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June 21, 2009—Proper 7

Lectionary Texts: 1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49 or Job 38:1-11; Psalm 9:9-20 or Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41

Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 17:32-49

Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, There Is Hope

Not so long ago on a Saturday evening around 8:30, I remembered that I needed to still pick up a few things for a basket I was putting together for our new youth pastor and his wife. Knowing that the store was going to close at 9:00, I raced from the house and out to the store. We drove across town and arrived at the parking lot at 8:47. I got out of the car, began to walk toward the store, and realized that something wasn’t right. I looked down and found that instead of having sandals on my feet, my feet were adorned with my bright purple house slippers.

I stood in the parking lot trying to decide if I still wanted to go into the store. I realized that I had no time to go back home, so I reluctantly entered the store with my slippers. We also went to the grocery store. While I was hoping we wouldn’t run into anyone we knew, we ran into a college student from our church. I’m not sure if he noticed or not, but I thought that I caught a strange look from him!

Things like this happen to us all of the time. We forget to put on a jacket, to take our cell phone or pocketbook, or walk out the door without our keys. We get in a hurry. We think that we know what we’re doing but we forget to pay attention to the details. Had I taken the time to think about what I was doing before I walked out the door, I might have remembered the small detail of having the right shoes on my feet for the journey. Details are important, but we find that we often overlook them.

This week’s passage from First Samuel is a portion of the story of David and Goliath. A well-known story from the Old Testament, almost any of you could stand this morning and tell me what happens in this passage. Our children hear it from the time that they are young, and talk about it often. A cute children’s song tells us of the boy named David and his sling. More than likely, if you walked up to someone on the street, even if they had never set foot in a church before, they could tell you about David and Goliath, because our culture has taken this story and used it as a cliché for the underdog overcoming great obstacles.

In the 1996 presidential elections, Bob Dole compared his election hopes against Bill Clinton to David verses Goliath. Cereal ads sometime suggest that their cereal can make Davids out of young boys. The gold medals won by both the 1980 American Men’s Hockey Team and the 1996 American Women’s Gymnastics team were praised as David over Goliath victories. We see this story as an against-all-odds victory. We think that we know all about David and Goliath and what their story means.

This morning, however, I would like for us to take these few moments that we have together to look at this well-known story. I would like for us to look at the details that we find here, and perhaps even to open our eyes to look at this story in a new light. I think that this story is a call to us: stand in the midst of overwhelming odds and believe that our God will listen and provide. We are called to believe that the God we serve can work against the greatest evils we face in our world.

The story of David and Goliath is the third successive narrative that introduces us to David, the shepherd king. Last week we talked about the God of surprises who called this boy from among his seven older, stronger, and more handsome brothers to be anointed as the king of Israel. Between that story and this one, we see David in Saul’s service, ministering to Saul with his harp when the Spirit of God would come upon him and torment him. Finally we come to this story that gives us an even greater picture of David.

Up to this point, the David we have seen is a passive actor in the story. He comes when he is called for, he does what he is told, but he doesn’t really take any initiative in the situations of his life. In this story, we see David as a man of bold and effective action.

Our passage is just a small portion of this story, and so I want to back up and look at what leads up to our passage. The Israelites have camped in the valley of Elah, and have drawn their battle lines with one of their greatest enemies, the Philistines. In between where the Israelites had set up camp and where the Philistines had their camp was a valley. Every morning and every evening for 40 days, Goliath, a champion of the Philistines came to the edge of the valley and shouted down at the Israelites, “Choose a man, have him come out and fight me, if he wins, then we will become your servants, but if I win, you will become our servants.” Goliath looms, over 9 ft. tall, wearing a bronze helmet, coat of armor, and sheaves over his legs, and carrying a spear and javelin--he was ready for war. This, of course, did not make Saul and the Israelite army very happy as they looked at this giant of a man and wondered who in the world would go and fight him. As you can imagine, no one really wanted to stand up against this giant. Saul offers a great reward to the man who kills Goliath: the victor would receive great wealth, the king’s daughter would be his wife, and his family would never pay any taxes.

Three of David’s older brothers were a part of the Israelite army. Because of this, Jesse, David’s father, sent him to the camp to give his brothers food and bring back a report about how things were going in the battle. As soon as David enters the camp he runs to the front battle lines and overhears Goliath calling out his daily challenge to the Israelite army. David begins talking with people and inquiring after what will be given to the man who kills Goliath. Hearing that someone is asking these questions, Saul calls for David.

David comes to Saul, and without even waiting for the king to speak first, says, “Don’t be afraid, I am going to go and fight this giant.” I can only imagine the look on Saul’s face as he hears this bold declaration from David, “Have you looked in the mirror lately, don’t you realize that you’re pretty young? You’re only a boy really, and this man is not only a giant, but he has been fighting since his youth.” Yet Saul’s negative reaction does not dissuade David, he recounts for Saul the times when he had faced opposition as a shepherd: he encountered and killed a lion and a bear in order to guard the safety of his sheep. David doesn’t tell Saul that he was able to kill these animals because of his great might and prowess, but because God delivered him and was with him. When David hears the words of Goliath taunting the men of the Israelite army, he understands that it is not just any taunting, but that Goliath is defying the armies of the living God. David believes that he cannot be allowed to get away with this. Saul must have been impressed with David’s response because he doesn’t send him away. Instead he says, “Go, and God be with you.”

In preparation for his fight with Goliath, Saul dresses David from head to toe in his own armor. Once it is all on, however, David finds that he cannot move. He takes off Saul’s armor, chooses five stones from the stream, takes his sling, and goes out to meet Goliath. Goliath must have been surprised to see this young boy come out to him from the Israelite army. For 40 days no one had come to meet his challenge; Goliath begins to shout insults at David. David does not give credence to his insults. Instead he speaks with confidence, assuring Goliath of David’s ultimate victory.

My favorite part of the passage comes when David talks about why he has chosen to fight against Goliath. He does not say he fights because of the honor that it will afford him, or the reward that he will receive. David has come to fight against Goliath so that all those who were gathered would know that there is a God in Israel. God does not save by sword or spear, but the battle belongs to the Lord.

These words must have been laughable to Goliath and the Philistines--perhaps to even some in the Israelite army--because that’s the way that their world worked: battles were won with swords and spears. David is making a faith statement. Weapons do exist for battle, but weapons do not make the difference: God makes the difference.
When the combat comes, the narrative moves quickly. We see action verbs tumbling over one another: ran, reach, slung, struck, sank, fell. After all of the buildup, the climax is almost over as quickly as it starts. David’s stone hits Goliath in the forehead; he falls down on the ground, dead. The Philistines, seeing what has happened to their champion, run away.

When we look at this story, we can find many good lessons. We can learn about the importance of obedience: listening for the voice of God and obeying what we are called to do. We can learn about the importance of faith: trusting that God will be in the midst of what is happening and will stand beside us. We can learn that our faith must be lived out through actions. We can learn about what happens if we do not believe in God, or speak out against God and God’s servants.

If we look closely at the details of this story, however, I believe we find that at its very core, the story of David and Goliath is not about David and what he accomplished or how he acted. It is not about Goliath and his defeat. Ultimately, this is a story about God. It is a story about the way God works in the world. It is a story about how God takes impossible situations and unlikely people, and does some pretty amazing things.
When we look at the history of our world, we can see innumerable situations that were difficult and seemingly hopeless. Those in the midst of what was happening probably thought that there was no way out, the situation could not be resolved. And yet, just as we have seen so many hopeless situations, we have seen unfathomable victories over the powers of idolatry, oppression, and violence. When we look at these victories, we know that these could only have happened by the grace of God.

Who would have believed that the horrible crimes that were committed against the Jewish people in the years leading up to and during World War II would be able to be stopped? Most people never though that they would be witnesses to the crumbling of the Berlin wall or that there would be an end to the apartheid in South Africa. And yet these things happened, by God’s work in our world.

We have seen incredible advances in the world as we seek to provide adequate healthcare for those who need it. We find ways to feed those who are without food. We respond in the midst of tsunamis, earthquakes, mudslides, and hurricanes. We find homes for those who are orphaned. We can point back to those seemingly hopeless and devastating situations and see that God has been at work in our world in ways and through people that we cannot understand. And yet there is still more to be done.

Our country and our world are plagued by racism, poverty, homelessness, the AIDS crisis around the globe, violence in Darfur and other world areas, Christians are persecuted around the globe. These problems stand before us as giants, they are the Goliaths of our day. It is hard for us to even begin to imagine how good can be made out of these situations, how solutions can be found to these overwhelming problems. The greatest minds and organizations of our world cannot see a way to help many of these situations. The story of David and Goliath stands as a reminder to us that God can and does work in situations that seem impossible.

This story gives us reason to hope when there seems to be no way. When the obstacles seem too great, and when we are at a loss about what steps come next, we have hope. This story reminds us that God can change us and our world for good. God cannot do it alone: we are called, as individuals and as a congregation, to stand up against the giants in our world. We are called to do these things so that the world will know that there is a God.

As David set out for the Israelite camp that day, he did not know what he would encounter. He did not know that he would find a giant there. He did not know that he would stand against a man that no one else in the Israelite army could face. He knew that the God who had protected him against the lion and against the bear would continue to stand with him and protect him against the enemy that he would face.
I have already mentioned a number of problems that plague our world, and yet you who are on the front lines may know of many more. Problems that call for people of God who are willing to stand up and make a difference. The question for us this morning, as Christians, and as members of this community of faith is this, Are we willing to step out in faith as David did? Are we willing to stand up against the giants here in our community, in our country and around the world? Are we willing to step boldly into situations that seem impossible? Are we ready to answer the call of God to make a difference in our world?

The good news for us is that we can say yes to all of these questions because we know that we stand against these giants in the name of the Lord, Almighty. We can look back at our lives and at these situations that have been changed in our world only by the grace of God, and know that God continues to work. We can stand knowing that no matter how great the giants may be or how strong the evils of our world may seem, we know that the final victory belongs to our Lord and King.

I challenge you: find a way to make a difference, find a way to work against the giants of evil, oppression, violence, and poverty in our world. Perhaps this will mean volunteering at Quincy Crisis Center or Father Bill’s Place. Maybe it will mean taking time to serve a meal at a homeless shelter. Perhaps it means giving money for compassionate ministries, finding ways to speak for those who have no voice, and to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Maybe it means being willing and able to say yes when we come to the camp and find that there are problems, as David did.

I urge you, be open to God’s spirit calling you to ministry in our world, be on the lookout for ways that you can make a difference. Know, as David did, that God will be faithful. We are called to stand against the giants of our world. Will you answer the call?