God's Monkey Wrench

Father, we ask that you would make us disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel, learning to live for your glory.

We give you thanks and praise, Father, that you do not whitewash over the things that we do that are wrong,

and you don't whitewash over the things that other people do that are wrong,

but that your gospel clearly states that they're wrong, and your gospel clearly offers us hope of redemption in the person of your Son, Jesus Christ,

that in light of the gospel and in light of what he has done for us, and in light of your Son and Holy Spirit and you yourself, Father, living within us,

that we will begin to have power to live in a new way as we are fit for heaven by you.

So we ask that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us into all truth as we read and think upon your word this morning.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

There's lots of people in our culture, and maybe some listening in today, maybe some of you here,

that as far as they're concerned, just about any spiritual path or religious way is better than Christianity.

When in movies increasingly it says it's going to be biblical,

it means usually that there's going to be lots of chaos, destruction, and death.

And for many of us and many of our hearts, when we look at the Bible, we see how people can see that.

I have to confess to you that this time that of me preaching through Samson last week and this week and next week,

it's the first time in my ordained ministry that in the sermons I've preached through Samson.

And it's never part of the old lectionary.

And I have to confess, I sort of, you know, maybe if I go back, if I was able to go back in time,

I'd be able to hear some of the sermons in Sunday school and books and all in a different way.

But it seems to me as if whenever I heard the Old Testament being preached,

it usually was sort of in the form of Pilgrim's Progress, you know,

where there's each person represents a certain type of a character.

And they were able to get very, very good moral lessons out of it or very good practical help out of it.

But I don't know, maybe it's partially that my mind is just wired the wrong way or the right way.

I would read these stories and I couldn't, for the life of me,

figure out how I could get a positive moral out of it.

And, you know, let's just be honest.

What we're going to do is we're going to have an honest looking at the story of Samson.

And if we're honest, you cannot get good morals out of a guy who decides to rip off 30 people.

When his plan is failed, he murders 30 people and robs from them.

And it just gets, it goes downhill from there.

That's not the bottom of the hill.

It keeps going downhill after that.

So let's turn in the Bible.

We're going to look at the story ourselves.

Maybe some of you as well have had fears about how to look at the Bible and the Old Testament

and what God is really like and how he reveals himself.

And we're going to look at this ancient story.

And just in terms of the context, and by the way, last week I shared that if you were dividing these,

this talks about Samson in three bits, last week could have been the birth of Samson.

This week could have been Samson's battles.

And I couldn't think of a word that began with B for the last bit.

And somebody emailed me, Andrea Burrell.

And next week it's Samson brings down the house.

So there's three Bs there.

Brings down the house.

Anyway, so what happened last week is we're now in the,

Samson is the last of the 12 judges who's recorded in the book of Judges.

The time of period between Israel entering the promised land and the beginning of the kingship.

And it's a time of great chaos and great unfaithfulness in Israel.

And Samson is born as a judge.

The people of Israel are under the oppression of this pagan seafaring nation

that has occupied part of Canaan named the Philistines.

And Israel is under their dominion.

And a very miraculous and wonderful story happens.

The angel of the Lord appears to a woman who's never been able to have children.

And the angel of the Lord says, good news.

In a sense, you're going to have a baby.

He's going to be a boy.

And God is going to use this baby boy to be the beginning by which I deliver my people Israel from the Philistines.

And then he says this boy is to be so special.

He is to live a very special life right from birth.

He used to have the vow of a Nazarite right from birth.

And in fact, it even goes into the womb.

He has to have this vow, a special time of being set aside to God.

And then there's a spectacular miracle that goes along with it so the husband, Minoah, and his wife understand what's going on.

And then the very last words of chapter 13 is that the Spirit of God begins to move in Samson.

And so, you know, especially for Christians, you're reading this and now you're prepared for this to be a really remarkable baby.

Like it's hard for a Christian to read this story and not think of John the Baptist, not think of Jesus, like not think of just it's going to be a remarkable baby.

And now the story continues.

And here's how chapter 14 begins.

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 and take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?

But Samson said to his father,

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

And just before I read the last verse, just pause here for a second.

Some of you, maybe you're having a season right now where you're having great disappointment with God.

But it's a very, very common thing, struggling with disappointment with God.

And right off the bat, Samson's parents must have a great disappointment with God.

And even those of us who are readers, there's a bit of a disappointment about what happens here.

So here we have this special baby.

And this special baby is going to be the one to begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.

And the first thing we see as Samson as an adult is not that he's going to deliver Israel from the Philistines,

but he wants to marry them.

Like that's the opposite.

And the other thing in here, and it's just a little bit of an aside, but it's an important thing.

The Bible doesn't teach ethnic or racial prejudice.

In fact, it's only the Bible, out of all of the religious and intellectual texts in the world,

there's no spiritual or religious tradition more than the Christian faith,

which completely and utterly at a very deep level condemns all prejudice and all racism

because it teaches that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God.

Every man and every woman equally created in the image and likeness of God.

It roots our dignity at a very, very fundamental level.

This phrase about Samson's parents saying about them being uncircumcised,

it's a pointer to, which I don't have time to go into,

but I just want to sort of highlight it,

is circumcision was a sign that you were under the God's covenant,

that you were his covenant people.

And non-Jews could be under the covenant by acknowledging the Lord as their Lord.

Moses' wife wasn't Jewish.

So the issue isn't somehow that they're different.

Like, it wouldn't be as if, you know, I grew up Irish and my dad and mom say,

never marry a Polish person or something like that, you know,

or never marry a person who's French-Canadian or anything like that.

No, it's not ethnic.

The circumcision thing is this little bit of a reminder in the text

that God desires his covenant people to marry other people of the covenant.

It's in the New Testament, it says don't be unequally yoked.

It's a whole other topic that, in a sense,

a Christian should just marry another Christian.

I just want to highlight it, but I don't want to go any further.

You can ask me about it during the break.

But the main thing that's going on here is that

Samson isn't doing all what he seems to be supposed to be doing.

And then it says his father and his mother, verse 4,

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.

We're reminded that the Philistines rule over Israel.

And you'll notice that just before this,

it said Samson says that this woman is right in my eyes.

And this idea is going to be emphasized again by Samson.

Look at verse 5.

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.

And in the original language, it's a special word for roaring.

It's the word that signals that the lion is about to attack.

It's not like a dog or something or an animal making noises to scare you away.

It's a word that means the lion is about to attack.

Verse 6 said,

And 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 and talked with the woman.

Once again, she was right in Samson's eyes.

Now just sort of pause here for a second.

We're going to talk about this a little bit more in a moment.

But you can just well imagine, for many people reading this text,

they wonder,

Why on earth would the Holy Spirit come upon Samson,

and he does something?

Like, why doesn't he just catch the lion and tie it up?

Like, why doesn't he catch the lion and take it somewhere else?

Like, why does he do something so unbelievably violent to the lion?

Like, what is it that God's Holy Spirit would come upon Samson,

and he would do something like this?

I mean, that would be a very, very common thing.

I mean, some of you have seen the picture of the Vegans

protesting against Joe Biden.

And Joe Biden's wife, you know,

jumping and pushing them off the stage.

I mean, like for many people in our culture,

why would this Holy Spirit do that?

Or allow Samson to do that?

And that's a bit of a puzzle,

which is only going to get deeper

as we see the next two times

that the Holy Spirit rushes upon Samson's life.

Well, what happens next?

Remember, he doesn't tell his mom and dad what happened.

Verse 8.

So they've gone down to Timnah.

They had some talk with the family

about Samson marrying the woman.

They've gone back,

and now they're going back again.

Verse 8.

After some days, Samson returned to take her,

and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion,

and behold, there was, in the original language,

it actually says a community of bees

in the body of the lion and honey.

There's been a bit of a miracle.

Either it's been so long that the carcass is now,

there's no guts or anything,

it's just bones,

just a skeleton and a bit of fur,

and so the bees could make a hive there.

It's either been so long

that there's been some type of miraculous thing.

It doesn't tell us.

It just is.

At this point in time,

it's not a carcass.

It's, I mean,

it's not like all bloody and everything like that.

It's just the stones,

and there's the bees there.

And in verse 9,

Samson scraped it out into his hands,

some of the honey,

and went on eating as he went,

and he came to his father and mother

and gave some to them.

I think this is really gross,

but then there you go.

And they ate,

but he did not tell them

that he had scraped the honey

from the carcass of the lion.

And now we come, I think,

to the bit that Anya read.

Verse 10.

They go down,

and here we discover this.

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 30 companions to be with him.

And just sort of to pause here for a second,

there's a bit of a subtext about this

in the original language.

It isn't as if the families looked around

and said,

let's pick 30 young guys.

I think, you know,

I think Samson would like to hang out with you,

and I think Samson would like to hang out with you,

and I think he'd like to hang out with you.

No, the way to understand it is,

it's military-aged males

who are probably in military service,

who've been taken away from military service

to watch Samson.

Those are the 30 companions.

Okay?

So they're obviously a bit concerned about Samson

for whatever reason,

but they pick these 30 military-aged males.

In fact,

it's like picking 30 corporals,

and they're going to be Samson's companions.

So Samson, verse 12,

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 30 linen garments

and 30 changes of clothes.

But if you cannot tell me what it is,

if you cannot tell me what it is,

then you shall give me 30 linen garments

and 30 changes of clothes.

And they said to him,

put your riddle that we may hear it.

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.

Now just pause here.

This is not a good character trait of Samson.

Samson's trying to rip them off.

Very, very simply.

He would be as if,

I don't know,

you know,

like in Back to the Future.

And when's in Back to the Future,

he knows who's going to win the series games

and stuff like that.

So he thinks he has it all rigged.

He has something that they'll never guess

in a million years.

And this is a chance to rip them off.

That's what he's doing.

And so he poses it

and he's probably pretty happy with himself.

But they don't take very kindly to it.

Look at verse 15.

In verse 15,

on the fourth day,

they,

that is the 30 military-aged young men,

the 30 corporals,

said to Samson's wife,

entice your husband

to tell us what the riddle is.

Listen to this.

Lest we burn you

and your father's house with fire.

So,

nobody in this story

is going to look good.

Like,

it's not as if you go back

and say,

Samson was such a terrible man.

Those Philistines were so good.

No.

just because they're going to lose

a suit

each,

they threaten

to burn her

and her family

to death.

That's what they threaten.

So,

verse 16,

and Samson's wife

wept over Samson

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?

As if a husband

should tell his wife things.

Anyway,

she wept before him

the seven days

that their feast lasted.

On the seventh day

he told her

because she

basically wore him down.

Then she told the riddle

to her people.

Verse 18,

and the men of the city

said to Samson

on the seventh day

before the sun went down,

what is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?

Samson knows what's happened.

He said to them,

if you had not plowed

with my heifer,

you would not have found out

my riddle.

So what does Samson do?

And this is going to be

even made more terrible

because the Holy Spirit

comes upon Samson.

Look what happens.

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 garment

to those who had told

the riddle.

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 companions

who had been his best man.

So Samson goes

to another city,

murders thirty men,

steals their stuff,

goes back,

gives the stuff,

and walks away angry.

You can see why

for many years

I had problems

preaching on this.

Like,

how do you find

a good moral lesson

out of this?

Like,

there's no good moral lesson

in this.

And things are going

to get worse

before they get better.

In fact,

they just keep getting worse.

And once again,

it's even made harder

because it's the Spirit

of the Lord

comes upon Samson.

Like,

why doesn't the Spirit

of the Lord

come upon Samson

and make him calm?

Like,

why doesn't it say

that he could just,

you know,

laugh it all off

or negotiate

or do something?

But why is it

that the Spirit

of the Lord

comes and then

he goes and murders

thirty people?

Well,

by the way,

what we're going to see

here in these next verses

for those of you

who are dads

who have more than

one daughter,

you're going to see

what you never say

to somebody else.

Okay?

This isn't

go thou and do likewise

but this is a lesson

of what you never,

ever,

ever say.

Chapter 15,

verse 1.

After some days

at the time

of the wheat harvest,

so Samson thinks

things have cooled down,

Samson went to visit

his wife

with a young goat

and he said,

I will go into

my wife in the chamber

but her father

would not allow him

to go in

and her father said,

I really thought

you utterly hated her

so I gave her

to your companion.

Here's the line,

is not her younger sister

more beautiful than she?

That's not the thing

a dad should ever say

about one of his daughters,

period.

Same thing with sons.

If you have two sons,

don't say,

oh, bye.

Take the other son,

he's way better looking

or way smarter

or way anything.

Like, you just don't say this.

But anyway,

that's what the dad said,

okay?

That's on top of the fact

that it's just,

the Bible isn't saying

that it's alright

to treat women

like property.

It's recording

a story of people

who from beginning

to end

are deeply morally

and spiritually confused.

the whole story

is about people's

morals,

religion,

spirituality

is all

messed up.

It's messed up

to messed up

to messed up

to messed up.

Verse 3,

and Samson said

to her,

this time I shall be

innocent

in regard

to the Philistines

when I do them harm.

So what does

Samson do?

And by the way,

lots of this story

is just so much

like real life.

Verse 4,

so Samson went

and caught 300 foxes,

it's really jackals,

and took torches

and he turned them

tail to tail

and put a torch

between each pair

of tails

and when he had set

fire to the torches

he let the foxes

go into the standing

grain of the Philistines.

Here's the kicker,

and set fire

to the stack grain

and the standing grain

as well as the

olive orchards.

So what you see here

is if you go

and watch a superhero movie

or a superhero cartoon,

what you're seeing here

is the superhero villain

who when his will

is frustrated

wreaks havoc

massively,

way out of proportion

of what's happened.

Basically what he does

is he burns

all of their standing grain,

all of their grain reserves

and all of their

olive orchards,

two of their

most important crops,

all completely

and utterly demolished

by Samson

in his anger.

So how do the Philistines

respond?

You see,

this is a story

where it just goes back

and their response,

the Philistines' response

is completely

and utterly

incommensurate

with what's happened

and completely horrible.

Verse 6,

then the Philistines

said,

who has done this?

And they said,

Samson,

the son-in-law

of the Timnite,

because the dad

has taken

Samson's wife

and given her

to Samson's companion.

And the Philistines

came and burned

her and her father

with fire.

In other words,

they picked a time

when the whole family

was in the building,

they locked the doors

and burned the house

down on them,

burning them

to death.

It's completely

and utterly

horrific.

But just like

in politics,

just like

in economics,

just like

with neighbors,

just like

with nations,

just like

with gangs,

just like

with husbands

and wives

or dads

and sons

or moms

and daughters,

when you get

into this cycle

of just

vengeance

upon vengeance

upon vengeance

upon vengeance,

verse 7,

Samson said

to them,

if this is

what you do,

I swear

I will be

avenged on you

and after that

I will quit.

That's the motto

of all

escalating violence.

Right?

I'm going to get them,

that'll be it.

But the person

you get,

they say,

one moment,

that's not it,

I'm going to get you.

And then you say,

whoa,

that's not over

and you get you

and it just gets

more and more

and more and more

and more out of control.

And in verse 8,

the English standard

version

is being coy.

When it says

he struck them

hip and thigh

with great blow,

with a great blow,

it meant he kills them.

I don't know

if it's the 30

military-aged males,

but whatever it is,

he kills them.

And after he kills them,

he went and stayed

in the cleft

of the rock

and eat them.

So is it over?

Samson thinks

it's over,

it's not over.

What Happens Next?

Well,

What Happens Next

is very,

very,

very interesting

and actually,

even though

I've read this story

many times,

it was only when

I studied it

very closely

that I realized

that what happens next

is actually part

of helping to understand

what on earth

is going on

in the whole story

and why something

so crazy

would actually

be in the Bible.

Verse 9,

then the Philistines

came up and encamped

in Judah

and made a raid

on Lehi.

In other words,

basically what they do

is they mobilize

a significant armed force

and they go and invade.

I mean,

they already rule

all of Judah.

But they bring

their armed forces.

So it would be

as if in Canada,

you know,

all of Canada

is under our government

and as if they mobilize

the armed forces

in Petawawa

and they bring them

down into Ottawa

to deal with a problem.

They mobilize

the armed forces

and that's what

the Philistines do.

They mobilize

part of their armed forces

and they bring them

into the area

they still control

but close to where

where there's

a majority

Jewish population

and in verse 10

and the men of Judah

said,

like just like

all of a sudden

we look out the door

today

and all of a sudden

there's all these

armed forces guys

all around us

and they have their guns out

like we go out

and say like

what's going on?

Right?

Like what?

Like what are you doing here?

What?

Like are there terrorists

hiding here or something?

And that's exactly

how the Jewish people

respond to the Philistines

and the men of Judah

said in verse 10

why have you come up

against us?

It's very obvious

in the original language

like they're puzzled

like what are you doing here?

And the Philistine army

says we have come up

to bind Samson

to do to him

as he did to us.

Now remember

in all the way

through the book of Judges

if you've read it

from beginning to end

now that God

raises up a judge

and usually at some point

in time the judge

calls forth the army

the people get emboldened

the spirit of the Lord

comes upon the judge

the Jewish people

unite around

the judge

that God has raised up

and they go

and they fight the Philistines

so here we have

this situation

the Philistine army

is there in Jewish

majority territory

and what do the Jewish people

say?

The Jewish people

in effect say

okay listen

we'll handle this

you just camp here

have a good time

it's a nice day

to have a camp

like just camp

just wait here

we'll mobilize

our forces

and we'll get

Samson for you

that's what happens

verse 11

then 3,000 men of Judah

went down to the cleft

of the rock

of Edom

and said to Samson

and here in the original language

as well

like they're puzzled

like Samson

do you not know

that the Philistines

are rulers over us?

It's not a complaining point

okay

would be as if

like

it would be as if

the soldiers

have gone to Toronto

and the people say

don't you know

that Trudeau won?

like why are you here?

like we all voted

for Trudeau

like what's the problem

like

to Samson

like

our guys

like our guys

are the rulers

Samson

what's going on?

do you not know

that the Philistines

are rulers over us?

what is then

that this you have done

to us

and he said

that to them

still in verse 11

as they did to me

so I have done to them

so they make a deal

with Samson

and the deal is

they're still going to

take him back

to the Philistines

and look at this

verse 12

they said to him

we have come down

to bind you

that we may

give you into the hands

of the Philistines

and Samson said to them

swear to me

that you will not

attack me yourselves

they said to him

no we will only bind you

and give you into their hands

we will surely not kill you

so they bound him

with two new ropes

and brought him up

from the rock

in verse 14

once again

we have this odd

experience

of the spirit of the Lord

the third time

the spirit of the Lord

comes with power

and does the spirit of the Lord

come with power

to make the Philistines

say we're all wrong

listen we have to stop

this cycle of vengeance

does the spirit of the Lord

come upon Samson

giving great words

of wisdom

what happens is this

verse 14

when they came to Lehi

the Philistines

came shouting to meet him

then the spirit of the Lord

rushed upon him

and the ropes

that were on his arms

became as flax

that has caught fire

and his bonds

melted off his hands

and he found

the fresh jawbone

of a donkey

and put out his hand

and took it

and with it

as a weapon

he struck

one thousand Philistine men

and the struck here

means he kills them

and Samson said

with the jawbone

of a donkey

heaps upon heaps

with the jawbone

of a donkey

have I struck down

a thousand men

and as soon as

he had finished speaking

he threw away

the jawbone

out of his hand

and that place

was called Ramath

Lehi

so

what's going on

with this story

I'm going to ask you

a very very

just a question

to help us

to try to figure out

a little bit

about what's going on

in this story

and why this story

actually is pointing

to something very wise

and something

which is unbelievably

important

for every single person

to understand

if they are to be

made right with God

first question

are there any

Philistines

living in Ottawa

today

no

are there

Philistines

in the streets

of New York City

no

are there Jewish

people in Ottawa

today

yes

just this week

I talked to

an Orthodox

Jewish man

who's a regular

one of my coffee shops

we had a nice

pleasant conversation

are there Jewish

people on

the streets

of New York City

yes there's lots

of them

it's actually

a very large

Jewish population

where are the

Philistines today

they don't exist

there's no

Philistines left

but there are

Jewish people

one of the keys

to understanding

what's going on

in this story

is to actually

go back to

chapter 14

verse 4

chapter 14

verse 4

and here we have

this very very

odd line

his father and

mother did not

know that it was

from the Lord

this is Samson

wanting to marry

a Timnite

a Philistine

woman

for God

was seeking

opportunity

against the

Philistines

you see this

is what has

happened

we discover

that the

Philistines

if you look

at the whole

story

that for 40

years the

Philistines

had ruled

Israel

if you go

back and you

read the

story

out of all

of the

major judges

not the

minor one

out of all

the major

judges

this is the

only story

where none

of the Jewish

people call

out to God

to deliver

them

that doesn't

happen

you know

why

they like

having the

Philistines

as the

rulers

they're

becoming

Philistines

it is that

phenomenon

I don't know

if it's true

but it's in

management books

of the frog

and the kettle

at first it

felt a bit

uncomfortable

but the

Philistines

were a more

advanced

civilization

than the

Jewish

people

and it

felt funny

having them

over them

but after a

while they

grew to

like the

Philistines

they liked

their gods

they liked

the way

they lived

they liked

the way

they ran

the economy

they liked

the way

they ran

their military

they liked

their religion

they liked

their spirituality

and so

after a time

after 40 years

of Philistine

rule

they've come

to the point

in time

where they

can be

completely

and utterly

puzzled

as to why

the Philistines

would come

and ever

bring an army

against them

because we're

buddies

we're buddies

they don't

want to be

delivered from

the Philistines

they want

to become

more like

the Philistines

and if God

does not

throw a monkey

wrench

into the

situation

there will

be no

Israel

and that

means there

will be no

King David

and there

will be no

Joseph and

Mary

and there

will be no

Jesus

because Israel

will become

Philistine

and there

are no

Philistines

in the

streets of

Ottawa

or of

Toronto

or of

New York

City

but there

still are

Jewish

people

God

does

something

if God

does not

act

there will

be no

Israel

now here's

another

problem

because some

of you are

wondering

okay but

that's all

weird

just this

week I

was sitting

in a

coffee shop

and there

happened to

be an

older woman

talking to

a younger

woman right

beside me

and the

older woman

was obviously

giving advice

to the

younger woman

and the

older woman

gave very

very very

very good

advice

it's the

type of

advice we've

probably given

to other

people many

times in

our lives

she said

to the

younger

woman

I didn't

hear what

it was

I just

heard this

phrase

but I guess

the younger

woman was

telling her

the different

issues

and the

older woman

says to

her

you've got

to learn

to think

outside the

box

isn't that

the type

of advice

we give

people

you've got

yourself

trapped

in a

box

you've got

to learn

how to

think

outside

the

box

and if

you think

outside

the box

you're going

to be able

to solve

the problem

now here's

the problem

for us

why is it

good advice

for us

to tell a

human being

to think

outside the

box

but why

is it

not good

for God

to think

outside the

box

huh

but why

well you

see here's

what happens

for us

as human

beings

remember

a couple

of weeks

ago

some of

you might

or might

not

remember

I said

that the

fundamental

way

that human

beings

sort of

organize

their mental

universe

about morals

and right

and wrong

is that we

drift into

this is that

we divide

the world

into good

people

and bad

people

and most

religions

and spiritualities

keep leaning

into this

to making

the world

into good

people

and bad

people

a lot

of what

we call

spirituality

North America

basically creates

a world

where like

95%

of us

are good

and only

5%

or maybe

99%

but that

evil

1%

is bad

but we

move into

thinking of

people being

basically the

world is divided

between good

people and bad

people

and one of the

things is if you

actually read the

Bible from cover

to cover

what you discover

is that the

Bible rejects

the idea

of the world

being divided

between good

people and bad

people

and that the

Bible teaches

that the

division between

good and bad

runs down

the center of

every single

human being

the world

isn't divided

between good

people and

bad people

but we

naturally think

even when we

come to

even though we

can read that

and know that

that that's what

happens for all

have sinned and

fall short of

the glory of

God

yet we

because we

sort of run

to that

default part

of our

human brain

we read a

story

and we

start to

think that

the world

is divided

between good

people and

bad people

and in a

world where

there's good

people and

bad people

who are the

only people

that God

can work

through

good people

right

it's the

only way he

can work

we put God

in a box

because then we

have to say

whoa whoa whoa

whoa whoa

whoa whoa

one moment

here does that

mean that the

only way that

God can do

anything in the

world is wait

for good people

to decide to

do it and

then he can

come along and

help them

you see this

is the

beginning of

unbelievably good

news

Israel doesn't

want to be

delivered

Israel wants

to become

Philistine

and God

throws a

monkey wrench

right into

the center

of Israel's

plans and

completely and

utterly screws

it up and

the name of

the monkey

wrench is

Samson

by the end

of the story

Israel and

the Philistines

are separate

by the end

of chapter

16 they're

separate

Israel is

still deeply

corrupt

you see the

fact the

matter is

the fact the

matter is

is that the

Lord is

saving Israel

despite Samson

and despite

Israel

the Lord is

saving Israel

despite Israel

he's saving

Israel despite

Samson

it's a

beyond this

the topic of

this sermon

but only the

Christian worldview

helps us to

understand how

it is that God

can be completely

and utterly

free and

Samson is

completely and

utterly free

and at the

same time that

Samson is

completely and

utterly free

like you go

back and you

look at it

later on you

look at verse

three and

verse seven

Samson's doing

what is right

in my eyes

but at the

same time that

Samson is doing

what is right in

my eyes God

is doing what

is right for

Israel and

for you and

me at a

very very very

deep level

the Lord

saving Israel

despite Samson

and despite

Israel and

here's the

truth the

Lord saves

me despite

me and the

Lord saves

you despite

you despite

you he saves

you while

we were still

sinners Christ

came while

we were dead

Christ comes

while we were

his enemies

Christ comes

when we had

all turned our

back on him

Christ comes

for all he

comes despite

us to save

us sometimes

some of the

monkey wrenches

in our lives

is God

trying to get

our attention

so that we

will return

to him

you see at

no point in

time in the

book does it

say that what

Samson done

is right

the Bible

very clearly

teaches that

the end

never justifies

the means

it's one of the

ways that the

biblical worldview

is completely

different from

almost all moral

reasoning in

mainstream Canadian

thought because

in the very heart

of all mainstream

Canadian thought

the end justifies

the means

in the Bible

the end never

justifies the

means

never justifies

the means

so what is

God doing

God isn't

defensive

he's not

passive

he's not

waiting until

Israel decides

they want to

seek him

they're sinking

into a place

where they will

they don't want

that at all

but God

still loves

them

so he

invades

he invades

you see

true grace

saving grace

invades

evil

against

evil

for the

true good

of the

person

cheap grace

God

whitewashes

whitewashes

over evil

baptizes

evil

and tells

you it's

all fine

but true

grace

saving grace

costly grace

invades

evil

and deals

with evil

for the

true ultimate

good

and so what

we see here

is that God

uses the

freedom of

Samson to

begin to

deliver Israel

from the

Philistines

and it

points to

this profound

invasion

against our

will that

happens in

the person

of Jesus

I mean if

you go back

and read the

Gospels

it's quite

remarkable

it's very

clear that

his own

do not

receive him

the people

in a sense

just like in

Samson's case

the people who

should rejoice

that God

has brought a

true and

greater Samson

to come

to deliver

not just

Israel

but all

people

Philistines

and Romans

and Irish

and Polish

and French

and African

and Chinese

and all

people that

God

in the person

of Jesus

God invades

the fallen

world

God comes

from outside

the created

order into

the order

that he

himself created

and he

comes from

outside into

the created

order and he

comes when

nobody's seeking

him when nobody

wants a savior

like that and he

comes despite

our sin and he

comes and bears

our sin and it's

all an invasion

that comes from

the loving heart

of God for

our true good

when our backs

were turned to

him our fists

were raised to

him our ears

were closed to

him our mind

and heart was

hardened to

him our will

was completely

rock solid I

will never bow

to him in such

a situation

Jesus comes

to save

we'll talk about

it more next

week but in

Samson you see

all the sin of

Israel but it's

not redemptive

in Jesus you

see all the sin

of the world

laid on him

and at the

heart of the

invasion is

that he invades

to be both

sinless but bear

the sin of the

world your sin

and mine for

your good and

mine please

stand

bow our heads

in prayer

for some of us

some of us

our outward

lives look very

ordered but our

inward lives are

maybe just as

completely and

utterly chaotic and

filled with vengeance

and anger as we

see in Samson

and if you are

here in this

situation today

then this is a

profoundly important

story for you

because you see in

God's word that

God knows deeply

your internal chaos

and anger and

cycles of vengeance

and not letting go

and God sees it at a

very deep level

because it's in his

word and some of you

might even be it's

you've hidden it from

others and you've

hidden it from us

but you're in fact

not just your inner

life but your outer

life is consumed

with chaos and

self-centeredness and

vengeance and this

shows that God

understands it

and for all of us

in different ways

the word will hit us

in different ways

we'll maybe come

face to face with

how we're putting

God in a box

and our

disappointments come

because not because

God is ever

disappointing in

himself or the

gospel is ever

disappointing but

because our boxes

our boxes are

entrapping us

our boxes are

really that pot

of water and we

are the frog and

the kettle is

the water's gotten

warmer and warmer

and we don't realize

that we're so locked

in our box that we

don't see the glory

of the goodness and

the love of God

and his perfect

providence and

sovereignty and our

freedom and his

love to invade into

evil for our good

and we're so trapped

in our boxes we're

disappointed whatever

it is the Lord is

doing your heart there

is no better time than

now to thank him for

invading and for those

of us who are

Christians that he

invaded me that he

invaded you let's pray

father thank you that

you are not passive that

you are not on the

defensive we thank you

that you look with

love we thank you

that you throw monkey

wrenches into evil we

thank you father that

you looked in love and

invaded when we had

our backs turned to

you our hearts away

from you our wills

away from you our

minds away from you

we didn't think it

would be possible that

you could be God that

Jesus could be king

that he could be our

savior not only did we

not think it was

possible but we didn't

even want it to be

true and and in in

that midst still you

sent your son to die

for us and and reveal

your love and your

heart and your

goodness and your

greatness and your

glory at the same

time as dying to do

all that had to be

done to reconcile us

to you father we

thank you for Jesus

we ask father that you

make us people who

are gripped by the

gospel the wonder of

who it is that Jesus

is and what you have

done for us so

unbidden and so

undeserving father

grip us with the truth

and wonder of the

gospel and help us

father that that

might be our life

that might be our

north star that might

be the grant the air

we breathe the food

we eat the water we

drink the place upon

which we stand the

lens by which we see

the world and so be

used by you in the

power of your Holy

Spirit to bear the

fruit of the Spirit and

to make a difference in

the chaos and the