obey! Do it, in the strength and power of the Spirit of God, for like Gideon, God will be with you.
But I suspect that for most of us that will not be the case this morning – most of us are probably not facing that kind of decision. So let me take it a slightly different direction by asking a question, which comes from me trying to imagine Gideon looking around on this life-changing day, and suddenly seeing his world very differently. The question is this: what is it that has slowly crept into your life and your home, which takes the place of God?
You see, I think that after meeting the living God, Gideon went home and had a vastly different reaction to the altar to Baal and to the Asherah pole. I think after meeting Jesus, he saw that these things that he had tolerated, that he had thought were no big deal, that he had put up with, were actually incredibly offensive. They violated the first commandment – “You shall have no other gods before me.”
And it brings me to the question, what has slowly crept into our life and our homes, which we put before god? I’ll offer some suggestions – material possessions. Many of us exert great, great effort to get “stuff” we want – the challenging question is do we devote more effort to the pursuit of stuff than to the pursuit of God? A second suggestion – entertainment. Many of us spend far more time seeking to be entertained than we do seeking to love others. A third suggestion – self-centeredness. Many of us put our desires, our comforts, our preferences ahead of God’s command that we first love God and then love one another.
Perhaps there are others; perhaps those ring true for you. If so, do something about it! Take a courageous stance, choose to do the right thing, make your relationship with God the most important thing in your life, make God your highest priority, make Him your first love. Whatever the cost, whatever the risk, whatever the potential negative consequences. It will be worth it.
