One year, one month, and one day ago I was standing in my hometown of Blairsville, Pennsylvania conducting my grandfather’s funeral service. As I delivered his eulogy and my family reflected on his life, our hearts were overcome with mixed emotions. On the one hand, we were deeply grieved by what the lung cancer did to his body, but on the other hand, we wholly rejoiced at what the physical suffering did for his soul.
You see, my grandfather was a hard-hearted man: independent in his posture, stoic in his emotions, and cynical toward religious faith. He was the type of self-made man who always had to be in control and everything had to be on his terms. He believed that he was the master of his own destiny. But as the cancer slowly stripped his breath away, he eventually came to grips with the fact that he was not in control. Just one month before he passed away, when he had been humbled by affliction, he was finally ready to depend on God rather than himself. On that day, I had the great joy of watching him make peace with his Creator by receiving Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. In many ways, my grandfather lived as tragic life, but in the end, he died a triumphant death.
Our world is filled with people just like my grandfather: independent, proud, and self-reliant. They actually believe that they are in control of their life and can determine their own destiny. They snub their noses at the thought of falling on their knees before God. And sadly, it often takes some type of tragedy or prolonged physical suffering to convince them otherwise. They have to experience a great deal of heartache before their hearts will soften. Do you know anyone like that? Perhaps there is even someone here today who exhibits these attitudes.
As we have learned over the past few weeks, Samson lived a tragic life! God had blessed him with a miraculous birth, supportive family, clever wit, supernatural strength, and even a full head of hair (all you bald guys know you are jealous). He had all of the talent in the world and God gave him the incredible destiny of delivering his people from 40 years of Philistine oppression. But he was also autonomous, arrogant, and obstinate. Instead of fulfilling God’s plan for his life, he pursued his personal pleasures and agendas. He used his God-given talent to promote his own glory. When he should have been uniting the Israelites to resist the Philistine occupation, he foolishly wasted the best years of his life chasing Philistine women.
God tried to humble Samson through numerous adversities: the lion attack, his fiancé and her father being burned alive, and almost dying of thirst after the battle at Jawbone Hill. God miraculously intervened for him, but Samson still did not learn his lesson. It was only after Delilah deceived him and the Philistines gouged out his eyes that he began to come to his senses. The physical pain of losing one’s eyesight and being forced to grind grain in a dark dungeon has a way of bringing a man to his knees and seeing his need for God. Yes, Samson lived a tragic life, but today’s text shows us how he died a triumphant death!
Degraded by Dagon (23-27)
After the five lords of the Philistines imprisoned Samson, they planned a massive victory celebration to honor their god Dagon and thank him for delivering their arch-enemy into their hands. Dagon was the Philistine god of grain and the people saw Samson’s capture as divine retribution for him burning their grain and crushing their men. From all around, thousands of Philistines gathered at Gaza see this great spectacle with their own eyes. They flocked to the temple of Dagon to be entertained by the mighty Israelite judge stumbling and groping around in the darkness. The mob was so massive that 3,000 people were forced to stand on the roof just to catch a glimpse of the main event.
As the prison attendant led Samson into the pagan temple, the ravenous crowd erupted with sarcastic shouts, contemptuous cheers, and degrading dirges on their lips. Can you see the smug smirks on the Philistine’s faces? Can you smell the spoiled food and rotten trash they flung at Samson’s brutalized body? Can you hear the slurs, taunts, and jeers they hurled at Samson’s diminished demeanor?
The Philistines thought that this was a celebration of Dagon’s victory over Samson, but it was actually a showdown between their false god and Samson’s God, the one true God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Even though Samson was blind and bound in bronze shackles, he was still incredibly valuable in God’s eyes. Even though Samson’s quality of life wasn’t what it once was, God still had a plan for him. Even though Samson lived a tragic life, God wasn’t done with him yet! Do you remember the glimmer of hope in the last verse of the preceding passage?—“But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.” (16:22)
Deliverance through Death (28-31)
As the once proud Samson suffered ultimate humiliation between the two pillars of the temple of Dagon, he finally recognized his need for God. In his prayer, he declared his helplessness by referring to God by his covenant name, “O Lord God” and petitioning the Sovereign Lord to remember him and strengthen him one last time so that he could push the pillars apart and bring the whole house down.
Even though Samson acknowledged his need for God, he still did not understand his divine role as Israel’s deliverer. Notice the motivation of his prayer—he is only concerned about executing personal vengeance against the Philistines for blinding him. The repetition of personal the pronouns “remember me”, “strengthen me”, “that I may be avenged”, “my two eyes”, and “Let me die with the Philistines” shows a continued self-centeredness. But nonetheless, God graciously answered Samson’s selfish prayer and miraculously enabled him to his to push the supporting pillars off their foundation, causing the whole temple to collapse and kill everyone there. Thus, it is always said that Samson accomplished more in his death than he did in his life.
From a human perspective, Samson not only lived a tragic life, but he also died a tragic death. O how I wish that Samson would have achieved his potential in life! O how I wish he would have humbled himself before God and followed his plan! O how I wish that he had fully repented from all of his selfish sins and gave God all the glory before he died. But he did not! In the end, he only partially recognized his need for God and even his heroic act was tainted by the desire for revenge and self-glorification.
But from a divine perspective, even though Samson lived a tragic life, he died a triumphant death. From before Samson was even born, it was God’s plan to use him to deliver the Israelites from Philistine oppression. Even though Samson did not cooperate with God’s plan, God accomplished his plan anyway. This is a prime example of how God’s sovereignty always trumps human free will. Throughout his life, Samson thought he was in control, but he wasn’t. God was in control! Even though Samson’s last act was purely selfish, God used it to liberate his people.
Samson’s life and death provokes many penetrating questions for our lives today: Do you try to control everything in your life or do you let God do that for you? Do you try to assert your will in every situation or have you embraced God’s sovereignty? Do you strive toward your own personal aspirations, ambitions, and agendas or do you actively seek to follow God’s plan for your life? Are your big life choices and little daily decisions self-centric or theo-centric—that is, are they based on God’s desire or your desires?
I find it heartbreaking that so many people in our society are no longer content to just live on their own terms, but now they also want to die on their own terms. It is a sad ethical reality that four states in our nation have declared it legal for people with terminal diseases to take their own lives with the assistance of a physician. Well, guess what—we’re all terminal! And suicide, even if it has the legislature’s approval, still breaks the sixth commandment, “Thou shall not murder.” It is highly ironic that proponents call this “death with dignity.” There is no dignity in actively ending a human life—it’s disgraceful. It is just another vain attempt to maintain a false sense of control!
I don’t know how many of you have followed the story of Brittany Maynard, the 29 year old teacher from California, who recently moved to Oregon so that she can legally end her own life on November 1st rather than suffer with brain cancer, but I ran across an interview with her in this week’s People Magazine that really struck me. Listen closely to what she says:
I don’t want to die, but I am dying. My cancer is going to kill me, and that’s a terrible, terrible way to die. So to be able to die with my family with me, to have control over my own mind, which I would stand to lose—to go with dignity is less terrifying. When I look at both options I have to die, I feel this is far more humane…I would not tell anyone else they should choose death with dignity. My question is ‘Who thinks they have the right to tell me that I don’t deserve this choice. (People Magazine, Oct. 27, 2014, p. 66-67.)
Well, Brittany, who thinks they have the right to tell you that you don’t deserve this choice? God does! When someone tries to take life and death into their own hands, it is nothing short of a selfish act of rebellion against God. Personal choice has become a great American idol! We have become a culture of choosing what is right in our own eyes rather than doing what is right in God’s eyes!
Allow me to contrast Brittany Maynard’s words with the words of another 29 year old who was dying from a terminal disease. David Brainerd, one of the first missionaries to the American Indians, endured intense physical suffering throughout his life and finally died from tuberculosis on October 9, 1747. Just weeks before his passing, as he laid in immense pain at the home of his good friend Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, MA, he spoke these words:
My heaven is to please God, and glorify Him, and give all to Him, and be wholly devoted to His glory; that is the heaven I long for; that is my religion, and that is my happiness, and always was ever since I suppose I had true religion; and all those that are of that religion shall meet me in heaven…My greatest joy and comfort has been to do something for promoting the interest of religion and the souls of particular persons: And now, in my illness, while I am in full pain and distress from day to day, all the comfort I have is in being able to do some little char [act] for God; either by something that I say, or by writing, or some other way.” (Vance Christie, David Brainerd: A Flame for God. p.299)
As you compare these two different perspectives on death and dying, you tell me which one is more dignified! This is the difference between a self-centered and God-centered life! Which one will you choose?
Even though Samson never got it, God sovereignly used his suffering and death to deliver his people from slavery to the Philistines. But there is another man in the Bible who did get it. Like Samson, God gave this man a miraculous birth, supportive family, clever wit, supernatural strength, and a divine destiny. This man was not a Nazarite, but a Nazarene. And in God’s sovereignty, he would use this man’s suffering and death to deliver his people from slavery; but in this case, it was not slavery to the Philistines, but slavery to sin. You ask who this man may be—Christ Jesus, it is he!
I am so glad that Jesus got it! He knew that his life was not his own. He embraced his Father’s plan for his life even though he knew it would take him down the road of suffering. Jesus willingly and courageously chose to suffer on the cross to pay for our sins and purchase our redemption. And if we put our faith in him, we are forgiven and have the hope of eternal life!
Do you get it? Do you know that your life is not your own? Have you embraced God’s plan for your life? Will you suffer for him like he suffered for you? And when the time comes, will your death be tragic or triumphant?