How A Young Man Fell
Sermon
Together In Christ
Sermons and Prayers For the Christian Year
(I will be speaking directly to the children in church this morning, but the rest of you can listen if you want to.)
I imagine some of you like to watch the cartoons on Saturday morning. Am I right?
You watch the superheroes, as I did when I was a kid. In my day, it was Superman and Wonder Woman; of course, they're still around, but there are also some new superheroes today, like Ninja Turtles, She-ra and He-Man, Master of the Universe.
Well, there's a story in the Bible which they could easily have made into a Saturday cartoon, because this guy was a superhero, too. His name was Samson and he was the strongest man in the world. He had bigger muscles than He-Man. He was as strong as Superman. One day he was walking along and a lion attacked him, so he ripped that lion apart with his bare hands. Once, he was attacked by a thousand men - a thousand men! - and he killed them all with the jawbone of an ass. This man was strong!
But there was one difference between Samson and the superheroes you watch on the Saturday cartoons. The superheroes in the cartoon always do what is right. They always defeat the "bad guys" and they never do wrong themselves, because they are as strong morally as they are physically. The superheroes know the difference between right and wrong, and you can count on them to always do what is right.
Samson wasn't like that. Samson may have been big and strong, but he didn't always worry about doing the right thing. He had a wife, but he fooled around with other women, including prostitutes. He killed innocent people from time to time and it doesn't seem he worshipped God or took God very seriously, since we never see him going to church with his parents, who were very religious and probably wanted their son to be, too.
In other words, Samson was a young man who pretty much did whatever he wanted to do and didn't worry about it. You may know people like that. A lot of people are that way today, young and old alike.
You all know the story of what happened when Samson met Delilah. As usual, Samson went running off after a pretty woman without thinking much about it. He told her the secret of his strength and when she cut off his hair, his enemies captured him. Shortly after that, Samson was dead.
How could this have happened? How could Samson have fallen so far? Once, he was young and strong and full of life. He didn't have to worry about a thing, since he could defeat anyone who attacked him. And then suddenly, there he was: captured and humiliated, a slave to his enemies. Samson died as a young man in the prime of his life, and it was a terrible tragedy because it didn't have to happen.
The point is: Samson didn't decide one day to go downhill like that. He didn't wake up one morning and decide to stray from the Lord, or make himself weak, or get himself killed. In fact, no one in his right mind consciously decides one day to ruin his life. It just happens. It happens gradually over a period of time, without the person even realizing it.
That's certainly how it happened with Samson. The strongest man in the world didn't even know he was weak! When his enemies came to get him that last time, after his hair was cut off, Samson jumped up and said, "I'll take care of these people like I always do." But Samson didn't realize it was over. He didn't know his strength was gone. As the Bible tells it, Samson "didn't know that the Lord had left him."
Children and young people (and whoever else is listening): that is precisely the way sin works in our lives when we stray away from the Lord. We do one little thing wrong, figuring it won't really make any difference and then we do another and another. Pretty soon, we're only thinking of what we want to do and not thinking at all about what God wants us to do. Then, suddenly, we wake up one day, like Samson, and find out that it's too late. We find out that the Lord has already left us.
Take a look at someone who has a drinking problem, someone we call an "alcoholic." After all, alcohol is by far the biggest drug problem in America today and by far the biggest drug problem among teenagers. How do most people get started in it?
Most people start quite innocently, with a drink here and a drink there, because their friends are doing it. Pretty soon, they are drinking in the morning to get through the day and at night to go to sleep, to the point where drinking destroys them. And you see, no one starts out with that first drink intending to fall and ruin her life. It just creeps up on her; that's the way it works. That's the way Samson's sin sneaked up on him.
Think about those in school who lie and cheat. They do it once and think it doesn't matter because no one caught them, so they do it again. Pretty soon, they are doing it all the time because they can't stop. They become convinced they cannot pass an exam without cheating. Eventually, they'll get caught and take a hard fall. Again, they didn't intend to turn out like this when they first cheated on a quiz back in the second grade, but that's how it works. That's how sin sneaks up on you.
I look at teenagers who get in trouble today ... with drugs, truancy, shoplifting, gangs and even murder. How do you think they got started? When they were children, do you think any of them expected that their lives would come to this?
There are a lot of ways to ruin your life, even when you are very young. There are a lot of temptations out there, and people who will lead you wrong. You will have to be as strong as Samson to resist them and keep doing what is right.
Don't start doing what you know is wrong, even just a lit-tie bit, because you know it won't end there. It won't stay "just a little bit" of wrong; it will grow and grow until it ruins you. Remember how people can wake up one day to find that the Lord has left them. We pray that you will stay on the right path and enjoy the fullness of life which God has given you. Amen
Pastoral Prayer
Heavenly God, who watches over us with faithfulness and love, we give thanks today for the blessings of children, in our homes, our families and in the church. Thank You for each one of them, 0 God, and for the unborn child as well. Thank You for the noise and confusion they bring, and most of all, for the hope they represent, these children who are the future.
Gracious God, watch over our children. Keep them from stumbling and guard them from every snare. Keep them in Your special care all through their years of growing up, O God, and guide them on their way, that we who love them may rest assured of their care in Your strong and loving arms. In Jesus' name. Amen
I imagine some of you like to watch the cartoons on Saturday morning. Am I right?
You watch the superheroes, as I did when I was a kid. In my day, it was Superman and Wonder Woman; of course, they're still around, but there are also some new superheroes today, like Ninja Turtles, She-ra and He-Man, Master of the Universe.
Well, there's a story in the Bible which they could easily have made into a Saturday cartoon, because this guy was a superhero, too. His name was Samson and he was the strongest man in the world. He had bigger muscles than He-Man. He was as strong as Superman. One day he was walking along and a lion attacked him, so he ripped that lion apart with his bare hands. Once, he was attacked by a thousand men - a thousand men! - and he killed them all with the jawbone of an ass. This man was strong!
But there was one difference between Samson and the superheroes you watch on the Saturday cartoons. The superheroes in the cartoon always do what is right. They always defeat the "bad guys" and they never do wrong themselves, because they are as strong morally as they are physically. The superheroes know the difference between right and wrong, and you can count on them to always do what is right.
Samson wasn't like that. Samson may have been big and strong, but he didn't always worry about doing the right thing. He had a wife, but he fooled around with other women, including prostitutes. He killed innocent people from time to time and it doesn't seem he worshipped God or took God very seriously, since we never see him going to church with his parents, who were very religious and probably wanted their son to be, too.
In other words, Samson was a young man who pretty much did whatever he wanted to do and didn't worry about it. You may know people like that. A lot of people are that way today, young and old alike.
You all know the story of what happened when Samson met Delilah. As usual, Samson went running off after a pretty woman without thinking much about it. He told her the secret of his strength and when she cut off his hair, his enemies captured him. Shortly after that, Samson was dead.
How could this have happened? How could Samson have fallen so far? Once, he was young and strong and full of life. He didn't have to worry about a thing, since he could defeat anyone who attacked him. And then suddenly, there he was: captured and humiliated, a slave to his enemies. Samson died as a young man in the prime of his life, and it was a terrible tragedy because it didn't have to happen.
The point is: Samson didn't decide one day to go downhill like that. He didn't wake up one morning and decide to stray from the Lord, or make himself weak, or get himself killed. In fact, no one in his right mind consciously decides one day to ruin his life. It just happens. It happens gradually over a period of time, without the person even realizing it.
That's certainly how it happened with Samson. The strongest man in the world didn't even know he was weak! When his enemies came to get him that last time, after his hair was cut off, Samson jumped up and said, "I'll take care of these people like I always do." But Samson didn't realize it was over. He didn't know his strength was gone. As the Bible tells it, Samson "didn't know that the Lord had left him."
Children and young people (and whoever else is listening): that is precisely the way sin works in our lives when we stray away from the Lord. We do one little thing wrong, figuring it won't really make any difference and then we do another and another. Pretty soon, we're only thinking of what we want to do and not thinking at all about what God wants us to do. Then, suddenly, we wake up one day, like Samson, and find out that it's too late. We find out that the Lord has already left us.
Take a look at someone who has a drinking problem, someone we call an "alcoholic." After all, alcohol is by far the biggest drug problem in America today and by far the biggest drug problem among teenagers. How do most people get started in it?
Most people start quite innocently, with a drink here and a drink there, because their friends are doing it. Pretty soon, they are drinking in the morning to get through the day and at night to go to sleep, to the point where drinking destroys them. And you see, no one starts out with that first drink intending to fall and ruin her life. It just creeps up on her; that's the way it works. That's the way Samson's sin sneaked up on him.
Think about those in school who lie and cheat. They do it once and think it doesn't matter because no one caught them, so they do it again. Pretty soon, they are doing it all the time because they can't stop. They become convinced they cannot pass an exam without cheating. Eventually, they'll get caught and take a hard fall. Again, they didn't intend to turn out like this when they first cheated on a quiz back in the second grade, but that's how it works. That's how sin sneaks up on you.
I look at teenagers who get in trouble today ... with drugs, truancy, shoplifting, gangs and even murder. How do you think they got started? When they were children, do you think any of them expected that their lives would come to this?
There are a lot of ways to ruin your life, even when you are very young. There are a lot of temptations out there, and people who will lead you wrong. You will have to be as strong as Samson to resist them and keep doing what is right.
Don't start doing what you know is wrong, even just a lit-tie bit, because you know it won't end there. It won't stay "just a little bit" of wrong; it will grow and grow until it ruins you. Remember how people can wake up one day to find that the Lord has left them. We pray that you will stay on the right path and enjoy the fullness of life which God has given you. Amen
Pastoral Prayer
Heavenly God, who watches over us with faithfulness and love, we give thanks today for the blessings of children, in our homes, our families and in the church. Thank You for each one of them, 0 God, and for the unborn child as well. Thank You for the noise and confusion they bring, and most of all, for the hope they represent, these children who are the future.
Gracious God, watch over our children. Keep them from stumbling and guard them from every snare. Keep them in Your special care all through their years of growing up, O God, and guide them on their way, that we who love them may rest assured of their care in Your strong and loving arms. In Jesus' name. Amen
