June 24th:
Call: Psalm 9 (749) Text: 1 Samuel 17 (entire chapter) The Real Big Guy David and Goliath! You know the story! I know the story! Christians and Jews throughout the entire world know the story. In fact, I'll bet this story is better known By people who have never set foot in a church or a synagogue By people who have never even opened a Bible Than any other scripture. And I'll bet too that the terms "David and Goliath" are used on secular occasions Sporting events, political campaigns Contests of all sorts More than any other scripture terms. This morning, I'd like to read the story to you. [1 Samuel 17] When the story ends, don't you just want to stand up and cheer. This little guy - a mere boy - Stood up to a human menace so large that King Saul and his soldiers were too intimidated to face him. And cowered before him. And not only did this little guy stand up to that giant menace He "whupped" him good! He knocked him down and he destroyed him No longer were the Israelites going to quake in fear of Goliath. If we were not so constrained by trying to exercise refinement and proper decorum in the sanctuary, You and I would have leaped to our feet and shouted "Hallelujah!" "Great job David!" "Take that, you Philistines!" And hopefully "Thank you God!" We feel like applauding, laughing, dancing, and crying. We feel like getting on our computers and our notebooks, and our cell phones and contacting others with the good news "Let me tell you about what David did." [pause] This joy and excitement is a lot different than what we felt last week. For that week's scripture about God getting upset with Saul Got us upset with God. Upset Because we didn't think it fair for God to be so angry at Saul for sparing rather than killing the Amalekite king Upset Because we didn't think it fair for God to be so angry at Saul for not slaughtering all of the Amalekite animals Instead bringing the best home to offer as a sacrifice to the very God who was so upset over it that he told Samuel "I regret having made Saul king." And it was only after we came to understand that what God was angry about was Saul's having substituted his own judgment For God's judgment. That we could begrudgingly accept the scripture. And start taking its lesson to heart. Last week we didn't have any desire to cheer. This week, we can scarcely restrain ourselves. But I would suggest that a subtle danger lurks in our enthusiastic and often uncritical response to David's dramatic and inspiring victory over Goliath. For it is very easy to cheer God for being on our side And so, as we hear this story we cheer what we perceive as God being on the side of David and the Israelites. It is easy to cheer God for being on the side we want to win Whether in sports, in politics, in arguments - or in war. This week marks the sesquicentennial of the death of Samuel Marsh Physician, teacher, and Methodist preacher Part of our congregation Who was mortally wounded several hundred miles south of here In Gaines Mill, VA At the end of June 1862 During a battle of a war that pitted brother against brother With each army believing that God was on its side. Thinking that God is on our side is backwards reasoning It is selfish and self centered thinking It is an ignorant approach to our relationship with God. For the question is not whether God is on our side The question is whether we are on God's side. When we ask the wrong question, it is the equivalent of thinking That God works for us Instead of understanding That we work for God. I believe that this faulty way of thinking poisons our relationship And lessens our love, our respect, and our obedience for our God. I believe that if we are to call ourselves Christians We have to get this question right And that we then have to strive to answer the correct question By figuring out what it is that God wants us to do And who it is that God wants us to be. We want to do that, but we can't if we ask the wrong question. For the past five Sundays,we've been preparing to get the question right On the first of those Sundays Christ at his ascension told us, charged us, and commissioned us To be his witnesses and to make disciples for him. On the second of those Sundays The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples Empowering them and empowering us Assuring them and assuring us That we could do what we were charged to do. On the third We met ourselves in a man named Nicodemus Who sought to follow Christ But who struggled because he thought like a human being And apparently struggled successfully for he was the one who helped Joseph of Arimathea place Jesus in the tomb. We talked that day about beginning our graduate work or on the job training. Using Nicodemus as an example of who we are and how we think and as an example of who we can be if we keep seeking and struggling. Then on the fourth and fifth Sundays We encountered ourselves again First in the Israelites demanding a king And then in Saul, the first of those kings Learning that we often Both collectively and individually Substitute our judgment for God's And now today we discover in one of the best known scriptural stories The fatal flaw in our relationship with God: Our desiring to have God on our side Instead of desiring that we be on God's side. It is essential that we recognize our flawed way of approaching our relationship with God If we do, And if we put our minds to our graduate work or on the job training With prayer and worship With serving, giving, and loving In a way that demonstrates that we understand that what we do to the least of the people we do to Christ, Then like Nicodemus We will come to understand what we should do And will become effective witnesses and disciple makers For Jesus Christ. Goliath was a really big man and he lost God is the Real Big "Man" and God always wins I for one, want to be on God's side