You already know that I love a good story.  A good story tells us something about ourselves.  Because of that, not all good stories have a happy ending.  A good story teaches us some lessons about life.  Because of that, not all stories are easy to hear.  Such is the case of today’s story entitled The Original 300.  As Texans, I am sure that many of you know about the Old Three Hundred.  These were the grantees who applied to Stephen F. Austin for the tracts of land along the Brazos River stretching from the west side of this county all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.  Moses Austin had been granted this land in 1821, but died shortly after that so Stephen F. Austin distributed the grants to 297 families.  The Old Three Hundred is a rich heritage and the ancestry to many Texans.

A couple of years ago a movie was made about another Three Hundred.  These were the 300 brave Spartan warriors who defended Greece during the Persian invasion in 480 B.C. at the Battle of Thermopylae. 

Centuries before that Three Hundred, there was The Original 300 - a group of soldiers led by Gideon who was led by God.  We find the formation of The Original 300 in Judges 7:2-8. Before we read the scripture, I’d like for us to prepare for the Word, by acknowledging its power for our lives through this familiar line of Psalm 119:105.  Let’s sing it through twice, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”  Hear now the Word of the Lord even as you join me in our search for buried treasure:

²The Lord said to Gideon, “The troops with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. Israel would only take the credit away from me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ ³Now therefore proclaim this in the hearing of the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’” Thus Gideon sifted them out; twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained. ⁴Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The troops are still too many; take them down to the water and I will sift them out for you there. When I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; and when I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” ⁵So he brought the troops down to the water; and the Lord said to Gideon, “All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths, you shall put to the other side.” ⁶The number of those that lapped was three hundred; but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water. ⁷Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others go to their homes.” ⁸So he took the jars of the troops from their hands, and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel back to their own tents, but retained the three hundred. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley. 

This is the word of God for the people of God.  In this passage the author of Judges described for the readers God’s unique approach in preparing for battle.  In this story that covers three chapters, there are three truths that I want us to grasp this morning.  You cannot do it alone, you are not alone, and you did not do it alone. As I mentioned earlier, every good story tells us something about ourselves and this is a good story.  It tells us that you cannot do it alone.  Of course, you already know how it begins, “Once upon a time…” 

Once upon a time there was a man named Gideon, the son of Joash, of the clan of Abiezer, of the tribe of Manasseh.  Those names may mean nothing to you, but they meant even less to the people of that Gideon.  There appeared to be nothing particularly special about Gideon, which is what makes his story so interesting to us.  It could be our story, because most of us are convinced that there really is nothing all that special about us.  However, in this story we discover that less is more if God is on the proper side of the formula.

Gideon lived during a time when Israel had pretty much forgotten all that God had told them to do once they got in to the Promised Land.  So God had allowed the Midianites, a band of nomadic marauders to infest their land every harvest season.  It only took seven years for Israel to cry out to God for some help.  So God sent a prophet to tell them, “I told you so.  I delivered you from Egypt and other oppressors and led you into this land, asking only that you acknowledge me as Lord, and stay away from other gods.”  But the Israelites had been duped into thinking more is more – more stuff, more gods, more wives, more, more, more.

This is the world in which we find Gideon a victim of the culture of more finding himself possessing much less.  He is beating out wheat in wine press.  This is a picture of both poverty and fear.  The fact that he is taking a stick and striking the wheat rather than with conventional equipment indicates poverty.  The fact that he was in a sunken winepress, rather than an elevated threshing floor that would catch the prevailing breeze indicates that he was afraid.  He feared that if he threshed in the open the Midianites would see the dust and invade his land.

I love this picture, then, of this poor, frightened man who receives an angelic visitor that suddenly appears announcing, “The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.”

Gideon seems more irritated than inspired responding, “If the Lord is with us, why am I here?  The Lord has cast us off.”  The truth is just the opposite – Israel had cast the Lord off.

The angel told Gideon to go in that zeal of his and rout the Midianites.  That is when Gideon knew that he cannot do it alone.  He said, “There is nothing special about me.  I am from Manasseh, not one of the premier tribes of Israel.  Furthermore, my clan is the weakest in our tribe, and I am least in my whole family.”  Don’t you know that the angel of the Lord smiled when he heard this disclaimer? God doesn’t usually select the smartest, bravest, strongest, or even the most religious to accomplish the divine objectives.  Too many of them think that they can do it alone.  God selects people who are well aware of the limitations, who will depend upon the limitless God.

The Battle of Thermopylae is an inspiring story of King Leonidas and his company of 300 keeping 300,000 Persians from going through the narrow pass.  In his moving speech the Spartan king said to his troops, “Before the battle is over the world will know that few stood against many.”  But at the risk of spoiling the movie for some of you - everyone dies. 

Gideon’s story ends differently, because of the second truth of this story.  Remember every great story is our story, so what Gideon discovered we too can discover - You are not alone.  Gideon needed a sign, by the end of the story he will actually need four signs.  He prepared a meal for the angel and put it before him.  The angel touched it with his staff and the meal was consumed as an offering with fire coming from the rock on which it is placed.  Gideon knew then that he was not alone.

The angel disappeared in the smoke of the smoldering offering and Gideon knew God had called him.  After an attempt at religious reform, which time does not allow me to go into, the Midianites arrive on the scene for their annual raid.  The Spirit of the Lord put Gideon on like a robe and empowered the meek man of Manasseh to call the troops to battle.  32,000 men responded to the call and were ready for battle.  Well, they were sort of ready.  Gideon started to get a little worried and sought for another sign.  He put out a fleece of wool and asked God to make the fleece wet with dew, and the ground dry.  The fleece was so wet the next morning that he squeezed an entire bowl full of the water.  Now remember, God doesn’t usually select the smartest, bravest, strongest, or even the most religious to accomplish the divine objectives.  Gideon wasn’t sure if that was usually what happens in the night, so he said to God, “Do it the other way around.” And God did.  Then Gideon went out to lead the 32,000 rapidly assembled troops into battle against about 135,000 fully armed and deeply experienced Midianites. 

This story inspired businessmen John Nicholson, Samuel Hill, and Will Knights so much that on July 1, 1899 when they met together for the first time, they took the name, Gideons.  These three were the only ones to show up for an advertised meeting for businessmen to share in mutual recognition, personal evangelism, and united service.  Hill became President, Knights became vice-president, and Nicholson was secretary/treasurer.  110 years later the Gideons International have distributed over 1.3 billion Bibles and continue to have profound influence on travelers, students, nurses, and so many more.  They knew from their first meeting that they could not do this alone.  However, they also knew that they were not alone. 

God often calls us to attempt something large enough that failure is guaranteed… unless God steps in.  This is where you discover that you cannot do it alone and that you are not alone.

Having convinced Gideon of these first two truths, God sought to bring home the third and perhaps the most difficult lesson – You did not do it alone.  Once the battle was over, God wanted Gideon and the Israelites to acknowledge that it was God who delivered them and God who desired for them to remain in relationship with him.  So God thinned out the troops so much that only 300 were left.  Surely, with only 300 they would realize that they did not do it alone.

The Original 300 divided into three companies of 100 – one company on the north, one on the south, and one on the west; leaving the east for the Midianites to leave the same way that they came.  Before executing the plan, Gideon needed one more sign for assurance.  Gideon and his sidekick snuck down to the camp and overheard one of the Midianites telling another Midianite of a dream he had of a giant barley cake rolling into their camp and smashing all of their tents.  The comrade identified that cake as Gideon saying, “Into his hands God has given Midian.”  You cannot do it alone.  You are not alone.  You did not do it alone.

Gideon went back to the hill and executed his midnight plan.  All 300 men were equipped with clay jars with torches inside and trumpets.  At Gideon’s cue they smashed the jars exposing three hundred torches at once, blew their trumpets, and shouted, “For the Lord and for Gideon.”  This threw the camp into such confusion that the Midianites came out of their tents swinging swords and taking each other out by the thousands.  They fled to the east, which inspired the soldiers who had gone home, who then joined in the pursuit and before long the Midianites were subdued.  No more raids, no more threshing wheat in winepresses, no more fear.  Undisturbed peace, rest, is how their life was described for the next forty years.  And I wish I could tell you that was the end of the story.

Gideon started out OK.  He realized that he was an ordinary guy employed and empowered by God to do something extraordinary.  The people of Israel wanted to make him king and he refused, acknowledging that God was the only king they needed.  Then he started thinking.  Now remember, God doesn’t usually select the smartest, bravest, strongest, or even the most religious to accomplish the divine objectives.  He started thinking that if everyone gave him one of the earrings that they took during their conquest of nomads (who typically carry all their possessions with them), he could make himself a nice gold vest.  He did and he wound up with a sparkly vest that weighed somewhere between 35-70 pounds.  He displayed it in public and people ended up worshiping that thing as a holy relic.  Ay, ay, ay.  So for forty years they lived in peace, but then things went back to where they had been before.  How did this happen?  Gideon and the people lost sight of the fact that they did not do it alone.  They cast God off.

Several years ago on my annual trek to Florida for Spring Training, my friend Bill, was seeking the autograph of a second string shortstop.  Bill and many other fans lined the fence calling out players names as they walked by. The shortstop walked right past Bill and approached a pretty young woman standing next to my friend.  The attractive woman asked for his autograph and he said. “Of course.”  The only problem was neither the player, nor the fan had a pen.  But Bill did.  He handed the player his pen and the young woman got her autograph.  The player handed Bill back his pen and Bill asked if he could have his autograph.  The player waved him off!  I watched it all happen and still have negative feelings toward that player.  He did not do it alone.  Never mind the importance of the relationship between fans and professional athletes – it was Bill’s pen!

Then I started to realize how often I do that with God.  This third lesson is actually the hardest one for me to learn.  I know I cannot do it alone.  I am painfully aware of that every time I sit down to write a sermon, walk into a hospital room, or go to a home after a death.  I know that I am not alone.  God has used my words and my presence in ways that completely astound me.  I would not be any more astounded if I had been a member of the Original 300.  Why is it then, when things go well, I sit back and think to myself after sermon really works, “I did alright today”?

I was recently asked about my thoughts on these summertime stories from the Old Testament.  Do I really believe that they are true stories?  Absolutely.  They are true because they truly happened and because they truly happen.  I am confident that God was able to rout the Midianites with Gideon and the Original 300.  I am equally confident that they forgot that they did not do it alone.  How can I be so confident?  Because we continue to do it today.  In this buried treasure I hope that you have discovered:

You cannot do it alone

You are not alone

You did not do it alone. Amen.