Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would come with might and power and deep conviction,
not just now as we receive your word, but throughout the entire service.
Father, please, in your mercy, have your Holy Spirit so move the very center of who we are
to able to desire to come into your presence and to receive from you and to respond to you in a worthy manner.
And so grip us with the gospel that we will grow day by day into disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel,
learning to live for your glory.
And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, I'm going to tell you something really boring.
One of the things that Jenny, who's the admin person, and I are going to do in a couple of weeks' time is we're going to set aside at least one day
to go over all of the QuickBooks line entries and all of the ways that we record income and expenditures in all of our funds.
And we're going to go right back to zero.
Am I putting you all to sleep?
But we're going to do this, right?
Every single line item of QuickBooks.
This is if the council on Monday night gives us permission.
This is what we're going to do.
Now, this sounds unbelievably boring, but it's one of those things which is boring, not urgent.
We could go another couple of years without doing it.
But it's actually really, really, really, really important.
And a lot of times in life, you have to do things that aren't urgent, but are very important.
In fact, there's a famous writer by the name of Stephen Covey who wrote a book called Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
And one of the things he does is he talks about doing good effective people do quadrant two things.
Effective organizations do quadrant two things.
That's something which is important but not urgent.
Most people live their lives dealing with the urgent, and a lot of the urgent is completely and utterly unimportant.
And to spend all your time doing urgent but unimportant things is just a definition to really accomplish nothing of worth in life.
So we're going to be spending this time doing something which is important, help have our finances clearer, but not urgent.
I mention this because in the Bible story that we're looking at today, there are several things which make this story sort of very distant from us.
But actually, the story is talking about, if you just sort of bear with me,
it's talking about something which is really, really important, but people rarely feel is urgent.
And since we all would like to be effective people, nobody likes to go around and say,
by the way, I'm an unbelievably ineffective person.
In fact, if somebody said that to us, they're probably hoping we'd say to them,
oh, come on, you're actually pretty effective.
They're fishing for a compliment.
But nobody likes to say that.
So this text, believe it or not, is actually dealing with something very, very important,
but most people never think it's urgent.
So if you turn your Bibles to Judges chapter 13, Judges chapter 13, verse 1.
And if you don't have Bibles, there's some up there.
You can come and follow along with me, and you can keep the Bible if you don't have a Bible of your own.
And we're going through the book of Judges.
And if this was a Netflix series, we're going to begin a three-part sub-story, so to speak, in a longer story arc.
And we're going to look at three stories or three episodes about Samson,
a person that many people have heard of, even if they're not Christian.
And if I was a—well, you'll see in a moment.
This week, we're going to look at the birth of Samson.
Next week, we're going to look at the battles of Samson.
And if I was a good Baptist, I would know another B to begin the third episode.
But all I can think of is the destruction, you know, the demise and death of Samson.
And so, by the way, if some of you can come up with a B to describe that third episode,
that would be very handy, and I'll announce it next week.
Samson is the last of the Judges.
It talks about this chaotic period in Israel after they've come into the Promised Land.
They're constantly being invaded.
And they're very, very disunified.
And Samson is the last of these 12 judges that the Book of Judges tells us about.
So that sort of gets you up to it.
And this week, we're going to look at the birth, which doesn't sound very interesting,
other than the fact that it's actually going to deal with something which is very important,
but is never urgent.
And here's how it goes.
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
So the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years.
I haven't mentioned this very much, but Philistines who become eventually more and more and more important in the Bible,
a way to understand who they are, they're a little bit like if you lived in the British Isles in certain centuries,
and they kept being invaded by the Norse, people from what we now call Norway and Sweden and Denmark,
sea raiders who would come and occupy parts of the land or maybe just come and leave.
But that's what Philistines were.
They weren't actually native to the land.
They were sea raiding people who kept invading this land.
And for 40 years, they've been oppressing the people of Israel.
But here's the thing, which we're going to talk about it a lot more at the end,
but I want you to notice this phrase,
and the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
I coach people about how to speak, how to teach the Bible, and how to preach.
And one of the things I do when I'm coaching people about how to preach or teach the Bible
is I say that as part of their preparation, they should try to understand the entire text.
They should take time to look at the entire text and try to understand every bit of it.
I'm not patting myself on the back, but after the 8 o'clock service,
somebody asked me about a bit of the text which I didn't talk on,
and I could give them the answer.
Same thing happened last week.
I said, that's what you should always be able to do.
But usually in a text, in a sermon, you're not giving a university lecture.
You're giving a sermon, and it means you can't cover everything in the text.
You sort of have to pick a path through the text.
And so every week as we've been going through the book of Judges,
I've picked a path through the text.
And every week I've not mentioned this little phrase,
and the people of Israel had gained it what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
But it's actually one of the most important phrases in the entire book of Judges.
And you can see that in two ways.
But every week it didn't make the cut, so to speak.
But this week, and maybe in another one of the weeks,
I just want to, we're going to camp on that a little bit.
And this is actually getting at what is important but not urgent.
Seven different times in the book of Judges, this phrase has come.
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
Seven times is the number of perfection.
It means it's a very, very important idea.
It's part of the introduction,
and it's part of half of all of the stories of the Judges.
This phrase has come.
And this is the last time in the book that the phrase appears.
But the phrase appears, the idea appears in a different form two times in the conclusion of the book.
And it's when we see how it's phrased,
the semi-basic concept is phrased with different words that we understand,
in a sense, the sharpness of this idea.
If you turn in your Bibles to chapter 17, verse 6,
which is at the beginning of a very long conclusion to the book of Judges,
and you'll see this.
In those days, there was no king in Israel.
Note this.
Everyone did what was right in his or her own eyes.
And in the conclusion, you're going to see in the two-part conclusion,
just like massive foolishness and selfishness and horrendous things going on.
And you realize that this phrase is another way of getting at this fundamental concept
that's explained, said seven times about people did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
And another way to say that is that people were doing what was right in their own eyes.
And to help really bring home that this is an important idea in the entire book
is see the very last words of the book.
If you have your Bibles, it's 21-25.
And the very, very final words of the entire book say this.
In those days, there was no king in Israel.
Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Now, there's lots of things that are difficult about trying to bring a biblical text to bear.
For those of us reading it today in 2020,
in post-modern capitalist or post-capitalist,
a knowledge-based economy like Canada in 2020,
like Ottawa in 2020,
there's lots of things that make bridging that gap very, very difficult sometimes.
And that's why lots of times sermons can be unbelievably boring.
They don't attempt to bridge that gap between the ancient world and how we live today.
But here we see there's a huge problem that has to be addressed,
which I'm going to talk about in a moment,
which I think is this urgent thing, non-urgent thing,
but actually unbelievably important.
And that is, how is the fundamental way that most Canadians think about life is this.
Brother, only you know what is right for you.
Don't listen to your dad.
Don't listen to your brother.
Don't listen to religious figures like me.
Sister, only you know what is right for you.
And you need to pursue what is right for you.
And only, don't let anybody else,
don't let your roommate,
don't let your sister,
your mother,
your father,
your kids,
a church,
a school,
a coach,
don't let any,
only you know what is right for you.
And if you want to be really human and really whole,
you need to be authentic and pursue that.
In other words,
do what is right in your own eyes.
Now you see part of the problem.
The basic anthem of Canada is do what is right in your own eyes.
And the basic message of the book of Judges is,
if you do what is right in your own eyes,
you're more often than not doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.
And we see a huge gap between the biblical text and us.
And it would be one of the reasons why many Canadians would say,
like, chuck the Bible.
It's not helpful at all.
It's just oppressive.
Believe it or not,
the way the rest of the story goes actually points to a better way than how most Canadians think.
It captures the good,
the true good in how Canadians think,
without realizing how unbalanced and dangerous it is.
And the Bible is going to point in this story,
hint and show a direction towards a far better way
that actually answers the real longings to how Canadians think,
without the profound selfishness that goes along with how Canadians think.
So let's look at how it goes.
Look how the story goes.
So we've already said,
I have to get back to my text,
we've already said,
and the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
So the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years.
And then the story continues.
This is the birth of Samson.
There was a certain man of Zorah,
of the tribe of the Danites,
whose name was Manoah,
and his wife was barren and had no children.
And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her,
Behold, you are barren and have not born children,
but you shall conceive and bear a son.
Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink
and eat nothing unclean.
For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son.
No razor shall come upon his head.
For the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb.
And he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.
Now just sort of pause there to understand what they're saying is,
if you go back later on and you read Numbers chapter 6,
which would have been a passage of scripture
that would have been available to them at this time,
you'll see that there's a special vow of a Nazarite.
And the vow of the Nazarite is for a person,
like a Jewish person back in those days,
who's in a time of crisis.
And not only crisis,
but a crossroads connected to the crisis.
And they really need God's presence
and they really need God's direction.
And so they take upon themselves for a season,
a special vow to live in a sense,
in a specially holy way,
because they want to be in God's presence.
They want to be able to call out to him
for his direction and for his help and for his strength.
And so the basic feature of the vow of the Nazarite,
apart from the fact that it's a special time of prayer
and seeking the Lord's will,
is that no razor will touch your head at all.
So your beard, if you're a man,
your beard will grow out longer
and your hair will grow longer.
If you're a woman,
your hair will just grow longer and longer.
And the second aspect of it
is that you don't have anything that's from the vine.
So you can't have raisins,
can't have grapes,
can't have wine,
can't have grape juice,
anything connected to the vine,
you're not allowed to have.
And the third thing
is that you're not allowed to be near dead bodies.
And it's just like,
it's just in a sense three markers.
On one level, it doesn't really matter.
It's the same thing
how Christians would understand fasting.
On one level, fasting doesn't matter
other than the fact
that it's a bit of a way to symbolize
that you're giving up something
to devote yourself more to seeking God's will.
That's sort of the heart of this practice.
And by the way,
for those of you who aren't familiar with this story,
Samson is going to violate
all of the conditions of a Nazarite.
Every single one of them.
Some of them spectacularly.
Don't be near dead bodies.
The body count in Samson's life
is going to be very high,
all at his hand.
So,
he's going to violate this all the time.
But that's the vow.
And God's angel is saying to the parents,
this baby that's going to be born to you,
he's going to be a boy
and he's going to be a Nazarite from birth.
And his purpose is to begin to save Israel
from the hand of the Philistines.
So, what happens is,
verse 6 and 7,
Then the woman came and told her husband,
A man of God came to me
and his appearance was like the appearance
of the angel of God.
Very awesome.
I did not ask him where he was from
and he did not tell me his name.
But he said to me,
Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son.
So then drink no wine or strong drink
and eat nothing unclean,
for the child shall be a Nazarite to God
from the womb to the day of his death.
Now, just sort of pause here.
A little thing to notice in the story.
And I've mentioned this before.
The angel of the Lord is a being
that appears many times in the Old Testament.
And basically, it's a mystery.
It's an enigma.
If you go back and read theologians,
it's not clear whether it's a theophany,
like an appearance of God.
Some people actually think
that it's a pre-incarnate visitation
by Jesus himself.
Or it's an angel that has
a special relationship with God.
But it's very, very clear
it's a very unique type of being.
And that when this being speaks,
it's God speaking.
It's as if God is present right with them,
speaking directly and plainly to them.
And this being appears as a man.
So we know from the editor
that it's an angel of the Lord,
but they still think it's a man.
It looks like a man.
And that's how they refer to this being.
So she goes and tells her husband
these things.
So how does her husband respond?
Well, actually,
her husband believes her.
Verse 8.
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord
and said,
O Lord,
please let the man of God,
notice that,
the man of God whom you sent
come again to us
and teach us
what we are to do
with the child
who will be born.
And God listened
to the voice of Manoah.
And the angel of God
came again to the woman
as she sat in the field.
Sort of notice,
that's sort of interesting,
that the man,
Manoah's praying it,
but the angel doesn't show up
to Manoah.
He shows up again
to Manoah's wife.
But Manoah,
her husband,
was not with her.
So the woman
ran quickly
and told her husband,
Behold,
the man who came to me
the other day
has appeared to me.
And Manoah arose
and went after his wife
and came to the man
and said to him,
Are you the man
who spoke to this woman?
And he said,
I am.
Now just sort of pause
before I read anything else.
If I was in a social gathering
with my wife
and I meet somebody
that I haven't met before
and I said to him,
Are you the one
who spoke to this woman?
My wife would be upset.
Don't take any type
of marital advice
from this particular story.
Men who are married,
men who have girlfriends,
never refer to your wife
or your girlfriend
as this woman
as if she doesn't have a name.
Just a mere pointer.
Just because it's in the Bible
doesn't mean
that you should go
and do likewise.
A lot of times
in these stories
it's telling you
what not to do.
I just thought
I'd bring that out
just in case
any of you
were a bit confused by it
and started referring
to your wife
as this woman
because the Bible
told you to do so.
Don't do it.
Anyway,
verse 12.
Continue on.
And Manoah said,
Now when your words
come true,
what is to be
the child's manner of life
and what is his mission?
And the angel of the Lord
said to Manoah,
Of all that I said
to the woman,
let her be careful,
she may not eat
of anything
that comes from the vine,
neither let her drink
wine or strong drink
or eat any unclean thing.
All that I commanded her,
let her observe.
Now just sort of
notice here
for a second,
the angel actually
leaves something out.
He actually,
it's a bit of a rebuke
to Manoah.
He says,
Whatever I told her,
you need to both do it.
And he left out
something that he'd said
to the woman,
so he has to actually
listen to his wife.
But the main thing
in here is this,
just to notice this,
and this is going
to be really important
to understand that thing
which is important
but never urgent.
What Manoah wants
is he wants
to know the rules
and he wants
to know the steps.
He says,
Okay God,
this is really good news
that we're going
to have a son.
So okay,
what do we have to do?
Okay,
you've told me
a few things about her
and obviously
that implicates me
but what precisely
is it we should do?
And where precisely
is it that this is going?
And on one hand,
you'll notice
it's very interesting
because that was part
of Manoah's prayer,
right?
So the angel of the Lord
speaks to Manoah's wife
and Manoah calls out
to the Lord,
Could you please help us
and let us know
what exactly it is
we want to do?
And God is answering
his prayer
by sending the angel
of the Lord
a second time
and now Manoah asks
the angel of the Lord,
Can you tell us
the rules?
Can you tell us
the steps?
Can you tell us
everything that has
to be done?
So on one hand,
the angel of the Lord
is answering the prayer
but the angel of the Lord
doesn't answer the prayer.
He doesn't tell him
what to do.
So it's just sort of left
and let's see
how it develops
because in fact,
the angel of the Lord,
I didn't flip it,
the angel of the Lord
is going to answer
the request
but in a completely
out of left field
type of way,
not the way
that Manoah wants
to be answered,
not the way
he's expecting
and he might not
even have recognized
that the angel of the Lord
has answered his request.
But here's what happens.
Verse 15,
Manoah said
to the angel of the Lord,
please let us detain you
and prepare a young goat
for you.
And the angel of the Lord
said to Manoah,
if you detain me,
I will not eat
of your food
but if you prepare
a burnt offering,
then offer it
to the Lord.
Now this is actually
part of the Lord's answer
because if you read
other stories
with the angel of the Lord,
sometimes they do eat food
but his refusal
to eat food
and to have a sacrifice
to the Lord
is part of the answer
that the Lord
is giving to Manoah
and his wife.
The brackets
for Manoah,
verse 16,
did not know
that he was
the angel of the Lord.
Verse 17,
And Manoah
said to the angel
of the Lord,
what is your name
so that when your words
come true
we may honor you?
And actually,
every English version
of the Bible
gets the original
language incorrect.
What's happened
is that Manoah
has become tongue-tied
and in the original language
that sentence,
the question is completely
and utterly ungrammatic
because it begins
with who.
So he wants to say
who are you
but he starts to say
who
and then he switches
in the middle
of the language
and realizes
he shouldn't be asking
who are you.
So in Hebrew
it's completely ungrammatic.
It doesn't make any sense
because it's obvious
he's going to ask
who are you.
He starts to ask
that question
but then he sort of
switches and ends
his sentence
as if he's saying
what is your name?
And in English
they do a valid thing
they straighten it all out.
And he says
what is your name?
Verse 17
so that when your words
come true
we may honor you.
And the angel of the Lord
said to him
why do you ask my name?
Seeing
it is wonderful.
We're going to talk
about that in a moment
but let's just sort of
get to the next thing
that happens
which fits
with this
angel's name
being wonderful.
Not that that's
the angel's name.
So Manoah took
the young goat
with the grain offering
and offered it
on the rock
to the Lord
to the one
who works wonders.
And wonders here
means he does
the impossible.
He does the
inconceivable.
He does the big.
He does the wow.
He does the
whoa.
He does the
huh?
That's what wonders
is sort of
trying to get at.
To the one
who works wonders
and Manoah
and his wife
were watching
and when the flame
went up toward heaven
from the altar
the angel of the Lord
went up
in the flame
of the altar.
In other words
the angel of the Lord
the man
entered the flame
ascended with the flame
towards heaven
and vanishes
in the air above him.
Now Manoah
and his wife
were watching
and when they saw this
they fell on their faces
to the ground.
Now the rest of the story
just is about
whether the Lord
is going to kill them
and it's all important
but you get the basic
idea here
right now.
Now remember I said
that the
basic way
that Canadians
understand themselves
is that you know
George
you need to be true
to yourself.
Like only you know
what is really
true and needful
for you
to be the person
that you should be
and don't listen
to your wife
don't listen
to your kids
don't listen to
you know
don't listen
definitely don't listen
to the bishop
you know
don't listen
to the congregation
you've got to be
true to you
you need to pursue
being true
to you
and
and on one level
we Christians
have to agree
with part of
that sentiment
and I think
this book here
as I'll explain
in a moment
would be
understand that
obviously
there has to be
a way
that
whatever it is
that you're
supposed to be doing
that it should
somehow fit
with you
and that it
shouldn't be
completely and utterly
foreign to you
that there should be
something
if you in fact
are a unique person
that is unique
about you
that is
expressed
and reflected
but consider this
thought experiment
you know
from a very
very early age
I was profoundly
affected
by the story
of Martin Luther King
Jr.
and the civil rights
movement in the states
I mean I can't
communicate that to you
I'm older than
a lot of you
and Martin Luther King
died
when I would have
just been
in junior high
and so
you know
the early documentary
like I have many
memories of the
of newscasts
of seeing what was
going on
with Martin Luther King
and the civil rights
movement in the states
and I remember
going out of my way
to see documentaries
and other types
of things
because from a very
very early age
there was something
about that story
which I found
very very compelling
and even now
unbidden to me
I can see
just as soon as
I even tell you this
I can see in my
mind's eye
perfectly
some of the
iconic scenes
of Martin Luther King
and his leading
of the civil rights
movement
to deal with
the terrible
oppression
of African Americans
in the United States
but especially
in the south
I can picture
these times
even now as I speak
it's almost making me
choke up
of Martin Luther King
and his
and the other
other people
who are with him
it's surrounded
by beefy
white state troopers
and jeering crowds
and they're in a place
that the state says
they're not supposed to be
and they get down
on their knees
and pray
and as they're down
on their knees
to pray
first the water cannons
come and blast them
and then you can see
the troopers
coming in amongst them
and hitting them
with their batons
their wood
and you can see
just this
profound
dependence
upon God
and upon
what is right
and not showing
violence
as a way
to defeat
hatred
and it has had
a profound
effect on me
ever since I was
in junior high
and as a high school
student
and still to this day
I get choked up
just thinking about it
and
some of you
have heard this
but here's the thing
here's the thing
to think about
I hope
and I dream
that if I
could all of a sudden
if I was older
and if I was an American
I hope and wish
that I would be
one of the people
on my knees
with Martin Luther King Jr.
and every single
one of us
here in the room
probably does as well
most African Americans
weren't
and they were all
being true
to themselves
they were all
pursuing
what was right
for them
and most of them
weren't with
Martin Luther King Jr.
but were doing
what was right
in their own eyes
and what about
those beefy
racist
state troopers
and racist
jeering
crowds
they
were being
true
to themselves
they were doing
what was right
for them
how does the
basic message
of morality
in Canada
address
this huge
problem
it can't
see why
it's important
but not urgent
if the
fundamental
way
that people
talk to
themselves
about their
moral life
and their
self-identity
and their
quest
does not
help them
to distinguish
between a
violent racist
and Martin
Luther King
Jr.
then how
is it
helpful
and if it
doesn't actually
distinguish
between Martin
Luther King
Jr.
and the
people
who are
with him
and a
large number
of African
Americans
who weren't
there but
were doing
what was
right
how does
it help
you
how does
this fit
with the
whole story
see here's
the thing
which is
very very
interesting
about the
whole story
we have
this basic
sense
which I
think is
correct
that
you know
the worry
is
that there's
going to
be some
type of
a goodness
or some
type of
conformity
that will
squash us
that will
kill us
that will
kill what
is unique
in us
which is
beautiful
in us
which is
sort of
irreplaceable
in us
and we have
this deep
worry
so we go
to the
opposite
extreme
in terms
of our
moral
exhortations
but we have
this very
very very
interesting
story here
which is
in this
very very
very old
book
and the
thing which
is very
very interesting
in this
story
is that
first of
all it's
all in the
context
about being
worried about
what is
right or
wrong in
the Lord's
eyes
and for
most Canadians
when they
hear about
doing evil
in the eyes
of the Lord
they think
the Lord
is like
a scientist
watching rats
doing experiments
and the
scientists don't
care about
the rats
all they're
doing is
observing the
rats
and dealing
with the
rats for
their own
purpose
and their
own good
in a sense
they're oppressing
the rats
and many
people when
they hear
this phrase
they reject
it but this
story shows
us something
very very
different
you see
when the
angel of
the Lord
says to
the person
Minoan
his wife
my name
is wonderful
the angel
of the Lord
is saying
that my
name is in
a category
and who
I am
is in a
category
that you
have no
frame of
reference
for
there's no
words for
it and
there can't
be words
that come
from you
for it
there's
something
in a sense
what the
story is
doing is
it's
modeling
the
Christian
doctrine
of
transcendence
and for
some of
us who
are very
philosophically
inclined
for some
of us
who love
abstractions
we hear
the word
transcendence
and we
get it
but most
of us
aren't
very good
at
abstractions
and what
you need
to understand
is this
story
that
there's
God
I'm
God
and I
am
transcendent
means I
am
completely
other
I am
completely
different
and when
you have
something
which is
completely
other
and completely
different
it means
that there's
no words
for that
because it's
other
it's
different
like if
you think
about it
for a second
if for some
reason you
wanted to
try to
communicate
to a
slug
or an
earthworm
and you
were able
to try to
get down
into the
earthworm
and try to
communicate
to the
earthworm
the difference
between you
and an
earthworm
is a
finite
distance
but the
difference
between you
and the
infinite
God
is an
infinite
distance
an
infinite
distance
and his
name is
wonderful
there's no
human
category
for it
but at
the same
time
that
God
is saying
there's no
human
category
for it
God
is with
them
he's
right there
in front
of them
he's
talking
their
language
he's
listening
to them
he's
present
and there's
this other
Christian
doctrine
to try
to describe
God
is to
say that
God
is not
just
transcendent
he's
also
imminent
and
imminent
once again
is a
very
abstract
word
and some
of us
like
abstract
words
and sort
of get
it
when we
get
an
abstract
word
just as
some
people
get how
negative
one
can
have a
square
root
and I
can't
get that
but some
get that
I can't
get that
but some
abstraction
of
imminence
but those
of you
who can't
here's how
you look
at the
story
and you
have here
this
God
being present
speaking their
language
having stooped
to them
and speaking
to them
and with
them
and answering
their prayers
at the same
time
he is
transcendent
he is
completely
and utterly
other
but more
than that
why is
he present
he's there
because he's
heard their
prayers
and he's
answering
their prayers
because he
loves them
and more
than that
he's there
not just
to reveal
himself
to them
so that
the transcendent
can be
known in
some way
in an
imminent
manner
but even
more than
that
he's come
to announce
that God
is going
to do
something
to begin
to deliver
the people
of Israel
from the
Philistines
that he's
there
to deliver
them
and in
the story
arc of
the Bible
this is
going to
ultimately
point to
Jesus
because
Samson
is the
last of
the judges
he begins
to deliver
them from
the Philistines
but who
delivers them
from the
Philistines
who delivers
them from
the Philistines
is David
but what do
we know
about David
is David
does deliver
them from
the Philistines
but he
can't deliver
himself
from himself
he murders
people
he commits
adultery
he makes
rash vows
he can deliver
the people
of Israel
from Philistines
but he can't
deliver himself
and so
David himself
points to
someone who
needs to
come after
him to
keep the
arc of
deliverance
so that
he
David points
to his
greater son
and calls
him Lord
he's pointing
to the
person of
Jesus
who ultimately
will come
to deliver
us
and has
delivered us
from all
oppression
from all
slavery
and he
begins it
by abolishing
and dealing
with our
slavery to
sin
and our
slavery to
death
by defeating
death
and that
which causes
death
and his
death upon
the cross
the transcendent
God
who is also
completely and
utterly imminent
comes and
stoops
to speak to
us
to be present
with us
to be
in Christmas
God
with
us
among
us
but still
transcendent
and with
us
to
deliver
us
you see
if such
a being
does exist
if such
a story
is true
then to
know
from his
perspective
what is
really truly
good for
me
that fits
me
that is
the answer
to my
longings
and my
yearnings
is
because
every
single
human
being
if
they
are
at
all
self
reflective
knows
that
there
is
some
things
within
them
we're
all
confused
about
some
things
within
them
which
surely
will
continue
on
and
beyond
and be
something
which
is
great
and worth
keeping
but there
are
things
within
us
that
we
need
to
be
delivered
from
and if
we're
honest
we get
confused
about it
that's
what
maturity
is
about
what we
think
we
desperately
need
at
16
is
going
to
be
looking
very
different
we
laugh
about
it
when
we're
26
and
laugh
about
that
when
we're
36
and
46
and
some
people
never
learn
to
live
perpetually
confused
and the
Christian
gospel
is not
that we
Christians
have
figured
it all
out
but it's
the
complete
opposite
we
figure
it
out
that
we
can't
figure
it
out
and
we
need
the
one
who
is
completely
transcendent
and
completely
other
yet
is
completely
imminent
and
is
imminent
and
transcendent
to
come
and
deliver
us
from
all
that
binds
us
that
in
light
of
his
great
deliverance
that
we
can
now
call
out
to
him
and
know
that
he
is
the
one
that
can
see
the
uniqueness
and
the
beauty
in
each
one
of
us
that
will
last
for
all
eternity
that
part
of
every
single
human
being
that
only
we
for
all
eternity
can
contribute
to
the
great
music
of
heaven
where
we
praise
God
and
enjoy
creation
that
unique
bit
in
every
human
being
that
is
in
heaven
that
only
we
can
contribute
that
note
that
instrument
that
melody
that
unique
thing
out of
us
from
him
from
all
eternity
only
he
can
make
clear
to
us
what
is
really
true
to
who
we
are
and
it
begins
by
accepting
Jesus
as
your
savior
and
being
grounded
in
it
knowing
that
it
will
end
with
being
in
the
presence
of
God
with
great
joy
in
a
redeemed
creation
as
part
of
a
great
choir
declaring
God's
praises
and
enjoying
it
in
a
way
which
is
just
wow
and
answers
the
longings
of
our
hearts
invite
you
to
stand
and
just
in
this
moment
it's
time
to do
a
little
bit
of
work
with
God
not
only
now
but
throughout
the
rest
of
the
service
and
for
some
who've
never
yet
given
their
lives
to
Christ
there's
no
better
time
now
than
to
call
out
to
him
and
say
Lord
be
my
deliverer
and
Lord
help
me
to
trust
that
as
you
deliver
me
as
you
have
delivered
me
in
Jesus
and
continue
deliver
me
throughout
my
life
that
you
will
be
with
me
and
you
will
help
me
to
understand
what
is
my
true
good
and
that
fits
with
me
that
is
right
for
me
and
is
beautiful
and
whole
and
for
me
that
you
father
alone
will
do
this
in
your
son
through
the
work
of
the
Holy
Spirit
and
through
your
word
and
in
the
context
of
Christian
community
there's
no
better
time
and
now
to
call
out
to
the
Lord
for
that
and
for
each
of
us
who
are
bent
out
of
shape
by
the
world
it's
a
reset
time
where
we
can
just
be
thankful
Lord
we've
been
watching
Netflix
all
week
and
YouTube
all
week
and
paper
all
week
and
our
bosses
all
week
and
all
these
messages
and
father
I
lose
the
plot
line
I'm
so
glad
I
can
be
together
and
help
us
to
trust
you
and
your
word
to
speak
what
is
true
in
your
sight
about
me
as
will
be
true
and
of
great
that's
the
answer
to
my
longings
and
yearnings
so
let's
just
pause
in
prayer
father
we
ask
that
you
bring
the
words
of
this
very
simple
story
home
to
us
at
a
deep
level
that
we
hear
and
understand
the
words
of
this
story
which
are
at
a
world
around
us
through
the
gospel
to
understand
you
through
the
gospel
to
understand
your
calling
on
our
lives
in
light
of
the
gospel
father
we
ask
that
your
holy
spirit
would
do
that
wonderful
work
in
our
lives
to
make
us
disciples
of
Jesus
gripped
by
the
gospel
learning
to
live
for
the
good
of
others
for
the
salvation
of
many
and
for
your
great
glory
and
all
God's
people
said
Amen