Chase the Lion - Benaiah
2 Samuel 23:20-23
1 Chronicles 11:22-25
1 John 4:4
June 5, 2022
Some of you may know this, most of you don’t know this . . . last year I was asked to be the volunteer police chaplain for Alexandria. I didn’t have to think too long before I said, ‘sure, I’d love to, but I really didn’t know much about being a police chaplain.’ Long story - short, I went to a conference, have a mentor who I can talk to and have learned a lot along the way, most especially on the job.
The reason I say this, is that I’ve had the opportunity to ride along, to be involved in some crime scenes, usually they’re death scenes, so they’re not pleasant. But one of the things I want to talk about to start this message, and please understand this is not a political statement.
One of the things I was told early on when doing a ride along, is I am always to follow the instructions of the officer. They have no clue what they are walking into, but they go. In one of the books I read, the author, Dave Grossman, compares police officers to sheep dogs. They are the protectors, they are the ones who fight off the wolves in order to protect the sheep, sometimes at their own peril.
There’s a lot of bad press about police officers, but most of them, and I would say the majority are really, really good and they care. I’ve been involved in bloody scenes, and it was the officers who cleaned up as much as the could. They are the first responders.
We can remember 9/11 and we know of many fire fighters and police officers who went back into the burning buildings in order to save as many people as possible, even knowing they might be killed and many were in the process.
This leads me to the topic for the next 3 weeks. We’re going to talk about a theme from a book with a really interesting topic. As part of it, we’re going to look at 3 guys who really stepped out in what some may call blind ignorance, but what I would call the certainty of faith. The book’s by Mark Batterson,
And it’s called In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day
How’s that for a title. And it’s biblical. It’s a story about one of the men in King David’s bodyguard. It’s about one of his soldiers who was more like a sheepdog. It’s the story about a man named Benaiah. We’re going to look at his story and the story of a couple of other men from this section of scripture. I’m going to read a passage from 1 Chronicles 11:22-25 - - -
22 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds.
He struck down two heroes of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a snowy day.
23 And he struck down an Egyptian, a man of great stature, 7 ½ feet tall.
The Egyptian had in his hand a spear like a weaver's beam, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear.
24 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and won a name beside the three mighty men.
25 He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard. - 1 Chronicles 11:22-25
So, that’s Benaiah! He doesn’t sound like a guy you want to mess with. We’re going to look at some of these warriors and what their stories can teach us. Even though most of them are short and brief, I think we can learn from them.
The challenge in stories like this are that we know the outcome. We know Benaiah wins the battle. It’s like when we read the NT, we read with modern eyes, and we know and believe in the resurrection. So we look at the disciples and think they are knuckleheads for not believing, but we think that way because we know the end of the story and they didn’t.
Normally at moments like this one for Benaiah, when we see a lion, we tend to either stand still or run. Of course running isn’t going to help, since the lion is going to pass you in a matter of seconds. But our instinct at those moments is to run! But, as Mark Batterson explained in his book, ‘lion chasers aren’t wired that way. They don’t run away from what they’re afraid of. They run to the roar.’
We don’t know where Benaiah was going or what Benaiah was doing when he crossed paths with this lion. All we know is his gut reaction, and it was gutsy. Lions are ferocious. They have sharp teeth and claws. They have a loud roar and are fast and weigh around 500 pounds.
I’m not getting into a pit on a snowy day with a lion. At least not on my own. But you’ve got to admit, it looks great on your résumé if you’re applying for a bodyguard position with the king of Israel, if you can prove it happened. I mean maybe Benaiah took a snapchat or tweeted about it. Hey look what I did today!
Benaiah landed a job as King David’s bodyguard. And he eventually became commander - in - chief of Israel’s army under King Solomon. He was the second most powerful person in the kingdom. Maybe it all came back to those few moments of courage.
What about for us . . . especially on this communion Sunday, as we talk about Jesus dying for us, not running from the cross, but running to it, for you and I.
What about us . . . are we running away from something?
Do we hear the roar and we turn and run from it?
Is fear dictating our decisions?
Or are we going to live by faith and maybe even run to the roar and chase the lion?
Now, you know we’re talking metaphorically. I haven’t seen lions roaming our streets, ever. But, sometimes God places something in front of you and you have to decide if you’re going to go after that God-ordained, God-sized dream . . . or not. If you don’t, you’re robbing yourself and God of His glory.
Sometimes, and I know this is going to sound not so good, sometimes in God’s kingdom you can break even and still lose.
I know that sounds pretty ominous, but we tend to play it safe. And honestly, there’s a time to play it safe. When we invest our money, when we’re younger, we’re advised to accept more risk to go to the roar, when we’re older and thinking about retirement, we play it safer and move from the roar. That all makes sense. In some ways, you can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right.
But what about those moments in life, and we have them at all ages, younger and older. We hope to break even. We hedge our bets. Not that we’re gambling, but we want to be safe.
Think about the parable of talents that Jesus told in Matthew 25. It’s long, so, I’ll summarize it. A master was leaving town and gave 3 servants money to hold for him. The first one doubled his money. The second one doubled his money. Both were praised by the master and told - - -
23 ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ - Matthew 25
But the third servant believed the master was a hard man and he hid his money in the ground. So, when the master asked him for an accounting he said - - -
25 I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.
26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant!
27 You ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.
The master ends by saying - - -
29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
That’s kind of the image I’m thinking of. If we always run from the opportunity, even though it may be a bit risky, will we ultimately run out of those opportunities?
Will God finally say, fully exasperated - - - “I’ve given Deutsch 1000 opportunities to show his faith, there’s not going to be 1001. He’s not going after it, so he’s done.”
I’m not sure that’s how God works, but eventually, I think we run out of those opportunities or we stop seeing them as opportunities, which may be a better way to look at it. But we miss out! And when we miss out, we miss out on the opportunity to honor and glorify God, as well as grow in who God calls us to be.
As we think about this image from Benaiah, I want to add a disclaimer . . . on the one hand, we take to take some chances in life, but on the other hand, we need to use God’s wisdom in the moment. So, don’t say ‘pastor Michael said just go for it, so tomorrow, I’m going to quit my job.’
I think you should really pray about those types of decisions. Remember the story about Peter walking on water. If you’re going to get out of the boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, you’d better make sure Jesus said, “Come.” And if Jesus says, “Come,” then you’d better not stay in the boat and you better start walking on water.
I hope that makes sense.
I want each of us to have God sized dreams and hopes and visions. They have to be from God so they can succeed. We may succeed on our own, but if God is calling you to fight a 500 pound lion on a snowy day, in a pit, then you should fight the lion, of course, another sermon would be how to distinguish between God’s voice and your voice.
When God calls you to do something, He’s not going to call you to do something wrong or bad or immoral or unethical or something which goes against His nature and goodness. So, that becomes a quick barometer.
If I thought God was saying, “Go steal from the rich and give to the poor.” While some would say it’s a noble idea, it’s not who God is. So, don’t do it.
If I thought God was saying to do something else which is contrary to His nature, I shouldn’t do it. No questions asked.
But if God was asking me to do something beyond my comfort zone, something which I didn’t think was possible, then, maybe there’s something to it. Because in the end, in those types of situations, you know who gets the glory? God does. As long as we’re willing to fess up that it was all God and not us.
Let me give you a personal example - - -
When I was growing up I was a shy kid. I didn’t hide behind my parents, but I really didn’t want to talk to people, especially strangers. I was probably a little awkward in that sense. For you introverts, you know what I’m saying.
When I was in high school, I had to take a speech class. I was probably marred for life when I had to give an impromptu speech. We pulled some topic out of a hat and my topic to talk about for 2 minutes was PINK FLOYD. I had no idea what a pink floyd was. I got no help and had to stammer through 2 minutes of torture. I’ve come to love the music group Pink Floyd, but that day was terrible.
In college I had a speech class and could feel my knees trembling and my voice quivering as I spoke. I hated it! I know, that’s a bad word, but that’s how I felt.
When I was an auditor and had to hold exit interviews, I was panicking and nervous, even with 5 or 6 people in the room.
Then for whatever reason I went to seminary. I know this is a long story, but I’m painting a picture for you. And why I went to seminary and thought I’d be a pastor when I freaked out talking in front of people, still boggles my mind. But I believed God was saying . . .
Get out of the boat and walk on water.
And for whatever reason I did. My first class I should have dropped out, because it was an evangelism class and we had to talk to total strangers. I did tell you I was shy, but I did it, kind of.
But I stayed in seminary. For 3 weeks, someone asked if I would teach a Bible study at their church. I don’t know where it was and what I taught. All I remember is this . . .
I felt so free to teach and talk and interact with the people it was crazy! And it was God blessing me for being faithful to Him. It was not me! When you see me and hear me on a Sunday morning, if you like my preaching, I still think you should have your head examined . . . but that’s a different issue for another day . . .
If you actually like it, you need to know this was me chasing after that 500 pound roaring lion and saying “OK God, I give. I’m going to stop running away. I’m going to go after what You are calling me to do. I don’t believe I can do it, but I’m going to try.”
Sometimes, as Batterson says, faith is the willingness to look foolish. I can’t imagine anything more foolish than chasing a lion. Right? But that’s faith.
I felt foolish quitting a great job, as a rising investment auditor, to go to seminary. But faith is the willingness to look foolish.
Noah looked foolish building an ark.
Sarah looked foolish buying maternity clothes.
David looked foolish going into battle with a slingshot.
Benaiah looked foolish chasing a lion.
The Wise Men looked foolish following a star.
Peter looked foolish getting out of the boat.
And Jesus looked foolish hanging half naked on a cross.
Faith is the willingness to look foolish. And the results speak for themselves.
Noah was saved from the flood.
Sarah gave birth to Isaac.
David defeated Goliath.
Benaiah killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day.
The Wise Men found the Messiah.
Peter walked on water.
And Jesus was raised from the dead.
Don’t say you can’t! Say you can. Strive to follow the dreams God has planted within you.
Batterson’s 2nd definition of faith is - - - unlearning our fears.
You can run away from what you’re afraid of, but you’ll be running away the rest of your life. Don’t let fear dictate your decisions! Most of us wrestle with the fear of failure. But we have that fear all backwards in our minds.
In 1 John 4:4 - John tells us - - -
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. - 1 John 4:4
He who is in you is greater than he (satan) who is in the world. God is greater, God is bigger, God is the One, the only One who can help us be those overcomers.
In the end, failure in my mind is giving up. It’s saying “NO WAY! Unh-uh! I’m not going there, I’m not trying!” That’s failure.
You see, some people say Peter failed at walking on water. No he didn’t fail! He just didn’t succeed as much as he hoped for and that’s the key to the story of Benaiah.
The world would have called Benaiah a failure. But he wouldn’t have been. He just wouldn’t have succeeded as much as he hoped for. That’s the bottom line for all of us.
It’s to embrace what God is placing before us. Sometimes it looks like a 500 pound roaring lion, when in reality it’s just a little pussy cat meowing.
What and who is God calling you to be?
