God Told Me

Judges 6:36-40

May 16, 2021 • Mount Pleasant UMC

I have always envied people who can zero in on a single conversation in a crowded and noisy room. I find that very difficult. When a room is noisy, I find myself being distracted by other conversations and have to work hard to focus, to concentrate, to hear what’s being said to me instead of what’s being said to everyone else around. As our world has gotten louder and louder, with more and more distractions added to the mix every day, listening has become harder than ever. I heard a speaker say this week that the best way to love someone is to listen to them. And if that’s true in our earthly relationships, it’s every truer in our spiritual life. But, as you probably know, listening to each other is hard and listening to God is even harder.

Henri Nouwen, a writer on the spiritual life, once put it this way: “It is clear that we are usually surrounded by so much inner and outer noise that it is hard to truly hear our God when he is speaking to us. We have often become deaf, unable to know when God calls us and unable to understand in which direction he calls us” (qtd. in Bolsinger, Tempered Resilience, pg. 147). If you’re like me, you want to listen to God. You want to know what God’s guidance is, but the honest truth is this: God has never spoken to me directly. I have never once heard a booming voice out of the sky saying, “Dennis, go this way. Do that thing.” I know we read about that sort of thing in the Bible, how God spoke “face-to-face” with people like Abraham and Moses (cf. Exodus 33:11), but somewhere along the way, God seems to have changed his tactics. I don’t know why, and I don’t need to know why. God is God and can pretty much do whatever he wants (and I’m sure he’s glad to have my permission!). But, in general, God seems not to speak audibly to us today, and yet people still use that phrase: “God told me.” It’s the quickest way in the Christian world to shut down conversation. I mean, who am I to argue with God? The problem, at least from my vantage point of many, many years of having people tell me that, is how often God usually tells someone to do what they already had decided to do. God is very agreeable, it seems. Or are we actually not listening to God but rather to ourselves? What do we do (how do we respond) when someone says to us with absolute certainty, “God told me…”?

For the last several weeks, we’re been looking at this idea of “favor” in the Bible, and how finding favor in our lives often means going through difficult times. Moses, Job, Joseph, Nehemiah, Daniel and others learned that, and there are other stories we could have looked at as well that tell us the same thing. One that always comes to mind is Mary, the mother of Jesus, a pregnant unwed teenager in a small town where that sort of thing was more often met with death than a congratulatory card. Or any of the disciples who died as martyrs because they were faithful witnesses to the story of Jesus. But this morning, I want to turn to one final story, the story of a man named Gideon, the “mighty warrior.”

Israel’s current enemy is Midian, and basically every time Israel would plant a crop, Midian would send a raiding party to destroy it (cf. 6:3-4). The writer of Judges says, “Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help” (6:6). In other words—it got so bad that they prayed to God! So God responses by sending a prophet to Israel, and do you know what the prophet says the problem is? Speaking for God, the prophet says to Israel, like we might say to a misbehaving child, “You have not listened to me” (6:10). And then an angel visits one man, Gideon, and calls him, “Mighty Warrior.” That tells me that God doesn’t see what is but what could be (cf. Jones, Finding Favor, pg. 145), because at this moment, Gideon is not charging into battle. He’s hiding from Israel’s enemies. He’s threshing wheat in a winepress (6:11). So what’s odd about that? Well, “threshing” was usually done in a wide open space. You would throw the wheat up and the wind would blow away the lighter (worthless) chaff while the heavier (valuable, cash crop) grain fell to the ground. A winepress, however, was usually a small pit, down in the ground, a place where threshing would not be very effective because there would be no wind. Gideon is hiding out, doing his work but doing it where he can’t be seen by the Midianites (cf. Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, pg. 253). So calling him “Mighty Warrior” is ironic at best. If it were someone other than the angel of the Lord, we might think he was making fun of Gideon. So we have this scene where the angel tells Gideon he is going to be the one to save his people and Gideon does the Moses thing by saying, “I’m no one, I can’t do it.” God assures Gideon he will be with him, but even then Gideon is rather timid. He is told he must tear down the pagan altar, and he does, but he does it at night when no one will see him (6:27). He’s still hiding. Then he is called to lead the army against the Midianites, and that’s where we came into the story with our reading this morning.

This short little section of Scripture is probably what Gideon is most known for. It’s entered into our common language that when we want to test something out, we might call it “putting out a fleece.” That phrase comes from this story because of the way Gideon puts God to a test. He has already had the “Spirit of the Lord” come on him (6:34), but he’s still not sure he is able to be the “Mighty Warrior.” So he tests God. Not just once. Twice. “God, I’m going to put this wool fleece out, and in the morning if it’s wet and the ground is dry, I’ll know you’re speaking to me.” And that is what happens. Exactly what happens. So, naturally, Gideon gets on with the battle, right? Nope. He asks God for another sign. “God, tomorrow if the fleece is dry and the ground is wet, then I’m really, really, really believe you.” And, again, that’s what happens, so this time Gideon moves forward with what God has asked him to do (cf. 6:36-40).

Now, there are all sorts of issues with this story and I’ve had to work hard this week not to chase a bunch of interesting rabbit trails which are probably only interesting to me. Let’s focus on a couple of issues here this morning which have to do with being favored by God, and the first is whether it’s right or wrong to do what Gideon did: to “put out a fleece.” Honestly, commentators and pastors are divided on that question. I grew up being taught it was not a good thing to “put the Lord your God to the test” (cf. Matthew 4:7). I mean, Jesus said not to do that, right? And he was quoting Deuteronomy at that point. Gideon is obviously putting God to a test, which seems to be a bad thing. But God let Gideon put him to the test. He didn’t chastise Gideon. He condescended to the parameters of Gideon’s test. Twice. Part of me wonders if God would have done it a third time. I wonder how much longer God would have been patient with Gideon, because I think what God really wanted was for Gideon to get moving, to do what he was told.

The more I’ve read the Scriptures, I don’t believe anymore that it’s wrong or sinful to “put out a fleece.” I do believe God would still rather have deeper faith and more trust from us, but time after time he allows us some leeway in trying to grow that faith. I think about Peter, when Jesus comes toward the boat he and the disciples are in and Jesus is walking on the water. Do you remember what Peter says? “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water” (Matthew 14:28). Not exactly the same thing as Gideon, but Peter is putting conditions on obeying the Son of God, just as Gideon did centuries before. Now, here’s the catch, and why I think God might not have put up with a third fleece. Sometimes when we ask God for confirmation of what we believe he has told us, it’s because we really don’t want to do it and we’re delaying. There seems to be a hint of that in what Gideon is up to (Stone, “Judges,” Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol. 3, pg. 280). Many times, the problem is not that we don’t know what God wants us to do. It’s that we don’t want to it. Our problem is often not a lack of knowledge; it’s a lack of obedience (cf. Jackman 120).

We can find the God’s favor through obedience to his direction, so let me suggest some things we can do to better hear when God is speaking to us. First and foremost, we look to Scripture (cf. Jones 147). In fact, “the only time we should ever feel 100 percent certain God is speaking directly to us is when we are reading the Bible. All other times lack that certainty” (Jones 140). There’s a reason we call the Bible “God’s Word.” It’s not that he dictated each and every word; that’s not what we mean by “inspired.” Inspired means that the Holy Spirit was working in the writing and the creation of these books. The writers cooperated with God as eternal truth was written down. Everything we need to know about God and his desire for us is found between the pages of this book. So when we’re faced with a question or we’re needing to get God’s guidance, go to the Scriptures first. God will not contradict his word. He will not lead you to do something that is against his inspired word. If I’m thinking about robbing a bank, I don’t need to ask God for a “sign” to tell me whether or not I should do it. I can read it right there in the pages of the Scripture: “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). If I’m wondering how I should treat an enemy, I don’t have to ask God to write a message in the sky for me. Jesus was clear: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). So we go to the Scriptures first because, as I sometimes say in the benediction, the one who spoke still speaks—through this book.

But maybe you’re facing a choice between two good options, and it seems God could use either choice. How do you know which one to choose? Pastor Brian Jones puts it this way: ask for for “an abnormal occurrence of an everyday event.” In other words, he says, don’t go all “TV Preacher” by asking for something ridiculous like suddenly levitating or God causing an earthquake somewhere. Ask God to do something noticeable within realistic, everyday options. Here’s a real-life example: Terence Lester runs a ministry in the Atlanta area called Love Beyond Walls that focuses on homelessness in that city and, in reality, across the country. One of his main goals has just been to get people to see the homeless population as people rather than statistics, and because he values each one as an individual, people come to him when they need help. So when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he realized how frightened many if not most of them were. They would come to him, worried about what would happen to them since they had very little ways to protect themselves. Lester says he was sitting on the couch one night, asking God for direction, for a clear sign of what to do. He says God’s answer came in the form of TV commercials. One after another, commercials came on meant to remind people that the best defense against COVID-19 is washing your hands frequently. That sparked a dream in Lester’s heart because he knew that was something not available to those who were homeless. What if they were able to provide portable sinks all around the city? Love Beyond Walls had access to a few portable sinks already, but not nearly enough. What could be done? Well, when he began to respond to what God had said through the TV commercials, God proved he was faithful, too. Take a listen to this short explanation of what became known as the “Love Sinks In” campaign.

The man speaking was Terence Lester; the other man was Lecrae, the well-known Christian rapper, who heard about the campaign and donated some more sinks. Then, national attention became focused on the campaign and companies like UPS, Google, the NFL, the Hilton Foundation, Coca-Cola and others began to donate as the idea spread. Lester says they were able to provide more sinks than he could ever have imagined (When We Stand, pgs. 184-185). Not as a result of a blinding flash of light or a booming voice from heaven. But because he asked God for guidance and God spoke through a bunch of TV commercials. Very often, God will speak to us and give us favor through an abnormal occurrence of an everyday event.

Today is one of my favorite days of the year: Confirmation Sunday. Since we didn’t get to have Confirmation last year, I’ve really been looking forward to this morning. I love this day because, though it’s neither an ending or a beginning, it is a significant moment in the lives of our youth—three youth in particular this morning: Kaden, Ally & Kristoffer. This is not a graduation, either, but it is a commencement: a public recognition and affirmation of the faith they have found, the faith they intend to live. They are already learning to listen for God’s voice, and my prayer this morning is that they will grow deeper and stronger in that ability in the years to come, that they will learn to rely on the Scriptures to give shape to their lives and to every choice that is out in front of them. I’m also excited to see how each of them will each respond to God’s call on their lives. When I say “God’s calling,” I don’t mean they are all going to become pastors. I mean that we have all been called; all who are baptized are called by God to serve him in some way. Gideon got his calling in a winepress while threshing wheat. More often, today, our calling comes in quieter, more subtle ways. Here’s a simple equation for listening to God’s voice and finding God’s favor when it comes to discerning our calling. Calling = Desire + Gifting + Opportunity. “If you want to do something (desire) but don’t have the skills to pull it off (gifts) or the chance to make it happen (opportunity), you’re not called” no matter how warm and fuzzy you feel about it (Jones 141). Or, put it another way, if you have the talent but no desire, you’re not called. Or if you have a chance to do something but you “don’t have a lick of talent in you to pull it off,” you’re not called (Jones 142). Calling is desire plus gifting plus opportunity. That’s how God lines things up. That’s the way God chooses to speak to us.

Let me tell you how that worked itself out in my life, how God called me. When I was in college, I had a general sense of a calling to ministry, but I didn’t know what that really looked like. My mom once asked me, many years before, if I had ever considered becoming a pastor and I remember telling her I couldn’t imagine doing that. It sounded like the most boring job ever. I mean, all they do is get up and say a few things on Sunday morning, right? After graduating from Ball State, I had a couple of ministry opportunities in front of me, but no clear direction, so I went to seminary. Couldn’t hurt, right? I still was not planning to become a pastor. And yet, in those years at Asbury, desire grew and opportunities opened up. Desire + Gifting + Opportunity. When I graduated from Asbury, I had no questions about where God was calling me. People today often think they have to have their clear calling right now, in that blinding flash of light, gotta know the end goal right here and right now. But sometimes, like in Gideon’s story, God calls us to depend on him. God will allows us to feel like we have no clear answer so we will know and learn our need of him (cf. Jackman, Communicator’s Commentary: Judges, Ruth, pg. 119).

So this morning I want to say this to our Confirmands and to all of us: God is speaking. God is always speaking. We just don't listen as well as we should. We tend to listen to our own wants or the values of our culture more than God’s voice. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask, even for outrageous things. Gideon shows us that. We ask. God may or may not answer; that’s totally up to God, but we still can ask (cf. Goldingay, Joshua, Judges & Ruth for Everyone, pg. 113). And then we wait and we listen and we read the Scriptures and we watch for his answer. Because he will answer. Maybe not in our time. Probably not on our time schedule. Probably not in the way we demand or expect. But he will answer. And then comes the hard part: when we know what God wants, when we have been clearly directed toward his will, then we do it, even if it’s hard. That is the path to God’s favor. That is what opens us up to God’s richest blessings. Remember: favor is God’s supernatural intervention to bring a blessing into your life. Let’s pray.