Carlito was the smallest boy in the youth group. He always sat in the back of the room when they had meetings. He was so insignificant that many of the other members didn’t even know his name. When group discussions took place, Carlito never had a word to say; he was afraid that someone might ask him to share his thoughts.
One Sunday after the church service, Pastor Mike approached Carlito and said: “You are a strong and talented man. I want you to head up a mission group to evangelize the street kids of our city.” Take a moment to imagine the look on Carlito’s face. Who couldn’t help laugh when they heard the naïve Pastor address little Carlito as a “strong and talented man.”
Today we read about a man who would have no trouble identifying with Carlito. His name was Gideon. One day while he was in a winepress threshing wheat and hiding in fear of the ferocious Midianites, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said,
“The Lord is with you, O Champion!”
Was the angel trying to be funny? Little Gideon was the last man on earth who would ever be thought of as a champion. Surely the angel was appearing to the wrong person. Gideon argued with the angel.
“My Lord , if the lord is with us, why has all this (oppression from the Midianites) happened to us? Where are the wondrous deeds of which our fathers told us…? For now the Lord has abandoned us.”
Gideon was quick to blame the problem on God. It was His fault that the Midianites were victimizing Israel. In response to Gideon’s complaint, the Lord said,
“Go with the strength you have and save Israel from the power of Midian. It is I who send you.”
God must have been kidding! He knew that Gideon had barely enough strength to thrash wheat, and Midian was a strong, powerful nation. Gideon was shell-shocked. He immediately went on the defensive:
“Please, my lord, how can I save Israel? My family is the lowliest in Manasseh, and I am the most insignificant in my father’s house.”
Champions never came from the tribe of Manasseh, and if they did, they would certainly not be selected from Gideon’s family—the lowliest one. And even if by some miracle, a champion were chosen from his family, it would not be Gideon—he was the family’s “nobody.”
Did the Lord accept Gideon’s excuse?
“I shall be with you, and cut down Midian to the last man.”
Gideon was so overwhelmed and disbelieving that he refused to accept this assignment unless God gave him a dramatic sign—which God did. Notice, carefully, that God said He would cut down Midian if Gideon agreed to help.
We realize each day that things are getting more and more desperate in our world. We are tempted to challenge God for not intervening and doing something about the situation. Then, as we struggle with our thoughts, God taps us on the shoulder and says: “Hi champion! I am with you. Use the strength you have to bring down the Midian’s of today. I am with you.”
God’s tap on our shoulders wakes us up to reality. God is intervening in the world to help save it once again from the “Midianites,” but he is not choosing the strong and the famous to lead the way. He is choosing the likes of Gideon and Carlito. God works through people, and, most of the time, the insignificant ones. Why? To show that it is Him acting, not us. He does not send us out alone; he promises us, as he did Gideon, that he is with us doing the fighting.
Jesus is the Champion of champions. He lives inside even the most insignificant member of his Body. That makes each of us a champion. We are wasting our time looking for powerful bishops or gifted priests to lead the way in bringing the light of Christ into the darkness of our age. God has put the torch into our hands. And, as we tremble with fear that we are called to be champions, he tells us as he did Gideon:
“Be calm, do not fear. You shall not die.”
“Blessed are you who have believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord will be fulfilled” (Luke 1:45).
