(Slide 1) (The sermon began with the Reader’s Theater piece ‘The Boy King’ published by Carson-Dellosa Christian Publishing.)
(Slide 2) Have you slain any giants lately? I am not talking about the New York Giants (especially if you are New England Patriots fan) or the San Francisco Giants. I am talking about situations and even, yes even, people that seem impossible to deal with and resolve.
Then there are the inner giants – attitudes and dispositions that we are constantly doing battle with which challenge us and mock us like Goliath mocked David and ancient Israel. Fear, anxiety, anger, control, and the like can cause us to freeze up just like the Israelites did with Goliath. Listen this morning to the main text from which part of our reader’s theater story was taken. It is 1 Samuel 17:38-50:
“Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. “I can’t go in these,” he protested. “I’m not used to them.” So he took them off again. He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across to fight Goliath.
Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.
David shouted in reply, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone will know that the Lord does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The Lord will give you to us!”
As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it from his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face downward to the ground.
So David triumphed over the Philistine giant with only a stone and sling. And since he had no sword, he ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill the giant and cut off his head.’
As we go through this story here are some things for us to remember, believe, and apply as it relates to slaying our giants:
(Slide 3) First, we will always have them around until we die or Christ returns.
(Slide 4) I shared this slide with you a few weeks ago and it is from Anderson University School of Theology professor Guy Brewer. Notice the names given by Dr Brewer to our spiritual formation: decisions, disciplines, dispositions, and doxology. We face inner and outer giants at each place on this rhythm or journey of our lives (and as a congregation as well.)
The ‘Inner Giants’ of fear, anger, hate, anxiety, and the like are a part of our lives at every turn and point. The ‘Outer Giants’ of ridicule, conflict, opposition, disagreement, and the like are likewise at every turn as we move through life. Why? It is because of the fallen and broken world that we live in.
Jesus said to the disciples in the hours before His death and crucifixion In John 15:21, ‘The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me…’ As we follow the Lord we face the giants of ridicule, mockery, and out right hostility because we have chosen to follow the Lord and live a certain way. It convicts some who decide to try and tear us down. It creates hostility in others who will attack us, sometimes physically, because they are either under conviction or under a strong influence by Satan.
The Inner Giants come from our fallen and warped character. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about some specific sins which are inner giants, what we could call character defects: anger, lust, revenge, and resentment. And as He continues His ministry, He reminds His audience that rules and rituals are not the source of our fallenness but that our very broken and flawed hearts are as we read in Matthew 15:15-20: ‘Then Peter asked Jesus, “Explain what you meant when you said people aren’t defiled by what they eat.”
“Don’t you understand?” Jesus asked him. “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes out of the body. But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands could never defile you and make you unacceptable to God!”
Later in the New Testament this same Peter reminds us of the importance of building a God-honoring character as we read in 2 Peter 1:5-9: ‘So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence.
A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.
The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin.’
David faced other giants in his life. A couple of them were character defects and choices that caused him to grievously sin against God.
I would note that in verse 28 that his brother Eliab says to David when he arrives at the army’s camp, ‘I know about your pride and dishonesty. You just want to see the battle!’ A very prophetic statement is it not because pride and dishonesty were a part of his terrible fall during his reign as king.
We will always be facing giants in our life. We cannot live in denial about it. However… (slide 5) we cannot and must not face them in our own strength… but in God’s strength.
David’s actions and attitudes in our main text are very instructive for us. Let’s first look at his actions.
In verses 38 and 39 we read that Saul gave David his armor to fight Goliath. But, we note in verse 40, “I can’t go in these,” he protested. “I’m not used to them.” So he took them off again. He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across to fight Goliath.
David worked with what he had been trained to work with. Now, there are times, more than we are comfortable with, when we are challenged to use something different in our lives and it feels unfamiliar and uncomfortable. We have to get out of comfort zones and it is hard. But most of the time we use a reliable supply of skills and abilities that, over time, help us go from day to day.
David, who fought and defeated Goliath in the name of the Lord, could not use Saul’s armor and weapons because he was not used to them. To us, knowing the whole story, he was pretty much out of his comfort zone in facing Goliath but not only did he rely on God’s power and ability to fight Goliath, he used what was familiar to him.
There is a lesson here for us. It is not the spectacular that makes the difference. The spectacular often hinders us. It is the simple, in God’s hands and used under the Lord’s power and guidance that more often than not makes the difference.
David’s choice to use the skills and the tools that he was already familiar with, against some one much more powerful in many ways, mirrors our lives. We encounter the same kinds of situations. We run up against powerful people, powerful situations, powerful temptations and we often seek to match them with power for power.
What would have happened if David would have used Saul’s armor and weapons? He probably would have died.
But what might have happened if he won? Would he have given credit to God or taken the credit himself?
David’s choice of weapons is mirrored in his attitude he had toward Goliath and the whole situation. He did not go in his name, or the name of King Saul or even in the name of his country. He went in the name of the Lord!
Verse 45 and forward, “David shouted, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone will know that the Lord does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The Lord will give you to us!”
And everyone will know that the Lord does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The Lord will give you to us! And Goliath got one tremendous headache.
David by his attitude, his frame of mind and the choice he made to use the simple and familiar, tied in to God’s power and a taunting, godless giant was defeated.
Have any giants that need to be defeated? Have some situations that seem to be blocking the path that the Lord wants you to take? Have some character issues which are causing you to stumble and fall? Are there those that seem to create more and more difficulties for you?
Place your self in the Lord’s hands. Seek to move ahead in His time and His power. Use what skills and abilities God has given you to develop. Go in His name.
As we prepare for probably the most important vote in our history, I would have us think about this story as well.
There will be giants to deal with in the future. I can think of two right now: fear and impatience. We have faced them before.
We, unless God moves as He could, are not going to get out there in a year. It might be 5 or 6 or 7 years. It has taken nearly 5 years to come to this point of buying property. We have faced giants in the path that we began nearly 7 years ago when we voted to study our options as it related to this facility and our needs for a suitable facility. One big one was the long stretches of inactivity and another was the multiple times other offers were turned down.
But here we are! On the verge of starting a new chapter in our church’s history, (Slide 6) much like Joshua! Let us be strong and courageous and follow the Lord! Let us walk by faith in the moments ahead and trust God to do what is right and honoring to Him for our God is a powerful God. Amen.
