Samson: Mad Men

In old Roman ruins archaeologists have discovered lots of prayers, ancient prayers, that people would actually pay to have written down and stored. They are called curse tablets because the most common kind of prayer recorded on them, by far, are curses. People would address a god or goddess and say, "This person hurt me, and here's how they hurt me, and I want payback. I want you to hurt them and here is how I want you to do that." Here is an excerpt from one of those prayers (really): "I invoke you, holy angels and holy names, tie up, block, strike, overthrow, harm, destroy, kill, and shatter Eucherios, the charioteer, and all of his horses, tomorrow in the arena of Rome. Let the starting gates not open properly. Let him not compete quickly. Let him not pass. Let him not make the turn properly. Let him not receive the honors… but instead, let him collapse. And let him drag behind...both in the early races and in the later ones." You know, just in case the gods got confused and let him win one! "Now, now! Quickly, quickly! Let his breath be bad, and let his teeth not be dazzling white." I just made that last sentence up; but the rest of this curse basically said, “He hurt me, please hurt him back.” Now guess how many “bless my enemy” tablets they’ve found in Rome? Maybe a tablet that reads: "Eucherios hurt me badly, would you deliver me from my resentment? Would you help Eucherios to find genuine repentance? Would you forgive his sin and mine? Would you heal our relationship?" The answer is Zero. Nada. Not a single tablet. This week as we look at the life of Samson, we will see that even though Samson was sent to bring freedom to Israel, he would live in bondage and slavery to his own emotions, especially anger, resentment, and a desire for revenge. Like a lot of men, his fuse was really short, and it cost him everything. I wonder, what is your own anger costing you?