Crooked Sticks, Straight Lines

Good morning.

My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.

And it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

A special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.

We're glad that you're here.

And we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,

but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good

they don't need God's grace, and no one's so bad that they can't have it,

which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.

This week we are resuming our series in the book of Judges.

And you'll remember that the book of Judges is about a number of things.

It's about the need for constant renewal and revival among God's people.

It's about the need for a true and faithful king,

a king who can do what no human can do,

which is to change the hearts of men.

It's about the power of spirit-filled leadership.

And it's about God's mercy to hard-hearted people, people like you and me.

Last time we were in Judges chapter 13 and we began the story of Samson.

Judges 13 · chapter mention

And you'll remember that we asked this question of,

what is our hope when it appears that the lights have gone out?

And we saw that our hope is that God does not give up on us.

Israel may have forgotten God.

God has not forgotten Israel.

It's with that that we continue into chapter 14.

And you'll remember, if you've been with us,

that there's this pattern that was set out at the very beginning of the book of Judges

that we're going to go from best to worst.

And so we had Othniel, who was our greatest judge of all time,

the model judge, the perfect judge.

Now we come to the last judge, Samson, who is, without a doubt, the worst judge.

And so, as we come to this passage, we're simply wondering this,

how is God going to work through this crazy leader?

How is God going to work through the dysfunction and anger and lust and disrespect of Samson?

And so with that, I invite you to turn with me to God's word.

As we turn, you can go in your Bible.

You can turn in your worship guide.

You can turn on your phone.

No matter what you do, remember that this is God's word.

Proverbs chapter 30 tells us,

Proverbs 30 · chapter mention

And so it's for that reason that we read now, Judges chapter 14, starting at verse 1.

Judges 14 · chapter mention

Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.

Then he came up and told his father and mother,

I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah.

Now, get her for me as my wife.

But his father and mother said to him,

Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives or among all our people

that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?

But Samson said to his father,

Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.

Verse 4.

His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord,

for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.

At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah,

and they came to the vineyards of Timnah.

And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring.

Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him,

and although he had nothing in his hand,

he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat.

But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

Then he went down and talked with the woman,

and she was right in Samson's eyes.

Verse 8.

Verse 10.

His father went down to the woman,

and Samson prepared a feast there,

for so the young men used to do.

As soon as the people saw him,

they brought thirty companions to be with him.

And Samson said to them,

Let me now put a riddle to you.

If you can tell me what it is,

within the seven days of the feast,

and find it out,

then I will give you thirty linen garments

and thirty changes of clothes.

But if you cannot tell me what it is,

then you shall give me thirty linen garments

and thirty changes of clothes.

And they said to him,

Put your riddle, that we may hear it.

Verse 14.

And he said to them,

Out of the eater came something to eat,

out of the strong came something sweet.

And in three days they could not solve the riddle.

On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife,

Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is,

lest we burn you and your father's house with fire.

Have you invited us here to impoverish us?

And Samson's wife wept over him and said,

You only hate me, you do not love me.

You have put a riddle to my people,

and you have not told me what it is.

And he said to her,

Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother,

and shall I tell you?

She wept before him the seven days

that their feast lasted.

And on the seventh day he told her,

because she pressed him hard.

Then she told the riddle to her people.

And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day,

before the sun went down,

What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?

And he said to them,

If you had not plowed with my heifer,

you would not have found out my riddle.

Verse 19.

And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him,

and he went down to Ashkelon,

and struck down thirty men of the town,

and took their spoil,

and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle.

In hot anger he went back to his father's house.

And Samson's wife was given to his companion,

who had been his best man.

I invite you to pray with me

as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven,

we do thank you again

that you have given us your word

to instruct us,

to help us,

to guide us.

And we thank you that you

use imperfect, flawed, sinful people

in your kingdom,

people like Samson.

We ask that you would use

this chapter this morning

to show us our great need

for your grace and your mercy.

You'd comfort us

with that very same grace and mercy

that you would lead us to know

and love our Lord Jesus more and more.

It's in his name

that we ask all of these things.

Amen.

If we had just Judges chapter 13

Judges 13 · chapter mention

to go on,

if that's all we knew

about the story of Samson,

we would be only excited at this point.

We talked last week

about how God has this great mercy

for his people

despite the fact

that they have forgotten him.

They don't even cry out to him for help

and yet God still shows up to rescue.

He's raising up this redeemer,

this man who's going to save Israel

from the Philistines.

And he has even a more complicated

birth story and calling story

than any other judge that we've seen.

Even more than that,

you may remember

as we left chapter 13,

we were told this very last verse,

the spirit of the Lord

began to stir him,

that is Samson.

And so just knowing that,

we would think,

wow, God is going to do

the pattern that he's done before.

Samson has been raised up.

What should we expect

but that he's going to go out

and have a great victory?

Chapter 14,

we should see Samson.

He's going to go.

He's going to trash the Philistines.

Everyone's going to rejoice.

Things are going to continue

very well in the nation of Israel.

And so it should be,

in a sense,

a surprise to us

as we begin chapter 14

because it is a disappointing

montage of failure.

Samson does stupid thing

after stupid thing.

Verses 2 and 3,

Samson is disrespectful

of his parents.

He orders them around.

He says,

look,

this woman is right in my eyes.

And he says twice,

get her for me.

His parents try to dissuade him,

try to ask him,

hey, isn't there someone

among our own people,

someone who loves God

that you could go with?

And Samson doesn't even

listen to them.

He just tells them,

this is what I want.

This is what you're going to do.

And so he has this disregard

for his parents' concern

and advice.

Even more than that,

Samson has no regard

for God's law.

If you were with us

back in 2019

when we were in the book

of Nehemiah,

as we got to the very end,

remember one of Nehemiah's reforms

was to break up

these interfaith marriages

where God's people

had married with pagans

who were pulling them away

from worship

of the one true God.

And so Samson's parents,

rightly or wrongly,

like many parents,

decide to pick their battles

and they head down

with Samson

for this unfortunate marriage.

And let's not miss

what Samson is doing here.

It's not simply

or merely

that Samson is marrying

someone who does not love

the one true God.

Samson is marrying

into the Philistines.

He should instead

be fighting

the Philistines.

He's doing the very opposite

of what God

has called him to do.

He is making friends

with God's enemies.

If that were not enough,

Samson then goes on

to violate himself

and his parents.

In verses 6-9,

we see that this lion comes.

The Spirit of the Lord

comes upon Samson.

He's able to rip

this lion apart.

So far, so good.

He comes back

to the lion, though,

and he finds

this beehive is there.

He finds there's actually

honey he can get.

Now, remember I told you

last week the fact

that Samson is a Nazarite

is going to become

very important this week.

Nazarites are set apart

to God with a special focus

and devotion to him,

and there's three things

they're not supposed to do.

They're not supposed

to touch dead bodies.

They're not supposed

to cut their hair.

They're not supposed

to touch alcohol.

Where is the honey?

It's inside a dead body.

And it's not really

just Nazarites

who aren't supposed

to touch dead bodies.

It's all of God's people

are made ceremonially

unclean by this.

To make things worse,

it's not just that

Samson touches this honey.

He takes it

and brings it

to his parents,

and verse 9

tells us how bad it is.

He did not tell them

that he had scraped

the honey

from the carcass

of a lion.

This would be similar

to you today

going to the bathroom,

not washing your hands

at all,

and then coming back

to prepare food

for everyone.

Okay, we are being told

this.

Samson is nasty.

Okay?

Samson is gross.

He touches dead bodies.

He then gives

dead body honey

to other people,

doesn't tell them

what it is

they're touching

and they're eating.

Remember,

he's a Nazarite.

No dead bodies,

no cutting hair,

no alcohol.

What does he do next?

Well, he goes

and he throws

this party.

Verses 10.

Verse 10 and 11.

Samson prepared

a feast there

for so the young men

used to do.

What do the young men

do when they

throw a party?

They're not drinking

ginger ale.

Okay?

Samson continues

to disregard

God's call

on his life.

In fact,

he sums it up

in both verse 3

and verse 7

when we're told

about his feelings

toward this woman,

we're given this phrase,

she was right

in his eyes.

Now,

for a long time,

I used to think

that this statement

was about

Samson's physical

attraction to this woman

and at some level

that's probably true,

but this phrase,

right in their eyes,

is going to show up

later in the book

of Judges,

not about romantic

relationships,

but about people

doing whatever

they want.

In other words,

Samson likes her,

and nothing

else matters.

Samson is interested

in this woman.

He could not

care less

what his parents

think,

what God

thinks.

Samson does

what Samson wants.

For whatever reason,

this woman

melts

Samson's butter.

Okay?

Nothing else

matters.

And so we're

seeing a theme here.

We have not

seen it once,

twice,

but three times.

Samson does

almost everything

wrong.

Samson is supposed

to be set apart

to God as a Nazarite.

He's supposed

to be called

to this higher level

of obedience

and focus.

He can't even

get the basics

right.

Not marrying

a Philistine,

that's not some

special rule

for Nazarites.

No,

no Israelite

is supposed

to do that.

Yes,

Nazarites are

not supposed

to touch

dead bodies.

No Israelite

is supposed

to touch

a dead body.

Samson

should be

taking

senior level

classes.

Samson

can't even

make it

through Israelite

101.

Samson

is

the worst

judge.

So the author

of Judges

is telling us

over and over

to make sure

we don't

miss it.

Look,

Samson

is a trash

fire.

Samson's

life is

a complete

train wreck.

This

is the man

who God

is going

to use

to save

his people

from the

Philistines.

A man

who disregards

his parents.

A man

who disregards

God

himself.

So what

do we do?

with this

terrible

no-good

judge.

Now the

key

to chapter

14

is

in verse

4.

Samson's

parents

are

beside

themselves

that Samson's

making these

choices that

he's marrying

the wrong

person.

But what

they don't

know is

what we're

told here.

It was

from

the Lord.

for he

was seeking

an opportunity

against the

Philistines.

In other

words,

Samson

is a

mess.

God

is still

at work.

In the

midst of

Samson's

flaws

and failure,

God is

still

bringing

deliverance.

God is

working out

his purposes

no matter

what.

In fact,

this is a

theme we've

seen in

other parts

of Scripture.

You may

remember at

the very

end of

the book

of Genesis

in the

Joseph story,

Joseph is

sold by his

brothers because

of their

jealousy,

cast him

into a pit,

then they sell

him into

slavery.

God uses

their jealousy

to save

his people

from famine.

And you'll

remember,

Joseph gives

this memorable

line at the

very end of

the book.

He tells

his brothers,

as for

you,

you meant

evil against

me,

but God

meant it

for good

to bring

it about

that many

people should

be kept

alive as

they are

today.

The point

is this.

God is

gracious,

and in

his

graciousness,

he works

through sinful,

flawed,

foolish,

arrogant,

imperfect

people.

God uses

foolish,

selfish,

sinful men

and women

to accomplish

his will.

God

will

accomplish

his

purposes.

God

will

accomplish

his purposes.

The will

of the

Lord

will

prevail.

God

uses

parents who

are still

wrestling with

their own

demons

to teach

their

children

and their

grandchildren

about God's

love.

God uses

narcissists

with strong

personalities

to get

organizations

off the

ground.

God uses

self-centered

friends

who often

lose the

plot

to care

for us,

to comfort

us,

to serve

us.

God

uses

leaders

with

overwhelming

pride

and ego

to take

courageous

stands

for

unpopular

truths.

God

uses

people

who are

anxious

and

fearful

to speak

words of

comfort and

healing

to his

people.

God

uses the

persecution

of the

church

to

scatter

his

people

and

spread

the

gospel.

Now,

don't hear

what I'm

not saying.

I am

not saying

sin does

not matter.

And I

am not

saying

that our

sin

does not

have

consequences.

Gideon's

sin is

going to

catch up

with him

in a

big way.

In two

chapters,

chapter 16,

the rant

is going

to come

to.

Samson

is going

to have

to pay

the price

for his

foolishness.

So I'm

not saying

sin doesn't

matter.

I'm not

saying we

brush away

those

things.

What I

am saying

is this.

God

is gracious.

God

in his

grace

chooses

to work

through

imperfect

people.

In fact,

that's the

only kind

of people

there are.

God

in his

grace

accomplishes

his work

through

Samson.

God

in his

grace

accomplishes

his work

through

you

and me.

You'll

see this

on page

seven of

your worship

guide,

a quote

from Martin

Luther.

God

uses

crooked

sticks

to draw

straight

lines.

Christian,

you are,

I am,

we are

crooked

sticks.

And God's

line will

always be

straight.

God

uses you

and me

and us

in the

midst of

our stupidity,

our mistakes,

our failure,

our sin.

none of

them

stop

the

advance

of his

kingdom.

They don't

stop Samson

from being

used by

God.

They don't

stop us

either.

God

will

be

God

to be

God.

God

is

using us

when God

uses us,

it does

not mean

that he

approves

of everything

in our

lives.

It does

not mean

that we

have it

all figured

out.

it does

not mean

when we

see great

fruit and

success

in our

efforts

that we

pat ourselves

on the

back.

It does

mean that

God is a

God of

mercy.

It does

mean that

God is a

God who

keeps his

promises.

It does

mean that

God is a

God who

is faithful.

So there's

a sobering

truth.

It gives

us great

humility as

we follow

Jesus

together.

There's

also an

encouraging

truth.

God

can and

God will

use us

for his

glory despite

our sin

and rebellion

and confusion.

Not

because we

are great,

but because

God is

great.

God will

always

accomplish

his

purposes.

I told

you a

minute ago

that verse

4 was our

key to this

chapter.

And verse

4 tells us

it was from

the Lord.

What is it

that's from

the Lord?

Also tells us

he's seeking

an opportunity

against the

Philistines.

Remember,

when the

angel of the

Lord comes

to Manoah's

wife,

the angel

says,

look,

Samson is

going to

begin to

save Israel.

And what

is it that

happens in

this chapter?

Samson begins

to save

Israel.

And he

begins to

save Israel

by taking

some Philistines

to task.

In verses

12-8,

he sets out

this impossible

riddle.

This riddle

that makes

sense to

him because

he's experienced

it, right?

He knows

about the

lion.

Not a

riddle that

makes sense

to anyone

else.

So Samson,

he's not

fair to

the Philistines.

The Philistines

decide all is

fair in love

and war.

They're not

fair to

Samson.

And so we

see in

verse 15,

they go and

threaten his

wife.

Clearly his

wife is not

aware of

Samson's

powers.

If she

were, she

would have

just filled

him in.

Hey, there's

some Philistines

they've

threatened to

burn down

my parents'

house.

Can you go

rip them

apart?

Instead, she

spends days

crying, right?

Not knowing

how it is

that she

can convince

Samson.

And finally,

verses 17

and 18,

he tells

her.

She tells

them, and

there's some

foreshadowing

here, wait

for chapter

16, the

same play

is going to

get run on

Samson again.

Samson has

a weakness,

that weakness

is women.

And what

does God

do?

He

accomplishes

his purposes.

Verse 19,

And the

spirit of the

Lord rushed

upon him,

and he

went down

to Ashkelon,

and struck

down thirty

men of the

town, and

took their

spoil, and

gave the

garments to

those who

had told

the riddle.

In hot

anger, he

went back

to his

father's

house.

Samson

wrecks

some

Philistines.

God

creates

tension

between

his people

and the

Philistines

when his

people are

complacent

under

oppression.

God

accomplishes

his purposes.

God

uses

Samson

to reach

end state.

Samson's

sin

and lust

and selfishness

are not

great enough

to stand

in God's

way.

Christian,

your lust

and sin

and selfishness

are not

great enough

to stand

in God's

way.

That is

how great

our God

is.

It's not

just that God

uses sinful

men and

women,

though.

We also see

here God

beats the

devil at

his own

game.

Satan loves

to promote

sin.

Satan is

thrilled

that Samson

has all

of these

character

flaws.

Satan is

delighted

that Samson

has an

anger

problem.

He loves

that Samson

is weak

around women.

God says

whatever evil

you promote,

I will

use it

for my

purposes.

I will

turn

evil

to good.

Remember

again,

Genesis 50,

as for you,

you meant

evil against

me,

but God

meant it

for good.

You'll see

this on page

nine of your

worship guide.

William Gurnall

tells us,

God lays

as it were

his own

plans under

Satan's

wings and

makes him

hatch them.

The Philistines

are going to

be defeated

no matter

what.

Some of you

may be

familiar with

the card

game Uno.

In that game,

you know you

can move

either clockwise

or counterclockwise,

and it's

become a

popular meme

in recent

years,

the power

of the

reverse Uno

card.

Someone's

coming up

against you

with an

attack.

All you

need to

do is

have the

most special

card in

the entire

deck,

the reverse

card,

and you

throw it

down,

and suddenly

the direction

of play

changes.

So if

moves were

moving

clockwise,

you throw

down your

reverse Uno

card,

things go

counterclockwise.

Going

counterclockwise,

you throw

your reverse

card down,

they go

clockwise.

It's become

this meme

of reversing

the direction,

using someone's

momentum

against them.

There's a

picture you

can find on

the internet

of a

referee

calling out

a soccer

player with

his card,

and the

soccer player

has the

reverse Uno

card in

his hand.

And so

he's saying,

no,

ref,

the call

is on

you,

not me.

God

constantly

plays reverse

Uno on

the devil.

God uses

Satan's

momentum

against him.

God takes

the evil

and sin

in this

world,

and he

takes the

evil and

the sin

of his

people.

He uses

it to

accomplish

his will.

No matter

how tricky

and strategic

and tactical

Satan is,

he always

ends up

flat on

his face.

It's

ironic as

we move

through the

book of

Judges,

as things

get worse

in Israel,

the encouragement

actually increases.

You may

remember as

we were in

the early

Judges,

we would

talk about,

hey,

this is the

sin that

Israel is

falling into.

We want

to avoid

that sin

and move

towards

righteousness,

right?

This chapter

we've kind

of given

up on

that.

There's

too many

sins

going on

here for

Samson.

He's

doing

everything

wrong.

And so

more and

more,

the sounding

note is

this,

as bad

as things

get for

God's

people,

God's

mercy is

greater.

As much

as God's

people mess

it up,

God's

power is

more.

No matter

how much

you believe

that you

have messed

it up,

God is

still in

control.

Even if

you think

the future

is gone,

God is

still

writing it.

God's

grace

is more

and more.

The more

Israel

fails,

the more

gracious

God

is.

It is

one thing

in the

beginning

and middle

of Judges

to see

God's grace

to sinful

people.

It is

another

thing

to see

God's grace

to really

sinful

people.

God's

grace

in the

life of

Samson

is

shocking.

Christian,

God's

grace in

your life

is shocking

as well.

And it's

shocking

because of

his mercy

and his

love

and his

forgiveness.

forgiveness.

It's pretty

clear what I

hinted at last

week, which is

that Samson is

not going to

cut it.

Israel

ultimately is

going to need

a better

and greater

king.

We've already

seen some of

Samson's

failures.

Things are

going to get

worse next

week and

even worse

the week

after.

Samson is

going to,

at the end,

because of

God's mercy,

pull a

success

from the

jaws of

defeat.

Which brings

us back to

the beginning,

the middle of

this chapter.

You may

have found

it strange

that a

beehive

shows up

in a

lion's

carcass.

At least

I hope you

found it

strange.

When I

go to

Costco,

there is

no lion's

carcass

honey.

Right?

Because those

things don't

happen.

Honey does

not come out

of dead

corpses.

One commentator

puts it this

way,

Bees do

not normally

inhabit

cadavers,

flies and

maggots do.

God is

bringing

something sweet

and gracious

out of the

corpse of

his people.

God is

taking what

should be

rotting and

decaying

and turning

it into

something

life-giving.

God shows

up to his

people who

have forgotten

and abandoned

him and he

brings them

deliverance.

Which points

us forward to

an even

greater and

sweeter

deliverance.

God comes

to his

people who

rebel against

him and

he sends

his one

and only

son to

bring

something

sweet.

God shows

up to a

world that

hates him

and he

sacrifices

his one

and only

son so

that he

can love

them.

Samson

begins to

save Israel

from the

Philistines.

God saves

his people

once and

for all.

And so

as we

reach past

the halfway

point in

Judges, we

see God's

grace dripping

more and

more.

We see

God's grace

growing larger

and larger

because sweetness

comes from

death, not

only in this

lion, but

in our

Lord Jesus.

That Jesus

comes and

he lives the

perfect life

that we

should have

lived.

He dies the

death that

we deserve

to die.

He brings

life where

there should

be death.

As one

man has

put it, he

uses an

instrument of

torture as

an instrument

of salvation.

He takes

people who

hate him.

He sends

his son to

love them.

Christian,

that's the

good news

for this

world.

That's the

good news

for you.

God uses

imperfect,

sinful,

failing,

stupid people

to accomplish

his purposes.

Those are

the only

people there

are.

Grace,

grace,

God's grace,

grace that

is greater

than all

our sin.

Let's pray.

Our Father

in heaven,

we do

praise you

and thank

you that

your grace

is so

great it

is shocking.

We thank

you for

your grace

in Samson's

life,

your faithfulness

to your

people.

We thank

you for

your faithfulness

to us

in our

lives.

We ask

that you

would remind

us of it,

that we

would know

that the

future isn't

gone because

you're still

writing it for

us.

That would

lead us to

greater hope

and confidence

and trust

and faith

in you.

And we

ask these

things in

the mighty

name of

Jesus Christ.

Amen.