The Nearly Forgotten

Judges 12:8-15

Between “Jeff” and “Samson” we get three “minor” judges. These are the skip-overs, the also-rans. Their stories aren’t exciting… but they are used by God to give Israel more years of peace than either Jeff or Samson. Instead of grand dramatic displays we get quiet faithful service. This may not make the best story… but it does make the best legacy. After it’s done: are they talking about you or about Jesus? About peace? About grace?

Boring Update

Next week we have our business meeting, and I can tell you what one of the reports will be. The worship update. Kelly will report that, once again, we worshipped every week. God shows up every week. What will do we next quarter? Worship every week.

How do I know that? Because Kelly has been the worship coordinator for 11 years, and every quarter the report is some variation of the same thing. That is 44 nearly identical reports!

Always the same. That’s not exciting! That’s not a story… Where is the drama?

But it does represent faithful service, faithful ministry.

What would drama look like in this space?

This quarter, Dusty smashed his guitar over the piano in rage over a key change, and Arvella tackled Nathan when he kept dropping quarter notes on the base drum!

The church walked out this week in protest over the worship band’s decision to cover Eminem’s latest album.

That would be dramatic… and if it happens we would deal with it… but no one would say that’s a wonderful thing! Man, I am sure glad we have drama and tension in our worship!

There have, of course, been updates and new things in worship, and we are and will continue to be creative and expressive in our worship. But the fact that we can summarize worship in our church in the same few sentences every time…

That represents faithfulness: long obedience in the same direction. And that is a beautiful thing!

Who Has the Best Story?

We can have a kind of “worship shame”.

Have you ever heard it said “look at people expressing their joy at a football game. Why aren’t we that expressive in worship?”

I 100% get what they are getting at, and it’s good. We should be expressive in worship, we should not be artificially reserved and withdrawn, suppressed or afraid to express.

But football, and sports in general, has something very particular going that is (and should be) a rarer event in our worship.

At the beginning of the football play, you are in absolute tension, not knowing what is about to happen, and then (absolute shocker) it is intercepted and your defensive back is returning it for a touchdown, and everyone goes WILD because they are surprised and excited and didn’t see it coming but it is SUCH good news!

Do we have moments like that in worship? Yes, we do. God heals, miracles upon miracles, God’s gospel speaking and working in my life and your life in exciting new ways. There is new, there is novelty.

But it is okay for that not to happen every week. And, I don’t know if you do, but I felt pressure as a young adult to kind of manufacture that level of emotional response EVERY time. But often I come into worship knowing that God is good. And I enter into His presence sincerely telling him so. There is Spirit, there is communion, there is authentic and sincere worship… and it isn’t surprising. It is faithful and honest: long obedience in the same direction.

You don’t have to have an incredible story, it doesn’t have to be a “new” thing for it to be a good thing.

Minor Judges

What does that have to do with Judges? There are a few judges that we brushed over, and three that we almost missed completely. Because their stories aren’t exciting. In fact, there is barely a story at all. The first is the closest:

Shamgar

Judges 3:31 ESV

After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.

But you probably don’t remember Tola and Jair

Judges 10:1–5 ESV

After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir. After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

And, our passage today, after Jephthah (Jeff the Shaman, Jeff the Racist), there are three more “minor” judges.

Ibzan

Judges 12:8–10 ESV

After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.

Elon

Judges 12:11–12 ESV

After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years. Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

Abdon

Judges 12:13–15 ESV

After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years. Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Each of these last three served for more years than Jeff and, it seems, accomplished more in reality than Samson. The language we here is of peace. Ibzan giving his daughters in marriage. Because it isn’t spoken in judgment, it is assumed that these are marriages among the other clans of Israel, not with Canaanites, and so these are marriages of alliance securing peace among the tribes of Israel. Which is desperately needed after the war between Jeff and his Gileadites and the tribe of Ephraim.

Jair’s sons ride on donkeys, and Abdon’s sons and grandsons ride on donkeys. The donkey is a sign of peace: horses are for war, donkeys are for peace. This is part of the symbolism of Jesus riding into town on a donkey. Men of peace, judges in a time of peace, or even creating that time of peace through their faithful service.

But there isn’t much to say!

There isn’t much to say because there apparently isn’t much drama here. No big crisis, no big battle with surprising tactics or result.

The stories in Scripture are NOT selected because those people or those leaders were the best! Often quite the opposite. In fact the most time is going to be spent on the next judge, Samson, and we will see he is no kind of model of righteousness of any kind! The stories we get in Scripture are included because they reveal who God is, they reveal who we are, they reveal how we relate to God and each other… and they teach us how we are supposed to relate to God and each other.

And so, when it comes to relating the story of these “minor” judges, there isn’t nearly as much to say. And here is my theory: there isn’t much to say because these judges were quietly effective, faithful in a way that didn’t make a great story or illustration… but did serve their God and their nation in powerfully effective ways.

Long Obedience in the Same Direction

There is a danger in the way we talk about “next steps”. The lure and excitement of the “new”. It is exciting to start off on a new direction, a new endeavor, a new calling, a new ministry, a new challenge. All of that is exciting and, here at Next Step Christian Church we have committed to helping (encouraging and equipping) one another to step into those new things. To test them, to explore them, and to

Your next bold step may be: keep going in the last direction God pointed you in. Keep on serving in the way He has called or commanded you to serve. Keep on loving people in just the way that you faithfully are.

The next challenge to love, to ministry, to serving, it will come. But in the meantime… we are faithfully following in the challenge he has already given us.

Faithfulness: Long obedience in the same direction.

We do something new when God calls us to.

We continue to do what He last called us to.

Long obedience in the same direction.

What is the last command God gave you? Nominations committee is making the rounds, and I know leaders in our church are asked this question every year: are you willing to serve again? We have leaders on our Advisory Board who have been serving in this position for more than a decade… and doing that ministry before it had a title. We have deacons who have been faithfully deaking for even longer than that!

So many of you serve, steadfastly, without any title or name for what you do.

I reflected this week on Kingdom Victory Day. There is novelty and quiet faithfulness together in one day. Even as campers share their new discoveries, and young men and women take a huge step in Baptism, a step of faith, of rebirth into the Kingdom… the day is only possible because so many of you are faithfully serving: long obedience in the same direction. Setting up tents and water slides. Cooking and serving food. Cleaning up for hours after. A hundred other things that I don’t even see because I am oblivious...

but He never is.

So thankful for your faithful service.

There is a Scriptural word for this: long obedience in the same direction. We can call it “faithfulness” and that fits. But I like this one better:

Abide

John 15:4–5 ESV

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Abide

Meno. To remain in a place, to tarry. To stand, to last, to endure. To dwell.

Abiding in him, firmly connected to the vine, and just bearing fruit RIGHT where he has planted and place you.

I love this image of faithfulness, of abiding, because:

People praise and enjoy the fruit. People praise and celebrate the vine. People don’t talk about the branch.

Last week at Association we talked a lot about legacy. And it was fantastic: legacy vs. longevity.

And we mean good things when we say legacy, we mean that we want what we have done to matter.

But there is a dimension of the word legacy that can be about me. About self. About “my” epic dramatic story and that everyone will be impressed by what I have done. But this can, in a sinner like me, lead me to judging the results and effectiveness of my ministry by how people are talking about it. How many people… and are they giving me credit?

How many pages in Judges do I get?

After it’s done: are they talking about you or about Jesus? About peace? About grace?

Legacy is great: whose legacy is it?

Yahweh’s. God’s. Jesus Christ’s. It’s His story, It’s His Kingdom, This is His church, and my life is His life. I Abide.

People don’t talk about the branch: the story isn’t about me. The story isn’t about you. So it doesn’t matter if my part of the story is dramatic and new or has been the same for the last 11 years.

What ultimately matters: the cause of Christ. For him: I abide.