SERMON: WHAT CAN I DO?

WHAT CAN I DO?
7 August 2011

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Judges 6:1-16

1 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.

7 When the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

16 The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”


-- several years ago, a local businessman decided to convert his business from a dry goods store into a tavern for financial reasons -- and even though the town where he lived was a dry county, it looked like he had enough support from the county commissioners to push it through -- it was just a matter of time before he could open up this bar up for business
-- a group of Christians from a local church got concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting -- they wanted to ask God to intervene and stop the tavern from opening up in their community
-- so, on a Sunday night, the Christians gathered for their prayer service, and on the very next day, lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground -- well, the owner of the bar sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the members were responsible
-- the church hired a lawyer to defend them in court and argue that they were not responsible -- "we're only a small church -- what could we have done to cause this to happen? -- all we did was pray”
-- the judge who presided over the case was a man who was very wise -- he read the arguments presented by both sides, and after his initial review of the case, he stated, "no matter how this case comes out, one thing is obvious -- the tavern owner believes that God worked through the prayers of this small church and the Christians do not"

-- you know, over the course of my ministry, I have developed this theory about the way small churches think and operate -- I call it the “reverse-Napoleon complex” -- let me explain what I’m talking about
-- everyone in here is probably aware of what the psychologists call the “Napoleon complex” named after the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte -- Napoleon was a very short man -- he definitely did not stand head and shoulders above the crowd -- and because he was so short, he developed this drive to excel in other areas of his life -- most historians agree that Napoleon compensated for his short height by seeking power, war, and conquest -- in other words, because Napoleon was small, he sought to do more and to have more than those around him to make up for the difference in physical appearance -- and it was his short stature that caused him to seek to take over the world in his day
-- in our world today, we see men just like Napoleon who have this same drive for power and influence brought on because they have an inferiority complex about their height or some other aspect of their lives -- this is what psychologists call a “Napoleon complex”

-- but in the church, we see an opposite dynamic at work that I call the “reverse-Napoleon complex” -- based on the Napoleon complex, you would expect small churches to be the driving force in Christianity today -- you would expect that they would be trying to compensate for their small size and their small resources by seeking greater influence and greater power and greater results than larger churches near them -- but that’s not the case
-- just like the church in the story I told you about the tavern that burned down, the mind-set of many churches is, “we’re just a small church -- what can we do? -- if we had more people, we might be able to do something for God -- if we had more money, God could really use us -- if we had more people praying, God would listen and respond to our prayers more often”
-- rather than using their size to motivate them to even greater levels of ministry, small churches tend to get emotionally crippled and end up thinking that God can’t use them because they aren’t big enough -- and, large churches tend to do the same, looking down on smaller congregations in a condescending way because they don’t believe that small churches can accomplish anything either
-- it’s this reverse-Napoleon complex that is driving the church growth movement in America today -- it’s this reverse-Napoleon complex that causes denominations to put on training seminars and courses to help small churches grow so that maybe one day they can start doing real ministry and start having an impact for Christ in their area
-- the overall message that is coming out from the Christian community is that small churches are cute, but just not effective -- small churches are a curious oddity, but they really can’t anything for God
-- but, you know what? -- that type of thinking is wrong -- it’s simply not biblical -- it goes against everything that we see in the Bible -- in fact, I was thinking the other day as I was reading an article about the fastest growing churches in America and looking at an ad for a church-growth seminar that if Jesus was here today, some denominations would be encouraging Him to go to a workshop to help Him grow His church
-- if you think about it, Jesus only had 12 people in His church at the end of His ministry

-- if you get nothing else out of this message today, I want you to get this -- there's nothing wrong with being small -- size does not limit what God can do through you

II. Scripture Lesson (Judges 6-7)
-- if you want to see what God can do with the least of these -- if you want to see what God can do with small churches and small people, look at the story of Gideon here in Judges 6
-- before we look back at this passage in more detail, let me give you the context so you know what’s going on and how this passage fits in the whole scheme of things
-- the Book of Judges covers the first 350 years of the nation of Israel right after they entered the Promised Land
-- this is sometimes called the “Dark Ages” of the Israelites because it was a time when the Israelites would turn away from God and start worshiping idols -- God would respond by sending an enemy against Israel, which caused the Israelites to turn to God for help -- finally, God would raise up a deliverer who would rescue them from their enemies and lead them back to a right relationship with Him again
-- these deliverers were known as “judges” -- and Gideon was one of these judges during this 350 year period

-- look back at verse 1

1 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.

7 When the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”


-- as Judges 6 opens up, we read that the Israelites have once again turned away from God and were doing evil in His sight -- because of this, God allowed the Midianites to oppress the people
-- not only did the nation of Midian come against Israel with their military might, but they also took away Israel’s way of life and their livelihood -- they destroyed the crops of the Israelites and forced them to flee their cities and live in caves and shelters in the mountains
-- their situation looked hopeless -- they had no homes -- they had no resources -- they had no food -- so, finally, they repented of their sins and they cried out to God for help -- they asked Him to send a deliverer who would save them from the power of Midian
-- now keep in mind that Midian was a powerful nation with a vast army and lots of resources -- when God responded and said that He would send a deliverer, the people were expecting Him to send someone powerful -- someone who had a lot of resources -- a lot of men at his disposal -- someone who was comparable to Midian and who could go toe-to-toe with them in a battle -- the people were expecting someone like Rambo or Swarzenegger or the guy from the Die Hard movies -- but look who God sent

-- verse 11

11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

16 The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

-- God sent Gideon -- Gideon -- here is this guy who is so afraid of the Midianites that he is hiding in a winepress threshing wheat -- he’s not even brave enough to thresh the wheat on the threshing floor where it should be done
-- in verse 15 he tells us that he’s from the tribe of Manasseh, the weakest tribe out of all the 12 tribe of Israel -- and not only is he from the smallest and weakest tribe, but his clan is the weakest in that tribe -- to make matters worse, Gideon points out that he is the least in his own family -- in other words, Gideon is the lowest of the low -- he is the weakest and least powerful of any person or clan or tribe in the entire nation of Israel -- but this is who God chooses to use to deliver the nation of Israel from the power of Midian

-- notice in verse 11 that it says that “the angel of the Lord” came to Gideon at Ophrah -- just so you know, when you say that phrase, “the angel of the Lord,” in the Old Testament, that is an appearance of God in the flesh -- if it says, “an,” angel of the Lord, then it’s an angel -- but if it says, “the,” angel of the Lord -- then it’s God
-- so, God Himself comes to Gideon while he’s threshing wheat in the winepress and in verse 12, He calls Gideon, “mighty warrior” -- Gideon was not a mighty warrior -- as we just saw, Gideon was a small man -- so, why would God call him “mighty warrior?”
-- it wasn’t because of who Gideon was -- it wasn’t because of who Gideon’s family or his tribe was -- it was because the Lord was with him
-- you see, that’s the thing that a lot of people miss when it comes to churches and what churches can do for God -- does a small church have people? -- no -- does a small church have financial resources? -- no -- does a small church have material possessions or large sanctuaries? -- no
-- so, what do they have? -- they have the Lord with them -- in Acts 3:6, when the crippled man at the gate Beautiful asks them for money, Peter and John reply, “silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you -- in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” -- and the man got up and walked
-- here’s the thing -- Peter and John only had one thing -- they had the Lord with them, and it made all the difference
-- Gideon only had one thing -- he had the Lord with him, and it made all the difference -- Gideon may not have been a mighty warrior when he was hiding in a winepress threshing wheat, but with God, he was about to deliver the nation of Israel from their worst enemy
-- in verse 14, God tells Gideon to go in the strength that he has to save Israel from the hands of Midian -- God didn’t change anything about Gideon’s situation -- He didn’t send an army to gather around the winepress for Gideon to command, although that comes later -- He didn’t have money fall out of the sky for Gideon to use to buy weapons and food and other resources -- He didn’t give Gideon wisdom or strength or stature
-- the only thing Gideon had was the presence of the Lord by his side, but that made all the difference
-- in fact, when the men of Israel did rally around Gideon’s call to fight Midian, God wouldn’t let Gideon take them into battle -- skip over to Chapter 7, verse 1

1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
4 But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

7 The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”

-- as chapter 7 opens, Gideon has an army of over 30,000 men surrounding him -- he thinks he’s ready to do something for God -- finally, he has enough people -- finally, he has enough weapons -- finally, he has enough resources
-- but look what God says here in verse 2 -- “You have too many men -- in order that Israel may not boast that they defeated Midian in their own strength and in their own power, you need to reduce the size of your army”
-- and so, God told Gideon to send home everyone who was afraid -- and 22,000 men went home, leaving Gideon with a pitiful army of just 10,000 men -- but God looked at that army and said, “Nope, you’ve still got too many” -- so God had the men drink water from a stream to further whittle them down -- and when all is said and done, Gideon is left with only 300 men to fight against the entire Midian army
-- when they looked at that army of 300 men, do you know what Gideon thought? -- “We’re too small to do anything -- we don’t have enough people -- we don’t have enough money -- we don’t have enough resources -- God won’t be able to do anything through us -- maybe if we were larger, He could -- but not now”
-- but, you know what? -- with only 300 men and God by his side, Gideon went into battle anyway, and he defeated the entire Midian army once and for all -- never again would the nation of Midian be a threat to Israel

III. Closing
-- let me remind you what I told you in the start of this sermon -- size does not limit what God can do through you -- the only thing that can limit you is you
-- the only thing that can keep God from working in us and through us in our belief in the power of God to use the smallest things in this world to do great things in His name

-- think about Chick Fil A and the story of Truett Cathy
-- Truett Cathy started out in Atlanta with a restaurant so small, it was called the Dwarf Grill -- later, he called it the "Dwarf House" -- it only had 10 stools and four tables
-- and, when he opened it, he didn't offer a full menu like all the other big restaurants had -- he didn't even offer hamburgers -- all he offered was chicken sandwiches and french fries -- and he did something else strange -- he refused to open on Sundays, even though other restaurants got over 20% of their income on that day -- Cathy wanted to make a stand for God
-- for almost 20 years, Cathy operated the Dwarf House -- it was the only restaurant he had -- but this restaurant met a need in the community -- McDonald's didn't have chicken sandwiches -- neither did the other big restaurants -- and business grew
-- finally, in 1967, Cathy opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta's Greenbriar Mall -- but he didn't change the way he did business -- he didn't try to do everything the big chains and the big restaurants did -- he just sold chicken sandwiches and fries -- and he didn't try to make his restaurants bigger than his neighbors -- he just did what he felt God had called him to do
-- and, by doing what God called him to do, God blessed him -- currently, there are over 1,000 Chick-fil-A restaurants in 35 states and South Africa
-- a recent article in Atlanta Business Chronicle noted that Cathy could make a fortune if he made a public stock offering for Chick-fil-A, but he refuses to consider it -- he said, "We're able to do a lot of things that we couldn't do if we were a large public company" -- Cathy has made the decision to keep Chick-Fil-A small

-- do we need to be large to do great things for God? -- do we need more people in order to do ministry? -- do we need more finances or more resources to serve God? -- no, all we need is what Gideon had -- the Lord beside us and faith in His power
-- we saw that just this week when we delivered the school supplies to the Valdosta City Schools -- we took a step of faith and God provided the resources that we didn’t have and used this little church of about 20 people that doesn’t even have a church building to provide more school supplies this year than was provided by all the churches and all the people in Valdosta last year
-- God took five loaves and two fish and fed the 5,000 -- and He took our 20 people and provided school supplies for 150 homeless kids

-- so, the question I want to leave you with this morning is, “Do you believe? -- Do you believe that a small church of less than 20 people can do the impossible with Christ by their side?”
-- God took 300 men and defeated an entire nation -- and when the world saw that, they knew that only God could have done it
-- God wants to do the same through us -- He already did it with the school supplies -- and I believe He wants to do even more
-- as we close, I want to encourage you to dream big dreams for this church -- I want to encourage you to envision great ministries that will come to pass -- there is nothing that God can’t do through us, if we only believe -- if we only trust -- if we only have faith
-- as you pray this week, ask these questions, “What does God want to do through us that will make the City of Valdosta stand up and notice? -- Where is God calling us to go next so that His name will be glorified?”
-- let us pray