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Shepherd of the Hills |
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What to Expect on Sunday |
The story of David and Goliath is one we have heard from childhood, if we were raised in the church. Even if not, it is well enough known that a young boy killed a giant. It is a picture that has captured artists and our minds as well. It is a story that reminds us that nothing is impossible with God. The Philistines were sea faring warriors who had long been rivals of the Israelites. Frequently at war for land and power, and this day the two sides had squared off when Goliath stepped forward. He must have been a formidable sight. He is estimated to have been 6’9" which for the Mideast and that age was exceedingly tall. He was wearing heavy brass armor, a helmet for his head, a coat and leg plates all of brass. He carried a shield and spear made of iron. Standing tall, he yelled out to the Israelite Army a challenge: "Choose a man to fight and kill me. If he wins we will be your servants, but if he loses, you will be our servants." David, who was standing near by, too young to be a soldier, heard the challenge. Already a person of faith, he asked those around him, "Who is this heathen that he should challenge the armies of the living God?" David offers to fight because he knows God will protect him from Goliath. He knows this from being protected when he fought off bears and lions from attacking his sheep.
Goliath was fighting for himself; but David was fighting for God. You know the rest. In what must have been a stunning showdown, David, the one without armor; David the one who was a boy and not fully grown; David who was armed with faith and courage, struck Goliath with a stone in his slingshot, and killed him. It is an amazing story. Goliath, this 6’9" giant was something on the order of an NBA basketball player. It reminded me of the NBA playoffs a few weeks ago, where the Nuggets, much like David, came out of nowhere, to challenge the Goliath of basketball, the Lakers. They show their prowess by leaping up to the hoop and hanging there. They assert their confidence by showing off their skills in the warm up. They dribble, dodge, run backwards, and steal the ball away in such amazing maneuvers one can only watch in awe. One gets to know something of the players as the commentators fill us in, game by game. One has a history of drugs; another charged with rape; some with children out of wedlock; those who have dropped out of school; others with problems managing so much money, and more. Not always shining examples of how to live, but what we saw for a short time was the setting aside of stardom for team work. All stars in their own right, they had to set that aside and do what was best for the team. Even though they lost, we saw some unbelievable basketball in those playoffs. I remember one close up camera shot after a particularly important basket where one of our players looked heavenward and mouthed, "Thank you, thank you"; recognition that there was something bigger than he was. It was a prayer. Down deep, I think most of us know there is someone more powerful than we are. Like David, we know when we are equipped by God to do the impossible. David knew the difference between his will and God’s. He did not see this war as his war. He saw it as God’s and as a result was not concerned about how it would turn out. The world tends to see itself very differently than God does and I think we can learn from this story. We consider adults better than children; tall better than short; rich better than poor; big churches better than small ones; none of which is how God looks at things. Why then, do we? At the same time, the world loves an underdog rising to the top. Look at the Susan Boyle story. Here is a woman who came out of the sidelines of Scotland, deciding to compete in a talent contest. Unattractive, shy, inexperienced, she walked on stage and literally took the world by storm. She decided to set aside her lack of fashion, and use her own gift, believing she had something; and she did. She won and went on to future weeks of competition. Someone stepped forward to help her with clothes and hair style. She was coached and encouraged to continue and continue she did. But she was not prepared to face the outside world of fame. The demands, the competition, the treatment by the press and her final loss, led to a breakdown after the show. She is expected to remain in the psychiatric hospital for weeks to recover. Susan Boyle met her Goliath when all she really wanted to do was sing. Have you ever met Goliath? I think we have all met up with Goliaths in our lives, at one time or another. There are those giant Goliaths of world hunger, war, and health care, that seem insurmountable. There are the family goliaths too, such as our child being born with a disability; unemployment, or living without safety. But I suspect our personal goliaths are the most difficult for us. We are in the hospital and the doctors cannot find what is wrong. We are set to make a presentation and our confidence drains out of us. We find ourselves faced with divorce with nowhere to turn. Or we feel trapped with someone in our lives who is a bully either physically or verbally. These are the times we are faced with such impossible odds, unable to find a solution, frightened and alone. It could be a new diagnosis of Alzheimer’s; or losing our job; or a death in our family; times when everything turns upside down. Everything looks black. There seem to be no solutions. Life seems over. We have forgotten about God’s promise to us. We forget that God always takes the side of the small and weak; the broken and hopeless. We forget that we are not meant to face life alone; nor are we equipped to have all the answers all of the time. It is God’s war, not ours alone. We know that our powers are limited. We know that we, like David, must depend on God for our strength. With only human power, we are vulnerable to forgetting about God altogether so that when the goliaths come into our lives, we think we can conquer them alone. We forget about doing what is right and focus on winning. We take on our own battles never giving God a thought. We believe in ourselves and those around us more than God, and like Goliath, we take on our challenges in fighting our own battles turning our back on God; and we run the risk of losing. We are not armed with brass helmets and iron spears. We are armed with the Holy Spirit, and the love of Christ that helps us face any adversity. We have been given the smooth stones of talent and skills that can change our worlds. God gifts us with courage and arms us with faith that allows us to enter our own battlefields. We move from self-confidence to God- confidence. It is then that we can encounter the Goliaths of our world with readiness. We know what to do and are not afraid. You see, fear is the result of trusting ourselves instead of God. We know that we are not all powerful. When I think of Greg Mortenson, the man who started a mission in Afghanistan to build schools in places where they had never been, I think of him conquering the goliath of hatred, fear, and huge obstacles in order to do what he knows is right, and is equipped to do. So he is not deterred from his goal. God walks with him and he knows it. I can think of many challenges or goliaths in my life as I know you can as well. Parenting seems to be right up there in the goliath category! There is this image when we hold our baby for the first time of wonder, gratitude, and responsibility. We think that this child will be perfect, brighter than other children; kinder, more self sufficient than any other. We actually believe that we won’t have the child raising difficulties that other parents do because this child will be different. Then reality sets in. This is one of the few vocations that is probably the most important that we do without any training. We are given this child to raise, to comfort, and to teach without any experience. Remarkably, in most cases, this works out just fine. Some of us go overboard, and some of us don’t do enough, but by in large, the child survives. As parents we read books, we try different things, we spend time with our children and for the most part do our very best to be a good parent. But it is hard work. What works with one child is not good for another. Books become obsolete and we haven’t time to read the new ones. Our children make poor decisions, they fall and they need their parents. On this Father’s Day we celebrate all fathers here today, who are seeking to be a strong light for their children. Today we will be giving each man a key chain that reads "Fathers light the way". But fathers, like mothers, do not have to lead the way alone. They do not have to create the light that leads them for that is already done. It is their faith in God that equips fathers, and all of us, to be a light to our children and others who need us. Like David, we too, have smooth stones that help us survive and smite all that threatens us; stones of compassion, sacrifice, justice and a community of faith. These are the powerful forces that allow the smallest and weakest among us to do big things for God, like giving our children what they need. Not just when they are young, but our adult children as well. These are the qualities that help us set aside self-confidence and pick up some God-confidence that helps us be the kind of parents God intends. David was successful because he used his talents doing what God would want. He was not seeking his own way but God’s way. Even at such a young age, David knew he had certain skills and abilities that God had given him to use for good. David had some divine potential and so do we. He knew what was right, and being a bullying Goliath wasn’t it. He knew his talents and skills were not to benefit him but to stand for what was right. I imagine he prayed for guidance, alone on a hillside, guarding his sheep. I imagine he held tight to God when he came to check on the welfare of his brothers and found himself fighting a giant. David became a father and then the greatest king his people ever knew; not because he was perfect, or above all others. In fact he made some very poor decisions involved in adultery and even murder. But his faith restored him. His leadership was not for himself, but for those he led. He decided to do what was right in the eyes of God and for his people. This is the kind of light Father’s need. It is hard work being a father; holding a job, or finding one in today’s market. It is taking those smooth stones of compassion and loving his family first. It is picking up the stone of sacrifice and often putting his children or spouse first. It is holding high the stone of justice and doing what is right, even when he is tempted to do otherwise; for it is in this way that his children learn and his home is a place of security. It is in this way that fathers put on the breastplate of armor, pick up the spear of protection and wear the helmet of faith that provides the light he needs. On this Father’s Day, celebrate the role you play. If you are a single parent play the role with confidence knowing that God goes before you. If you are a father living in a home of conflict and unhappiness, strike it down and replace it with loving kindness. If you are a father who suffers from estrangement, pray to God for reconciliation, reach out first, set aside your expectations and start over. If you are a parent living in a love-filled household get on your knees today and give thanks to God for this blessing. Fathers light the way when they are following the light of Christ. This is here that our courage comes. A story is told in Israel about a man named Joseph Abileah, the founder of
the Haifa Symphony Orchestra. Some years ago he was in an Arab village talking
with people. Other villagers crowded around him, and said, "We are going to kill
you." Abileah asked them why. "We have orders to do so. You are Jewish and we
are Arab, and our leaders have told us to kill every Jew that we see."
Finally, a solution was discovered. They decided to make him a Moslem. Since
he would no longer be Jewish, they would not have to kill him. They declared on
the spot that Joseph Abileah was a Moslem, therefore no longer susceptible to
death. He then passed through the midst of them and walked away. Such courage comes from God alone. May it be so for us. Amen |
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