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The reading today again takes us to the account of David and Goliath.
The background is something like this: The Philistine army and the Israelite army have come together-on opposite hills across a valley-to do battle. They have been at a stand-off for a long time. The Philistine champion, Goliath-nine feet tall with bronze armor and iron weaponry, a warrior to end all warriors-comes out twice a day to challenge Israel's army to send out a champion to meet him in hand-to-hand combat. All of Israel's soldiers are afraid. Goliath is really intimidating.
After forty days or so of this stand-off, and this daily taunting and humiliation, David turns up. He had been out taking of the sheep. He's too young to be in the army. His dad sent him to check on his older brothers who were at the front.
David shows up and hears Goliath's challenge. Immediately, he responds with astonishment. "What's going on here? How dare this Philistine defy the armies of the living God?"
That's where we start the reading for today.
1 Samuel 17:32-40
David and Goliath met in combat in the Valley of Elah. David killed the giant. The Israelite army defeated the Philistine army. The borders of the small nation of Israel remained intact. The people of God retained their God-given identity.
A lot was riding on this encounter between the champion of the Philistines and the youngest son of Jesse.
David had been anointed king. But if he had fallen that day, he never would never have ruled as king.
Saul had been rejected as king by God, and it was only a matter of time before his reign would come to a close. But if David had fallen that day, Saul's rule would have been irrelevant anyway.
Israel had been claimed by God and shaped by God to be his people-the people through whom he revealed himself to the world, the people through whom he would in the fullness of time send his Son to redeem the world. But if David had fallen that day, … I don't know what would have happened if David had fallen that day, because God in his sovereign grace made sure that David did not fall that day. I do know that it is good that God acted, because a lot was riding on this encounter between the champion of the Philistines and the shepherd boy from Bethlehem.
Hundreds of years before, when God called Abraham and Sarah to leave the land of their fathers and go to where he would take them, God announced his intention to make of Abraham's descendents a nation through whom all the nations would be blessed.
When God called Moses to lead the descendents of Abraham out of slavery in Egypt, he began in earnest to shape this people according to his purpose. Through forty years of wilderness wandering, God taught this people what it meant to be the people of God.
When God called Joshua to step into leadership after Moses and bring the people into the promised land, he brought into existence a nation unlike any other nation around-a people claimed and named by the sovereign God of the universe. While other peoples worshiped idols made by their own hands of wood or clay or stone, this people worshiped the invisible God who had formed them, and all that is, through the power of his voice.
When, from time to time, God called judges to enter into leadership in Israel, he continued to shape this people according to his purpose-to form in them a distinctive identity; a distinctive understanding of the world as the creation of the one, true, and living sovereign God; a distinctive understanding of God as one who cannot be manipulated but who is to be revered; a distinctive understanding that to be the people of God is to be a people wrapped up in the purposes of God.
The distinctive identity of the people of Israel was constantly under siege. From time to time, invading armies threatened to wipe out Israel as a separate nation. But the most insidious threats came in the times of relative peace. It was in the peaceful interactions with other nations that the distinctiveness of God's people was eroded the most. Their sons and daughters intermarried with neighboring nations. They learned the names of other gods. They learned the rituals of worshiping other gods. Frequently they found these other gods and other rituals attractive. There's something about visible gods who can be manipulated that can be seductive to people who belong to the invisible God who cannot be controlled. There's something about visible gods who condone and even relish immorality that can be seductive to people who belong to the invisible God who demands obedience and justice and holiness.
In the words of Eugene Peterson, by the time the army of Israel and the army of Philistia drew up battle lines in the Valley of Elah, "Israel was at the point of losing its identity as a people of God, losing touch with its history, losing hold on the theme of salvation, which provided meaning and coherence to life itself."
A lot was riding on this encounter between the champion of the Philistines and the boy who would someday be king. David slew the giant, and the people of God were re-formed in their distinctive identity.
The people of Israel had begged God to give them a king so that they could be like other nations. God granted their request and gave them a king. It is a measure of God's sovereignty and goodness, though, that the God-given task of the kings of Israel-from David on down through the ages-was to make sure the nation of Israel retained its distinctiveness and did not, in fact, become like other nations.
More challenges would come, of course. The challenges still come.
I don't suppose that I will ever face a giant warrior in hand-to-hand combat. I certainly hope not! But as one person who belongs to God, I do face challenges to the distinctive God-given identity that I received through the waters of baptism. The gods of the world in which we live are just as seductive as the gods of the neighbors of ancient Israel. Perhaps you also know some of the ones I run into on a daily basis.
There are the gods of consumerism and materialism, greed and wealth accumulation, comfort and "keeping-up-with-the-Jones". How do we keep, how do we grow into, our God-given distinctive identity as a people called to seek first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness? How do we keep, how do we grow into, our God-given identity as a people granted the grace to live not by anxious hoarding but by trustful giving?
There are the gods of secular humanism and intellectualism and relativism. How do we keep, how do we grow into, our God-given distinctive identity as a people called not to lean on our own understanding but in all our ways to acknowledge God? How do we keep, how do we grow into, our God-given distinctive identity as a people granted the grace to live not by the confused wisdom of our own hearts but by the Word of God as our rule for faith and life?
There are the gods of loveless tolerance and truth-less pluralism. How do we keep, how do we grow into, our God-given distinctive identity as a people claimed by and called to proclaim the Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life? How do we keep, how do we grow into, our God-given distinctive identity as a people called to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength-not just any generic god formed out of the clay of our own imaginations but the one, true, and living sovereign God who formed us, and all that is, through the power of his voice? How do we keep, how do we grow into, our God-given distinctive identity as a people called to love our neighbors as ourselves-really love them, not just tolerate them; love them so much that we are willing to lay down our lives for them; love them so much that we recognize them as sinners just like us in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ?
There are the gods of pleasure and escape and narcissistic elevation of the fulfillment of self as the highest good and the highest goal. How do we keep, how do we grow into, our God-given distinctive identity as a people called not to seek to save our own lives but to lose our lives for the sake of Christ and for the sake of his gospel? How do we keep, how do we grow into, our God-given distinctive identity as a people granted the grace to know life-giving meaning by setting aside our own selfish agendas and joining God in his plan and purpose?
I could go on. The cultural context has changed, but the challenges faced by the people of God have not changed all that much since David's time.
I don't know the first thing about using a sling, and five smooth stones in my pocket probably wouldn't help me fight the challenges of this world. Still, I have learned at least five lessons from David and his encounter with Goliath that can help with the challenges of this world.
One-David, from the beginning of this account to the end, exhibits utter confidence in the sovereignty of God. When everyone else on Israel's side of the valley sees bronze armor and iron weapons and an opposing army seemingly superior in every way, David sees only those who have been foolish enough to defy the living God. When everyone else on Israel's side of the valley is paralyzed by their awareness of their own weakness, David is fully aware of God's strength. When everyone else on Israel's side of the valley is trembling with fear for their own lives, David is focused on standing up for the one, true, living and sovereign God.
I read this story in something Millard Fillmore, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, wrote.
The Koinonia community was an intentional Christian community. In the 1950s, in south Georgia, this community intentionally brought together people from different backgrounds-including blacks and whites-to live and work together and put into practice their commitment to Jesus. As you might imagine, certain aspects of their life in community were not popular with some of their neighbors. They faced a good deal of opposition.
One night arson destroyed most of their crops. The next day a local newspaperman came out and talked with one of the leaders of the Koinonia community. The newspaperman said something like, "So, I guess now you'll have to shut down and move out. Looks like you've failed." The leader of the community responded, "No. We'll stay. God doesn't command us to be successful, he commands us to be faithful."
That answer can only be given by someone who is focused on and utterly confident in the sovereign grace of God.
Be encouraged. Our God-given distinctive identity is not dependent on us. We need only rely on the sovereign grace of God.
Two-David's confidence in the sovereign grace of God is grounded in experience. He is confident that the Lord who delivered him from the paw of the bear and the paw of the lion will deliver him from the hand of this Philistine.
Our faith is not based on experience. Our faith is based on revelation. Still, the reality is that as each one of us grows in faith we build trust, or confidence, on the basis of experience.
David has utter confidence in the sovereign grace of God, and this confidence finds some support in his experience.
Some of you may falter at this point. You may be thinking, "God never delivered me from the paw of a bear."
That's why we have community. That's why we have the Book. Because somewhere along the way of growing in our relationship with God and getting to recognize how he has been at work in our lives, we learn from how he has been at work in other people's lives in ways that they have recognized.
Most of us, in our journey of faith, go through stages when our trust in God grows on the basis of the experience of others. For many of us, this is how we learn to recognize the signs of God's trustworthiness in our own lives.
My guess is that somewhere along the line David had someone who taught him about the trustworthiness of God. My guess is that David had someone who helped him see the hand of God in his encounters with the lion and the bear.
There is value to experience. When we're short on our own, we lean on the experience of others. By noticing the signs of God's trustworthiness in their lives, we learn to recognize the signs of God's trustworthiness in our own lives.
Three-David faces the challenge authentically. This point is made especially dramatically in the detail the narrative includes about David's conversation with Saul.
When Saul agrees to let David go against Goliath, he tries to give David his armor and his weapon. David tries on the armor and takes the weapon into his hand, but then he gives them back. The armor does not fit. David is not accustomed to such a weapon. The armor and the weapon are worthy tools, but they are not David's tools. They do not fit him. They do not suit him. He leaves Saul's armor and weapon behind, and goes to meet the giant wearing his shepherd's robe and carrying his sling.
David enters into this encounter authentically. He does not try to be anybody else but who he is. He does not try to battle with anybody else's tools but with the tools that God has given him. All the world's wisdom says that a shepherd's robe is lousy armor and a sling and a few rocks can't possibly go up against the latest in iron-tipped weaponry. But David is not swayed by the world's wisdom. David knows who he is and he knows the gifts that God has given him. David faces the challenge of the giant authentically.
Four-David displays unhurried preparation for his encounter with Goliath. In the midst of crisis and tension, and even taunts from the enemy, David is in no hurry. David takes his time to prepare.
Goliath is on one side shouting challenges and taunts.
Israel's army is on the other side, trembling with fear.
Saul has agreed to let David go out against Goliath.
David calmly walks down to the stream to select a few stones. He kneels down at the water's edge. He's not watching Goliath. He's not watching the Israelite troops. He's not watching Saul. He's looking into the water. He draws out a small rock, twirls it in his hand, examines it, and throws it back. He draws another small rock; this one passes inspection and he places it in his bag. David kneels by the stream until he finds five stones of the right weight and shape.
David is in no hurry. Goliath can stand there and shout his taunts. David will respond when he is ready.
I marvel at David's unhurriedness.
In my own journey, I have known times when the urgency and the anxiety of the situation led me to want to rush forward. I have known times when I couldn't even imagine unhurried preparation. I have known times when I was sorely tempted to grab anybody's armor-even if it didn't fit me-and rush into the battle.
One of those times, a wise mentor sat me down, slowed me down, and gave me advice that I carry with me to this day. Don't panic. Take your time. You will know what you need to know when you need to know it.
David seemed to know this truth intuitively.
Five-When the time was right, David acts decisively!
The narrative transitions from unhurried preparation to decisive action in a heartbeat. One moment David is kneeling at the stream, looking for just the right stone. The next moment David is on his feet, running toward Goliath. David doesn't simply stand and wait for Goliath to come to him. David faces Goliath and runs to engage him in battle.
When the time was right, David acts decisively. He goes to meet the challenge that God has placed before him, and he doesn't look back. No second-guessing. No looking back over his shoulder to see who might be following…or not following. No hesitation at all. David runs to meet the challenge.
Five smooth stones…that equipped David to battle the forces that would have eroded Israel's distinctive God-given identity.
Five smooth stones for us, who still must battle the forces that would erode our God-given distinctive identity.
Utter confidence in the sovereign grace of God.
Trust built on experience that confirms the sovereign grace of God…our own experience, the witness of brothers and sisters in Christ, the witness of Scripture.
Facing the challenges authentically, not trying to be anybody but who we are.
Unhurried preparation.
Decisive action when the time in right.
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