This week, we explore the complex narrative of Samson in the Book of Judges, a story of strength, weakness, and hope. Samson's life is meant to challenge Israel by reflecting its chaotic state and relationship with God, but also it is meant to challenge us, asking how we can embody a strength that heals.

Samson. Samson’s story begins with hope. His mother, a barren woman, trusted that he would be the one who would deliver Israel from the Philistines who ruled over Israel for 40 years. Samson was the last judge of Israel and ruled for 20 years. Samson has a complicated relationship with women. His name means “son of potency.” The Spirit stirred and disturbed him, from the get go, Samson is a “ball of fire,” telling Israel see your patterns reflected in me. Maybe the Spirit is not only meant to comfort, and showing the ugly truth is the work of the Spirit too.

 Chaos of a Fierce Man. Samson is impulsive, volatile, governed by lust, and does not follow the purity rules (eats honey from a carcass of a dead lion). The narrative moves us through his years of conflict with the Philistines: he kills 30 people, they burn his wife, he ties 300 foxes together and attaches torches to their tails to set on fire the Philistines’ grains, vineyards, olive groves, the Philistines catch him and tie him up, he breaks free and kills 3000 of them. In Samson, Israelites see themselves and their own patterns of devotion to God and how putting trust in a fierce man doesn’t bring peace.

Delilah. Delilah is often presented as a seductress, but there’s more to her story if we let it work on us. There’s more to Samson’s story too if we are willing to read both of those characters with sympathy and compassion of Christ. Delilah sells Samson out to the Philistines for an absurd amount of money.

Delilah is a woman driven by impulses that bear down on her. We all know what it’s like to be caught between a rock and a hard place.

Samson is a man driven by impulses he doesn’t understand, and we all can relate to that. In the midst of all that wreckage, Jesus says, “I can work with all of this.”

When it All Falls Apart. Blinded Samson’s hair grows out in captivity, his strength returns, when summoned to entertain thousands of Philistines gathered to watch him, he pushes on the supportive pillars and kills them all, bringing the whole place down on himself. The Book of Judges (and the story of Samson) does not have a happy ending. However, there’s always hope, “Samson, whose name means the sun, shines light on the kind of strength that destroys. As followers of Christ, we have another face of strength. Strength that brings hope, offers forgiveness, and turns violence back on itself. Strength that loves enemies, and offers them a path to heal.“

Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.

Connect: When you think of strength, and maybe your strength in particular, how would you describe it? What makes you strong?

Alternatively:

Name one thing in your life that required a certain strength from you. What kind of strength was it—fierce, compassionate, impulsive, calculating, patient, etc.? And how did it make you feel to accomplish the thing that required that strength from you?

Share: Share how your perception of Samson changed after hearing Bobbi’s sermon.

What new insights did you gain about his character and story as compared to the Sunday school version of Samson or any other version you had been exposed to?

Reflect: Reflect on the significance of the Spirit of the Lord stirring Samson, and how this might relate to the way the Spirit works in our own lives.

 Bobbi described Samson as a "ball of fire" stirred by the Spirit of the Lord. The word for “stir” literally means to disturb, to trouble, to pound and to pulsate within someone.

How do you understand this stirring even troubling work of the Spirit in Samson's story? What does it reveal about God's presence in your life?

What do you think about this quote from the message?

“Maybe you’re wondering, why would the Spirit disturb?

Why wouldn’t the Spirit comfort, correct, settle right down?

We don’t know. But maybe it’s as simple as the Spirit not lying to us.

Maybe Spirit highlights what is true. About a man. About a community hiding out in the hills. About the contents of our own hearts. Spirit works with what is genuine.  Maybe, when we see the ugly truth, that’s the work of Spirit too.“

Engage: Engage with Delilah’s story and Bobbi’s invitation to see her and Samson with sympathy.

 In what ways does Delilah's story challenge our assumptions about her character and motives?

In what ways do Samson's struggles with impulse control and the influences/powers that bear down on Delilah resonate with your own personal experiences and challenges?

Share about a situation where practicing sympathy and understanding for others has helped you navigate a complex situation or relationship in your life

Or maybe share about a time when you struggled with having compassion for yourself and/or others.

Take away: As followers of Christ, how can we redefine strength in our lives? Or how can we embody the kind of strength that brings hope, offers forgiveness, and transforms violence?

Prayer from the sermon:
Loving God,
The fact that Samson isn’t the end of scripture is a sign of hope.
The sacred text keeps going, and we see again and again that you work with what you’ve got.

We live in a world in need of new definitions of strength, and really – they are all around us.

In a nephew’s generosity,
In a parent’s gentle presence,
In the faithfulness of those who work for justice.

We ask for wisdom to see past a first reading of these stories, as old as they may be, to notice what is inspired in them, and how we can be inspired too. I loved thinking differently about Delilah this week.
Maybe no one and nothing is as simple as they seem.

Spirit of the living God, present with us now, enter the places where we feel like so much has fallen apart – in conflict, in struggle, and in pain – and heal us of all that harms us. Amen.

CALL TO WORSHIP Romans 5

MUSIC Curated by Kevin Borst
Josh Baldwin - Stand In Your Love
Mission House - I Don't Have Much
Bethel Music - Goodness Of God

Downfall of Samson

Summary

Discussion

Prayer

Liturgy

The Rise of Samuel

Deborah and Jael