Epiphany Sunday
1 Samuel 17:1-11, 32-50
1.5.2014 RUMC
Midnight came and went. The ball dropped in Times Square. Whether you
stayed up to welcome 2014 with celebrations and toasts and the singing of “Auld
Lang Syne,” or whether you (like me) welcomed the new year with a healthy dose of
REM sleep, 2014 came just the same. And when it arrived, millions of people across
our nation embraced it with that most classic of new year’s traditions: the new year’s
resolution.
It is a season of resolutions. You can tell that just by watching the commercials
on TV. One after another – advertisements for mail-order diet foods, debt relief
services, exercise equipment, online colleges, gym memberships, and more – all
designed to help Americans keep our new year’s resolutions to eat better, work out
more, go back to school, and manage our finances. It is, indeed, a season of
resolutions.
Yet in the church, today also marks the end of the Christmas season and the
start of another season – the season of Epiphany. Epiphany is a season in which we
celebrate God’s light shining in the world. It is a season in which we ask for God’s
light to shine in our lives and illuminate our paths. So really, in some ways, the
church’s season of Epiphany is the perfect time for us to consider some new
resolutions. It’s the perfect time for us to ask God to shine some light in our lives,
revealing to us the paths we should take in order to make those positive, new-year’sresolution-style changes in our lives.
But perhaps this year we can resolve to make some positive changes that go
beyond managing our dinner plates, exercise equipment, and checkbooks. In this new
year and this season of Epiphany, perhaps we can make and keep some spiritual new
year’s resolutions, too. Over these first five weeks of this new year, we’ll be doing just
that. We’ll be exploring stories of scripture, seeking wisdom as we make resolutions
that improve not only our wallets and waistlines, but also our spirits.
Prayer
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Epiphany Sunday
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In this season of light, of resolutions, of new beginnings, we look to an old
story – the story of David, the one who would become king of Israel. Now, I’ll
admit… as far as biblical characters go, I’ve never been particularly fond of David. He
is lauded by many. His deeds are praised and his character adored to the point that he
becomes larger than life, larger than legend. Even in scripture, he is described as ‘a
man after God’s own heart’ (Acts 13:22, NRSV). And yet, he is just a man… a man
who succeeds and struggles… a man with flaws… a man with considerable flaws.
Indeed, within the pages of scripture, our good King David commits adultery,
conspires murder, withholds mercy, displays prejudice, and acts with vengeance. This,
from God’s anointed king, the so-called ‘man after God’s own heart’! David is a
mixed bag. At times, he is a hero… and at other times, he is a villain.
So I’ve never been entirely comfortable with David. But I have to give him this:
When David gets it wrong, he gets it really wrong. This much is true. But when David
gets it right, he gets it really right. So throughout these five weeks, we’re going to focus
on those stories – the stories in which David really gets it right. And we’ll begin with a
story that is no doubt familiar to many of you – the story of David and Goliath.
It is one of the first Bible stories in which David appears, and we find it in the
book called 1 Samuel:
[1 Samuel 17:1-11, 32-50, NRSV]
1
Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; they were gathered at
Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. 2Saul and the Israelites gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and
formed ranks against the Philistines. 3The Philistines stood on the mountain on one
side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between
them. 4And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named
Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5He had a helmet of bronze
on his head, and he was armored with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five
thousand shekels of bronze.6He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of
bronze slung between his shoulders. 7The 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. 8He 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
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Epiphany Sunday
1 Samuel 17:1-11, 32-50
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man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9If 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.’ 10And the Philistine said, ‘Today I defy the
ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.’ 11When Saul and all Israel
heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. …
32
David said to Saul, ‘Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will
go and fight with this Philistine.’ 33Saul 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.’ 34But 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, 35I 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. 36Your 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.’ 37David 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. 39David 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. 40Then 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
42
of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was
only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43The Philistine said to David, ‘Am
I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his
gods. 44The 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.’ 45But 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. 46This
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, 47and 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 towards
the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49David 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. 50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a
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1 Samuel 17:1-11, 32-50
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sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in
David’s hand.
It’s a familiar story, common in the Sunday School lessons that I remember
from childhood. So… what spiritual new year’s resolutions can we cull from this
story, from David’s words and actions? To discover that, we must delve deeper into
the story. As the biblical narrative opens, the armies of Israel are threatened by their
recurring and relentless enemies – the Philistines.1 To avoid the utter bloodshed of allout battle, the Philistines propose a “representative” type of combat – not such an
unusual practice in the ancient world.2 They invite a single Israelite to battle a single
Philistine in armed combat. The winner of that contest will achieve victory for his
own army, while the soldiers of the opposing army will surrender and face a fate as
servants or slaves to the victors.
It’s a reasonable enough solution, perhaps… but there’s one small catch.
Actually, it’s quite a big catch. The designated warrior of the Philistines? The soldier
who will represent his army against the Israelites? He’s huge. Like… huge. Goliath of
Gath is his name, and he is a monstrous, menacing force. He stands, we’re told, a full
six cubits tall. (That’s about nine-and-a-half feet… an unreasonable, unnatural
height.3) His armor alone weighs hundreds of pounds. His weapons are massive and,
in his hands, deadly, for he has been “a warrior from his youth” (1 Samuel 17:33,
NRSV). He hurls insults at the Israelite soldiers… and they, for their part, cower in
fear before him.4 One translation reads that they “shattered” in fear before him.5 Who
wouldn’t? The man’s a giant!
Then David appears on the scene. He’s a young, good-looking shepherd boy…
but he’s hardly the military powerhouse Israel needs to battle such a Philistine
champion. He has left his flocks of sheep and traveled to the battlefield, carrying
provisions for his older brothers who serve as soldiers in King Saul’s army. The
brothers are annoyed that pesky little David has arrived at the battlefield. They think
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Epiphany Sunday
1 Samuel 17:1-11, 32-50
1.5.2014 RUMC
he has come merely for the entertainment of watching a battle, and they quickly
dismiss his presence there.
Young David, however, will not be so easily dismissed. When he hears
Goliath’s taunts and insults, and sees that no Israelite has stepped forward to fight
against him, he turns to King Saul and says, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him;
your servant will go and fight with this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:32, NRSV). He
volunteers. The young shepherd boy of Israel volunteers to fight the massive,
experienced, powerful champion of the Philistines.
To Saul and those gathered around him, David’s offer (sincere though it may
be) hardly seems like a tenable solution to their predicament. David isn’t a soldier. He
isn’t even a grown man. He’s a kid. What chance does he stand against this giant
warrior Goliath? And so, Saul turns to David and says, “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” (1 Samuel 17:33, NRSV). You are not able to go…
It is there, I think, in Saul’s perfectly reasonable response to David’s offer, that
we may just find a spiritual resolution for this new year. For what is most fascinating
about Saul’s words – the veritable “out” that he gives to this obviously headstrong
shepherd boy – is that David doesn’t follow them. David doesn’t take the “out.”
Instead, he turns back to his king and basically says: First off, I’m not as helpless as you
think. I care for my sheep. That means defending them from violent predators like lions and bears.
How is this Philistine predator any different? And then he goes on to (basically) say:
Besides… I have God on my side. This Philistine has defied and insulted the armies of God. “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” (1 Samuel 17:37a, NRSV).
Saul seems convinced by David’s argument… or, at the very least, resigned to
the fact that he has no more options. No other volunteers have stepped forward to
fight this behemoth. So he gives David his blessing: “Go, and may the LORD be with
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1 Samuel 17:1-11, 32-50
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you!” (1 Samuel 17:37b, NRSV). David arms himself with nothing more than his
shepherd’s staff, his sling, and five smooth stones – oh, and his God, can’t forget that
– and steps into “no man’s land,” the open space between the two armies, where the
Philistine giant waits to do battle.6
Now, I don’t know… maybe David walked forward fully confident, without a
wisp of doubt clouding his faith. Maybe he was absolutely, unfailingly certain that
God would deliver him from this danger, that God would give him the victory. Maybe
he never doubted, but… I don’t know… I find it a little hard to believe that David
never had even a little bit of doubt. If I had to guess, I would imagine that at some
point, as he drew nearer and nearer to the gigantic Philistine, some part of David’s
mind may have given way to some entirely reasonable and somewhat doubtful
thoughts. I imagine that some part of his inner monologue would have sounded like
this: What am I doing? Why am I here? Why didn’t I just stay home with the sheep? Why did I
open my big mouth? Look at that guy! I’m the size of his right leg! I can’t do this! Why did I think I
could do this?
Maybe he didn’t think of any of that. Maybe he just smiled or prayed or
breathed deeply. Maybe he had no doubts… but I find that hard to believe. I find it
hard to believe that not one hesitant or doubtful thought entered David’s mind. But if
it did – if at any time, David thought: This is crazy! I can’t do this! – he ignored it. And
when Saul said: You’re too young, too small, too inexperienced. You can’t do this!” Well, he
ignored that too. He ignored whatever nay-sayers were around him, and whatever
nay-sayers might have been in his head, and walked towards a giant.
Now, we know how the story ends. David is victorious. He defeats the gigantic
Goliath with a single stone, launched from his slingshot, and walks away unscathed.
But today, that victory is not the most important part of the story for me. Today, I’m
far more interested in the ways that David ignored Saul’s nay-saying (and perhaps his
own internal nay-saying) and walked with God towards a giant.
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Epiphany Sunday
1 Samuel 17:1-11, 32-50
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It is a new year. It is a time when many of us look forward, with hope, to the
twelve months that lie ahead. It is also a time when many of us face some very real
giants – those major struggles and insufficiencies in our lives that cause us to make
new year’s resolutions in the first place. It is a time when we face all sorts of giants:
our struggles with money, substances, food, weight, health, unrealized dreams,
relationships with others, and relationships with God. We face these giants all the
time… but especially at the start of a new year.
Perhaps you’ve resolved to face some of those giants before. Perhaps you’ve
resolved to face some this year. And perhaps you have some nay-sayers. Perhaps your
nay-sayers are other people – family and friends who roll their eyes and say: Yeah… big
changes… heard that before. You know you can’t do this. Or perhaps your nay-sayers are
mostly in your own head, that running inner monologue that says: This is too much. I
can’t do this. Why did I think I could do this? If that’s the case for you, in this season of
new beginnings and new resolutions and old giants, I invite you to follow David’s
example as he walked towards his giant, slingshot in hand. Tune out all of your naysayers (even the ones in your own head) and face that giant with confidence.
As I was planning this sermon, I was continually reminded of one of Noah’s
books. It’s a classic children’s story, some eighty years old. Perhaps you’ve read it, or
read it to someone, yourself: The Little Engine that Could. You know the story: a train
engine carrying toys and treats breaks down, unable to reach the boys and girls on the
other side of the mountain. Engine after engine passes by, either too big or too
important or too tired to stop and help. Finally, a little blue engine passes by and takes
on the challenging – dare I say “gigantic”? – task of pulling the toys and treats over
the mountain, repeating the now-familiar phrase “I think I can.”7
Perhaps, as we try to model our strong, resolved, new-year’s-resolution making
after David’s example, perhaps those words can be our words. Perhaps we can replace
all of our inner and outer nay-saying with that familiar children’s book phrase: “I
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think I can.” Or, better yet, perhaps we can replace all of that nay-saying with an even
more powerful phrase: “With God I can.” With God I can.
Now, overcoming those giants won’t be as simple as repeating that little phrase.
God isn’t a genie-in-a-bottle, serving at our beck and call. When we say jump, God
doesn’t say “how high?”. And God isn’t a mere lucky rabbit’s foot. That’s not how
God works. But what God does do is give us the strength and confidence to face those
challenging giants in our lives. “With God I can.” Throughout this five-week
“Resolve” sermon series, that God-given strength and confidence will be the
foundation on which we form all of our spiritual new year’s resolutions.
So this year, may you resolve to face your giants, whatever they may be, like a
shepherd boy named David. May you tune out the nay-sayers – those gathered around
you and those in your own head. May you confidently face your giants with Godgiven strength. In this new year, in this season of new beginnings, may I echo King
Saul, saying, “Go, and may the LORD be with you!” (1 Samuel 17:37b, NRSV). And
may we all echo David (in spirit, if not necessarily in voice), saying, “With God I can!”
Prayer
Bruce C. Birch, “The Book of 1 Samuel: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections” in The New Interpreter’s Bible: A
Commentary in Twelve Volumes, vol. 2, ed. Leander E. Keck et. al. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), 1109.
2 Ibid.
3 Everett Fox, Give us a King! Samuel, Saul, and David (New York: Schocken Books, 1999), 84.
4 Robert Alter, The David Story (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1999), 102.
5 Fox, King, 85.
6 Ibid., 84.
7 Watty Piper, The Little Engine That Could (New York: Platt & Munk, 1990).
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