Ringwood Knox Parish

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Year B – Fifth Sunday After Pentecost – Facing our Goliaths

23 June 2024 - Year B - Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

Text: 1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six[a] cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 32 David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 David said, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you!” 38 Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. 41 The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” 45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.” 48 When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

New International Version - for other versions see BibleGateway.com

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Sermon - Year B – Fifth Sunday After Pentecost – Facing our Goliaths

Pastor Peter Ghalayini

The story of David and Goliath is a story that has given hope to people facing massive challenges in life.

Against all the odds this young shepherd boy with no military experience takes on a giant – a literal giant – just short of 10 feet tall. He refuses to take with him the armour of war – shields, swords, spears. Instead he relies on the armour of God:

Goliath said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down.

And so the story of David and Goliath is one of – where do we go when we are faced with problems that are too big for us to handle. King Saul didn’t understand about God fighting for him. He and his men were petrified as they looked at the size of this giant. When David arrived on the scene Saul looks at Goliath and he looks at David: “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth. David explains the fights he has had with bears and lions protecting his sheep. He says to Saul: The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine. So David didn’t look at the massive challenge ahead of him but kept his faith in God.

But it’s easy to let fear take control. Like when Peter, walking on the water, took his eyes of Jesus and focused on the storm ahead of him and began to sink. Or like the disciples today in a very similar situation. They are in a boat. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. They cry out in fear: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

Like David, Jesus wasn’t concerned about the challenge confronting him. The same wind and waves that were beating against the boat causing the disciples to fear that they were going to die – couldn’t even wake Jesus from his sleep.

Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. He gets up and like David doesn’t worry about the size of his challenger but looks directly at the wind and waves and says – “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. Every day we have the possibility of a challenging situation confronting us and we wonder how am I going to get through this

Things might start off well, like the disciples getting into a boat to sail across the sea. Something they have done many times before especially for those who were fishermen. Even David had no idea how his day would turn out. David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took provisions, and went to see his brothers as his father Jesse had commanded him to.

But then something happens and our natural instinct is to panic. How am I going to handle this. Our lives are not guaranteed to be spared stress and storm as our lives are tossed about by the waves of economic uncertainty and change, war, family issues, sickness, and death. Hardly a week goes by that we do not face the fearsome realities of these events, either impacting us personally or our neighbors or our friends in the church, and nightly the troublesome images of television news intrude into our homes from the larger world. Maybe we have prayed that night like the disciples “Lord, do you not care that we are perishing?

I look at all the reports on the rising levels of depression and anxiety that are hitting our young people who feel the world is on a collision course with destruction. It’s interesting that amount of fear that has gripped our world. Why is that? Perhaps the answer is seen in Jesus’ response to the disciples: “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Our Gospel reading shows the link between faith and fear. Is there a connection between church decline and fear increase? The opposite of faith is not doubt or unbelief; No, the opposite of faith seems to be fear. That’s the difference between King Saul and the soon to be King David. Saul feared because he didn’t have faith in God. David had faith in God so he didn’t have any fear.

We fear when we are not in control. The book of Hebrews says – faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Without faith, the things that we do not see frighten us. The unknown frightens us. But with Jesus by our side there is nothing that need frighten us. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will not be afraid for you are with me.

And that’s the surprising thing about the disciples’ fear. Jesus was with them. They mistook his sleep as lack of care when in fact his sleep meant his lack of fear. The worst that the storm could dish up – A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped – couldn’t even wake Jesus up. Do you see the irony? Do you see the sarcasm of Jesus against the worst the world could dish up. And that’s the same for us. What is the worst the world can do to you? Even if it takes away your life we have eternal life in heaven – as Paul reminds us: See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! On that very first resurrection day the disciples were still living in fear. Their fear had locked the doors to the outside world. But Jesus came in despite the locked doors and spoke those same words he spoke to the wind and the waves. Peace be with you. Jesus peace can drive out all our fear.

And Paul lists some of the fears confronting him: Afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; And Jesus’ peace replaced them with: Purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God. Not by his own strength but with the same strength David discovered against Goliath: With the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute.

So each day, be intentional in putting on the armour of God: With the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace with the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Because remember, as Paul said when speaking about the armour of God:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. But with the full armor of God, you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. And it’s why Jesus can with confidence say – “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.