The Model Leader

Scripture: Judges 1: 11-15 and 3: 5-11

Sermon: The Model Leader

Topics: leadership, knighthood, chivalry

Preached: August 2, 1992

Rev. Mike Abma

INTRODUCTION — KNIGHTS

From a very early age I’ve been fascinated with stories of

knights on horses,

kings and queens in castles,

and the whole age we call the medieval era in history.

What is so attractive about this age and the stories of this age?

The more you read,

the more you realize that the “heroes” of this age

were measured more by their virtue than by their valor.

The heroic knights

had to treat women, the poor, the weak

with grace and mercy and compassion.

In fact, virtue was such an important part of being a knight

that a whole code of behavior,

called “chivalry” arose to dictate how a knight should behave to truly be a great knight.

The code of chivalry was seen as a code of honor that every knight had to uphold it.

And so, when you read stories of say King Arthur

and the knights of the RoundTable,

like Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad,

what makes them suchstrong and enduring heroes is that for them

their virtues,their moral behavior,

was even more important than their shield, their sword, their armor, and their valor.

JUDGES

Now for the book of Judges.

The book of Judges follows the book of Joshua.

Joshua is all about God’s people entering and conquering the Promised land.

The book of Judges is all about God’s people at risk in the Promised land.

Would they obey the Lord?

Would they be able to fend off some of their hostile neighbors?

Would they be able to enjoy this land of milk and honey?

If you read the book of Judges, you realize the same things keep happening over and over again:1. Israel disobeys the Lord,

2. Israel is oppressed by some foreign ruler,

3. Israel cries out to be rescued,

4. God raises up a judge, a rescuer, a “hero” so to speak, to save his people.

This cycle of events happens 12 different times,

and God raises 12 different Judges.Othniel is the first judge.

Samson is the last judge.

We just read the passage about Othniel,

and I am hoping you remember some details about the story of Samson.

What I would like you to see is the complete contrast

between Israel’s first judge and her last judge.

Othniel

1. Israel’s first judge.

2. Israel cried to the Lordafter 8 years of oppression.

End: 40 years of rest

3. Othniel married an Israelitewoman — Acsah. 1: 11-15

4. Othniel and Acsah had amodel marriage. They bothwanted the best for each other.

5. Othniel defeated the enemyhandily.

Samson

1. Israel’s last judge.

2. Israel didn’t even cry tothe Lord after 40 years ofPhilistine oppression.

End: No rest.

3. All of Samson’s women werePhilistines — one was aprostitute.

4. All of Samson’s 3relationships were disasters. Delilah had him captured.

5. Samson is the only judgecaptured by the enemy.

When we put Israel’s first and last judge beside each other, the differences are striking. By the time of Samson, things had gone totally downhill.

Israelite society had become thoroughly Canaanized.

And their hero, Samson, was as tainted and corrupt as they were.

Although Samson had little virtue,

we know he had valor and strength.

OTHNIEL

Othniel is the portrait of a model judge because he had

no known flaws or faults – unlike the other 11 judges.

Othniel also reflects the attitude of Israel’s best judges,

namely that virtue is always more important than valor.

Defeating the Canaanites was nice but it really wasn’t the point.

To defeat the Canaanites and go on living without the Lord was pointless. A judge, a model judge,was one who could not only defeat the oppressors but also lead thepeople back to the Lord.

Can I say TWO interesting things about Othniel?

1. Othniel is the victor over the Aramean king, Cushan-Rishathaim.Cushan-Rishathaim is a name which means “doubly wicked”.

If Cushan-Rishathaim means “doubly-wicked“,

then this first and model judge of Israel,

Othniel, can be described as doubly-good.

2. There is one more interesting thing about Othniel that sets him apart from all the other judges — he is the only one who is from the tribe of ”Judah.

As such, this model judge,

from the tribe of Judah,

reflects and points ahead to the perfect judgealso from the tribe of Judah — Jesus Christ.

JESUS

And Jesus, like Othniel of long before,

was one who put virtue before valor.

In fact, for Jesus, it was his virtue, his righteousness,

his perfection, that ultimately defeated his enemy, Satan.

The disciples of Jesus were a little confused about their leader.

They often seemed to want a Samson-type Messiah,

one who would rally the Jews to militarily defeat the Romans just as the judges had rallied the troops in the days of old.

They wanted a hero of strength, of valor, someone who could give them some peace, at least for a few years.

But Jesus came with a different purpose.

He came not simply to deal with the symptoms of our sin –

like misery, oppression, guilt, fear.

He came to deal with the actual heart of problem — sin itself.

His battle wasn’t with flesh and blood so much as it was with the spiritual forces of evil.

In order to conquer sin, he had to be sinless.

His virtues became his greatest weapons against the kingdom of darkness:

a belt of truth,

a breastplate of righteousness,

a shield of faith,

a helmet of salvation, and like Othniel of old,

a sword of the Spirit.

It was in his virtues that he was filled with the strength of his heavenly father.

It was with these virtues that Jesus,

the knight of all knights,

the hero of all heroes,

conquered the greatest enemy of them all.

The peace we have through Jesus isn’t

simply 40 years or even 400 hundred or 4000 years,

but Jesus gives us a peace that lasts forever — an eternal peace.

This is the Promised Land,

the Kingdom,

that we live in right now.

But we face similar questions, don’t we, as we live in this Kingdom:

Will we obey the Lord?

Will we be able to fend off the temptations of this world around us and inside us?

Will we be able to enjoy this peace with God and peace with our neighbors?

HEROES

The best heroes of any age

value virtue over valor.

Superman is a hero who isn’t only super-strong,

but he is super-virtuous.

Traditionally, Superman kills no one.

Take the new Netflix hero Lucas Cage.

It is pretty violent at times.

But watch that show for any length

and you realize that although Lucas Cage is bullet-proof ,

his main strength is his moral core,

his main might is in the virtues he practices.

HOCKEY and HEROES

Some of you may know that I have a nephew who plays hockey in the NHL.

His name is Paul Postma,

the son of my oldest sister.

He plays for the Winnepeg Jets – No. 4 on defense.^[1]

For many Canadian kids, their dream is to play in the NHL.

For many Canadian kids, my nephew is their hero.

I know you and your parents may think hockey is a really rough sport.

And I admit, it is pretty physical.

But here is the thing,

My nephew will tell you,

and some of his closest hockey-playing friends will tell you,

that strength in hockey

is not about how fast you can skate,

or how hard you can shoot the puck

or how hard you can check someone into the boards.

Strength is measured in terms of character.

Are you a person of integrity?

Are you a person of your word?

Are you a person who treats everyone with respect:

Women

Fans

Opposing players who do not always play fair,

Sports writers who are not always kind.?

CONCLUSION

As Christians living in this world

we are called to live a life modeled on Jesus Christ.

We are called to live a moral life,

a life of virtue,

a life of character.

We do so, not in order to be saved,

but because we are saved.

A life focused on

Whatever is true

Whatever is noble

Whatever is right

Whatever is pure

Whatever is lovely

Whatever is admirable.

These are the things we think about.

These are the things we live out.

Amen

1. Paul Postma played for the Winnipeg Jets from 2011-2017. ↑