The world didn’t give it, and the world can’t take it away.
Isn’t that what we sing. I’m not so sure. What do you think?
The world didn’t give it? I agree. That’s true. But the world
can’t take it away? I am not at all sure.
We are here today because Yolanda Sampson has heard
the call of God, has pursued a course of study, and has now
come to the house of the Lord to receive a mandate to serve
the Kingdom. We rejoice in all of that, but at the same time,
there are some dangers in it. There are some new
problems, now that the rigors of Hebrew and the finer points
of Greek are behind, now that we have learned the
difference between homoousion and homoiousion, now that
we have navigated the shoals of Freudian theory and
Rogerian counseling practice. There are still some issues to
be resolved. We are here today because Yolanda Sampson
has heard the call of God and has come to receive her
mandate to serve the Kingdom. If our candidate is to live out
that mandate, it will take strength. A great deal of strength.
Where will that strength come from? What is the secret of
such strength?
Let me put this into perspective. We do not come here today
to anoint a fleeting romantic fantasy. No; we are here today
to set aside a lifetime of service. This is not about today’s
notion, which tomorrow is cast aside for something else more
interesting. No, this is about an identity. Nor do we come
here today to center on a young woman’s talents and gifts,
considerable as they are, but which may decline or become
obsolete in the years to come. No, we are here today to lift
up a whole life, heart and soul and mind and strength, to
serve the Lord. We are not here to award Yolanda Sampson
a spiritual Oscar for being a fresh and vibrant personality.
We are here to call forth the gifts God has given her for all
the challenges to come. And that will take strength, it will
require endurance. What is the source of such strength?
What is its secret?
The whole secret of strength is to use the gifts God gave you
for building up the Kingdom and not yourself. The entire
source and secret of strength, if you intend to be effective, is
to use the gifts God gave you for others and for the
Kingdom, and not to become enamored of them for your own
glory.
For there is a siren song that will be sung in Yolanda
Sampson’s ear. There is a temptation that will be offered her
time and again, and if she succumbs to it, she will be
weakened and destroyed. If she yields to this temptation,
she will not only lose her ministry and damage her reputation,
but she will also destroy others.
It is captured in this poignant public cry, lodged in the middle
of a tragic Biblical account:
And when their hearts were merry, they said, ‘Call Samson, and let
him entertain us.’
With only the slightest of changes, it could just as well read,
“Call Sampson, and let her entertain us.” And therein lies the
problem. Therein is the issue.
A quick summary of the story of this judge in ancient Israel.
Samson had been given a gift of extraordinary strength.
With his powerful arms he had been able to defeat Israel’s
enemies. Samson had a tremendous gift, and it attracted
people. It caught the attention of folks who might otherwise
have given no notice at all to an ordinary man of God.
So the day came when the leaders of the Philistines, that
persistent enemy of Israel, decided that they wanted to know
the source of his strength. They offered Samson’s lover of
the moment some eleven hundred pieces of silver if she
could coax from him the secret of his strength. Miss Delilah
eagerly accepted the bribe and went to work. But Samson
merely teased her with false answers, suggesting something
about bowstrings or ropes, but of course that wasn’t the
truth. Finally she wheedled out of him that his strength was
in his hair. The text says, “when Delilah realized that he had
told her his whole secret ... [she had them] shave off the
seven locks of his head.” And I think you know the rest of
this gloomy story – how the weakened Samson was captured
by the Philistines, was blinded, and was brought to their
Temple. That’s when Samson heard that siren song, “Call
Samson, and let him entertain us.” But all old Samson could
do, with his strength not so much depleted as misdirected,
was to pull down that house and destroy three thousand
souls and himself to boot.
And when that same world sounds its tempting song, “Call
Sampson, and let her entertain us”, she needs to learn from
the ancient strong man the truth about the whole secret of
strength. That the whole secret of strength is in using the
gifts God has given for the building up of His people, and not
for herself.
I
You see, Samson of old had something going for him. His
gifts were so spectacular and so attractive people noticed,
and wanted to know more. They wanted to know where his
extraordinary strength came from. That was Samson’s
opportunity, but he missed it, playing coy and focusing on
himself. He had an opportunity to witness for God, but chose
instead to mess around for his own purposes.
Sister Sampson, the world is attracted to you. You have
been given a personality and skills and talents that the world
finds pleasant. They like to look at you; they enjoy hearing
you; they look forward to what you can do. You entertain
them. But Samson of old never noticed that when they call
for entertainment, there is really something deeper that they
need. There is a heart hunger that they don’t even know
how to express. Yours is the call not merely to entertain, but
to use entertainment to reach hearts for Christ.
Do not hear the siren song that says, “Sampson, how great
she is.” Hear only the deeper heart cry that shouts, “I wish I
knew how to be strong. I wish I knew how to live.” Hear that
deeper cry, and use their call for entertainment to supply that
need.
Oh, they may not pay you 1100 pieces of silver for it. Very
few people get rich doing ministry, and the ones who do are
often on the wrong track. But Sampson, learn from Samson
– that the world wants to know the secret of your strength.
Use that opportunity as a witness for the Kingdom.
II
But then there is a deeper issue. There is the issue of
integrity. Of honesty and of straightforward living. You will
not keep your strength if in fact it becomes nothing more
than a game, messing with the minds of others, rather than a
genuine witness for the Lord. The whole secret of strength
lies in integrity of heart.
Samson of old got into playing games with the secret of his
strength. He found it more fun to dally with Delilah than to
tell the truth about his walk with God. After all, he should
never have been fooling around with this Philistine filly in the
first place. He was a married man, with other commitments,
and with a commitment to the ways of the Lord. But my
guess is that the blandishments of admirers got to him, and
he began to play games designed to build up his own credits
rather than to do what he was called of God to do. So,
instead of going about Kingdom business, Samson fooled
around and let somebody stroke his ego. It took him down.
Ministry, my friend, is seductive. You may not know that yet.
We do know that the entertainment world is seductive; that is
a given. Entertainers live for applause, they crave having
their name in bright lights, and hope that someday there will
be a star in that sidewalk in Hollywood. But make no
mistake. It is just as easy for ministers to live for the amens,
to promote their names around the preaching circuit, and
maybe someday have what we so foolishly describe as “her
own church.” Oh, please! If you are called to serve as a
pastor, it is not your own church. It belongs to Christ first
and to the people second, and never to you. Never.
The issue is that the whole secret of strength lies in integrity
and not in playing games. Delilah found out that Samson’s
strength was not in his arms nor in his hands, nor really even
in his hair. It was in what God gave him, and he could keep
it only so long as he lived in integrity.
They tell the story about the young preacher who wanted so
much to get the same acclaim as his mentor, the great
Gardner Taylor. He went to hear Dr. Taylor preach every
chance he got, and studied every move and mannerism,
trying to mimic them all. But still his congregation didn’t
respond as he wanted. He went to hear Dr. Taylor once
more time, and noticed that Taylor had a habit of keeping his
pulpit robe open, never using the zipper to close up the robe.
And so the young preacher went back to his own pulpit and
stood to preach, this time with an open robe. But down on
the front row, his wife offered up in a stage whisper, “It’s not
about the robe.”
Well, no. The secret is not in the robe. Nor is it in the hair.
Nor is it in the puppets. Nor is it in the Miss Black World title.
Nor is it in all the things you will be tempted to think it’s in.
The whole secret of strength is in the integrity of life and
sincerity of heart that you bring to your task. Be yourself, my
sister. Be what God has gifted you to be. Don’t play coy,
and don’t take yourself too seriously. Just be grateful for
what you have been given, and use it. Use it for the
Kingdom, use it with honesty, and use it not for yourself.
III
Then you will be able to live and die for the right things.
Then you will be able to live and die for something that
matters. Even when you feel weak, you will be strong.
Poor sad Samson. The story ends with his pulling down the
Temple and destroying three thousand souls as well as
himself. Poor tired Samson. That he did not have, as you
have, the benefit of the example of Jesus Christ. He might
have learned from Jesus the real secret of strength.
Samson never knew Jesus, for if he had, he might have
seen that his calling was not to die with the Philistines, but to
live with and to die for those God had called him to serve.
Samson never knew Jesus, for if he had, he might have
found that his strength was not well used in pulling down a
temple, but in building up the house of the Lord. You will be
tempted to be a critic; well and good. The church needs
critics. But your real task is to build and not to tear down.
Samson was on the other side of Calvary, for if he had
known what Sampson knows, he might have been moved
not to get revenge on those who tortured him, but instead to
have given his life as a ransom for many. Your ministries will
not be appreciated by everyone. You cannot try to please
them all. But you can love them all, even the unlovable ones
that God has seen fit to put into every church. And yes,
“every church” does include Takoma!
If Samson had seen what Sampson sees, he would have not
had to fumble in blindness, but would have provided clear
insights to those who turned to him. When you get
preoccupied with yourself, you can no longer see clearly.
Your task is not to defend yourself when you are
misunderstood, but to teach and preach with clarity, and let
the truth come out on its own.
If Samson had found what Sampson has found, he would not
have destroyed three thousand souls with misplaced muscle,
but would have, like the apostles at Pentecost, preached
three thousand souls into salvation. Oh, remember the
mandate, to go into all the world, even the entertainment
world, and bring good news. They will die without that good
news. Be about that and nothing else!
Oh, call Sampson, and let her do much more than entertain
us! Let her use her gifts to touch hearts. Let her live her life
with integrity. Call Sampson, and let her take up her cross
and follow Jesus, losing her life for His sake and the sake of
the gospel, and so finding it.
This gift that she has, this call that she has, the world didn’t
give it, and, in Christ, the world can’t take it away. For the
whole source of strength is to use the gifts God has given
you, with integrity and openness and a glad heart.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak
knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame
may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
