The Lutheran Hour

"Strength Out of Weakness"

#90-41
Presented on The Lutheran Hour on June 11, 2023
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler
Copyright 2025 Lutheran Hour Ministries

Text: Judges 6:14-16

So I’m waiting in line for the food, thinking, “Man, those are small plates. All this delicious food, why such small plates? I like a buffet line with big plates.” But now that I’ve had some time to reflect, I can safely say, “What was I thinking?” This wasn’t a buffet; it was a birthday party. It wasn’t a Sirloin Stockade; it was a social engagement. But in that moment, I was hungry, so a small plate would have to make do. I decided to go with the pyramid design, big on the bottom and build your way up. I used some of those rolled meats and cubed cheeses from the charcuterie board to build my base layer, and then some mini-pickles and some slices of cheese and ooh, candied walnuts, had some of those and some salami and about a half dozen olives on top of that and some crackers on the side. And that’s when I noticed my friend Dave staring at me, staring at my plate, like you’d stare at an accident on the side of an interstate. I looked down at the mound of food in my hands. I suppose that is an obscene amount of food for such a small plate.

I remember the invitation to the party, something about hors d’oeuvres and mingling and conversation. Maybe it’s because I’m embarrassed and I want to hide the evidence, that I polished off that first plate in about 60 seconds. But you know how it goes with appetizers, like free bread at a nice restaurant, all it did was encourage me, the worst of me. Hungry as a hoard of locusts, I excuse myself from the conversation to refill my plate. And that’s when I realized I hadn’t even seen the crockpots of meatballs and little smokies. Any remnant of restraint that I may have had flees like villagers from barbarian invaders. Thirty minutes later, I’m back in the kitchen, my pants now uncomfortably tight, feasting like a pharaoh with fistfuls of processed meat on my tiny plate. And I remember the hostess saying something about saving leftovers for the children, and I think, “Huh, they still got the veggie tray.”

My friend Dave sees me returning from the kitchen again and he says, “Michael, remind me never to take you to a small plate restaurant; it’d cost a fortune.” Years ago, I heard about that cruise ship stranded out at sea. There was a fire in the engine room and they were stuck 150 miles offshore. The ship had lost power and running water, and worst of all, the buffet line closed. “Nightmare cruise,” they called it. And there were these reports about how some of the passengers were behaving like animals, people hoarding boxes of cereal, fighting over cold sandwiches. A few days without food and comfort and it was like a scene from the Lord of the Flies. “Savages,” I thought. But who am I to talk? I can’t even restrain myself at a birthday party.

I know that there is still a part of me that will always serve self at the expense of others. I’m not proud of it. So why am I telling you? And why here, of all places, on a religious broadcast? I’m telling you because I’m not satisfied with my normal condition, which is to tell stories that either conceal my faults or excuse them. Maybe it’s the social media that conditions us to tell stories that conceal our worst parts, to only share the stuff that makes us look good. And then for Christians like me, we add to that the pressure of believing that on some level we’re supposed to be better, morally better, than unbelievers. But at the same time, we can’t let on that we actually think we’re better, because that would be pride and pride goes before the fall. And so we’ve got this pressure to tell stories that conceal our faults or to excuse them.

It’s like when I’m in an argument with my wife and I say, “Fine, sorry, it’s all my fault.” And I say it in that tone, you know the one, without remorse, without repentance, without wanting to be forgiven, like a story we tell to excuse ourselves. We all know how to tell stories like this, that excuse or conceal our faults. But are there other stories that can be told? This is what I find so refreshing about the Bible. The accounts of the Bible are a different kind of story, a story about a God who doesn’t conceal or excuse our faults, but gives Himself to be crucified for them. And the human heroes of the Bible—they are normal people like you and me: deeply flawed and dearly loved by the God who made them. And the biblical storyteller, he puts them on display for us, not to excuse or to conceal their faults, but to reveal what the God of Israel is doing for them and in them and through them despite those faults.

Take for example the story of Gideon in the Old Testament book of Judges. The New Testament lists Gideon as one of the heroes of the faith, as a model of faith, see Hebrews 11. But how is Gideon a model of faith? The only way to really answer that question is simply to hear his story. So I invite you, sit back for a few minutes and listen with me. Listen to this paraphrase of Gideon’s story recorded in Judges chapter 6 and 7. Let yourself be immersed in the story. See what it reveals for you.

Now, it happened in ancient Israel at the time when everyone did what was right in his own eyes. But the people of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, their God. And for seven years, the Lord gave them into the hands of their enemies, the people of Midian, the Midianites. So harsh was the oppression of Midian that the people of Israel hid in caves in the mountains, and the Midianites would invade Israel like a swarm of locusts, devouring their crops, killing their livestock.

And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, their God for help. So the Lord sent them a prophet who told them, “This is what the Lord the God of Israel says: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. And I saved you from the power of pharaoh and from the oppressors in the land that I promised to give you. And I told you, do not worship the false gods of this land. Do not fear them. But you have not listened to My voice.'” Now, the angel, the messenger of the Lord came and sat under an oak tree that was in the land of a man of Israel who had a son named Gideon. Gideon was there hiding his food from the hordes of Midian. And the angel of the Lord said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty warrior.”

Gideon said to him, “Sir, if the Lord is with us, why is this happening to us? Where are the lord’s wonders that we’ve heard about from our fathers when they say, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ The Lord has abandoned us into the hands of the Midianites.” And the Lord turned to Gideon said, “Go in the strength that you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?” And Gideon answered, “How can I save Israel? Is not my clan the weakest in Israel? Am I not the least in my father’s house, in my family?” But the Lord said, “I will be with you and you will strike down all the Midianites.” Gideon said, “Okay, if I have found favor in your sight, give me a sign that it is really You, Lord, talking to me. Look, don’t go away until I come back with my offering and set it before You.” And the Lord said to him, “I will wait until you return.”

So Gideon went and prepared his offering. He prepared a young goat and some bread and some broth and a pot, and he offered them there under the oak tree. And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Put your offering here on this rock and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. Then the angel of the Lord with the tip of the staff that was in his hand touched the offering. And look, fire flashed like lightning from the rock and consumed the offering. Then Gideon realized that he was speaking with the angel of the Lord. And the angel vanished from his sight and Gideon said, “O Lord God, I’ve seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” And the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid. You’re not going to die.”

So in that place, Gideon built an altar to the Lord and he called the name of the altar, “The Lord is peace.” That same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Tear down that altar that your father has to that false God, Baal, then build an altar to the Lord your God in its place.” So Gideon did as the Lord told him, but because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than the daytime. In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar demolished with a new altar in its place. And they said to each other, “Who did this?” And they investigated and were told Gideon did it. And the men of the town said to Gideon’s Father, “Bring out your son. He must die because he has broken down Baal’s altar.”

But Gideon’s father said, “Are you going to defend Baal? Are you trying to save him? If Baal is really a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” Now the armies of Midian and the other enemies of Israel prepared to invade once more, they assembled a massive army, 135,000 men. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he blew the trumpet, the horn of a ram, and sent messengers and assembled the tribes of Israel to fight. Then Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand, as You’ve said, look, I will put a wolf fleece on the ground, and in the morning if there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You’ve said.” And that is what happened. Gideon got up early the next day and the ground was dry. But he took the fleece and rung out the dew and there was water enough to fill a bowl.

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, allow me one more test. This time, make the fleece dry and all the ground wet with dew.” And that night, God did so, only the fleece was dry, all the ground was wet with dew. Now, Gideon’s army was encamped to the south of the enemy camp. And the Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for Me to save you from Midian. Otherwise, Israel will boast over Me and say, ‘My own strength saved me.’ Now say to the people, anyone who is afraid, go home.” So Gideon did as God said. And 22,000 men left, only 10,000 remained. And the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many. Bring them down to the water, and there I will test them for you.”

So Gideon took them down to the water and the Lord told him, “Those who lap up the water with their tongues like a dog, have them go over here. Those who kneel down to drink, have them go over there.” Three hundred men lapped up the water like dogs, the rest knelt down to drink. And the Lord said, “With the 300, with the lesser soldiers, I will save you. Send the others home.” And Gideon did so. Now the army of the Midianites was camped in the valley and Gideon’s camp was above them. During the night, the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up and go down against the camp because I am giving them into your hands. But if you are still afraid, go down into the valley with your servant and hear what the men are saying, and you will be strengthened.” So Gideon and his servant crept down to the outpost of the Midianite camp. Now, the Midianites had settled in the valley thick as locusts, and their camels could no more be counted than the grains of sand on the seashore.

When Gideon reached the outpost, look, a man was telling his friend his dream. “I had this dream.” He was saying, “There was this round biscuit of barley bread and it tumbled into the Midianite camp and it struck the tent with such a force that the tent collapsed.” And his friend said to him, “This can be none other than the sword of Gideon, a man of Israel. God has given the Midianite army into his hand.” And when Gideon heard this dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped God. Then Gideon went back up to his camp and called out, “Get up! God has given the army of Midianite into your hands!” Now Gideon divided the 300 men into three companies. And he put three things in the hands of all the men: a horn of a ram, empty jars, and torches inside the jars. And he said to them, “Watch me, follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do as I do. When my company blows our horns from all around the valley, you blow your horns and shout for the Lord and for Gideon.”

So Gideon and the hundred men with him reach the edge of the camp late into the night just after they had changed the guard. And they blew their horns and broke their jars, and the other companies blew their horns and smashed their jars. They held their torches in one hand and blowing their horns in the other hand, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” And the Midianites ran out in confusion. When the 300 horns sounded, the Lord set every man’s sword against his comrade and against the whole army. And those who are left alive fled from the land of Israel. In the years to come, Gideon led Israel. He was not without many faults and failings, but Midian did not trouble Israel again, while Gideon was alive. For 40 years, the land enjoyed peace.

In the New Testament book of Hebrews names Gideon as a model of faith, not just because he escaped the edge of the sword and put foreign armies to flight, but because God made him strong out of weakness.

At the birthday party I mentioned at the beginning, toward the end of the night, a friend told a story about a time he and his wife and children were working outside in their garden. A summertime thunderstorm descended out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning cracked right over his head. It was so close, it rattled his insides. “Ahhh!” He screamed and ran into the house without a second thought. When he was safe inside, he thought to himself, “I just left my wife and children out in the lightning. What kind of a protector am I?” We laughed at his story, and it prompted two more stories from the group, each storyteller relaying their own experience of being caught in a storm, revealing their knack for self-preservation at the expense of others.

And I now starting to feel ashamed about devouring the children’s food like a horde of Midianites that night, I laughed with him, not in pride, not in self-loathing, but in humbled understanding, because we serve the God of Gideon, the Father of Jesus who works with us despite our weakness. The people at the party that night were all followers of Jesus. We had begun the evening with prayer in His Name and closed the night singing God’s praise. We had been saturated with these stories of the Bible, accounts of deeply flawed and fearful humans like Gideon. We saw ourselves with him as characters in this story that leads to Jesus, to His life and death for our sins, to His resurrection and promised return, to reconcile us to God and to each other, to set us free from our faults, to make us strong out of weakness. And so our stories, your stories—they don’t need to excuse your faults or to conceal them. Instead, they can reveal the grace of God at work in each of us, fearful, flawed, forgiven people. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Reflections for June 11, 2023
Title: Strength Out of Weakness

Mark Eischer: You are listening to The Lutheran Hour. For FREE online resources, archived audio, our mobile app, and more, go to lutheranhour.org. And we’re back once again with our Speaker, Dr. Mike Zeigler.

Mike Zeigler: Hello, Mark.

Mark Eischer: Mike, you must have a pretty healthy sense of self in order to be telling so many embarrassing stories on the air. Tell you the truth, I could not do that.

Mike Zeigler: Well, I suppose I’ll only have myself to blame when I show up at the next church potluck and someone offers me a small plate. This would not have ever been a story I would’ve thought to tell or even to tell another human being privately, let alone on The Lutheran Hour. And even though I lived these events, I would not have even considered them story worthy. It was just one of those private episodes of my life that I would be happy if no one ever knew about. But then this church down in Texas asked me to preach on the account of Gideon from Judges 6 and 7. And so that’s where it got started.

Mark Eischer: Now, had you ever preached the story of Gideon before?

Mike Zeigler: I had not. It’s one of those Old Testament texts that never comes up in the regular appointed readings. And so this church in Texas, they were doing a special series and they wanted me to preach on Gideon’s call. And so I just started learning the story by heart. I’d heard it before; I’d read it before, but to go through it in that detail, to learn it by heart, to work on retelling it in my own words like I did here, excerpts of Scripture. And what struck me in these events of Gideon’s life and how they’re told was that Gideon probably would not have wanted anyone to know about this either. That he, I’m sure, would’ve been happy to be remembered as the hero of the story, the victor over the Midianites. But that’s not how God wanted the story to be remembered and told that’s now been passed down to us. We get Gideon unfiltered. We get all his failures and fears and his quibbling with God. We get it all. And it’s just like other characters from the Bible: Moses and Miriam, Abraham and Sarah, James and John, Mary Magdalene, all of them.

Mark Eischer: None of them really come off looking all that good.

Mike Zeigler: Right, they’re not the heroes of the story. The Bible never excuses people’s faults. It doesn’t make little of them, but it doesn’t conceal those faults either. Instead, the Bible is again and again and again revealing how God is graciously choosing to look past those faults, through the blood of Jesus to see us as His beloved children who need His help.

Mark Eischer: And even more than looking past their faults, sometimes He works through their faults. He uses that as His material, his tool.

Mike Zeigler: Yeah. Well said. It is not simply ignoring them, but the fault can become the thing that God is glorified through.

Mark Eischer: It reminds us of the children’s song, “They Are Weak, But He Is Strong.”

Mike Zeigler: Right, yeah. There’s a good reason we sing that song. So again, I would’ve never had any reason to tell this story if it hadn’t been for Gideon’s story. And this is why I love when Scripture and regular life comes together, because I’m learning this story, I’m thinking about Gideon, and then I go to this birthday party with the small plates that I told you about. And at the end of the night, I’m listening to these old friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, tell their stories. And I’m listening and I’m thinking, they’re just like Gideon and they’re just like me, and I love them all the more for it because they’re just putting themselves out there with all their embarrassing failures. And I love that Jesus has put me in a community like this, that’s helping me take myself less seriously and God more so.

Music Selections for this program:

“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.

“Let Me Be Thine Forever” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House) Used by permission.