Looking for a Miracle

Judges Weekend!


Judges 6:36-38

Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.

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Im looking for someone to change my life.
Im looking for a miracle in my life.

"Question" written by Justin Hayward, recorded by The Moody Blues from "A Question of Balance"

The angel said "the Lord is with you" and called Gideon "mighty warrior." This was when Gideon looked over his shoulder to make sure there wasn't some guy with the same name standing behind him. The angel surely had this wrong, wrong as wrong can be.

Earlier in this sixth chapter of Judges, Gideon meets the angel. Not too sure about the whole thing, Gideon says, "If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me." Gideon prepares the angel a fine meal which the Angel tells him to put on a stone. From the stone a great fire rages and consumes the meal. Gideon is assured and at the same time frightened. He has seen the angel face to face and fears he will die. The angel says, no--you'll live. A great miracle, not just that Gideon has seen the angel, the angel has given Gideon a glimpse of a shadow of the future.

But this isn't enough. When later in the chapter God gives Gideon his vocation, Gideon insists on this sign from God. Gideon asks for what we call "the sign of the fleece." He puts a wool fleece on a threshing floor. If the fleece is wet in the morning and the floor is dry, it's a miracle, the sign he seeks, and Gideon promises to do as the Lord requires.

As the reading says, "And it was so." The threshing floor must have been dry and the fleece was surely wet, wet enough to fill a bowl with fresh water.

We look for signs, no doubt about it. God gives us signs too. Sometimes they are how we ask God answer. Sometimes they are far more subtle.

A Very Freaky Gospel

Judges Week! Thanks to the Rev. Linda Sharon for the scripture and interpretation.
The music choice is all mine.


Judges 16:6-14

So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them.

With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”

He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”

He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric and tightened it with the pin.

Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

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She's a very kinky girl,
The kind you don't bring home to mother.

"Super Freak" recorded by Rick James, written by Rick James and Alonzo Miller, from "Street Songs"

In the story of Samson and Delilah, this dialogue is where Delilah asks and Samson lies avout the source of his strength. He tells three different lies before he tells her the truth of how to subdue his strength. In the first lie, Samson is bound with fresh bowstring. In the second, he is bound with new ropes that have never been used. In the third, his hair is pinned into a loom.

In each of these stories, Delilah cries, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” This is Samson's cue to escape the bonds and kill the Philistines. The third of these stories ends as Samson awakens to Delilah's screams. Only after these three false starts does Samson tell the truth and Samson is subdued.

One of the things Pastors often hear from the flock is that holy writ is so old, and so ancient that it has precious little to do with life today. Often this is code for "scripture is not very interesting or relevant." Look at this story again. When we read it, we read Samson is bound while asleep and Delilah awakens him to the threat of the Philistines. Oh really?

So now, look again, no where in the first two trials does it say Samson slept? It doesn't say Delilah wakes him. That doesn't happen until the third.

Often, people say that scripture is stale, stodgy, sterile. There's nothing like today's life and time in it. Well let me just say this about Delilah, "She's a very freaky girl." Samson liked her freak too. If he was awake while Delilah bound him with bow string and then with new ropes, and scripture doesn't mention sleep until the hair-pinning incident, this story suddenly reveals a much kinkier twist.

It then also goes deeper to remind us of this tried and true lesson--We are not punished for our sins, but by our sins.

There is a lot of scripture we never see because we think we've seen it all. Beware, and be alert. There are a lot of things we gloss over because we think we already know when unless we pay close attention we don't.

Taking Care of the Women

Judges Week Continues!


Judges 11:29-34 (NRSV)

Then the spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the LORD’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering.” So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the LORD gave them into his hand. He inflicted a massive defeat on them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty towns, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me.”

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Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
And I know it's my own damn fault.

"Margaritaville" written and recorded by Jimmy Buffett from "Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude."

How low can you get? Jepthah was one of the Judges of Israel. The Judges were a series of leaders who ruled the Nation before the nation wanted a King. Judges were appointed because the nation could no longer be counted upon to do as the Lord called. Since they wouldn't get going on their own, the Lord appointed a leader. Across the ages, the Judges ruled with various amounts of success.

How did Jepthah rate? Well, he was able to follow the wonderful way the Lord had ordained in battle. The Nation led by Jepthah found great success and was granted victory. Then Jepthah messed it all up by saying in his joy that he would give as a burnt offering whoever comes out of the doors of his house to meet him upon their victorious return. So, how did that work out for him?

The first person out of the door was his daughter and only child. So what did Jepthah say when he saw her? “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me.” How low can you go? What a horrible thing to say, you have brought me sorrow by coming out the door. I'm going to offer you up as a burnt offering, but you have brought this great trouble to me.

Get over yourself. You have brought this horror upon your self and your family because you took a vow that you should not have. The Lord wanted to bring the nation victory, your bravado brought nothing to the battle and brought only sorrow to your family. I imagine your vow brought sorrow to God too. It is written our God does not desire human sacrifice, and that's what Jepthah promised when he offered "whoever comes out of the doors" as a burnt offering.

"Some people claim that there's a woman to blame, and I know it's my own damn fault." It took Jimmy three verses with three different choruses to get to this conclusion, but at least he made it there.

There are a lot of times in our society when we blame the women just as Jeptheh blamed his daughter. I am not here to perpetuate the "damsel in distress" view of women, but I am calling us all, men in particular in this instance, not to put people into situations of impending doom. Am I saying not to take oaths offering another as a burnt offering? Certainly I am. And I am also asking men not through malice or negligence to endanger another.

Virginia Slims Cigarettes used to have a slogan, "You've come a long way, Baby." This is truer today than it was when tobacco companies could advertise. But to the altar to be offered to the flame, whether literal or rhetorical, is not the long way to go.

Voulez Vous Couchez a la Moulin Rouge?

Judges Week!


Judges 5:28-30

Out of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera gazed through the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’

Her wisest ladies make answer,
indeed, she answers the question herself:

‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil?—
A girl or two for every man;
spoil of dyed stuffs for Sisera,
spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered,
two pieces of dyed work embroidered for my neck as spoil?’

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Itchi gitchi ya ya da da
Itchi gitchi ya ya here
Mocha-choca-lata ya ya
Creole Lady Marmalade

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?

"Lady Marmalade" by Mya, Pink, Lil' Kim, and Christina Aguilera featuring Patti Labelle, recorded at the 2002 Grammy Awards from the movie "Moulin Rouge" written by Kenny Nolan and Robert Crewe.

Looking at yesterdays entry, some were wondering just what was going on. First read the book of Judges, cover to cover, all in one sitting. If you can read it and not come away asking yourself "what was going on?" then music selection may be the worst of the problems with Judges Week. It shouldn't be, but it is.

So, as for the song selection? Why a song (to put a dull point on the knife) about a sex worker? The last time I heard this song, the original Labelle version (this version is fine, but I do love 70's R&B), the phrase "Hey Sister, soul sister" started rolling on my tongue and with it the name Sisera and I got a smile out of the way it blended rhythmically and lyrically.

But, more, there is a power in the lyrics. There is a power in the delivery. There is a power to knowing the original was done in 1975 and this hadn't been seen before by a network audience. (This thirteen year old boy from the burbs sure hadn't seen anything like this before.) There's power there. And when Patti Labelle points to the blonde gentleman while singing... well, there was power in that moment that was sensual and sexual, but there was more. It harkens back to gender roles. It harkens to race. But in that moment there is no denying there is power and it does not belong to the traditionally powerful person in the equation, the white male.

Admitttedly, no matter the power exchange happening in that moment; no matter the financial exchange happening between patron and Call Girl; no matter the implicit and explicit exchanges made between the Courtier and a Courtesan, you will never find the "Sex Worker" table at Career Day.

Nope. Never.

But I do want to display an overtly sexual element because I wonder if there wasn't a covert sexual element in the original story. There is scandal in the General entering Jael's tent. Was there a sexual metaphor being used when Sisera asked for water and Jael offered a skin of milk? I don't know and again, not a biblical scholar, just a guy willing to ask a weird question or two.

But here is something in the realm of gender power relationships that must be considered... Sisera's mother awaited her son's triumphant return, a return that would come not on his war horse but on his shield. When the Catty Canaanite women who were in the court of the General's mother talked about dividing the spoils, they spoke of a girl or two for every man the same way as the dyed stuffs embroidered for her neck. They compared female slaves who would have been used in any number of ways, including sexual, the same way they talked about a nice scarf.

Maybe Jael did move like a woman wooing a man, like a harlot making her mark; all to kill Sisera, end this war, and do the will of God. The tease more than the act, but either way, my professor would have been right... if we're uncomfortable with these questions from the world of the Judges, surely Biblical Scholars would have a disagreeable thing or two to say.

Sisera thought he had the power. Then he had to run for his life right into the arms of Jael. It was then Jael who fulfilled Deborah's prophecy, the glory of the victory belongs to the women.

Heroics, Gender Roles, "Hey Sister, Go Sis-er-a, Sis-er-a Sister"

Judges Week!


Judges 4:17-21

Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died.

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Hey sister, go sister, soul sister, go sister
Hey sister, go sister, soul sister, go sister

"Lady Marmalade" by Labelle written by Kenny Nolan and Robert Crewe from Labelle's "Love Songs"

Ah, the Judges. This reading is a part of the story the Judge Deborah and Barak. Barak was summoned by Deborah and told he would be able to free the people from the Canaanite King Jabin and his harsh General Sisera. Sisera was a true warrior, feared with reason to be feared. His reputation was vast and his reputation was earned. Barak was afraid, and who in their right mind wouldn't be?

Deborah prophesied the path to victory over Jabin and Canaan for Barak, but he was not too keen on going. He didn't want to go alone. He didn't want to go with an army. So he struck a deal, if Deborah would go, he would go. She agreed, but she told him that if she went, the glory would not go to him, but to a woman. I would guess folks thought Deborah would get the glory of the victory. Logical, makes sense. Deborah goes, she gets the glory, right? Not so fast. As we just read, the glory went to Jael.

In seminary, I had a professor who contended that Jael was a controversial figure in biblical studies because she killed Sisera with a tent peg driven east/west from temple to temple "until it went down into the ground." I love how the text continues, "he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died" like the first symptom of having your skull pierced is weariness, followed by death. She contended if she had done it with a Cuisinart, everybody would have been much happier. I don't know nearly as many biblical scholars as my professor, so I gather she had the pulse of the scholarship and the room. From my point of view, the text goes from warm milk to calm him down, a nice rug for a blankey and to hide and then a nice mutilation and he drifts off to slumberville. Then he dies. I think she may have a point.

A point we can make from this is when people's lives go beyond gender expectations, the rest of the world gets uncomfortable. Consider our biblical scholars who would have preferred she found another way to keep him asleep and wait for a big strong man to deliver the killing blow. Some come along to a new world view quickly. Some not so much.

What do I say? Men and women are different. There's no denying this no matter how hard we try. We are different. BUT, this does not mean that women cannot be heroic. This does not mean men cannot be nurturing. This does not mean we cannot transcend the stereotypes of the cultural aspects of gender. Biology? That's a different kettle of fish. But is Jael less of a woman for saving her nation? No. She just followed the call of God and the leadings of the Holy Spirit.

And anybody who thinks she wasn't ladylike should remember she did it with hospitality.

Dogfaces

Judges Week!


Judges 7:1-9

Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops that were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was north of them, below the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

The LORD said to Gideon, “The troops with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. Israel would only take the credit away from me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ Now therefore proclaim this in the hearing of the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’ ” Thus Gideon sifted them out; twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.

Then the LORD said to Gideon, “The troops are still too many; take them down to the water and I will sift them out for you there. When I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; and when I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So he brought the troops down to the water; and the LORD said to Gideon, “All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths, you shall put to the other side.” The number of those that lapped was three hundred; but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water. Then the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others go to their homes.” So he took the jars of the troops from their hands, and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel back to their own tents, but retained the three hundred. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

That same night the LORD said to him, “Get up, attack the camp; for I have given it into your hand.

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Never before have I turned on you,
When you looked this good to me.

"Free for All" by Ted Nugent

What a fiasco this must have looked like. Thousands of men have come to the aid of Gideon to defeat the Midianites, but that's not what the Lord wants. If thousands of men are responsible for the victory then the victors will be full of themselves. The Lord wants to rout the Midianites using a much smaller force. Starting with 32,000 soldiers, the Lord pares the fighting force down to 300. But it's not the 300 most elite of the soldiers. This isn't Leonides and Sparta at the Battle of Thermopylae, this is Gideon and the Dogfaces.

The Lord picks the fighting force by selecting the men who drink like dogs from the river. Most people would dip a hand into the water and drink from their hand. This way a soldier can stay on his feet, alert to his surroundings. He wouldn't have to remove any of his weapons or tools. He would remain dry and be ready to fight if someone comes over the rise. This is how most people would drink from a river.

The dogfaces put their snouts in the water like a dog. They would have been on all fours. They would have been in no position to fight if something had happened. These soldiers could have been slaughtered without being able to get to their feet.

It is with these 300 men that the Lord wants Gideon to rout the Midianites. It is with these 300 men that Gideon does rout the Midianites.

These poor soldiers without enough sense to drink properly from a river are the men the Lord selects. The Lord used them for this glorious end that they would not be able to take credit for. When they got back home, the people would ask, "What do you mean they routed the Midianites? I don't know how these fools even survived!" The answer, is that it is by the Lord's hand that they triumphed. No matter how un educated in the art of war they looked to the trained eye, the Lord looked at them and said, "Never before have I turned on you when you looked this good to me."

It's not up to us, the Lord gives us talents and treasures to use for the good of God's plans. But when push comes to shove, it is the Lord who will conquer not with the best trained and equipped, but with those God ordains to succeed.

Deception

Galatians 6:7-10

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

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Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

"Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who"

You reap what you so, what a sentence. Simple isn't it, what you plant you harvest. What you do will come back to you with dividends. The thing we miss about the reaping and sowing is that when we plant one seed, we get more than one seed in return, we get dozens and hundreds.

Plant an grain of wheat, the head will have tens of seeds on it. Plant a grain of corn, the cob will have hundreds of seeds. Plant an apple tree and thousands of apples can follow. Plant an olive tree, a tree that can live for a thousand years, and you will get millions of olives. What we plant will be reaped in droves.

So if we plant evil, we will get evil back again and again and again. It's easy to do what's not good for us, and the fruit can be tasty, but it will leave a sour stomach and a tremendous hangover. But if we sow to the Spirit, we will reap eternal life from the Spirit. What we receive is life worth living.

This shouldn't be news. In one way or another we all know this is true. Some learn it when they are young at their parent's knee. Some learn it again in Sunday School and in church. Some actually learn it in school-whether in class or playing at recess. Some learn this lesson in the streets where the pain of the lesson leaves physical scars. Then again, some who learn this lesson at home come away with scars that can't be seen with the naked eye. Some of us don't bother to learn it until it is learned behind bars. Even worse, some will never learn on this side of glory.

One thing hasn't changed though, the boss. The Creator is the ultimate judge. Humanity was created to be in relationship with God and with one another. We are called to a life of peace and joy. The Lord is our God. The Lord is the boss. Christians testify to the God in Three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit- the Blessed Trinity. Living together since before the beginning of creation, this is the new boss, just the same as the old boss.

It is by through the boss that we have an opportunity to work for the good of all, especially for those of the family of faith. So plant the good seed of faith in relationship with God and with one another. This is seed worth growing.