God, Who Loves Gideon to the End

This passage deals with the judge Gideon treating God with disrespect and testing him to the end, and with God's love that nevertheless works to raise him up. Gideon shows his weakness: out of fear he tears down the idol secretly at night, hides behind his father in the face of the people's anger, and tests God yet again. It helps us realize that Gideon's faith is our own faith, and shows God's earnest love, which knows human weakness and patiently protects us.

Alongside Gideon's story, the sermon offers as an illustration the story of a father who, to understand his child's pain, pretended to have injured his own leg and walked on a crutch for four years. This connects with the love of Jesus Christ, who became like sinners, experienced human suffering firsthand, and sacrificed himself on the cross. It stresses that God chose Gideon not because of his ability but because God knew that, given grace and patience, he could grow. It also points out that the burnt offering Gideon made was not just a gift but a decision to give everything he had to God, and says that believers too must live lives of obedience, offering their wealth and honor as a burnt offering.

It reminds us that God answered Gideon's requests not because of his faith but because of a greater plan of salvation. Seeing Gideon's life, which ended in misfortune after he tested God to the end, we must show God an honest faith and not take salvation lightly. It asks whether we are doing our best to carry out the mission God has given us, and whether we have a faith that sees God's work as great.