Sermon Tone Analysis

*Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds*

*/Part 25: Samson’s Self-Control Problem /*

*Judges 13-16*

*/July 4, 2010/*

 

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*Prep: *

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*Scripture reading: Romans 6:11-14 (Marilyn)*

 

 

Prayer

 

4th of July, Mélodie going home.

Intro: Follow your heart?

Q   Do you *talk* to your TV?

I do – I provide *running* *commentary* and loud expressions of dissent.

It’s like watching with the director’s commentary.

This last week we were watching “*Glee*.”

One of the key plots (as of episode 13) is a blooming romance between Will Schuester (who’s married to dysfunctional Terri) and Emma.

·         I don’t know what happens next because that’s the *last* *DVD* and I am not paying $*10* for *Hulu*!

It highlights my biggest *pet* *peeves*, this common theme in the majority of Hollywood romances:

 

·         *Follow* your ________!

What a load of bull!

What makes us think our *heart* is a *reliable* guide?

Our hearts represents our *passions* and *desires*, why should we *trust* that?

Q   Have you ever seen a *person* *suffer* from following their heart when it told them date the *bad* boy or have an *affair*?

Q   Have *you* ever *suffered* from following your heart?

·         If I followed my heart and did everything I felt, I’d be a *morbidly* *obese* *alcoholic*, *divorced*, with lots of *kids*.

Just once I would like to see a *realistic* *movie* with a touching “follow your heart” thing (with a song) and then their heart leads them into a *world* of *hurt*.

Samson: The Movie

 

We could make that movie about Samson, the most prominent of the Judges, but you’d have to be *sneaky* about it:

 

Cast him as an insanely talented *musician* who takes the industry by storm, but whose life is a disaster because of broken *relationships*, *addictions*, a raging *temper*, and *revenge*.

·         Reading Samson’s story is like watching a *train* *wreck* – a man lead by his passions down a very destructive path.

Today, we will *study* his train wreck and hopefully learn how to *avoid* our own!

Promising start

 

Samson started off as the *most* *promising* judge:

 

*Judges 13:2-5 * A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless.

3 The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, “You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son.  4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean,  5 because you will conceive and give birth to a son.

No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

To my knowledge, he is one of only 4 people to have an *angel* *announce* his birth, the other four being Isaac, John the Baptist, and Jesus.

You kinda expect great things from this guy.

This guy has got the *goods*, massive *strength* undefeatable.

But he has got one massive, *fatal* *character* *flaw* that renders everything all but useless: He completely lacks *self*-*control*.

·         We *wants* what he *wants*, when he wants it, and if he doesn’t get it, someone’s gonna get hurt.

*Judges 14:1-3 * Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman.  2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”  3 His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people?

Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?”

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me.

She’s the right one for me.”

Never mind that the *Philistines* are the *enemy*, they’re *oppressing* his people.

Never mind that he is an Israelite and was supposed to only marry in the faith.

He wanted her.

As I was studying Samson, I was reminded of a *proverb*:

 

*Proverbs 25:28 *Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.

*Walls* were a vital part of cities in that day.

If you didn’t have walls, even a small band could come invade.

But with walls you could hold off even a *major* *army* for a couple of months.

Walls *protected* you and kept the *enemy* *out*.

The proverb means that without walls you any *desire* or *thought* can come in any *take* you *over*.

Without self-control you are *weak* and *vulnerable*.

·         Self-control is simply the ability to *master* your own *desires* and *passions* (i.e.

*heart*), and he lacked that completely.

You have two *choices* – *master* your *passions* or they will *master* *you*.

That’s it.

You control them or they control you.

The Rider and the Elephant

 

I am not saying *remove* your *passions*.

Self-control does not mean “*ignore* your *heart*.”

God gave us emotions and desires.

He wants us to *enjoy* them, he wants us to *desire* *him* with them.

·         The point is we need to *control* our *passions* and *emotions*.

Imagine an elephant and rider: The rider represents our *reason* and will, the elephant represents our *passions* and *heart*.

The elephant has *tremendous* *power* and you can get a lot more done with one.

But it needs *direction* and *motivation* to go the right direction.

Our *reason* and *will* provide that.

·         Self-control is the ability to *master* and *guide* the *heart*.

Q   Are you *guiding* your elephant or being *drug* *behind* him?

Imagine how *different* Samson’s life would have been if is controlled himself.

Imagine how different his story would have been if he had his power combined with *Joseph’s* *integrity*.

Q   How different would *your* *life* be if you were in control?

Off a cliff

 

But I need to *stop* *here*: This is not a *self*-*help* sermon about how you can live better sermon.

We can use self-control to lose *five* *pounds*, save for a *new* *car*, or keep your *house* *tidy*, but then we have completely missed the *point* and put the cart in front of the horse (or elephant).

·         Self-control, by itself, is *useless*.

Self-control is a *means* to an *end*.

You might be steering that elephant with *perfect* *control*, but it won’t matter if you are steering him off of a *cliff*.

Self-control is all about steering your passions for the *glory* of *God*.

It’s not about *denying* your *passions* for its own sake, but denying them to find *something* even *better*.

God-Control

 

Furthermore, as I talk about self-control, the point is not “Make *yourself* *better*”:

 

The key point of Christianity is both the *elephant* and the *rider* are headed in the *wrong* *direction*; *sin* *reigns* in our *intellect* and *passions*.

We need a *new* *heart*.

·         We are *incapable* of doing this on our own, we need God’s *grace* and the *Holy* *Spirit* in us.

A man out of control

 

Let hit a little *closer* to *home* and look at *three* *specific* self-control problems that we share with Samson:

 

*1.

**Uncontrolled Appetite*

 

Remember how Samson was supposed to be as a Nazirite?

That meant he was not supposed to 1) touch any *grape* product, 2) eat anything *unclean*, 3) drink any *alcohol*, or 4) cut his *hair*.

*Judges 14:5-10 * 5 ¶ Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother.

As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him.

He is not supposed to so much as touch a grape, what is he doing around a *vineyard*?

One commentator suggested that the lion wsa God’s not so subtle reminder.

6 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat.

But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.

7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.  8 Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass.

In it was a swarm of bees and some honey,  9 which he scooped out with his hands and ate as he went along.