Is life a comedy or a tragedy? Are we the hero or the victim? Or maybe the villain? Is the world descending into chaos and dystopia or are we on a path of ever-increasing prosperity and progress? The stories we tell orient us to our place in the world and our role in the story.
The Bible tells the story of a loving God and a messy people. There is a beginning and an end. Major themes of creation, redemption, and sanctification trace the arc of this grand narrative. And Jesus Christ is the center of it all – the great hero of the story who comes incognito to rescue and redeem his broken creation.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation
Lord Jesus, you once came to humanity in a rustic barn and a messy manger. Do not be distant from the rough places of our lives. We often find ourselves far from you. In mercy, come near to us, our Lord, Emmanuel; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Confession
Forgive my sins, O Lord – forgive me the sins of my present and the sins of my past, the sins of my soul and the sins of my body; the sins which I have done to please myself, and the sins which I have done to please others. Forgive me my wasted and idle sins, forgive me my serious and deliberate sins, forgive me those sins which I know and those sins which I know not, the sins which I have labored so to hide from others that I have hid them from my own memory. Forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all.
Word: Judges 6:12-14
“And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.’
And Gideon said to him, ‘Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.’
And the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?’”
Meditation: Mighty Man of Valor by Julianna Shults
When we left our unlikely hero Gideon last, he was trying to separate grain and chaff in a pit to avoid his enemies. Hiding and scared, his life is about to get, well, very interesting.
The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon in the middle of this pit full of wheat. Quite the unexpected interruption. Gideon asks him why these horrible things have happened to Israel. God seems to have forsaken His people rather than saving them as He has in the past. Instead of giving Gideon a reason, God gives him a responsibility. Go and save them, Gideon. I am sending you to save My people.
The angel calls Gideon a “mighty man of valor.” In context, that might sound ironic or sarcastic, but it’s not. God is calling Gideon to something bigger and braver. Gideon goes on to tell the angel his clan is the weakest and that he is the very least in his family. God has got the wrong guy. He is not the sure, strong, brave leader of an army.
Gideon wanted to be saved, but who was he to do the saving? It’s hard to imagine yourself as a mighty warrior, a man of valor who will save your people from their enemies when you are literally hiding in a pit!
The world will give you many names and tell you many things about yourself. We sometimes take these to heart and begin to believe we are broken, unimportant, hot mess, incapable people. Who are we for God to want us? Even in the church we can over focus on our identity as sinners and miss that we are also saints.
In your Baptism, God called you by another name. He called you forgiven, saved, and loved. God calls you man or woman of valor, even in your darkest, terrified, and downtrodden moments. God makes us his own through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
These names God calls you, and what God calls Gideon, don’t depend on us. We don’t earn them. Instead, we stand confident in how God names us because of who God is, what Jesus has done and what the Holy Spirit can do through us. Maybe you are in a winepress of your own, overwhelmed and unsure. No matter where you are today, or how you feel, or even what you fear you cannot do, be reminded God calls you his own dear child, men and woman of valor through the saving work of Jesus.
Dear Father, thank you for giving us an identity of strength and belonging through you. Help us to always remember our Baptism and that you have called us yours. Amen.
Benediction
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7)