Elite 8 stories: Walking with Jesus or swimming on your own Carroll first UMC 10-17 and 18- 2020

 Elite 8 stories: Walking with Jesus or swimming on your own

Carroll first UMC 10-17 and 18- 2020

I want to ask our online participants a question we’ll use a little later… If you were Peter, would you have jumped out of the boat. Yes or no, thumbs up or sad face. Would you have jumped out of the boat or stayed right where you were? If you are in the sanctuary and want to jump on Facebook and you can vote too.

While you are doing that let me continue. I worked on staff with a youth mission project in Tennessee while I was in college. One of our days off we headed to the little river that flowed alongside our camp. It probably had some name like “cow pie creek” because the local cattle... uh... I think for my emotional well-being we’ll stick with “bathed” in the creek.

We hiked through the woods through the oppressive July heat and the prickly bushes, not to mention likely poison ivy. I was just glad to get to “cow pie creek,” or whatever it was called. 

Upstream about a ¼ mile we saw a small cliff with a rope hanging from a huge oak tree over the water. You guessed it we headed to the cliff to swing on the rope. 

Now, you have probably figured out in the last 2 years that I am not the most adventurous person in the world. A new food is sometimes too much risk for me. So, flinging myself off this cliff (which was probably not as high as my mind made it) was WAY out of my comfort zone. But I couldn’t be the only one who didn’t jump. After all, I had a “reputation” to uphold. So, I swallowed my fear, grabbed the rope and flew what seemed like 1000 feet slow motion into the water below.

It was cool and refreshing and I jumped several more times that afternoon. It was a nice afternoon. Even though now I must wonder about the sanitary wisdom of swimming in a small river just downstream from where 20 or 30 cattle were all… um… “bathing.”

Nonetheless, that is a day that reminds me, sometimes we must face our fears, embrace the adventure, and take the plunge. 

Do you suppose that was one of the lessons for Peter the day he walked on the water; “face your fears, embrace the adventure, and take the plunge?” Sometimes I wish I was more like Peter. I don’t particularly want to be the impulsive, foot in mouth disciple who is ready to cut off an ear for Jesus. But sometimes I think I should take the plunge and take more risks in faith.

Christian discipleship is risky business. It is no easy kayak ride down a lazy river. Discipleship is more like white water rafting; you become a disciple of Jesus at your own risk. 

This story takes place in Matthew immediately after the feeding of the 5000. Jesus “” made” the disciples get into a boat going toward the other side of the sea of Galilee.

Jesus went up on a mountainside by himself to pray alone. 

A storm blew up that night and a 2 ½ boat ride became a three-hour tour, and another three-hour tour. Just before daybreak John, tells us in his version of the story, they were still only ⅔ of the way across the 6-mile lake. The square sailed boats of the day were very inefficient in a headwind, and difficult or even dangerous in a side wind. Mark tells this story adding the detail “He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.” 

Matthew is the only gospel that tells of Peter walking on the water, but they all agree that Jesus walked on the water and the disciples were afraid. They thought it was some kind of ghost… I imagine between the sea mist, the blowing wind, the predawn lighting, and the fact that one doesn’t expect to see people to be walking on the water, (as illogical as it was) a ghost was the most logical conclusion. 

Doesn’t it seem like that is kind of the way life works? As If the exhausting storm is not bad enough, here comes a ghost.

As If a pandemic is not enough, look out for the wildfires.

As If cancer is not enough, the furnace goes out.

As if losing your job is not enough, the kids need new clothes. 

You know what I mean. It seems that no matter how bad the storm, something happens to make it worse.

In those times, we are helpless to help ourselves, blind to what is coming around the corner, and easily overwhelmed by the huge waves battering us.  We all know the feeling of being unable, under our own power, to row against the wind and the waves when life is storming around us.

We need help… we need to be rescued...not by some ghost, but by something more powerful than us. Something like, I don’t know…something like the son of God who can calm the wind and the waves. 

 

It is no coincidence, that just when it seemed things couldn’t get any worse, Jesus said, “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matt 14:27) 

What a relief. With those eight words the disciples, who may have for good reason been afraid for their lives were saved. This is the same Jesus who earlier in Matthew was asleep in the bow of the boat when a storm came up. When they awakened him they said, “Don’t you care that we are about to drown?” Jesus looked at the water and wind and said, “be quiet.” And the storm calmed.

When Jesus appeared the disciples sat back and waited to see what Jesus’ next trick would be, right? Well, yes, most did, but the star of the story stood up and said, “If that is you, master, tell me to come to you on the water.” When Jesus replied “Come.” I have to wonder if Peter thought, “Oh man. What have I just done? What did my mouth get me into this time?” Whatever he thought, Peter stood up.

When is the last time you recognized Jesus’ voice saying “come?”

Come, feed the hungry. 

Come, call your neighbor. 

Come, you aren’t being as generous as you could. 

Come, and teach Sunday school, or go to Sunday school. 

Come, help at the pork chop supper. 

Come donate to the homeless. 

Come, invite that neighbor to worship. Do you hear Jesus calling you? Where is Jesus calling you? What is Jesus calling you to do? 

I don’t always hear Jesus’ voice, but I’ve come to recognize a particular knot in my stomach that is often the voice of Jesus. How do you recognize Jesus' voice saying “come?”

`When Jesus said, “come.” Peter did. This is where I usually fall down. I’ll sit and wonder, “was that really Jesus?” “Did I hear that right?” And frankly sometimes the opportunity slips away while I am thinking about it. But not Peter. He got up and stepped right out of the boat “onto the crashing waves.” as the Casting Crown’s song says. And he walked on the water. 

Would you have done that? Would you have gotten out of the boat? If you are in the sanctuary, raise your hand if you would have stepped out of the boat while we put up the results of our very unscientific online poll.

I must admit, I am afraid I might have stayed in the boat. I told you, I am not a big risk taker. So, I can understand those of you who said no, but we can do better than that, can’t we? 

So, to review, if we want to be water walkers first we must hear and recognize Jesus’ voice. 

Second we must choose to get up off our pew or our couch and answer.

Finally, Peter looks around… he sees the wind the Bible says. The wind wouldn’t bother me as much as looking down at the water. So maybe he saw he wind driven waves. 

And for just a moment he might have thought “Hey, Yall, watch this” or “Look ma, no ground.” At any rate Peter forgot why he was doing it and began to sink. 

I was surprised by the number of sermons I saw this week that condemned Peter for his lack of faith. I can’t say I have ever heard that before. But I find it more than a little odd that the folks who frankly are still sitting on their butts in the nice safe boat, would accuse Peter of having a lack of faith. That is a little like me sitting at home booing Ter⒠⒠k Hill for dropping a pass that I couldn’t have caught in my wildest imagination. 

The truth is, whenever we get brave enough to take a risk by answering Jesus call to come, there will be criticism. 

When we were getting ready to step out of the boat in Reinbeck and start the Wednesday night family ministry, I received a lot of heat. I remember one lady who said, Sunday morning is good enough for the rest of us, it ought to be good enough for them. There were about 12 Children in Sunday school… the first week of Wednesday night LIGHT there were nearly 100 in class on Wednesday night. You would think that would quiet the criticism. But it didn’t. 

Whether we walk on water or nearly drown, I learned the folks inside the boat will always criticize anyone who is bold enough to step out of the boat in faith. And the only solution is to grab hold of Jesus' hand and hold on for dear life. 

When I talk about recognizing Jesus' voice, stepping out of our nice safe boat, and holding on to Jesus' hand, I am not talking about any kind of magic, or optical illusion, or a trick. It is simple discipleship. 

Two places I think Jesus is calling the church as we come out of the depths of the pandemic, are how do we do digital discipleship and how do we reconnect now that we have 2 congregations (in person and digital) and in an age of social distancing and 

As an individual you may hear Jesus call come, love your neighbor better

Come love your children better.

Come get help with your mental health condition.

Come, teach, preach, lead, coordinate, organize or facilitate something.

Or maybe come and read scripture more often, pray more deeply, or worship more actively. 

Or.. or what? What is Jesus' voice calling to you, come will you get out of your boat onto the crashing waves, or will you stay in the boat, and pray for a lazy river. 

I hope when Jesus says get out of the boat you will say I WILL. During the closing song, Just a closer walk with thee. I hope you will prayerfully consider saying “I will.”  I will listen, I will risk getting out, I will walk with Jesus wherever he leads. Folks in the physical sanctuary have a response card that says “I Will “ and I invite them to come down the center aisle, keeping social distance, and place their commitment in the boat and return by the side aisles.  If you are in the digital sanctuary consider liking the “I WILL” post. Let’s be in prayer.

Elite 8- May I be your neighbor? October 10 and 11, 2020 Carroll FUMC

 Elite 8- May I be your neighbor?

October 10 and 11, 2020 Carroll FUMC

Won’t you be my neighbor? Cries the teenager who is the one out of ten who has “seriously considered” suicide in the last month.

Won’t you be my neighbor? Yells the young black man peacefully protesting in the streets.

Won’t you be my neighbor? Sobs the very proper, but very frail woman as she sees her grandchildren through the window of the care center.

Won’t you be my neighbor? Wonders the 2nd grader as she silently slips through the halls on her way to the classroom with her stomach growling because the car in which she lives has no breakfast nook. 

Won’t you be my neighbor? Hopes the physically and emotionally disabled veteran as he depends on the kindness of strangers to drop change in his can.

Won’t you be my neighbor? Called out the man who had been beaten and robbed and left in the ditch for dead. Won’t you be my neighbor… as a traveler veers to the other side of the road so as not to get too close. Won’t you be my neighbor? He asks as the man stops to look at him before continuing on his journey without a word.

We hear the cry so often, and we ignore it so often, that we become numb to it. 

This is not going to be your fluffy “who is my neighbor “sermon. You know the answer to that question.

This is not your easy “how to be a neighbor” sermon. I’m not going to ask you to drop a donation for the food pantry, or rake someone’s leaves. 

I want to cut right to the chase and confess to you right now… I am often not a good neighbor. Oh, well I am kind to folks… or I aim to be. I’ll help someone… if they ask for help. But too often I am like the kindly old priest or scribe who walked on the other side of the road and maybe even whistled so he wouldn’t her that cries for help coming from the other ditch.

I know I am not alone. As good and kind as our church is, many of us are in the same boat. We want to be good neighbors, we aim to be good neighbors, but we don’t quite pull it off. 

What do I mean? 

Who can name all 4 of the families who live closest to you- your literal neighbors? First and last name, children’s names? If you can, God bless you. Most of us can’t. And we can’t be a neighbor to someone we don’t know,

Who can name 3 families who live at Fairview? How about at any low-income housing neighborhood? We can’t be a neighbor to someone we don’t know,

Who can name all the family members in any 2 families who look different than you do?

Who can name the members of even 1 family for whom English is not their first language?

But, you say, you’re an introvert; you aren’t good with names; you don’t have opportunity to meet these folks, and besides you are a good neighbor to your friends. … can I be frank? I started to give those very same reasons, but they sounded lame on my lips… and they wouldn’t sound any better coming from you. Your Mastercard or visa may be accepted almost anywhere, but your excuses aren’t 

You need to know that the Parable of the good Samaritan you chose as one of the 8 favorite bible stories for this series is not a fluffy, feel good, fairytale with a happy ending. This parable is one of the most difficult sayings of Jesus. 

First, let’s talk about these characters in the story. We really don’t have to talk about the Priest and Levite. We already established that we know them. We know the priest and Levite and they are us. 

So, let’s talk about the man who was robbed. He was presumably an average brown skinned Jewish man, just like Jesus and his disciples. There was nothing remarkable about him. He might be the person sitting beside you in worship, standing behind you at the grocery store or waiting in front of him when you get your driver’s license. 

When he was robbed, he thought he could count on the priest or the Levite for help. They were, after all from the church, but no such luck.

Then along comes a Samaritan. Samaritans were at one time Jews. They were segregated from the main body of Judaism somewhere between 200 and 500 Years before Jesus. The division might have been because they used only the Pentateuch (First 5 books of the Bible.) as their scripture. In addition, the Samaritan version of those 5 books has about 6000 places of disagreement with the Jewish Pentateuch. More specifically They may have split off because the Samaritan Pentateuch includes a command to build a temple on mount Gerizim. This was in direct conflict with the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

Whatever the reasons, Samaritans were considered to be ritually unclean, social pariahs, and undeserving of any kindness by mainline Judaism.

Yet we all know; it was not the priest who stopped to help the man. It was not the Levite who bandaged his wounds… it was the OTHER ONE… It was the unclean, social pariah, who wouldn’t even worship on Mount Zion who turned out to be the neighbor.

That doesn’t mean that the priest or Levite could not have acted like a neighbor, in fact they definitely should have. But in a twist only Jesus and Stephen king could imagine, this stranger, from the wrong side of the tracks took a chance, perhaps even risking his life by stopping, putting the man on his own donkey, and paying for the man’s care with his own money. He took a chance with someone who was very different from himself. He took a chance with someone who might just hate him in return. He took a chance on the Jewish man because it was the right thing to do. 

When we think of neighbors, we think of people who sit safely in their driveway while we stand safely in ours and we chat. We think of neighbors as someone to wave at as we bring in the garbage. To most of us a neighbor is someone who lives life alongside us, and we are kind of like observers of each other’s lives. Jesus is redefining neighbor as someone who risks taking a chance on someone else. 

If the Samaritan had stood safely on the road and waved at the poor man in the ditch, things would undoubtedly turn out differently. If he had just looked at the man, and remained an observer, the man might have died right then and there. 

But, remember, Jesus is redefining “neighbor” as someone who takes a risk in order to give someone else a chance. The man may have died right then and there in the ditch if the Samaritan had not taken a chance on him in order to give him a chance to live.

 In Jesus’ story Samaritan gave the man a chance to live by bandaging, and soothing, and wrapping, and comforting, and reassuring the traveler. Then he picked him up in his own arms and placed the man his own donkey while he walked along side to the inn. And then to top it all off, he paid the man’s room and board and medical care for as long as it took to heal out of his own money.

To truly love our neighbor, we have to cross the line from observing to investing in life together. The Samaritan really invested himself in the man’s life. Investing is risky. Investing in someone doesn’t have guaranteed return and it isn’t cheap. But the Samaritan did it anyway. He was late for wherever he was going, he gave his time, he gave his supplies, he sacrificed his comfort, he showed his compassion, and he spent his money to give the man a chance to live. That is what a neighbor does. A neighbor takes a chance on someone by investing in their life. 

To invest in someone’s life is to risk living life with them. It is sharing the ups and downs of life. It is being there when we are needed. It is helping when help is needed. And being quiet when that is needed. And it can be very, very messy!

A neighbor by Jesus’ definition takes a chance on someone by investing in their life. In so doing the trajectory of both persons lives are changed forever. 

When the presbyterian pastor and public television personality Fred Rogers was given his lifetime achievement award by the Academy, he responded this way. Follow his instructions. (video)

These are people who have taken a chance on you, and invested in you to be your neighbor. They might be parents or family. They might be a youth leaders like Paul and Ila Johnson who cared enough to push the students at St. Mark’s UMC past our comfort point and taught us how to invest in others. They might be teachers like our lifelong friends Drs, Dwight and Linda Vogel whose heart and home were always open to students at Westmar. They taught religion, but more importantly they invested in us by the way they lived and loved. It might be a pastor, or a boss, or an actual physical neighbor. These are people who have taken a chance on you, and invested in you to be your neighbor. And we are forever grateful, and forever changed by their neighborly love.

Won’t you be a neighbor? Won’t you take a chance to cross whatever lines there might be; age, race, culture, socio-economic, politics, language you know the barriers humanity has created between one person and another. Won’t you take a chance by leaping those tall barriers in a single bound and investing your whole self for the good of another? Won’t you be a neighbor?

Elite 8- Pray or Prey October 3 and 4, 2020 Carroll UMC

 Elite 8- Pray or Prey

October 3 and 4, 2020

Carroll UMC

A pastor looked in on the youth group and saw they were deep in prayer. There was one young man repeating the word “Tokyo. Tokyo, Tokyo.” After they were dismissed the pastor found the youth and told him how impressed he was, but he was just curious why he kept repeating the word “Tokyo.”

The young man replied, “Well, pastor, I took a geography test today, and I am praying for God to make Tokyo the capital of France before the teacher grades the test.”

People have funny ideas about prayer, don’t they? Today’s story is a story about a man who prayed like most of us have never prayed, and how that turned out. 

In 606 BC the Babylonians attacked the southern Jewish kingdom. Most of the inhabitants were sent to Babylon. Daniel was one of the early exiles taken to Babylon which was roughly where Iraq is today, about 550 miles from Jerusalem.

Daniel has been very successful in Babylon. This was at least 69 years after Daniel was deported, so Daniel was no spring chicken. With age comes wisdom and Daniel was wise enough to make the right friends so the king named Daniel one of three administrators ruing over Babylon. Kind of like governors. 

Daniel must have been quite a man. He was so good that the king was thinking about consolidating to have only one governor. The other governors were not about to let that happen. So being politicians, their planned to sling some mud at Daniel. Make him look bad so the king would change his mind. 

They went to work trying to find dirt on Daniel. They checked ever corner, every letter, every neighbor. They checked his High School & College records, his children’s friends, all of his internet activity, credit card activity, Phone calls, Financial records, vacations, TV usage including everything he ever rented, business deals, police records, old girlfriends, his vocabulary, and his jokes.

Could any of you stand up to that kind of scrutiny? I don’t think I could. It is as bad as the confirmation hearing for a supreme court candidate. 

To their surprise, they found nothing. Daniel was squeaky clean. 

That’s because Daniel chose RIGHTEOUSNESS OVER RELIGION. Religion is going through the motions. It might be for the right reason or not. That is what people mean when they say they are “religious but not spiritual.” Righteousness on the other hand is being in right relationship with God. When we live in right relationship with God the right belief and behavior flow naturally. The prophet Amos wrote “let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” (5:24) Daniel lived in an intimate, growing relationship with God. It would be akin to what I mean when I talk about looking more and more like Jesus every day.

The other governors decided to take the strength of Daniel’s faith and turn it into a weakness. They used Daniel’s loyalty to God and his prayer life to make it appear as though Daniel was not loyal to the king. 

His “friends” appealed to the King’s ego. They told him that “all of his administration” thought it would be good to make a law against praying to any God but Darrius for the next month.” How flattering! Right… and how untrue! They “forgot” to ask Daniel what he thought, but then again Daniel was the rat they were trying to catch. 

King Darius was convinced and made an irrevocable law. 

Now this is where the rubber meets the road. It is one thing to be righteous when it doesn’t cost you anything. It is entirely different when your life is on the line. Would Daniel cave into the political and very real personal danger?

No, because when the law was announced Daniel chose FAITHFULNESS OVER FEAR.

It is hard for us to imagine having to make the choice between death because we pray, and life without the power of prayer, but it is not impossible.

Those of you who reached out to folks and helped them while they were quarantining chose love over fear. The DesMoines pastors who talked to the protestors trying to hear the pain behind the political chanting, chose grace over fear. Those who so faithfully supported the church even when the building was locked chose generosity over fear. So maybe it isn’t as foreign as we might at first think to chose faithfulness over fear. 

Daniel did that by continuing to do the things that kept him close to God. Most notably in this story, he continued to pray even though it was against the law. 

The story is very clear. “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” 

Now, he could have prayed quietly, behind closed doors, in the privacy of his room. If caught he could claim he was just resting his eyes. But Daniel did what he had always done. 

He could have left the windows closed and no one would know. 

He could have even stood to pray and have plausible deniability. 

But no. Daniel stuck with the practices that fed his faith. He kept doing the things that made him feel close to God. And, as you might expect in the blink of an eye, the other governors were tattling to the king. 

Darius was heartbroken. He obviously thought very highly of Daniel and his faith. And he was furious at the trickery of the other governors.

He tried everything to save his favorite Jewish friend. When sundown came, there was nothing more to be done. He ordered Daniel to be thrown into the lion’s den and the stone on the door to be sealed.

The king went back to his palace and didn’t sleep a wink worried about his friend.

We know the natural reaction to finding yourself staring down the toothy end of a full-grown lion is panic. 

No one knows exactly what happened in the lion’s den that night, it wasn’t panic. It was supernatural. The only picture we get is that there were angels and the lion’s mouth was shut. It reminds me of the old joke about the preacher encountering a bear and praying “make the bear Christian,” and the bear miraculously stops and asks God’s blessing on what he is about to eat. I get pictures of Daniel and the lion kneeling down in prayer together. Others see the lion allowing Daniel to use his soft warm belly as a pillow. 

Truthfully, we don’t know what happened, but you can bet that Daniel spent the night praying harder than ever that he would not become prey. HE TRUSTED IN GOD RATHER THAN TRUSTING IN HIMSELF. That is really what prayer is: turning to God’s power rather than our power. Turning to God’s plan rather than our plan. Turning to hope in God rather than hope in ourselves. 

If we choses right relationship with God over going through the motions… if we choses faithfulness in all things… we are much more prepared to trust in God when our life depends on it. I think we can safely say Daniel chose trust in God. He chose to pray rather than become prey. I am sure he skipped over all the niceties and fancy words and went right to asking for a miracle.  It might have even been one of those one-word prayers.  Heeeeeelp!!! And he got it. 

We know that a miraculous answer won’t come every time we pray… by definition a miracle is an exception to the rule. But there is one miracle we can count on every single time. Wherever there is true prayer, a normally self-sufficient, and self-absorbed human being stops trusting in their own powers and abilities and places all their trust in God. The true miracle that night for Daniel, and the miracle of every prayer is that we chose to turn to God rather than trust in ourselves.

In the end, the conspirators became the lion’s breakfast. But that only gets one verse. The author is not nearly as interested in the demise of the conspirators as he is interested in the miracle that gets 4 verses. Because Daniel chose RIGHTEOUSNESS OVR RELIGION, FAITHFULNESS OVR FEAR, AND TRUST GOD RATHER THAN TRUST IN SELF. King Darius was moved to belief in Daniel’s God. Darius came to faith!  The king wrote to the entire kingdom and to other kingdoms “throughout the world” to tell people to “tremble and fear before Daniel’s God, Yahweh.” Do you understand what that means? Because Daniel lived a Godly life: 

• Choosing righteousness over religion, 

• faithfulness over fear, and 

• trust in God over trust in self. 

The King … king Darius himself came to believe in God and ordered all his kingdom to tremble and fear God. 

Yes, spending the night in a lion’s den and surviving is amazing… but the best miracle of all is that Daniel’s faith spread the word of God throughout the kingdom, and beyond. To use King Darius words: 

For he is the living God,
  enduring forever.
His kingdom shall never be destroyed,
  and his dominion has no end.
27 He delivers and rescues,
  he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth;
for he has saved Daniel
  from the power of the lions.”

And he will do mighty things in your life too.

September 27, 2020 First UMC Carroll “Defeating our Giants”

 

 

“Boy, you’ll never win” That was Goliath’s boast.  Boy, you are young, inexperienced, weak, and you’ll never beat me.”

We’ve heard that before haven’t we.

THEY say you’re too young to do that job.

THEY say you’re too fat or too scrawny, or too tall or too short you’ll never be able to do it.

THEY say you’ve never been good at… fill in the blank.  You’ve never been good at math, or reading, or managing money, cleaning house.  And you never will be.

The voices attack our self-esteem. THEY keep pushing us down.

THEY say you are weak.

THEY say you NEED another drink, another pill, another page of pornographic images.

THEY say you don’t deserve anything better than this.

The voices of addiction have a solid grip on us.

THEY say you’ll never get those credit cards paid off.

THEY say you’re no good at your job and you will be fired.

THEY say “you really couldn’t blame your spouse if THEY walked out on you.”

The voices attack our security and hope for a better tomorrow.

THEY say look out. Nothing is going to go right.

            When the car won’t start, THEY say you never do anything right.

            When you make a small mistake, THEY say you failed again.

            The voices peck away at us taking advantage of every little frustration.

            THEY say you ARE depression you’ll never be anything else.

THEY say you are bound to get Covid.

THEY say “The doctor wants more tests?” it must cancer.

The voices attack our health and wellbeing both physical and mental.

THEY say don’t trust anyone,

THEY say, he hits you because you deserve it.

THEY say just hold that grudge, you are right, and you don’t need them anyway,

The voices attack us in the relationships that are closest to us.

Who are these “THEYS” that keep pushing us down, keep holding us back, keep telling us, “you’ll never win?”  Who do THEY think they are?

These are the giants in our lives.  Some might be ten feet tall like Goliath. Ohers might be 10 miles tall. And others might be 10 inches short, just enough to make us fall flat on our face. 

I Want to be clear that I am not talking about voices one might hear if they are suffering from a mental illness. The voice I am talking about is our interior voice. We all have a dark voice in our heart… and we have to decide whether to listen or not.

 

In Chapter 17 of 1 Samuel, Israel is in a stand off with their perennial enemy the Philistines. Among the Philistines were a remnant of a people call the Anakin. They were said to be giants. Joshua 11 tells us “"There was none of the Anakin left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain" (Joshua 11:22).”  Notice they were in Gath.  Who else do we know who came from Gath?  Goliath. It is quite possible that Goliath was a descendent of the Anakin and inherited his massive size from that side of the family.

 Depending on who is measuring, (because a cubit is the length of a forearm and that varies from person to person).  Goliath was between 7 and 10 feet tall. 6 cubits and a Span.  He was indeed a giant compared to the average 5-foot-tall Israelite.

So, the Philistines are lined up on one ridge with the Israelites on the other about 15 miles outside of Bethlehem. Twice a day Goliath came out to yell his challenge across the valley.  The offer for one man from each side to fight in order to settle the dispute was a type of representative warfare practiced by some cultures of the day, but somewhat unfamiliar to Israel.

For 40 days and 40 nights… the standoff continued. Not one man from the army of Israel stepped forward.  That didn’t seem likely to change.  Then a red head little brother of some soldiers shows up on the scene.

Why would he do it? David might have had several reasons to take on Goliath. Everyone said he could not do it.  That’s reason enough right?  I’m like that. 

Second, there was the reward including a cash reward, and no taxes for life, and marrying the king’s daughter.  But there was more. David took on Goliath because Goliath had insulted God.  By mocking the Israelite army, he mocked God. And the punishment for blaspheme was death. David says he has to do this because “this uncircumcised Philistine has defied the armies of the living God.” This is a religious quest for David. He is defending God ’s honor. Or carrying out the death sentence required in scripture.

David HAD to do this, but imagine the voices,

you’ll never win you are just a kid,

you’ll never win you’re just a shepherd.

You can’t do that no one from Jesse’s house has ever done anything important.

You can’t do this; you can’t even carry the weight of a man’s armor.

People like you can’t do anything. 

Too scrawny, too weak, too much red hair… the voices went on and on.

 

David’s only experience was killing lions and bear who tried to carry off the sheep. The standard tools of the shepherd would have been a staff and a sling. Not a slingshot, but a strip of leather or woven material with a pocket in the middle. Anything could be put in the pocket to be slung. I read a biomechanical research paper this week that said they were able to achieve speeds of 110 miles per hour right out of the sling. The damage that could be inflicted was determined by the weight of the projectile. According to the US Army’s lethality tables the sling could inflict enough injury for serious to fatal injury ranging from broken bones to penetrating the skin. It is not at all out of the realm of possibility that David’s sling could have killed Goliath.

 The two met, Goliath more self-assured than he should have been… and David swinging his sling, Goliath just laughed waiting for the stone to bounce off his armor.

And there’s the pitch and the hit right in the middle of the forehead.  It punctured the skin and must have crashed through the skull and sunk in. Homerun! And the giant fell like a tree.

Silence must have broken out on both sides… silent amazement which gave way to the Israelites giving chase to the Philistines, and the Philistines running wee wee wee all the way home.

 David’s speech is the key to understanding.

 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied….  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

So here we sit with these voices in our lives… and what will we do.

 First, we have to Recognize that we all have giants. You are not the only one suffering with depression. You are not the only one who has lost a job. You are not the only one facing cancer.  And we all have something that is our giant.  Which brings me to step 2.

 Second, you need to "Name the  giant you are facing". You can't fight what you can’t or won’t see. As you think about this, dig a little deeper than usual.  If you live in constant fear of job loss. Maybe there is reason for that if the company is struggling, or you are not doing a good job. But often behind worries like that is fear that you are not good enough. Fear that you don’t really deserve this good job and someone will find out who you really are.   See what I mean… dig beyond the surface and be really honest with yourself. Identify your Giants.  It might be one of these 6 or something else completely.

You must face your giants. That might seem self-evident, but many times we don’t want to face our giants. We don’t want to admit we are addicted or depressed, or afraid, or unforgiving.  It is not attractive, but this is not a time for vanity. It is also not a time to run in fear.  Sometimes our biggest problem is not the problem we face, but that we won’t face our problems.

Maybe you don’t want to think about your problems because they are way too big and scarry and you think you can't solve them. Actually, you are probably right.  You can’t beat the giant by yourself because… because it is by definition giant. And we are not.    Where does our help come from, our help comes by the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth, and even made you.

But when you recognize the giant, identify the giant and face the giant you are well on your way to defeating the giant.

Well on the way, but not quite there. Don’t reach down to put on your armor. Don’t reach for your sword and javelin. Don’t strike off to slay your giants alone. You need your secret weapon, your sling and stone so to speak… You Don’t have to face those giants alone you need to trust the power of the almighty God with you.  And the giants will begin to fall.

So, take a step today.

Take a step closer and prove to yourself that giants are real, and you have one.

Take another step to see and name the giant in your life.

Take another step to look your giant in the eye and tell them I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel.

Take one last step to rise above your fear and reach out for the hand of the only Giant for whom you have room in your life… The giant loving most powerful gracious God.

 

Let’s listen to the end of voice of truth.