Judges 6-7
A lot of people are looking for jobs or career changes in this economy. The whole process is stressful…looking for the right job, checking out the ads, doing the networking. But probably nothing is as stressful as the job interview – having to prove yourself over and over to someone who doesn’t know you at all.
Job interview stress can sometimes make us whacky. I found this list of things put together by some corporate CEOs of things that people actually did in job interviews:
- A balding guy abruptly excused himself and returned to the office a few minutes later wearing a hairpiece.
- An applicant came in wearing a Walkman and said that it was no problem to listen to me and music at the same time
- Another stated that if he were hired he show his loyalty by having the company logo tattooed on his forearm.
- Another interrupted to phone his therapist for advice on answering specific interview questions.
- This one takes the cake: An applicant asked who the lovely babe was, pointing to the picture on my desk. When I said it was my wife, he asked if she was home right now and if I’d give him the phone number. I called security.
Job hunting and hiring can be tough!
But what happens when the job comes to you…out of the blue? That’s what we’re going to focus on today as we look at the story of Gideon. Gideon is an Old Testament “Giant” because his story gives us some insight on how God calls people, how God offers jobs to people like us.
One of the persistent questions I get asked is “How do I know what God is calling me to do?” It’s a great question – and one that needs some examination and evaluation. As I read the Gideon story, I see at least 6 ways of knowing that a call is from God (there are probably more). How do you know if God is calling you to do something?
1. It comes to you when you weren't looking for it (6:1-12).
Gideon is an average guy just trying to eke out an existence, hiding his grain from the marauding Midianites when the angel comes looking for him to give him a mission – in this case a military mission. Gideon is quick to respond that he is not the man for the job (verse 15 – My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my family). He isn’t looking for glory, doesn’t have a Messiah complex.
But that’s the point. God isn’t interested in Gideon’s resume, but in his availability. Time and again in the Bible we see God calling the most unlikely people with poor qualifications, inadequate social skills, and less than stellar communication ability to do his work and lead his people.
If you read the Bible closely you’ll see people constantly telling God that they don’t have the goods. Take Moses, for example, who was scared to death to speak in front of people. Did you know that when people list their greatest fears, “public speaking” is number one? Death is number two! That’s why Jerry Seinfeld says that most people at a funeral would rather be in the coffin than giving the eulogy.
But it’s these scared people that God tends to pick for the big jobs – people who were minding their own business when God showed up. They weren’t looking for it, but God is looking for them – for people in whom God’s strength can be shown through their weakness.
There’s a great saying that goes, “God doesn’t always call the qualified, but he always qualifies the called.” That’s so right. God isn’t interested in your resume, but in your availability. In verse 16 God assures Gideon “I will be with you”. In other words, don’t sweat the small stuff – your small self, your small abilities, your small vision. Just let me work through you.
When you least expect God can use you, look out.
2. It requires you to take on more responsibility (6:13).
In verse 13, Gideon complains, “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hands of Midian.”
One of the interesting questions I often get asked is, “If there’s a God, why is there so much suffering in the world? He ought to do something about that.” Well the answer to that is simple. God has done something about it…he made you.
Look at the reply in verse 14: The Lord turned to Gideon and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
For whatever reason, God has decided that his biggest jobs need the participation of people like you and me. Some say that’s because God is really weak, if there is a God at all. God simply won’t or can’t do it. I think just the opposite – God chooses to use us to change the world because we matter to God. That God calls us is an affirmation of our worth.
But that call also requires action on our part. The Pareto or 80/20 Principle says that in any organization, 80% of the people do the talking while 20% do all the work. When God calls you, it is always to become one of the 20 percenters – to take responsibility for the world around you. To see where God is at work and get on board.
How many times have you said, “Somebody oughta do something about that?” Well, the story of Gideon tells us that more often than not that somebody is you!
3. It is for the benefit of someone else (6:14)
I remember my first chapel in seminary. There I was, a shiny new student, expectant that God was going to bless my socks off in ministry and that everything was going to be great. And then the dean of the chapel stood up to preach, paused a long moment, looked us in the eyes and said to us first-year students: “Men and women, when God calls you into ministry he isn’t doing you any favors.”
Yikes. But it’s true. God does not call us into ministry for our benefit – it is always for the benefit of someone else. Because God chooses the least qualified among us, there’s no room for narcissism…your call is not about you. If God is really calling you, the evidence will be in the impact that call has on other people, serving them, building them up, leading them to God. That call may exact a high cost from you, may even be dangerous (it was for Gideon), and it requires an uncommon faithfulness. But ultimately, we can only realize a call is from God when realize that in following it we won’t become the primary beneficiary.
How is God wanting to use your life, your time, talent, resources, to serve someone else?
4. It moves you out of your comfort zone (6:25-35)
It’s interesting that Gideon’s first task is to tear down the altars of the god Baal, who was worshipped by the peoples of Canaan and, in their faithlessness, by many of the Israelites. God commands Gideon to first get rid of the idols of Baal closest to home – to tear down the Asherah pole (a symbol of fertility), cut it up, and burn it on an altar. Problem is that this is his own father’s property. Gideon obeys God’s command, but does the work at night. The next day, the rest of the family and the people of the town are furious – wanting Gideon’s head. This was a necessary first step, however, in bringing the people back to God. Gideon is called to risk even his own life to make that happen
You can usually tell if a call is from God if it’s something that’s difficult to do. When I served with Randy Jessen in Colorado Springs, he had a way of testing whether what we were doing as a church was really in God’s plan. When we’d set goals he’s always ask us as a staff, “Well, is it scary enough?” In other words, does this take you out of your comfort zone? Is it a seemingly impossible task? Will it upset the status quo? Then it’s probably from God!
5. It passes the "fleece" test (6:36-40)
Gideon wants to confirm that God is really calling him to lead the people. So he asks for a sign. He puts a fleece (sheep skin) on the threshing floor and says, “God if you really want me to do this, make the fleece wet and the ground dry.” Next day, it is. But Gideon still needs more convincing – “OK, now so that I can be really sure – make the fleece dry and the ground wet.” Next day it is!
That seems a bit presumptuous to us. For most of us, signs of God are not so obvious. We’re not really prone to angel visitations or wet fleeces, but I think the operative principle here is that when God calls us, it behooves us to make sure what we’re hearing. How do we do that?
There are a couple of ways that we can “put out a fleece”. We start with Scripture – knowing that if God is calling us the task will be consistent with his Word – and that means the WHOLE word, not just a singular verse. Many horrific things have been done by people because “the Bible said so.” I just finished reading “Under the Banner of Heaven” which is largely about men doing heinous things because “God told them to.” History is full of such proclamations. Gideon recognized, as should we, that receiving a call from God is not to be taken lightly and must be thoroughly investigated!
We need to look deeper. It requires some study on our part to get the whole witness of Scripture. Probably the best guidepost in that is following Jesus’ example, walk in his footsteps…can’t go wrong there.
I John 4:1-3 says, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God…”
It’s incumbent upon us to listen to God’s call, but also recognize that not every nudge we get is from God. We need to “test the spirits” and check them against God’s perfect word in Christ.
Next, we sometimes get our fleece from the witness of other people. Usually if God is calling us, that call will be affirmed by a variety of others who can sometimes see what we can’t see. They act as a checkpoint for us.
A lot of people ask me to describe when I decided to be a pastor. I didn’t! I was working as a youth director in a church in Bellefonte, PA – quite happy doing that. Had some opportunities to speak and teach in the church and enjoyed that. One day, the senior and associate pastors pulled me into the office and told me, “We’ve decided that you need to go to seminary. God is calling you and you’re not hearing him.” Over the next months, I had several similar but unrelated conversations with people who said, “When are you going to seminary?” Even though I hadn’t put out the fleece, there it was!
The point is that there are many ways in which God gives us “signs” and marker points on our journey. Asking questions, consulting with people we trust, looking closely at our gifts and priorities are all ways that we can “put out a fleece.”
6. It is something too big for you accomplish on your own (7:1-21)
So now Gideon goes out to do the thing that God has called him to do – to save Israel from the Midianite raiders – whose numbers of camels are “greater than the sand on the seashore” – in other words, there were a lot of them. Gideon assembles an army of about 32,000 – still probably not enough but a sizeable force. And then God tells him – “You have too many.” Too many? Tell the ones who are afraid that they can go home – 22,000 do. Now there are 10,000 left. God says to Gideon – still too many. Take them down to the river. The ones who lap up the water from their hands, keep those. The ones who kneel to drink, send them home. (Probably the ones lapping water from cupped hands demonstrated that they were alert – could drink and still keep a sword in their hands).
That leaves Gideon with 300 men to do the job. Oh, and by the way, they won’t need the swords – you’ll just, at the right time, smash some clay pots, raise torches, blow trumpets and the enemy will be defeated. Not exactly a proven Pentagon-like strategy.
But it works. When Gideon and his men execute the plan, the Midianites are thrown into confusion (psychological warfare) turn on each other and flee. Mission accomplished.
Why do it this way? God tells Gideon in 7:2 it is so that “Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her”. It is God’s power, not Gideon’s or the people’s that will save them.
Gideon’s story, as well as many others in the Bible, tells us that the tasks God calls people to are never something that they can accomplish on their own – it takes the power of God revealed in and through those who are willing. If a task seems overwhelming or impossible, it’s probably from God – and an opportunity for God’s power to work through you.
If you’re feeling weak or inadequate, know that you are ripe for a call from God!
I love Gideon’s story because it tells us that no matter who we are or where we find ourselves, God can use us, call us, equip us. Each of us has a mission, a calling, a purpose. What’s yours? Maybe it’s as simple as being a Christian example for your kids, maybe it’s righting some injustice in the world, maybe it’s to pour out your life in the service of others, maybe it’s to build resources that further God’s Kingdom…maybe it’s to full-time ministry.
Gideon was called to stand in front of a great evil that was threatening his people. We have seen this week, once again, what evil can do. The theater shootings in Aurora leave us feeling afraid, wanting to hide in our own version of a winepress. But God calls us to face evil with love, to be obedient, and to see where we fit in God’s ultimate victory over that evil. We may feel, like Gideon, that we are the least of people, but it’s those people through whom God does his greatest work.
Oh, by the way…following God’s call is the reason that there is a Bible in nearly every hotel room. The Gideons took their name from the Bible character because of his obedience. The two guys who founded the Gideons, John Nicholson and Samuel Hill met when they were forced to share a hotel room in Wisconsin one night in 1898…read the Bible together…and got a call from God to provide Bibles for travelers. A big job…but we all know about the Gideons!
That’s being available when you least expect it! I encourage you to listen hard to God. Don’t settle for just doing a job – spend your life in following God’s call! And when you least expect God to use you, that’s when he will!
