A man and his wife were invited by his wealthy boss to spend the weekend with him at his home on the lake.  The husband's employer and wife were quite generous as a host, and took them to some wonderful restaurants.  As the four of them were about to enter a fine restaurant one evening, the boss stopped suddenly, looked down on the pavement, hesitated for moment, then reached down and picked up a penny!  "How absurd!" thought the man's wife.  "What would he need with a single penny?"

          Throughout dinner, this really bugged her.  A rich man picking up a penny!  Finally, she could stand it no longer.  She causally mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and wondered if the penny he'd found was valuable.  The wealthy man pulled out the penny and held it out for them to see.  "Look at it," he said.  "Read what it says."  She read, "United States of America."  "Read further," he said.  "One cent?"  "Keep reading."  "In God we Trust?"  "Yes!"  "So?" she asked.  The man said, "The name of God is holy, even on a coin.  'In God We Trust' is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it!  A penny on the ground is God giving me a message to trust Him.  Whenever I see a coin on the street, I stop and pray, then I pick the coin up as a response to God.  Fortunately for me, pennies are plentiful!"  I wonder how many of us here today will stop to pick up a penny like that?

          Much of life has to do with how much we trust in God.  Today's lesson gives us something to consider on this.  A little history will help here.  After Moses died, Joshua led the Israelites in conquering the Promised Land.  God told them to remove all the pagans living there, every last one of them, and not to leave anyone behind who could come between them and God.  By the time Joshua died, this had mostly been done.  However, some pockets of paganism were left here and there, and though God had warned them about this, they never fully obeyed.

          Eventually, disobedience led to defeat.  That's what always happens.  When people ignore God's leading, they pay the price.  God let the Israelites be defeated, often by small bands of raiders who terrorized them.  These were like thorns in their sides who nipped at their ankles, bit them like dogs, and never let them rest.  Without a faith to sustain them, the Israelites soon were in great distress (Judges 2:15).  So they cried to God, and God answered their prayers.  And God raised up Judges who drew them back to God and saved them from their enemies.

          The sad fact here, though, is that Israel never seemed to learn.  They did what the Judges told them until things got better, and then went back to their old ways.  God was good when they needed Him, but then they ignored Him.  No matter if God told them not to, they ignored Him anyway.  God didn't know everything - they were wise enough, or so they thought.  Some followed other gods, and others wanted God out of their lives.

          Maybe some thought God was too demanding, too exclusive.  He asked too much of them, and some weren't even sure He existed.  They wanted freedom from religion, and separation from God.  They became tolerant of other gods, and they forgot God is intolerant!  The First Commandment is clear - "You shall have no other gods!"  They stopped trusting Him, so He stopped winning their battles.  God let them get beat up, and soon they were complaining to Him.

          Whenever they followed their own ways, they were defeated.  God was beginning to lose patience, and whenever that happens, it's not safe to be around Him.

          The Judges had a simple method - turn the people back to the true God and rule them hard.  Some Judges were weak, but most were powerful -- Othniel, Ehud, and Deborah - yes, Deborah.  One of the most powerful of all the Judges was a woman.  She wielded God's power through her General, named Barak.  She made great decisions, defended God and defeated His enemies.  And whenever the people turned back to God, there was peace in the land.  But it never lasted.

          Finally God sent the Midianites, the worst of all.  They killed their animals and ruined their crops.  They drove them into caves and then burned them out.  The Bible says they were like locusts, chewing up fields, destroying their economy.  So again they cried out to God.  One thing is always true - when people get hit in the pocketbook, they always turn to the Lord.

          This time God called Gideon to be His Judge.  Like all great leaders, Gideon resisted at first.  "How can I do this?" he said.  God said, "It won't be you - it will be Me."  Gideon started by tearing down his father's pagan altar.  "How dare you go against your family traditions?" they shouted.  But God silenced them.  (All this is found in Judges 6 and 7.)

          Whenever people of any age go against God, they will pay a price.  This was true of Gideon's age and it's true of our age.  And Christians who fail to stand up for God pay a price, too.  You see, it's not easy following the Lord - it never has been.  Some think being Christian should make life easy, but it doesn't.  Following Him means trusting Him.  When God called Gideon to lead, he asked for a sign.  "I will put a fleece on the ground," he said.  "In the morning if the fleece is wet with dew and the ground is dry, I will know You will do this."  God did it, and ever since then, "throwing God a fleece" has meant asking Him for a sign.

          Which brings us our text.  Israel had 32,000 soldiers - not a bad army, but God didn't want them all.  "If they win, they'll think they did it," He said, so Gideon thinned the ranks until only 300 were left, "men who bent over and lapped water like dogs." (Judges 7:6)   Gideon sent the rest home, and they surely thought he was crazy, but he trusted God.  One thing about being a soldier - you have to trust in God.  Maybe that's why most soldiers today are Christians.

          Gideon's 300 soldiers won that battle.  They shattered their pitchers and raised their torches and scared the Midianites so badly they began killing each other.  That's another thing that's usually true - when people rely on their own strength and they'll start fighting each other.  The church needs to keep this in mind.  The minute we start trusting in ourselves, we'll fight each other.

          Here as always, God wanted people to follow His lead.  Gideon said it well in today's Bible text, "Watch me.  Follow my lead.  When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do."  It wasn't really Gideon they were following, it was God.  Gideon followed God and the people followed God through Gideon.  That was God's plan.

          What a great lesson for pastors and people today!  Follow the Lord's lead together.  Not just human wisdom - follow God's lead!  Conventional wisdom says be strong!  Get as many soldiers together as you can, train them well, and maybe you'll win.  Eternal wisdom says follow the Lord and you'll always win.  Gideon's 300 won with only a torch and pitcher - without a single sword!  Our finest weapon is the Gospel.

          God is a God of love, not of war.  He wins the war with soldiers, but He starts the battle with a baby.  God's love and mercy begin at Bethlehem.  Mary and Joseph brought into the world a Savior, not a soldier.  Jesus was the Son of God, not a general.  He lived the good life we could not.  He was as perfect as we are sinful.  He brought back God's kingdom.  True, He died on the battlefield, but that wasn't the end of Him.  Christ came back.  Satan thought he won, but he was the loser.  Christ was the winner at Calvary, and because He was, so are we.

          If we remember nothing else today, let it be this - Christ was the winner at Calvary, and because He was, so are we.  Every last person who trusts in Him, no matter what our background, no matter what our sins, no matter how foolish we've been, whoever has faith in Him will be saved.

          Though I trust in God, I am still concerned about some things.

          (1)  I'm concerned about the outcome of our nation's elections this Fall.  I do not know which side will win, but I will say that whoever we elect had better not try to push God out of this nation.  "In God We Trust" must ever be true among us.  We must remain "one nation, under God."  We dare not toss out Bethlehem's Baby with the bath water.  God is forever God and He will not be mocked!

          (2)  I'm also concerned about churches and pastors who preach a message of fear instead of the Gospel, who preach legalism or whatever message the crowd wants to hear.  In too many churches today the Holy Spirit is replaced with humanism or books on doctrine.  The Holy Spirit will keep leading His church in the way He wants it to go.

          (3)  I'm also concerned about the influence that secularism has over so many.  Hollywood speaks and people think it the voice of wisdom.  News media speak lies and people accept it.  Judges create laws.  Colleges re-write history and condemn Christianity.  I pray this will not go on.

          (4)  Finally, I pray for an end of hatred towards those with whom we differ.  Hatred will consume us.  Respect for differing opinions must be valued.  We don't have to like what people say, but we cannot hate them for saying it.  Always remember - "In God We Trust."  He is still in charge.  As the hymn says, "Though all the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet."  May we ever love God above all, and love our neighbor as ourselves.  God grant this for Jesus' sake, amen.

Copyright © 2004 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.