We recently came to this classic passage in our current sermon series in Judges…
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor (mighty warrior)”. -Judges 6:12
You know that God is the author of humor right? And this is one of those places in the Bible where we really are supposed to laugh. Because we know…and Gideon knows…that he is not a mighty man of valor. In this story, Gideon is hungry & hiding. To avoid the enemies in his own land, he is practically shoe-horning himself into a winepress, crushing a few wheat grains for food. There is nothing about this picture that makes you think of Mel Gibson in Braveheart. And aside from just how this looks, Gideon does not talk like a warrior either. After the Lord calls him a great warrior and gives him a job to do, Gideon says: “Please Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold my clan is the weakest in Manessah, and I am the least in my father’s house”.
Gideon actually has this right – up to this point. Gideon has no real authority, not even in his family. And his own family has some failure issues too. Later on we find out that one of the prominent alters to false gods in the land belongs to his own father. Not to mention, his whole nation is an oppressed mess. There were all sorts of reasons for shame and insignificance to define who Gideon was. And it is no wonder that when we first meet him he is hiding.
When you look at your own history and resume, what do you see? Who are you? What makes you who you are? How much do your abilities and family background comprise who you are, and therefore what you are capable of? Is it enough to be defined by these things? Even if they are going well? This conversation with Gideon shows us that no matter how we answer these questions, the Lord has a better identity to give us. Let’s hear this classic verse, spoken to Gideon, again…
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor (mighty warrior)”.
What we see here is that when God shows up, things can change in a hurry. When the Lord comes down and He really is with you – your entire identity will – not ‘can’, but ‘will’ change. And what we see here is that when God says something is true, despite appearances, it becomes true and it will eventually prove to be true. Once before, at the beginning of your Bible, God said “Let there be light” and there was light. And here in Judges God says to Gideon, “You are a Mighty Warrior”. And guess what? Gideon, then IS, a Mighty Warrior – whether he believes it or not. How? Because the Lord was with Him and the Lord said so! God can speak brand new things into existence – even the very core of who we are!
From this moment on, Gideon’s entire identity changed. And with this came a brand new purpose, ability, and trajectory for his life.
That’s Gideon. Now what about you and me? God is speaking to us today, through His Word, the Bible. And there, as we put real faith in the Great Deliverer, Jesus Christ, He speaks over us our better and new identity.
Do you know, believe, and live from your identity in Jesus Christ?
Jesus told his followers to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Did you catch that? We are to be baptized – totally immersed – in the name of the Triune God. Our old self is washed away. A brand new self, all about our Triune God, is raised up out of the water. This is the stuff of identity! Think of what Matthew 28:19 indicates…
God is our Father, and so we are His Family.
Jesus is our Lord, and so we are His Servants.
The Holy Spirit is our Guide & Sender, so we are His Missionaries.
With real faith in the person & work of Jesus Christ, we are no longer defined by our past identities. We are new people, with a new identity, with a new purpose. We are baptized into a new & better reality. We are God’s Family, Servants, and Missionaries.
Gideon eventually believed God’s word about him…and that’s when his story starts to get really good (keep reading it in Judges 6 and on). The same is true with us. Since we all ‘Do, who we are’…Do you know who you really are in Christ?
Grace Baptist Church - Kelowna 