WEBVTT 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:03.279 Good morning. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:05.599 My name is Ben Carruthers. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:08.080 I'm the director of student and family ministry here. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:12.560 Happy Mother's Day and a special Happy Mother's Day to my mom who's watching online. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:14.240 Happy Mother's Day, Mom. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:18.399 So glad to be here worshiping with you on this Mother's Day. 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:28.879 We are in a sermon series called Story Context Symbol, where we are taking stories from the scriptures and giving you a little context, which is incredibly important when you read the scriptures. 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:34.880 We gotta understand what's going on, who's all involved, helps us understand really what the story is about. 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:38.320 And then this symbol, this idea of what's the symbol of the story? 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:40.799 What's the takeaway of the story? 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:47.439 And so this morning I chose Samson, obviously, because we have the same barber and the same every, you know. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:58.079 Unfortunately, as we dive into the story of Samson, uh, besides fantastic hair, I realize I have a lot more, unfortunately, in common with this guy than I'd prefer to. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:03.119 The story of Samson is one that we all may know, but we're really gonna dive into it this morning. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:11.200 And we're really gonna kind of look at what that symbol is because I think when we think of Samson, we do think of the hair, the long hair, his strength, where he gets his strength from. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:18.560 And so this morning the sermon title is called Long Hair, Don't Care, because as we find out, it's not about his hair. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:24.159 But we can't talk about Samson without talking about strength, physical strength. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:28.079 I have I have three sons, and my oldest, Isaiah, is 14. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:31.439 There they all are, flexing for you this morning. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:34.719 Uh, my oldest Isaiah, he's really into fitness right now. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:40.079 So he gets up every morning and does his push-ups and his sit-ups and uh his planks. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:43.840 And my two younger sons look up to him, uh, which I'm glad they do. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:44.879 He's a great role model. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:48.079 And so then they get down and start doing push-ups and sit-ups with him. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:50.239 And Isaiah's great at him, he can really pump him out. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:52.879 Arlo there in the turtle shirt, he's pretty good too. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:55.040 Ezie, the little guy, he's four years old. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:58.000 If you ask him, he says he does the best push-ups. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.680 And when he does them, he looks kind of like the worm, like the dance move, the worm. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:03.200 It's pretty entertaining. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:11.120 These guys, my sons, once upon a time, looked at me and literally said to me, You are the strongest person in the world. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:13.840 And I said, Yes, you're correct. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:23.439 And then, unfortunately, about a year ago, we sat down for a family movie night where we just order some pizza and watch a movie and we watched the remake of Jumanji starring this guy. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:24.800 That guy. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:33.439 After the movie, Arlo comes up to me and he looks at me, he's like, Dad, that guy's way stronger than you. 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:36.159 I was like, all right, that might be true, right? 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:41.280 But then he goes on and says, But dad, don't worry, your tummy's way bigger than his is. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:47.919 So he's grounded for life, anyways. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:53.360 You can't talk about the story of Samson without talking about strength. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:57.599 But we have to get those images out of our minds as we dive into the story. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:07.840 Yes, there's moments in his journey where he has this incredible superhuman strength, and that's incredible and it's an amazing story, but that's not the real symbol here. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:13.439 The symbol is not necessarily his physical strength, but strength in a different way. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:17.039 This story is about strength in God. 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:22.960 Not about us, not about in our physical appearance or the things that we can do physically. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:27.680 It's about the strength that God has that we tap into. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:37.280 And it's the piece of the story that Samson misses, and unfortunately, it's the piece of the story that I think we also miss in our daily lives as well. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:43.439 So before we dive into this story of Samson, let's just pray and ask God into our hearts. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:46.960 Lord God, would you give you thanks and praise for this morning? 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:55.120 An opportunity to dive into your scriptures, Lord, a story that maybe many of us know or heard in Sunday school or seen a movie about. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:01.199 But Lord, I pray as we kind of dive back into this very popular story that you speak truth to us. 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:04.800 That you open up our hearts to hear a word maybe we've never heard before. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:15.120 Lord, we also pray that as we go through, Lord, if we feel a little convicted in our lives of what's going on, maybe we're a lot like Samson, Lord, that you give us the strength to return to you. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:17.040 So, Lord, speak truth in these moments. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:18.480 It's in your name we pray. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:19.439 Amen. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:23.199 So the story of Samson, let's get a little context here, right? 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:26.639 It's in the book of Judges, which is in the Old Testament. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.279 And Samson appears after Moses. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:34.240 So the Israelites have been freed from Egypt into the promised land. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:35.920 Moses is their leader. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:38.399 Moses does not go into the promised land with them. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:40.319 A guy named Joshua does. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:51.439 Joshua leads the Israelites, and then Joshua dies, and then they set up this system called judges, which are like leaders, leaders for the Israelites. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:55.920 And Samson along this line is the 14th judge. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:56.480 Okay? 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:07.279 So by the time we come to Samson, we're far removed from Moses, far removed from Joshua, and we're 14 leaders into judges by the time we get to Samson. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:12.319 If you read the book of Judges, it starts off okay, right? 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:18.000 The leaders are okay, but the longer you get in the line, the worse they become. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:34.160 And so by the time you get to Samson, he's living in a time where there's been really poor leadership for the Israelites, and the Israelites have this kind of circle system where they grow closer to God and then they fall away from God, and then the leadership falls away from God. 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:40.639 And it's really important to know that because as we look in the story of Samson, it's not a great story. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:44.319 He's not really that heroic figure that we might think of. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:51.920 But at the same time, he's living in a culture, in a context that he has seen for years before. 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:57.680 He's seen poor leadership, and he's in a culture that is pretty far away from God. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:00.319 So we have to give him a little slack there. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:05.439 And so that is kind of where a little bit of context before Samson comes into the scene. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:12.079 Samson comes into the scene around chapter 13 of Judges, and when he's born, he's born to be a Nazirite. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:20.319 A Nazirite is someone who is set apart for God, to be a very obedient person following God. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:22.399 And a Nazarite would have vows. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:28.399 They would take vows or promises to God, and of course, one of them is the uncut hair, right? 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:34.879 No razor should touch his head or his face as a symbol of obedience and following God. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:39.040 Believe it or not, we have Samson's baby picture. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:40.240 Looks something like this. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:41.839 There you go, right there. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:43.439 That's real. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:45.839 That's not that's a real baby with a head of hair. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:47.680 That's fantastic, all right? 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:50.000 So, vow number one, right? 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:51.439 Like no razor, no nothing. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:55.519 And that's why we have the story of the hair, and Samson really holds on to that through his life. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:58.079 But that's not the only thing that set him apart. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:03.759 There are a lot of other vows that a Nazarite would make that we don't really focus on when we talk about the story of Samson. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:10.160 One is that he's not supposed to have anything to do with corpses or graves or grave sites, anything of that nature. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.600 No grape products, which really means no wine. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:19.120 Okay, he's supposed to not do all these things to be set apart for God, to be obedient, right? 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:21.519 So it's not that bad of a list when I look at it, right? 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:24.079 Don't cut your hair, shave your face, no problem, right? 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:26.800 Avoid corpses and graveyards, phew, no problem. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:28.079 But I like grape jello. 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:29.360 So that way I'm out. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:30.720 I can't be a Nazirite. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:33.040 So those are vows made. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:38.240 Those are really important because as we go through the story of Samson, he forgets a little bit about that. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:40.000 So here we are. 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:45.920 He's a Nazirite set apart, he's a leader of Israel, and his story begins. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:58.079 Now, his story is long, we can't cover it all, but what I'd like to do is tell you about some upsides to his life, and maybe a few downsides before we get to the story of Samson and Deliah, the one that we maybe all know. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:02.079 So there's three photos up here depicting the life of Samson. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:06.480 The first one comes from Judges chapter 14, verses 5 through 6. 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:12.399 And Samson is on his way to a surrounding village with his mom and dad. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:17.279 He's going there to take a Philistine wife, which is a no-no right out of the gate. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:24.959 And on this journey, on this walk to the next village, a lion comes out of nowhere, which happens all the time when you're on walks, right? 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:27.519 And starts to attack him and his family. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:38.559 Scripture tells us that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he tore that lion apart as he would a small baby goat, which is a really weird analogy because I don't know who's doing that, anyways, right? 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:39.679 But that's what he said. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:41.600 It's so easy for him, right? 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:45.120 This incredible story of amazing superhero strength. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:50.480 This is a story that Israelite parents would tell their children about the mighty hero Samson. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:58.799 The next picture is just Samson did a lot of amazing things when it came to the Philistine battle. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:00.320 There's something important we have to remember. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:04.000 The Israelites and the Philistines were at constant war. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:09.039 Israelites are God people, Philistines are people trying to get these people to become slaves again. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:10.480 God's people become slaves again. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:12.000 They were at constant war. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:28.720 And part of Samson's story, part of the context that might not make sense to us, that might make us feel a little uneasy, but viewed Samson as a hero, is that he slaughtered and killed thousands of Philistines. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:36.000 And these were moments in his story that were viewed as an upside to Samson, of him being obedient to God. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:41.279 And that's a hard part of the context, and that might make you feel uneasy inside, and that's okay. 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:48.399 This also would make a great question for our U Pick series coming up in June for Pastor Ryan to answer. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.000 So keep that in mind. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:57.759 But it's an important piece because as we talk about Samson, that's his upside is that he used his strength to defeat the Philistines. 00:09:57.919 --> 00:09:59.759 Thousands, kill thousands. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:03.840 And that was viewed as a good, obedient thing for him to do. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:05.039 And so he did that. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:10.159 And one of the stories, in particular, he went and slaughtered 30 Philistines in a village. 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:18.159 And that last picture there is not just 30, but a thousand Philistines he killed with the jawbone of a donkey. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:28.080 And we hear these amazing superhero stories of Samson, the stories that would be told to their children, and the stories that we tell in Sunday school. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:45.759 But for every upside of these stories, when you dive into the story itself, when you dive into the pages of scripture, when you see these moments of being obedient to God, every moment of obedience is brought on by disobedience. 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:57.279 In that very first picture where he defeats the lion, when he's on his way back from that village, the carcass of the lion is sitting there, and inside of it, bees have started to make honey. 00:10:57.440 --> 00:10:59.919 And he goes inside the carcass and takes the honey and eats it. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:01.120 Really gross, I know. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:03.200 But that's part of his vow. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:08.000 Remember, part of the vow of a Nazarite was not to have anything to do with dead things. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.200 And he broke that vow in disobedience. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:16.559 The second picture there, where he slaughtered, uh, that's more than way more than 30, but you get the idea. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:20.799 30 Philistines, is he did that because he lost a bet. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:28.080 You see, he took that Philistine woman as his bride, and at his wedding, he made a bet to the Philistines. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:29.519 And he gave them this riddle. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:37.279 And he said, if you can solve this riddle at the end of the seven-day festival of our wedding, I will give you clothes and garments and riches. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:43.840 And so these Philistines went to Samson's new bride and says, Listen, you have to tell us the answer. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:44.960 We can't pay this debt. 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:46.559 Samson beats us all the time. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:48.639 Here's an opportunity for us to win. 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:50.559 You have to get the riddle from him. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:55.039 And so every day Samson's wife went to him, begging for the answer. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:57.039 This story might sound familiar. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.279 And every day he didn't tell her, he didn't tell her. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:04.159 Finally, on the last day, she begged, Samson, if you love me, tell me the answer to the riddle. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:07.039 So he does, and she runs and tells the Philistines. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:12.720 The Philistines come back, gives Samson the answer to the riddle, and he's furious. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:23.679 And so he goes into a Philistine town, kills 30 of them, and takes all their clothes, all their money, all their stuff, and brings it back to pay a debt. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:28.960 See, we see the obedience story, but the disobedience is hiding right behind it. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:34.399 And finally, the last one where he kills a thousand people with the job one of a donkey. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:40.879 That whole thing happened because he took a Philistine for his wife, which he wasn't supposed to do. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:44.240 Samson, yes, and had amazing things. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:48.720 And each one of these stories, there's a line that says, And the power of God came upon him. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:50.879 The Spirit of the Lord came upon him. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.440 And he did these amazing things. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:57.440 But behind the scenes, he was a man who was very disobedient. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:00.399 And that's the true Samson. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:06.159 A man of somewhat obedience, but lived in a world filled with disobedience. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:07.360 There was much more in the scriptures. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:08.559 He visited prostitutes. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.840 He had a lot of pride and self-absorption. 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:14.080 He had problems. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:19.600 But he also had moments, moments where God used him in amazing ways. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:24.000 So this is all leading up to our Samson and Delilah story. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:27.440 The one that we may have heard about, the one that we may have seen the movies about. 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:34.720 Once again, Samson sees this beautiful Philistine woman, and her name is Delilah, and he has to have her for a wife. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:39.919 And so he goes to her and they start a relationship against his parents' wishes, against a lot of people's wishes. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:41.600 He just wants what he wants. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:47.120 And the Philistines again go to his new bride and say, Listen, we need to defeat Samson. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.919 You need to ask him, where does his strength come from? 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:52.879 How can he do these heroic things? 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:58.639 And so night after night, for two nights, she begs him, What is the secret of your power? 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:00.960 And each night he tells her some lie. 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:02.960 It's in this, it's in this. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:06.559 And the Philistines try to take away that power. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:13.519 The Philistines come in the room in the middle of the night, and Samson breaks the chains or breaks whatever it is and destroys the Philistines. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:15.519 This happens two nights in a row. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:17.679 The third night, Delilah's had it. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:21.039 She's like, Listen, you've lied to me twice, you've made a fool out of me. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:22.879 Tell me where your strength comes from. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:25.200 First of all, Samson hasn't picked up what's going on here. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.120 He's got problems there too, okay? 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:30.960 So he finally says this: he says, Listen, I am a Nazirite. 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:34.240 No razor has ever touched my head. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:36.879 My strength comes from my hair. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:39.840 Now let's pause there for a second. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:41.919 I am a Nazirite. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:43.600 I made a vow. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.159 The strength comes from my hair. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:49.360 Remember, there were a lot of other vows that he took. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:50.240 Right? 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:54.960 A vow to stay away from dead things, a vow to stay away from grapes. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:15:00.639 And as you read the story of Samson, it's hard to think that he wasn't a partier and drinking some wine from time to time. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:03.120 He broke those vows. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:07.360 But it's this one that he thinks about. 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.039 It's this one that he thinks holds the power. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.200 He's forgetting an important piece of the puzzle. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:17.919 Let's look back at these moments of great strength, right? 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:20.399 At each and every single one, what does scripture say? 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:23.360 It says the spirit of the Lord came upon him. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:26.879 The spirit of the Lord came upon him and he was able to beat the lion. 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:31.679 The spirit of the Lord came upon him and he killed a thousand with the jawbone of a donkey. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:36.879 The spirit of the Lord was the strength, not his hair. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:40.639 You see, where does your strength come from? 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:49.759 Does your strength come from some other symbol in your life that think that you think feeds you and gives you that strength? 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:56.480 Do you run to something or someone else when tragedy hits your life for that strength? 00:15:57.679 --> 00:15:59.039 Samson had it wrong. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:00.399 He misses it. 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:02.559 It was never his hair. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:08.159 These things were symbols of obedience to God, not where his strength came from. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:10.720 Where does your strength come from? 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:14.000 I was quote I had to deal with this question last week. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:16.720 My mom called me on Monday. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:17.840 She was pretty sad. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:19.279 You could hear in her voice. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:22.720 And she said, Hey, we need to tell you something. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:27.200 My dad, who's 70 years old, is being forced to retire at his job. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:29.679 He's been there for over 50 years. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.039 And at the time they want him to retire within two weeks. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:38.000 And when I heard the story, and I know my dad, my dad was planning on working at least two more years. 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:39.519 My dad loves to work. 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:40.960 He's worked his whole life. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:42.080 He's that kind of guy. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.879 And so I know inside that must be crushing him. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:48.399 And I got really angry when my mom was telling me this story. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:50.960 And I on the phone, I was like, mom, give me this guy's name. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:51.759 I'm gonna call him up. 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:53.039 I'm gonna write him an email. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:57.519 And I was just getting on fire with all these things, and my wife is sitting there shaking her head, like, what are you doing, right? 00:16:57.600 --> 00:16:59.039 And I'm like, no, this is injustice. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:01.440 We're gonna get the whole Cruthers clan down there and pick it, man. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:02.720 We're gonna get something happening. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:06.240 And I get all angry and excited, and then that gets my mom angry and excited. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:08.960 Like, yeah, the Cruthers clan, let's go, let's call everyone up. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:10.160 We're gonna fix this, right? 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:11.680 I'm like, yeah, all right, I'll talk to you later. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.079 I hang up the phone, and I'm like, oh, this is injustice. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:15.200 I can't believe this is going on. 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.680 And my wife looked at me and she's like, What are you doing? 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:19.359 I'm like, I gotta do something. 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:21.119 These are the things that I can do. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:23.599 And she's like, You can't do anything. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:27.519 This is a situation that you can't do anything. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:32.000 And it's one of those moments as a husband, you're like, oh, she's right, but you don't want to say it, right? 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:34.160 She was right. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:36.319 I can't do anything. 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:37.119 And you know what I said? 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:37.839 I said these words. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:38.559 Oh man. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:41.279 Well, I guess I'll just give it up to God and pray. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:50.000 I guess I guess I'm just gonna give this problem up to God, the creator of the universe, the guy who loves me completely, who sent Jesus to die for me. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:54.480 I guess as a backup plan for me not being able to do it, I'm gonna give it to him. 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:57.839 It sounds insane, but we do it. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:17:59.680 It's in all the movies, right? 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:04.480 You're in the emergency room and the ER show, and the doctors are doing everything they can, and what's the last thing they say? 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:06.400 Oh, it's in God's hands now. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:08.960 Like it never was in God's hands. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:11.599 We do this. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:22.319 We use God as our strength, as our last resort after we have done everything possible we can, which is nothing compared to the strength of God. 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:26.000 Why do we do that? 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:29.680 I think the same reason Samson did. 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:32.240 Because we think we can. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:35.920 Because maybe we get by doing it. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:43.119 Maybe there's this thing, these things in the world that maybe fill us with this faux strength that we get. 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:51.119 Why is it when the bad stuff comes in our life that the last place we go and turn to is God for our strength? 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:56.160 What would it look like if you went to God first? 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:01.359 What would it look like with my mom on the phone if I would have just said, hold on, mom, let's stop. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:03.279 Man, this is a really sticky situation. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.119 Can we just pray about it right now? 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:08.640 And I know that sounds like a weird, like, you know, it's a Christian response. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:11.279 Yes, it is a Christian response, and it should be. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:17.920 Because once we hand it over to God and go to Him for our strength to get through this, then we do our part. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:25.039 I I was reading this book called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, and one of the disciplines is on prayer. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:30.559 Uh, and I'm reading it, and I got two pages into a very long chapter on prayer, and I didn't like it. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:34.160 I felt like he was saying that when you pray, you should expect to get what you pray for. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:36.880 And I was like, oh, this is horrible theology, and I put the book away. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:40.720 And then I realized that I'm adult and I should read the whole chapter and see what he was saying. 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:44.400 And I also realized I had a paper due on it, so I really had to read the whole chapter. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:46.400 And I'm glad I did. 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:50.720 Because it changed the way I look at prayer and it changed the way I view my relationship with God. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:53.119 This is what Richard Foster says on prayer. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:55.359 He says this, it'll come on up. 00:19:56.880 --> 00:20:06.079 One of the most critical aspects of learning to pray for others is to be in contact with God so his life and power can flow through us into others. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:10.960 You see, as I continue to read this chapter, it wasn't about praying for what you want and getting it. 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:15.279 It was about the more you pray, the stronger your relationship with God gets. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:23.519 The more you pray, or if you are in constant prayer, it's just like any other relationship, the more you talk to someone, the more that you're with that person, that relationship grows. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:30.720 And with God, the more you're in relationship with Him, the more in tune you are with the Creator, you pray for His will. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:34.480 You pray that His will is done. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:39.119 Maybe not our thoughts or our desires or our wants, but whatever His will is. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:43.599 And if you pray for His will, your prayer is answered. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:54.799 But it's about this relationship, this relationship that we need to strengthen between us and our Creator, because that is where our strength comes from. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:58.480 Our strength comes from God. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:02.880 The story of Samson as it ends is a pretty sad one. 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:08.079 Um, he gives Delilah the information, he says it's in his hair, which it's really not. 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:14.799 She ties up his hair, shaves his head, and the Philistines come upon him, and the spirit of God has left Samson. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:23.119 And so they take him, they take him away, they beat him up, they take out his eyes, and he's in prison. 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:29.039 And then they bring him out for this great festival to the Philistine god, Dagon, and they're gonna make fun of him. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:30.720 He's the clown there. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:39.200 But imagine this: imagine being Samson with the strength that he had and the person that he was, he has never known weakness. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:43.680 And here he is, completely weak. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:48.880 He has no sight, and he's being made fun of by his enemy. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.960 And it's at this point, it's at his weakest, where he does something that he hasn't done. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:57.519 And we read it in the scriptures earlier earlier. 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:01.200 In the before in the scriptures, it was the spirit of the Lord came upon him. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:07.279 Here, when he is at his weakest, when he realizes he needs God, he cries out for God. 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:10.319 He says, Remember me. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:19.440 And the Spirit of God comes upon him again, and he pulls the pillars down, and thousands of Philistines are killed. 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:23.680 Now, when I read that last part of the story, I had to ask myself, why? 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:24.960 Why God? 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:27.519 Why God now do you come back to Samson? 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:34.000 Why do you come back and bless him with this strength, with this power when he has really led a life of disobedience? 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:35.759 Why at this moment? 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:39.200 And there are two reasons, I think, when I read scriptures. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:40.480 This is what I think. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:47.519 One is that when we are at our absolute weakest, God is at his strongest. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:23:01.759 Samson was at his absolute weakness, which means that his life was no longer about him, which means he was able to push his whole self aside and allow God to do incredible things through him. 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:12.400 And sometimes it takes us trying to figure out the problems of this world and the problems of our life to become completely weak before we're ready to surrender. 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:19.039 And the second thing I think that happens here is it's never about us, but always the glory of God. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:31.279 You see, his story ends with that line that says, in this motion, in him pulling down the pillars and the building coming down, he killed more Philistines in his death than ever when he was alive. 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:40.160 It was never about Samson, it was never about his hair, it was always about the glory of God. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:44.319 The story of Samson isn't really that uplifting one, right? 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:45.279 Here you are on Mother's Day. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:49.279 This is a pretty depressing story because we can see ourselves in Samson. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:53.839 We are see ourselves as missing the mark, as being disobedient. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:55.839 So where's the hope in this story, right? 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:57.759 And there is great hope. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:01.680 In the New Testament, in the book of Hebrews, and I'm gonna leave you with this thought. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:08.319 Hebrews 11 is a really cool, powerful part of scripture because it talks about the heroes of faith. 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:13.839 It talks about the heroes of the Israelites' faith, of the Hebrew people's faith, of the Old Testament stories. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:21.759 It's in there where you read people like Moses and Aaron and Solomon and David, these heroes of the faith. 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:26.079 And amongst all those names, you see Samson. 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:37.759 This man whose whole life was to be set apart in obedience to God, who lived an entire life of disobedience, but with his last breath was redeemed by God. 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:43.440 It just takes a little bit of faith for God to do something incredible in you and through you. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:48.559 So, Central, the question I leave you with is where does your strength come from? 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:49.759 Amen.