Samson Superhero Judges 15:9-17 8/12/2012

Sermon 8-12-12 superheroes judges 15:9-17 Samson chpts 13-16
9 The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. 10 The men of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?”He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”
12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”Samson said, “Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves.”13 “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. 14 As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.
16 Then Samson said,“With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them.[a] With a donkey’s jawboneI have killed a thousand men.”17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.[b] [jawbone hill]

Sermon series- nothing heroic about Samson
Unless killing lots of the enemy makes you a hero.

Life story is a litany of retribution- a cycle of revenge
Title samsons life - Revenge. I will show them.

• Is going to take a goat as an offering.
• Father gives his wife to another.
• 300 foxes – lit torches – burned up their crops
• Philistines burn girl and father to death
• Since you have acted like this…..i swear I wont stop until I get my revenge on you.
• Slaughtered many of them
• They come to take him prisioner. To do to him as he did to us.
• 3000 men of Judah go to Samson. We have gone from 1 goat and one father to 3000 men.
• I merely did to them, what they did to me.
• Samson is bound with 2 new ropes. And handed over.
• Spirit comes upon him. He does not use it for good, but uses the power/ gifts to hurt others
• Finds jawbone… strikes down 1000

Today lets talk about
Revenge and Forgiveness
Revenge is picking up the jawbone and starting another round

1. Revenge always escalates the situation
What starts with foxes and crops to bodies. Revenge always escalates.

2. Revenge is intoxicating. The crowd will often applaud when you take revenge, but the hearts of good people know better. Your heart knows better.
3. It never brings about the end- you may feel that you are ahead, but you will never feel that it is over

The importance of forgiving

• Forgiveness comes up again and again and again
o When we confess our sins, we end up talking about our anger, bitterness, rage
• We become shaped – owned by the things that we refuse to release
• Good people excuse their bad behavior because of some past hurt. We allow that person to totally change our moral compass.
• Forgiveness is important for us

Forgiveness is/ is not
1. Forgiving is not condoning
2. Forgiving is not forgetting
Setting up boundaries with a person. They are toxic. They are going to hurt and abuse over and over. Forgiving is not forgetting.
3. Forgiving does not always mean reconciling
Does not mean that everything is going back to the way that they were
4. Forgivenss is different than justice and consequences
It is ok to get a restraining order. It is ok to go to court if need be.
5. Forgiving is personal. You forgive people, not institutions or organizations. No one has ever been hurt by the church. People get hurt by people in that church.
I will never forgive that business that fired me. I will never forgive the church. You cant forgive a faceless institution.
This is why some people get stuck in life.
6. Forgiveness is a process. Maybe step one is deciding that you really are not going to kill them. It’s a start. Considering the fact that these people may be forgiveable may be a radical concept for you.
7. Forgiveness is a choice.
8. Forgiveness is needed by you as much if not more than the person you may need to forgive.

Forgiveness begins when we decide to put the jawbone down.
Forgiveness begins when we decide to put the jawbone down.
When you surrender your urge to hurt back.
Do you remember this passage From Romans 12……
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.

How are our minds being renewed? It is followed by

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e] 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This is a quote from Proverbs:
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
22 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

Leave room for God’s wrath- for God’s Justice:
We take revenge because according to our time table, justice has not been served.
Apparently there is no higher accountability, so I will take action.
When we take revenge, we are saying, god I don’t like the way that you do your job so I am going to take action. The punishment that I feel should be coming, is not coming, so I am going to do the right thing.

Jesus sets the example……….1 peter 2:23
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

When Jesus suffered, he made no threats.
He entrusted himself to God- and turns others over to god as well.
Father forgive them

Jesus further more offers up this advice:
Jesus further more offers up this advice:

27 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Love your enemies, pray for those who despitefully use you

Do you want to start the process of forgiveness?

1. surrender the right to revenge- We need to stop telling the stories. Then maybe someone will stop remembering the person in that way
2. understand that something has to happen in our hearts between God and us. things change when we realize that what needs to happen is not something between me and the person, but between me and God
3. Finally forgiveness comes when we are able to wish them well. [I agree not to be the instrument of gods wrath, but I hope that someone else gets them.]
Love your enemies, pray for those who use you
We cannot pray for someone and hate them at the same time.

Conclusion
We hear the word forgive and immediately have a picture of a person in our mind.
If this is your experience, then you know where the battleground is, you know where the game is going to be played

Understand that they are not yours. They belong to God. Entrust them to God

1. Today set someone free in your heart
2. release your heart from the burden of bitterness
3. drop the jawbone.