Don t Be a Samson October 26, 2008 First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu Rev. Dr. Dan Chun

Don t Be a Samson October 26, 2008 First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu Rev. Dr. Dan Chun We continue our E100 series, the essential 100 Bible passages everyone should know. And this week we enter the period of the Judges in Israel s history when judges like Gideon, Deborah and Samson ruled the people. Who would have guessed that Hollywood would come out with a commercial moneymaking movie last July that underlines the truth of our lesson this morning about Samson? Can you guess what that movie is? The film has made $228 million to date! Yowza! It is number 62 on the alltime USA Box office list of movie moneymakers. It stars an Academy Award winner, a Golden Globe winner, a two-time Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe nominee and multiple Grammy Award winner! That s right; it s a star studded cast made up of Charlize Theron, Will Smith and Jason Bateman. And the movie is called.. Hancock! Hancock is like a superhero, but not quite a hero. He has superhuman strength, but he loves drinking alcohol and dresses and acts like a homeless man. He is often drunk, profane and impolite. When called to fight a crime, he flies haphazardly, smashes through buildings, crushes cars and destroys highways. He also scares children when he tosses them into the sky because they had called him names. He s a mean dude! (The movie trailer is shown on screen,) The damage Hancock has done to the city has totaled to more than tens of millions of dollars. The courts gives Hancock 600 subpoenas and civil suits, but he never responds to them. He is a law unto himself. Much of the movie (which is not appropriate for young children due to the language and violence) is about how this person with superhuman strength must learn not to squander his gifts and use them to help society in ways the people appreciate. And that, my friends, is the essence of our story today about Samson. After reading about the integrity of Joseph and the leadership of Abraham and Moses, we come upon Samson. His biography, in fact, takes up four chapters of the book of Judges. Samson was highly talented in a lot more ways than Abraham and Moses, but he misused and squandered these talents. 1

Samson was set aside at birth to serve God. He was chosen by God Almighty to do great things. Great things! But we find that as a young man he lacked self-control. He had a fiery temper, a vengeful spirit, and a tremendous weakness for women having married a non-israelite woman (a Philistine) and even slept with a prostitute. But we still see God s immense grace and mercy on him and on Israel in spite of his faults. God continually forgave him and even tried to bring Samson back to Him to keep His covenantal promise to Abraham centuries earlier. An angel came to Samson s parents one day. Imagine. An angel came to announce his birth. (Some historians think this angel may have been Jesus Himself because it was an Angel of the Lord who had no name.) This angel told the parents that Samson would be a special child. He would be a Nazirite. John the Baptist and the prophet Samuel were Nazirites, and both were spiritual giants. The word nazirite comes from two Hebrew words: nazir, which means connected; and nadhar, meaning to make a vow. The Nazirite would be separated from normal life so he can serve God. Samson would grow to be a judge of Israel, a spiritual and political leader. God gifted Samson with superhuman strength. If ever there were to be a superhero, Samson could be it; he had strength, influence, political power, and a life that was dedicated to God and goodness. But alas, he was more like Hancock than a hero from God. There were many rules for a Nazirite but there were three distinct ones. First, he must abstain from alcohol (which some historians wonder if at a wedding party Samson may not have followed this). Second, no contact with dead bodies, which Samson violated in the murder of many people. The phrase he left a trail of bodies would definitely apply to Samson as we will soon see. And third, he was not to cut his hair, which Samson obeyed until tragically near the end of his life. Here s a quick overview of Samson s life. Samson was told that he would be a Nazirite. But instead of being respectful to his parents and to God for this dedication of his life, he decided to marry a Philistine woman, which was against his parents and God s desire. (Remember, the Philistines were the enemy of Israel and God.) This not only endangered his life but the spiritual welfare of any children they might have. His lack of concern for the eternal well-being of himself and his family is astounding. 2

When Samson went to pick up his wife-to-be, a young lion attacked him. And because of his God-given strength, Samson killed the lion with his bare hands! Later Samson noticed that honey was formed in the lion s body. He decided at his wedding reception to make a riddle of this interesting discovery. He asked 30 men at the party to solve the riddle, which went like this: Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet. If the 30 men guessed the riddle, Samson promised them 30 festal garments for each one of them. The men couldn t figure out the riddle until they persuaded Samson s wife of four days (during the seven-day wedding reception) to tell them the answer, which she did. And notice how they answered the riddle in the form of a question, which is the earliest biblical evidence of Jeopardy game being played! What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion? they answered. (Alex Trebek would be happy to hear that.) In an angry retort to the 30 men came one of Samson s more famous lines in the Bible: If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle. Samson was so angry that he went to a nearby town and murdered 30 men so he could steal their festal garments and give these to the men who guessed his riddle. And Samson was supposed to be a judge of the land, a man of God, a Nazirite! The 30 men at the party thought they were playing Jeopardy, but actually Samson was playing a deadly game of Deal or No Deal. And in regard to his wife of about seven days who had betrayed him, Samson went back in anger to her father s house and gave his wife to his best man and basically said, Take her; she s yours. Unbelievable! For the wife it truly was a deal and then no deal. But it gets worse! Later Samson decided to go back to his wife but the woman s father wouldn t let him take her back. Understandably so. This guy had issues! So in anger Samson caught 300 foxes (or jackals according to some historians), tied them by two by their tails, and attached a flaming torch to their tails. Then he let the foxes loose in the grain field of the Philistines so that the field burned. 3

When the Philistines found out that it was Samson who did this, they burned his wife and her father. In revenge, Samson went ballistic and turned into Arnold Schwarzenegger and terminated all of the Philistines in that area. Then 3,000 men of Judah (Israelites) chased after Samson, their own judge, because he had gone nutso. Then they bound him with rope as they took him back to their town. End of story? No! E100 Bible study is more adventurous than Indiana Jones! The Philistines came upon the men of Judah and attacked Samson. Bad mistake. Samson stretched his arms and snapped the rope binding his hands. He picked up a huge jawbone of a donkey and defended himself with it, slaying 1,000 Philistines in the process! Samson judged the land of Israel for 20 years. And during that time he slept with at least one prostitute (violating his Nazirite code of abstinence), and probably got drunk (violating the no drinking rule). He killed more than a thousand people, hence, he was with dead bodies. But he did keep his hair long. Well, until the point where we pick up our Scripture passage today. This is probably the most famous part of Samson s life his encounter with Delilah, another wife who was outside of his faith. Even more worse was that she was more into money than loyalty. We pick up our story in Judges 16, starting with verse 19. The Philistines come to Delilah to ask what is the secret of Samson s strength. Delilah doesn t know so she asks Samson. Twice, Samson lies to her, but the third time he finally tells her the truth. She sells the truth to the Philistines for 1,100 pieces of silver. Judges 16:19 She let him fall asleep on her lap; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. He began to weaken, and his strength left him. Judges 16:20 Then she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! When he awoke from his sleep, he thought, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. But he did not know that the LORD had left him. Judges 16:21 So the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles; and he ground at the mill in the prison. Judges 16:22 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. 4

Judges 16:23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand. Judges 16:24 When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us. Judges 16:25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, Call Samson, and let him entertain us. So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. They made him stand between the pillars; Judges 16:26 and Samson said to the attendant who held him by the hand, Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them. Judges 16:27 Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson performed. Judges 16:28 Then Samson called to the LORD and said, Lord GOD, remember me and strengthen me only this once, O God, so that with this one act of revenge I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes. Judges 16:29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. Judges 16:30 Then Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. He strained with all his might; and the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life. Samson, like Hancock in the movie, came to his senses at the very end. But before that final scene of repentance when he actually talked to God, we clearly see Samson s character flaws revenge, weakness for inappropriate sex, open to temptation, anger, breaking of vows but mostly he squandered his gifts and talents from God. God gave him strength, position, power and influence and he squandered it all. He thought his physical strength could protect him from any predicament but it didn t because he did not rely on God. As a Bible commentator said, Strength or success in one area of our lives does not make us immune from temptation in other areas. Temptations will always return until we break their pattern in our habits and behaviors. Temptation 5

and failure will always limit our usefulness to God, even though he will still extend his grace to us. (Bible for Hope, p.320) Our vision statement for our church is to help people find their destiny in Christ. And I add that when we find our destiny let s not screw it up. In some ways we are like Samson. No, we don t fly around destroying buildings like a bad superman or woman. But we are like Samson in that we have been so blessed by God we act like Hancock. We often misappropriate our gifts. We don t use them wisely with God s purposes in mind. And like Hancock, we wreak havoc instead of releasing blessings. Many of us have been given tremendous gifts by God. It might be creativity, entrepreneurship, artistic skills, and maybe position of influence, maybe a work ethic or maybe large amounts of money. The challenge for us is to not squander the gifts and resources God has given us. We shouldn t use them mostly on ourselves but instead use them to be a blessing others. Rather than giving God the glory, we want the glory for ourselves. We want the fame, the power, the acclaim and the fun for ourselves. One of the reasons we have a hard time tithing (giving 10% of the blessings God has given us) is that we want our money all for ourselves. We think we can t live on 90% of our income. We want it almost all for us. The national average for wealthy people giving to charity is 2 to 3% of their income. During tough times the temptation is to make it only 1% or 0%. God put us in the best country in the world --- the land of blessings where there is clean water, clean air, especially in Hawaii, beautiful mountains, an abundance of food, good health care, good police force and relatively low crime rate. We have so much but are we living a life for God or are we being ungrateful and squandering the gifts God has given us? We live in a world of time-saving devices lap tops, email, microwave ovens, washing machines and rice cookers. But when we have extra time, are we using it for God or for ourselves? As followers of Christ all of our time, talent and treasure is to be used solely for good and for God. Let me make sure you're hearing this: to be used SOLELY for good and for God. Doing good might mean helping the family but only if it is done in God s standard of living, not in excess but always in dedication, obedience, and honor to God. 6

Our church is facing a $300,000 deficit. We have more than 1,000 members. If we all gave $300 extra, to make our tithe, that deficit would be gone tomorrow. Poof! Gone! If we are already tithing, then we may be giving all we can. And if we are not tithing, well, this is a time to show we are living solely for God. The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the main newspapers for fundraisers, reports that in hard economic times, many non-profit groups are hurt, but not churches. The faithful keep their churches going. Trisha Burlison has been writing a poem for every E100 reading in our daily devotional. I love the poem for Judges 13-16: Did Samson Understand? (Judges 13-16) Patricia Burlison (October 20, 2008) I wonder as I read Of Samson's mighty deeds Did he truly know The God who blessed him so? Did he seek the face Of God who gave him grace? Did he learn to depend On Him who defends? Did he have praises to sing Of Him who gave him strength? I wonder as I read Did Samson truly see? There are many Delilahs in our world today - temptations that will take us away from God money, sex, power and fame. We may think we are on the fast track and accomplishing much with the gifts God has given us. But then we hear God s voice that says, The gifts I gave you were to be used in service for Me, not for the world or for your glory. In the movie, Hancock s best friend says to him, Deep down inside, you behave bad because you are lonely. I think deep down you want people s acceptance. You save people s lives and they reject you and so you reject them back. You want acceptance. 7

I think we all want acceptance. And we think we want the acceptance from the world that will Ooh and ahh and say, Aren t you smart? Rich? Accomplished? But don t sell out for the applause of people. Don t settle for the roar of the crowd. What we really want is the acceptance of God, and the cheer of the cloud of witnesses in heaven of all of the saints before us. And yes, maybe even a Samson up there who by grace is saying, Yeah, don t make the mistakes I made. Be faithful. When we squander our fits for the wrong things instead of what God wants, we think we are cool in the world s eyes. But then we find out that the world s eyes need to be gouged out of us. It doesn t really matter what the world says and what it offers because it cannot extinguish the deep loneliness inside us that only God can take care of. At the heart of every gift that God has given us -- whether strength or mercy, music or muscle, administration or appreciation, healing or helping -- it is the gift of God. The book of First John in the bible says we love because He first loved us. And when we know that love, we have peace; we have hope; we have faith. When we know that love, we hear Him call our name. We are His beloved. And to all He loves, He gives gifts. There comes a time when we realize that God has blessed us so richly and gifted us in so many ways and yet we squandered them or used them mainly for our benefit. There comes a time when we need to get back in line with God, repent from our sins, and worship Him, the One who overcame death and gave us a future and a hope. There is a Chris Tomlin song that maybe is a song for us that says: There is a peace I have come to know, though my heart and flesh may fail, there is an anchor for my soul. I can say it is well. And I will rise when He calls my name, no more sorrow, no more pain, I will rise on eagle's wings before my God, before my God fall on my knees and rise. I will rise. I will rise. There is a day that is drawing near. When this darkness breaks to light. And the shadows disappear, and my faith shall be my eye. Jesus has overcome, and the grave is overwhelmed. The Victory is won and He has risen from the dead. I will rise when He calls my name, No more sorrow, no more pain. I will rise on Eagles wings, before my God fall on my knees, and rise. I will rise. I will rise. 8

When we have realized that we have spent much of our life not for God and others but made it all about us, when we realize that God has indeed blessed us in this land, and that in many ways we have squandered the gifting God has given us to use 100% of it totally for Him, then it is time to pray. It is time to put a stake in the ground and say, No more of this unfocused life. I want to follow you, Lord, to the best of my ability with all of my heart, soul and mind. I would like to lead us in a prayer. It will be a prayer of commitment to Jesus. It may be your first all out prayer for God who came to this earth and gave His life for us through his son Jesus. For some, It will be a prayer of repentance. For some It will be for some a prayer of renewal of faith. Join me please, in prayer. Lord Jesus, thank you for Your great love for us. You love us so much that you died for every single person in this room. And you did that so we don t have to pay the penalty for our sins. You took care of all of that. No more of this unfocused life, Lord. I want to follow you with all my heart, mind and soul beginning today. I accept your forgiveness. I want to use the gifts and blessings you have given me for Your purposes. In Jesus name, amen. 9