Sermon 23rd June 2024 – 5th Sunday after Pentecost
Text: 1 Samuel 17: (1a,
4-11, 19-23), 32-49 – Facing our Goliaths
The story of David and
Goliath is a story that has given hope to people facing massive challenges in
life.
Against all the odds this
young shepherd boy with no military experience takes on a giant – a literal
giant – just short of 10 feet tall. He refuses to take with him the armour of
war – shields, swords, spears. Instead he relies on the armour of God:
Goliath said to David, “Come
to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild
animals of the field.” But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with
sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of
hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the
Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down.
And so the story of David
and Goliath is one of - where do we go when we are faced with problems that are
too big for us to handle. King Saul didn’t understand about God fighting for
him. He and his men were petrified as they looked at the size of this giant. When
David arrived on the scene Saul looks at Goliath and he looks at David: “You
are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just
a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth. David explains the fights he
has had with bears and lions protecting his sheep. He says to Saul: The Lord,
who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save
me from the hand of this Philistine. So David didn’t look at the massive
challenge ahead of him but kept his faith in God.
But it’s easy to let fear
take control. Like when Peter, walking on the water, took his eyes of Jesus and
focused on the storm ahead of him and began to sink. Or like the disciples
today in a very similar situation. They are in a boat. A great windstorm arose,
and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. They
cry out in fear: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?
Like David, Jesus wasn’t
concerned about the challenge confronting him. The same wind and waves that
were beating against the boat causing the disciples to fear that they were
going to die - couldn’t even wake Jesus from his sleep.
Jesus was in the stern,
asleep on a cushion. He gets up and like David doesn’t worry about the size of
his challenger but looks directly at the wind and waves and says – “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and
there was a dead calm. Every day we have the possibility of a challenging
situation confronting us and we wonder how am I going to get through this
Things might start off well,
like the disciples getting into a boat to sail across the sea. Something they
have done many times before especially for those who were fishermen. Even David
had no idea how his day would turn out. David rose early in the morning, left
the sheep with a keeper, took provisions, and went to see his brothers as his
father Jesse had commanded him to.
But then something happens
and our natural instinct is to panic. How am I going to handle this. Our lives
are not guaranteed to be spared stress and storm as our lives are tossed about
by the waves of economic uncertainty and change, war, family issues, sickness,
and death. Hardly a week goes by that we do not face the fearsome realities of
these events, either impacting us personally or our neighbors or our friends in
the church, and nightly the troublesome images of television news intrude into
our homes from the larger world. Maybe we have prayed that night like the
disciples “Lord, do you not care that we are perishing?
I look at all the reports on
the rising levels of depression and anxiety that are hitting our young people
who feel the world is on a collision course with destruction. It’s interesting
that amount of fear that has gripped our world. Why is that? Perhaps the answer
is seen in Jesus’ response to the disciples: “Why are you afraid? Have you
still no faith?” Our Gospel reading shows the link between faith and fear. Is
there a connection between church decline and fear increase? The opposite of
faith is not doubt or unbelief; No, the
opposite of faith seems to be fear. That’s the difference between King Saul and
the soon to be King David. Saul feared because he didn’t have faith in God. David
had faith in God so he didn’t have any fear.
We fear when we are not in
control. The book of Hebrews says - faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen. Without faith, the things that we do not see
frighten us. The unknown frightens us. But with Jesus by our side there is
nothing that need frighten us. Even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death I will not be afraid for you are with me.
And that’s the surprising
thing about the disciples’ fear. Jesus was with them. They mistook his sleep as
lack of care when in fact his sleep meant his lack of fear. The worst that the
storm could dish up - A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the
boat, so that the boat was already being swamped – couldn’t even wake Jesus up.
Do you see the irony? Do you see the sarcasm of Jesus against the worst the
world could dish up. And that’s the same for us. What is the worst the world
can do to you? Even if it takes away your life we have eternal life in heaven –
as Paul reminds us: See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of
salvation! On that very first resurrection day the disciples were still living
in fear. Their fear had locked the doors to the outside world. But Jesus came
in despite the locked doors and spoke those same words he spoke to the wind and
the waves. Peace be with you. Jesus peace can drive out all our fear.
And Paul lists some of the
fears confronting him: Afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings,
imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; And Jesus’ peace
replaced them with: Purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit,
genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God. Not by his own strength
but with the same strength David discovered against Goliath: With the weapons
of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in
ill repute and good repute.
So each day, be intentional
in putting on the armour of God: With the belt of truth buckled around your
waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet
fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace with the shield
of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God. Because remember, as Paul said when speaking about the armour of God:
For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms. But with the full armor of God, you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes. And it’s why Jesus can with confidence say - “So
don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give
you the Kingdom.
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