March 18 Sermon

Judges 7:9-23 
  9 During that night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.

  13 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.” 14 His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

  15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” 16 Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. 17 “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’”

  19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”

  21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites.

I am afraid of heights. Well, it would be more accurate to say that I'm afraid of falling from such heights.

I have also been to the top of the Eiffel tower.

Now, at first, these two ideas seem to be at odds. But it's easy to decide to go to the top of a tall structure when you're on the ground. From below, it doesn't seem so tall, right? But once you're on the way up, you tend to realize exactly what you're doing. This particular trip, I was with a few friends, none of whom were afraid of heights. So when we got to the top and the elevator door opened, they decided to drag me out of the elevator, despite my very strong wishes to remain in the elevator. Some friends, right? Well, they were right and I was wrong—I did appreciate the view, once I overcame my fear.

Of course, this also wasn't the real Eiffel tower. It's the one that sits on I-71 north of Cincinnati that's only 1/3 as tall as the real thing. But if I told you that at the beginning you wouldn't have been nearly as impressed. Rachel isn't afraid of heights at all—so if we ever end up in Paris, she's going to be the one pulling me out of the elevator at the top of the real Eiffel Tower, while my fingernails leave marks on the walls as I try to resist.

Sometimes in life, it just takes a little encouragement. We put ourselves in the right place, have a great opportunity before us... then we freeze. It happens. So we need a friend to help us out.

It's not unlike what Gideon experienced in our text today. He was in a great opportunity. The Lord had whittled his army down to 300 people, going up against more than 30,000 Midianites, but God had promised that if Gideon followed his orders, everything would turn out well—the Israelites would prevail. So Gideon followed his instructions, but let's all be honest—if we were the head of an army of 300 going against an army of more than 30,000, we could have all the promises from God we wanted, but we still might be nervous.

So God provided a little encouragement, using a Midianite soldier and his friend. God calls Gideon, If you fear to attack, go down to the camp, and you shall hear what they say, and your hand shall be strengthened to attack the camp.

Remember, God has already proved to Gideon three separate times that this call is legitimate. But Gideon is still afraid, so rather than banish him and choose another, braver leader, God provides some much-needed encouragement. God sends Gideon into the Midianite camp, and there he overhears a conversation between two Midianite soldiers. One soldier is telling the other about a dream he had, one in which a cake of barley bread tumbles into the camp and destroys the camp, sending a clear message that Gideon will defeat the Midianites.

Gideon overhears all of this and in response, worships God. He returns to the camp and immediately goes about following the plan of God to defeat the Midianites. He takes his 300 soldiers and seizes the opportunity God has put before him, and they rout the Midianites.

All Gideon needed was a little final encouragement.

Encouragement is a powerful thing. Think about the nature of encouragement for a second. When someone needs encouragement, they usually have an opportunity before them, and they have the gifts necessary to seize that opportunity, but fear seizes them. They're stuck in neutral, and what they need is someone to remind them of the gifts they have and their capability to seize the opportunity. They just need a little help. Think of the baby bird, standing on the edge of the next, unfolding its new wings, uncertain that it can fly, afraid of falling and being eaten by the cat. The bird just needs some encouragement from its mother, often in the form of a swift kick off the ledge. Now, I will add an important note—it's the encourager's job to ensure that whatever they are encouraging someone to do, be sure that you believe they can actually do it. If you encourage someone to go and do something you don't think they can do just because you think they should feel better, you're only setting them up for failure. If God had sent Gideon this message and not been in a position to help him defeat the Midianites, it would have been a cruel joke. But God knew Gideon just needed to overcome his fear.

Friends, often we're in need of encouragement. Perhaps we've been working on a project for a long time, or waiting for a certain thing to happen or arrive. Maybe you're ready to give up hope. We've all been in a position at some point or another when we needed some encouragement. Just like I once stood in an elevator, afraid, needing someone to pull me along, you have probably experienced fear and uncertainty before an opportunity. And there is probably someone you know that needs that encouragement. I believe it is a gift that we can give to others to encourage them.

When we encourage other people to take advantage of the opportunities God has placed before them, we are helping them be more faithful. We know that God gives us gifts to use—and we know that the devil puts fear into our hearts and keeps us from seizing those opportunities. We can get paralyzed by fear, often irrational fear, that prevents us from turning into the people God wants us to be. God will continue to put opportunities before us, continue to give us the gifts we need to seize them, to reach out to the world in love... and often fear will prevent us from acting on those opportunities.

When we encourage others, we foster a community that turns from fear and looks for opportunities. When we encourage others, we are helping them use their God-given gifts. When we encourage others, we're helping them join in with what God is doing in the world. They see the world in a unique way—and God has probably given them the gifts to minister to the world! But fear can often hold people down from growing up in faithfulness, from reaching out.

So we need to be encouragers of one another. Let us turn from fear, and help one another seize the opportunities Christ has placed before us. How many Gideons are there in the world that have never attacked because they were afraid that the odds were too long, that it just wouldn't work, that it could never happen? How many simply needed to hear someone else say that they believed in them? How many unique and amazing ministries are dormant in people's hearts because fear is holding them down?

May we encourage one another to not be afraid, to set down all of our worries and deepest fears, and to take bold chances, to seize the opportunities God places before us, that the world may know God's power and God's love through our human actions.

Let us pray