Iliff and Saltillo UM Churches
Dr. Marilyn S. Murphree
August 14, 2005
Taking on a New Identity in Christ
Judges6:11-24
INTRODUCTION: Today’s scripture talks about the most unlikely person in the world to be a leader and deliverer of Israel. Gideon at this point had a painful past that he was still having difficulty with. He had been so beat down psychologically by the fear of the Midianites that he was hiding out in a winepress trying to do his work. He may have been struggling with a lot of “ifs” and “whys” because in this scripture he verbalized these concerns to the angel of the Lord who visited him.
Today you may be experiencing some of the same concerns that Gideon was experiencing. You may be struggling with a painful past that is still defeating you. I have entitled this message “Taking on a New Identity in Christ.” Let’s see what we can get out of this Old Testament scripture that we can apply to our life today.
1. Labels of the Past: Gideon had many labels of the past placed on him by others as well as labels he placed on himself that prevented him from being what God wanted him to be. The day the angel of the Lord came to him, he was hiding in a winepress trying to do his work. People didn’t thresh grain in a winepress. But Gideon was so fearful of the Midianites who terrorized the land day in and day out that he was reduced to this lifestyle. The angel approached him by saying, “The Lord is with you mighty warrior!”
If you had been in Gideon’s shoes at that moment, how would you have responded? “Yeh, right! Sure he is.” Gideon said pretty much the same thing. IF the Lord is with us, why has all this happened?
WHERE are all His wonderful miracles that people told us about in the past?
But now the Lord has ABANDONED us.
He had a lot of “ifs” and “whys” and doubts. His faith was at a very low point.
The angel of the Lord didn’t pay much attention to all of this. He said, “Go in the strength you have [been given] and deliver Israel out of the hands of Midian. Am I not sending you? (vs. 14).
Gideon was not prepared for such an assignment. He not only had a lot of “ifs” and “whys” but his self talk revealed the self-defeating labels that stuck tight.
ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever tried to get the label off of a jar? Sometimes it is a real chore. This pickle jar is one that I want to put paint in. It is a nice size and has a use. But I don’t want it to be labeled “pickles” anymore. I want to get the old label off so it looks like this jar. Part of it has peeled off but there is still more work to do on it. [show the two jars].
The labels from Gideon’s past were sticking even more tightly than this. He came up with all kinds of objections. Look at me....
1. How can I?
2. My clan is the WEAKEST in Manasseh
3. I’m the LEAST in my family (The Message Bible says, “I’m the runt of the litter.”
4. IF you are really serious, give me a sign...
STORY: In one of the cathedrals of England, there is a beautiful window through which the sunlight streams. It displays the facts and personalities of the Old and New Testament, and the glorious truths and doctrines of the Christian revelation. This window was fabricated by the artist out of broken bits of glass which another artist had discarded.
Gideon’s success was not dependent on his family background or his past. It was not dependent on his present circumstances. The Lord said, “I don’t care about the past because I am going to be ACTIVELY PRESENT in your life today.” He had all of the necessary qualifications. We do too.
Do you have labels on you from the past that are still defeating you? Probably most people do.
ILLUSTRATION: I remember when I was in the 8th grade the supt of schools, Mr. Brown, came over to speak to our class. He said to us, “You are the dumbest class that has ever passed through these doors.”
I think that label has stuck all these years. Otherwise I wouldn’t have even remembered it.
That’s an example of a label that someone else placed on our class.
STORY: A class of students in New York inter city schools had very low achievement. During parent-teacher conferences the teacher’s grade book was lying open on the desk and she showed them the individual grades. There was a number beside each student’s name. The parents not only saw the poor grades, but they saw a much higher number and they assumed it was an IQ score. The parents talked among themselves at what a high score their child had and started to help with homework and encouraged their children to do better. The next six weeks the grades had improved remarkedly and the teacher didn’t know why. When the parents came in for the conference, she asked. They explained it was because of the high IQ score listed in the grade book. What they thought was an IQ score was really the student’s locker number.
How are you limiting yourself by what you believe or don’t believe about yourself and about what God will do or won’t do? The angel of the Lord said, “I will be with you. You will defeat Midian.”
2. He Had to Believe: In order for God to heal his painful past, he had to believe. At first he rehashed all of the objections as to why he COULDN’T do anything...why he wasn’t CAPABLE...why.... There was a time that he had to let go of the past and look forward to a new day, a new year.
Why don’t we let the Lord heal? Is it because we don’t believe? We may still think, “I’m just a nobody. The Lord is not interested in me. He is not at work in MY life. In fact, I think He’s ABANDONED me.”
The angel of the Lord was very patient with Gideon and he is very patient with us today. He sees our “ifs” and “whys” and “doubts.” He is willing to work with us.
The labels we place on ourselves are more limiting than the ones that others have placed on us. What labels have you placed on yourself? “I am dumb, I’m not a leader, I will never succeed...” Gideon was STARTING to peel the labels off when he said to the angel of the Lord, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is REALLY you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you” (vs. 17,18). There was a GLIMMER of faith beginning to emerge. Just maybe things COULD, in fact, start to change. He wasn’t sure. This little step of faith and obedience on Gideon’s part began to change things for him. He could have refused to believe. He could have said, “I am down here in this winepress and I can never get out. It’s too late for me. I’ve been like this for a long time. God hasn’t done anything for years. Why would I believe that He will now. No, I’m not going to believe what you are saying.”
But he didn’t.
Where are you in your believing today? Is your faith so weak that it is about ready to flicker and go out or is it becoming stronger and stronger as you read the scriptures and step out in faith?
We can get the self-defeating labels off because the Lord is with us. He sees our potential underneath all of the labels that people have placed on us or that we place on ourselves. Do you have a label that is paralyzing your potential?
3. How Do We Get the Labels Off: How do we know that Gideon got “unstuck”? Verse 22 tells us, “When Gideon REALIZED that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” Let God heal your painful past by BELIEVING and then BEGIN TO AGREE WITH what God says.
STORY: There was the elderly Midwest couple who profusely apologized to the TV repairman. With red faces they met him at the door to inform him that their TV really had no problems at all. "We made a mistake," they explained. "We put on each other’s eyeglasses." When we begin to see as God sees and begin to agree with Him, we often find our problems clear up like this TV.
There is a verse in Romans 4:17 that we can use in the process. Abraham had the promises of God but didn’t yet have the reality. It was still in the realm of faith. It tells us that “Abraham CALLED things that ARE NOT as though they were.” What does that mean for me? It means that I need to start talking faith--not doubt. I need to believe and DECLARE that the LORD is ACTIVELY at work in my life. I am going to see things begin to improve for me this year. I’m not going to be stuck in the “winepress” any longer. How do you picture yourself today?
STORY: My wife is an artist
Another verse that will help you this week is Rev. 12:11 which says, “[we] overcome by the blood of the Lamb [what Jesus did on the cross] and by the word of [our testimony].
The rest of the chapter tells us that Gideon took steps he needed to take to break down the altars of Baal and verse 34 says, “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet summoning the Abiezites to follow him. Chapter 7 begins with Gideon defeating the Midianites. He got the labels off by believing that what God said was true and by agreeing and taking little steps of obedience. God gave Him a new identity--from fearful to a mighty warrior. He can do the same for us today to heal our painful past, give us a new identity and set us on a new path.
Let us pray:
