Reflections on "Here Comes the Judge" Judges 21: 1-5; 15-25; John 18: 33-37

This sermon tied together the end of the sermon series on Judges and Christ the King Sunday.  I had this sermon planned for a long time (at least the general idea), but it never quite gelled.  Ironically, both the Judges text and the John text had terrific places to jump off for a sermon:  another oath that gets the Israelites in trouble; saving Benjamin by violating other people; Judges ending with everyone doing their own thing; Jesus saying "for this I was born and for this I came into the world;" Pilate asking, "What is truth?"  If I had chosen one of those to focus on, it probably would have been a better sermon.  Instead, I attempted to incorporate them into the general idea with which I started.

I also had a fun sermon illustration that I had chosen early in the brainstorming process.  It turns out that it didn't really fit, which took the fun out of the illustration and created an awkward moment in the sermon.  Should have cut it, instead of clinging to it.   I actually tried a different segue into it at the Sanctuary service, but it still did not work.  

For me, it was a disappointing finish to a preaching series I have really enjoyed. 

“Here Comes the Judge” November , 2012; FPC, Troy, Judges 21: 1-5; 15-25; John 18: 33-37; conclusion to the Judges series

Introduction: Which Judge did you like the most

Othniel – the one you never heard of before and maybe won't again! He was actually

Samson

Deborah

Ehud

Jephthah

Gideon

Great stories; not so great judges.

Move 1: the run of judges ends in failure.

a. the judges cannot get out of their own way.

1. their egos undermine them.
2. Or their unfaithfulness undoes their successes.
3. Their sinfulness overwhelms them.

4. Unfaithfulness would rear its ugly head.
5. The individual judges may have been helpful in the short-term, but they always fall back into their sinful ways.

6. Every story seems to lead to the fateful words: “then the Israelites did was was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

b. Even as we point fingers at the Israelites and their judges, we recognize our shared humanity.

1. WE know that cycle – crying out to God for help.
2. Having God rescue us in the moment, or send us in a new direction.
3. A period of getting it right and drawing closer to God.
4. Then we forget, or we begin to think we can handle it on our own, or we get tired of working to be faithful, and we turn away from God.
   c. The last chapter of Judges provides one more example of how the Israelites just do not get it.
   1. It is kind of complicated story.
   2. Bottom line – the other eleven tribes of Israel get mad at the tribe of Benjamin, so they make a vow (they apparently did not learn from Jephthah's story the dangers of making a vow) that they will not provide any wives for the tribe of Benjamin.
   3. But, then they begin to worry about how Benjamin can continue to stay alive if there are no wives.
   4. they cannot break the vow, so they come up with a plan. At one of the festivals when the women of Shiloh come down to their area, Benjamin can kidnap women to be their wives.
   5. The tribe of Benjamin can be saved, but to make that happen, other people have to be violated.
   6. one more example of how salvation coming from the hands of sinful humans does not look much like salvation.

d. After this story, the book of Judges fittingly concludes: "In those days Israel had no king, everyone did as he saw fit."
1. A picture of chaos – everyone doing whatever they want.
2. And the argument for a king.
3. The futility of the Judges leads to the stage being set for Israel to have a king.
4. Earthly kings arrive, and they do not solve the sinfulness of the Israelites.
5. Much like the judges, some kings are better than other; no king gets it absolutely right.

Earthly Judges are not the right answer; earthly kings are not the right answer.

Who can save Israel?

Move 2: No one, but Christ, the Son of God.

a. Christ comes and redefines what it means to be a judge.

1. The Israelites judges get in trouble because of their egos; Jesus pours himself out for others.
2. The Israelites judges could get it right for the moment, but would return to their sinful ways; Christ lives a sinless life.
3. The Israelite judges evoke power and might and conquer the enemy through battle and killing; Christ does not lift the sword as he submits to earthly powers and dies on the cross.
4. The Israelite judges save Israel for the moment, but do not have lasting power; Jesus saves the world for eternity.

b. Christ comes to define God's saving grace.

1. After a long two-week criminal trial in a high profile bank robbery case, the jury finally ended its 14 hours of deliberations and entered the courtroom to deliver its verdict to the judge. The judge turns to the jury foreman and asks, "Has the jury reached a verdict in this case?"

"Yes, your honor," the foreman responded.

"Would you please pass it to me,"

The judge declared, as he motioned for the bailiff to retrieve the verdict slip from the foreman and deliver it to him. After the judge reads the verdict himself, he delivers the verdict
slip back to his bailiff to be returned to the foreman and instructs the foreman, "Please read your verdict to the court."

"We find the defendant NOT GUILTY of all four counts of bank robbery," stated the foreman.

The family and friends of the defendant jump for joy at the sound of the "not guilty" verdict and hug each other as they shout expressions of divine gratitude. The defendant's attorney turns to his client and asks, "So, what do you think about that?"

The defendant looks around the courtroom slowly with a bewildered look on his face and then turns to his defense attorney and says, "I'm real confused here. Does this mean that I have to return the money?"

2. God's saving grace is hard to imagine because we know that we are guilty, that we are sinners.
3. But Christ comes to save us anyway.
   Move 3: God sent Christ on purpose.

a. “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world,”

1.  Christ utters these words as he stands before Pilate knowing he was about to be condemned on false charges.

2.  And Christ wants Pilate and the world to know that God has done this on purpose.

b. When we read the stories of the judges, we get the sense that the judges stumble into their role of saving Israel for the moment.

    1. The judges reluctantly go out and save Israel.

   2. Christ’s coming was not an accident.

3. It was the intentional act of the God whose love for us knows no bounds.

4. Christ came to save us at any cost.

Conclusion: Pilate asks Jesus, “What is the truth?”

We know and proclaim this truth:  the run of the judges will end; the reign of the kings will end.

But Christ the king, the judge who comes to save us and redeem the world, will reign in power forever.