OPEN: (We played the opening to the original Superman series, as well as displaying a picture of George Reeves - which stayed on the overhead thru the first illustration - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2l4bz1FT8U)
"Faster than a locomotive. More powerful than a speeding bullet. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look! Up in the air! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Superman.
Superman. Visitor from a strange planet endowed with powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men. Superman. Who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet, wages a never ending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way."
George Reeves was one of original actors who portrayed Superman on TV. But his fame was not without certain risks. Every time he donned his superman suit in public there were people who would kick him in the shins, hit him in his back with their fists, and otherwise assault him. His young admirers didn’t mean any harm really… they were just eager to prove how strong the "Man of Steel" really was. This was their idol.
One afternoon in Detroit in 1953, Reeves’ costume nearly cost him his life. He was making an appearance at a department store when a young fan pulled out his father’s loaded .45 caliber Army Colt and pointed it directly at Reeves’ chest. Miraculously, Reeves talked the kid into putting it down. He assured the boy that Superman could stand the force of the shot, but "when bullets bounce off my chest, they might hurt you and others around here."
APPLY: That seems crazy doesn’t it? To think, that just the appearance of George Reeves in his Superman costume would elicit such a response from people. But, there was something about that suit that set George Reeves apart.
If he’d walked into that Department store simply wearing a business suit, or a Hawaiian shirt, he might have been mobbed by his fans… but I doubt they would have hit him – or pointed a gun at him. It was the suit that set him apart
(Here we displayed a montage of Superman’s from the first TV superman up thru Dean Cain of "Lois and Clark")
It was the suit that stood for “Truth, Justice, and the American Way”
It was the suit that struck fear into the hearts of evil doers
And it was the suit that created hope in the hearts of the down trodden
It was the suit that set Superman apart
He was a strange visitor from another planet, endowed with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.
But (pause)… he was fiction.
The red caped Superman has never existed except in the lands of TV, movies and comic books
I. Years ago, however, there lived a real superman – born in a little Smallville known as Zorah
He may not have been faster than a speeding bullet
More powerful than a locomotive
Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound
BUT I suspect he could have bent steel in his bare hands
His name was Samson.
Just as an example of how powerful Samson was:
"…Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and he came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion roared against him and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid; and he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done." (Judges 14:5-6 RSV)
"When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the ropes which were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand and seized it, and with it he slew a thousand men." (Judges 15:14-15 RSV)
"The Gazites were told, ’Samson has come here,’ and they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, ’Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.’ But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is before Hebron." (Judges 16:2-3 RSV)
Samson killed a lion with his bare hands
Wiped out 1000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey
AND uprooted a city gate, carrying it nearly 40 miles away.
Samson was not someone you messed with.
To paraphrase an old Jim Croce song:
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit in the wind, you don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger… and you don’t mess around with Samson
The Philistines feared him, the Israelites adored him, and everybody knew WHO he was
Just like Superman and his cape, Samson had one thing that set apart from mortal men. One distinctive mark, one unique characteristic that even to this day identifies Samson as a superhero. When you think of Samson, what do you think of? (his long hair )
Samson’s long hair was the mark of his vow to God
From the date of his birth till sometime just before his death, he never cut his hair.
Can you imagine how long his hair must have been?
ILLUS: When I first started dating my wife, she was 17 years old and had not cut her hair for a long, long time. It hung down below her waist, and sometimes when she sat down, she sat on her hair.
If my wife’s hair was that long at 17, you have a rough idea how long Samson’ must have been. Samson didn’t need to wear a cape… he was growing it on his head
II. Samson’s hair was the outward mark of his Nazirite vow.
Numbers 6:2-8 "Say to the people of Israel, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins. "All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long. "All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. Neither for his father nor for his mother, nor for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean; because his separation to God is upon his head. All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD."
Notice: A Nazirite was required to observe the following guidelines:
He was never to cut his hair
He was never to drink alcoholic beverages
And He was never to touch a corpse (a dead human body)
AND as long as he observed these regulations – he was HOLY unto the LORD
Samson was committed to those rules even before he was born. As far as I could tell (and I examined these chapters in Judges fairly closely) Samson never broke THOSE rules. He had other problems in his life, other sins - but he never broke those rules.
(see appendix #1)
Now, what was distinctive about Samson was that he was the only Nazirite ever endowed with superhuman strength because of his vow.
Some believe Samuel was a life long Nazirite (because of things that are said about him in Scriptures). Others strongly believe John the Baptist was one.
BUT neither of them had the gift of strength that Samson had. Samson was unique, distinctive, special – and I think there was a reason for that.
III. The reason? I believe Israel NEEDED a hero like Samson. A superhuman hero.
Look again at Judges 13:1. In the first verse of the chapter, God sets the stage for the reason He is creating a hero like Samson:
"Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for 40 years."
Forty years is a long time. How many of you are under 40 year old? (about 1/2 of the congregation raised their hands). Can you imagine what it would be like to live your entire life totally dominated by a cruel and repressive nation like the Philistines? Israel had done what was evil in God’s sight. And because of that, they were delivered by God into bondage to the Philistines. Israel became a whipped people.
For example, when the Israelites were threatened because of Samson’s exploits, they complained to Samson:, "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" (Judges 15:11) They just wanted to be left alone and here Samson was bringing the wrath of their overlords down upon them.
But Israel’s dilemma had been their own fault.
You see, because of Israel’s failure to set themselves apart TO God…
And because of their failure to separate themselves FROM the uncleanness & the deadness of the culture around them they were now weakened and in bondage.
Samson was God’s OBJECT LESSON to the Israelites. Through Samson, God was saying to Israel:
"If you want to be strong "
"If you want to be confident."
"If want the Philistines to fear you."
The key is:
· don’t get drunk like other nations,
· don’t touch unclean things
· and don’t defile yourselves with the death & decay of their way of life
By his very existence Samson was billboard declaring “separate yourselves.” Make yourselves a HOLY PEOPLE for your God.
IV. Back to Superman. Why was he so strong?
Was it because of his cape? Or because of what he ate? Was it because Clark Kent worked out at the gym every day?
NO… (pause). Then why was Superman strong? He was strong because he was "a strange visitor from another planet."
NOW - why was Samson so strong?
Was it because of his vow? Was it because he didn’t eat unclean foods, and touch unclean things? Was it because he didn’t cut his hair? NO, NOT REALLY! If that were true, every Nazirite would have had Samson’s strength.
Samson’s was strong because – years before he was even born - his parents were visited by a strange visitor from another realm.
REREAD: Judges 13:3-7 (the angel of the LORD appearing to Samson’s mother)
As you read these words, you realized that Samson had his strength because God’s angel had come with a promise. Samson’s strength didn’t rest with his hair. Samson’s strength came from God.
…And that’s the way it’s always been for God’s people.
David wrote:
The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. Ps 28:7
The LORD is the strength of his people, he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Ps 28:8
A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death, and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and shield. Yea, our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Ps 33:16-21
And that’s just in the Old Testament
In the New Testament, Paul writes to us:
“… be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” (Eph 6:10)
– JUST LIKE SAMSON – Our strength lies with God
Jesus said: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
In other words, if you’re not connected to Jesus… if He doesn’t abide in you and work thru you… you may as well go down to Charlie’s Barber Shop and get a buzz job… because you will have no real strength without Jesus. You might be able to do many things in this life, but without Jesus - nothing of any value will last.
It is when we realize that it is in God’s strength that we have any impact in our lives that we can begin to make a difference in life. Paul recognized that and he wrote:
“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2Co 12:10)
And again: “I can do all things in him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)
CLOSE: I learned this lesson many years ago when I was attending a secular college. I was a "wet behind the ears" freshman and had taken an elective class called "Religions of the West." I had thought it would be interesting to learn the backgrounds of the three great religions of western civilization: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But the professor had an entirely different agenda in mind.
He began with Judaism (the oldest of the 3 religions) and began to systematically attack it. He challenged the Mosaic authorship of the five books of the Pentateuch, declaring that Moses hadn’t written them, but that instead they were a collection of various authors. I was shocked. I’d never heard of such a thing. So I raised my hand. I told him that this was not what I’d always been taught and that Moses indeed wrote these 5 books. Looking back, I can imagine how ludicrous I must have appeared. But he was kind and simply informed me that this was what the majority of scholars believed.
Again he attacked the Old Testament Scriptures. Again I raised my hand. Again I offered a pitiful challenge to his words. And again, he would say: "This is what the majority of scholars believe." This was repeated over and over throughout his class.
Now, I admit to being a little slow. But it did eventually occurred to me that I wasn’t doing too well in this contest and that eventually my teacher was going to use the same destructive methods on the New Testament that he’d used on the Old. So I went down to the college "Campus House" and asked for any reading material they could give me that would prepare me.
Sure enough, when the professor finished with the Old Testament he moved on to the Gospels, questioning their authenticity with the same disdain he had shown earlier. But now I was ready. I raised my hand and pointed out that other scholars disagreed and I cited their reasoning. He paused for a moment as if not sure how to respond. Then he simply said "the majority of scholars agree with me."
At every turn, the scene was the same. He’d attack the New Testament, I’d counter with whatever scholarly information I had gathered and he’d respond: "The majority of scholars…"
The other students in the class must have thought I was a major headache. They must have either viewed me as a wild eyed fanatic or a pathetic loser. And I wasn’t really comfortable with the ongoing discussion myself. I had been raised to respect those in authority - not challenge them in public debate.
At the mid-term exam, I wrote at the bottom of the test: "I’m really sorry to have made such a problem for you in your class. But you must understand how important this is to me. I promise I will not bother you again. You are done with the Bible and now you’re going on to discuss Islam. I don’t care about Islam and you can say whatever you want about them. I promise to stop bothering you. I am sorry."
As far as I was concerned the issue was over. I was finished with the matter… but apparently God wasn’t. God had just gotten started.
The Professor launched into Islam. Islam led him to Black Muslims. Black Muslims led to racial prejudice. And racial prejudice brought him to WWII. He said "The reason we dropped the bomb on the Japanese and not the Germans was because the Germans were white and the Japanese weren’t."
Now, like I said, I probably wasn’t the smartest kid in class, but I listened to enough history lessons to know that didn’t sound quite right.
However, I didn’t say anything. I didn’t raise my hand or stomp from the room. I just sat there. But I must have done something. Maybe I dropped my head in disbelief or gave some other slight cue that once again I disagreed, because almost immediately the teacher said "All right, Strite. What’s wrong now?"
I responded, "well, I have always been taught that we didn’t have the bomb until after the Germans surrendered."
"We did too," he replied. "We had the bomb in 1942."
Well, what did I know? As far as I knew, the government lied to us all the time anyway (this was an era of post-Vietnam and Watergate). Why should this be any different? Once again I had been put in my place. My ignorance obvious in the glaring light of this knowledgeable professor.
But that’s when God played His trump card. One row behind me and 3 or 4 seats over, a girl raised her hand and said "I’m sorry sir, you’re wrong. My father worked on that project, and we didn’t have the bomb until after the German’s surrendered."
God had set him up. God had allowed my ignorance and foolish arguments to challenge the wisdom of a college professor to the point where the teacher was often reduced to saying "the majority of scholars agree with me." And yet when the one time there was an actual authority in the room, it had confirmed what I was saying and proved the professor wrong. Suddenly, every argument that the teacher had won became suspect and God became glorified through my weakness.
You see, God isn’t interested in how how intellegent we are or how well we perform. He’s only interested in our faithfulness. He’s only interested in us being set apart to be used by Him. When we’re willing to be used... then He can take our weaknesses and turn them into His strength.
Appendix #1- Samson’s recorded sins were the following:
1. He married a Philistine woman (tho’ it appears he did not consummate the union). It is worth noting that when Samson’s father objects, the Bible tells us that this attraction to the Philistine was "of God." (see my sermon on that text for further thoughts on this). However, though it was against the Law of God to marry a Philistine, it did not "technically" violate his Nazirite vow.
2. Samson touched the dead body of lion. Although this was also be a violation of the Law of Moses (and would have made him unclean for a period of time) once again, this did not "technically" violate his vow either.
3. Samson went into a prostitute. Again, the vow did not address this sin. But it is interesting, that when Samson arose in the night and carried away the city gate, the text omits a phrase that shows up almost every other time Samson displays his strength: the Bible does NOT say "and the Spirit of the Lord was upon him."
4. Samson apparently lived with Delilah. Again a sin, again not addressed by the vow.
This does not in any way excuse Samson for his behavior, but it does point up the tendency by religious people (even preachers) to compartmentalize their lives.
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES:
Visitor From A Strange Planet = Judges 13:1-13:25
The Man From Smallville = Judges 14:1-15:2
The Superman and his Kryptonite = Judges 16:1-16:31
