As a child, I loved to read and hear the
David and Goliath story, and I enjoyed telling it to my own daughters when they
were children. It is one of my
favorite Bible stories. At one
level, this story is about the triumph of the underdog. I find myself cheering
for the underdog in sports playoffs. (Well, I did grow up near Houston
and it seemed like the Astros were always the underdog!) I find myself cheering for the underdog
in love stories. (In my favorite TV show, the Big Bang Theory, I have celebrated
as each of 3 of the 4 geeky scientists have found love. Now we just gotta find Raj a
girlfriend.) Even in some
elections I find myself cheering for the underdog, (supporting the grass-roots
contender over the candidate sponsored by corporations and lobbies with deep
pockets). Perhaps one of the reasons I find myself cheering for the underdog is
my deep-rooted connection with this Biblical narrative.
While
I probably connected with the “triumph of the underdog” theme when I heard this
story as a child, when I told it to my children, I told it as a story of faith—faith
in God, faith put into action, and faith over fear.
Faith
in God: Underlying all he says and all he does in this narrative is David’s
faith in God—his firm and certain knowledge of God’s power and benevolence—knowledge
not only in his head but also in his heart. From the very core of his being—David knows—David knows God’s
presence, provision, and protection.
Shocked by Goliath’s taunting the Israelite army, scandalized by Goliath’s
defiance of God Almighty, and surprised by the inaction of the Israelites,
David demands of the soldiers, “This giant is trash-talking our God. Who is going to do something about it?” Arguing with King Saul about fighting Goliath,
David recalls God’s presence with him tending his sheep. Interpolating God’s past provision and
protection as a foundation for relying on God in the present and future, David declares
his statement of faith. To Saul he
says, the 37 God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the
bear, will deliver me from this Philistine." And to Goliath, he
shouts, 45 "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, (NRSV) David has strong faith that God,
the Almighty is with his servant, David, and God will deliver him from the
clutches of this giant.
Faith
put into action: One of the
things that strikes me about this story is the contrast between being
entrenched and being unencumbered.
The 2 armies are entrenched.
Camped on 2 hills facing each other with a valley between, the
Israelites and the Philistines are planted. For 6 weeks, Goliath has been marching into the valley each
day to issue his challenge to the Israelites. Each day, their feet become more firmly mired in the ground
where they are. Each day,
they become less likely to advance out into that valley. Goliath, the Philistine champion, Saul,
the Israelite king, and the other professional soldiers wear armor, carry a
shield, and wield sword and spear. They are weighed down—entrenched, if you
will—by the trappings of war. But
not David. Unarmed and without armor, no longer burdened even with the care
packages he brought for his brothers, David is unencumbered. His hands are free
to pick up ammunition. His legs are free to run at the unsuspecting giant. His arms are free to sling stones. Unencumbered by the traditional
trappings of war; unencumbered by what his physical senses tell him (he doesn’t
fixate on the fearsome sight or thunderous words of the giant); unencumbered by
fear, David is free to respond in faith.
Unencumbered, David is free to respond with the unseen but known
presence of God. Unencumbered,
David is free to respond with outside-the-box strategy. Unencumbered, David is free to respond—he is not stuck in the mud.
Faith
over fear: When we allow fear to grab hold of us, we find ourselves losing
our faith. Just as King Saul and
the rest of the Israelite army feared the giant, Goliath, we often fear the
giants we face, the giants that mock and deride us. What or who are the giants who challenge you? financial
troubles, broken or unsatisfying relationships, addictions, health issues?
In
1975 my Daddy was diagnosed with manic-depressive disorder. This giant mocked and derided him for
28 years. From time to time this
giant would succeed in taking my Daddy away from me and placing before me
someone else—someone who had difficulty attending even to brief conversations,
someone who could not recall some of my best memories, someone who seemed
distant. It was easy to be afraid
during those times—to be afraid that this giant would defeat us—that my Daddy
was gone for good. It was easy to
be afraid during those times—to be afraid that this giant would return to
torment others in our family—that my daughters or I would someday suffer from
this disease which can be inherited.
It was easy to be afraid during those times—to be afraid that we faced
this giant alone.
But
most of the time, the medications kept Daddy’s chemistry in balance and the psychiatric
sessions helped him balance his emotions and how he might choose to respond to
them. And in those times—the good
times, we recognized and claimed God’s presence with us. We became
unencumbered. During those 28
years, we learned to define healing not only in physical terms but also in
mental, emotional, and spiritual terms. We became unencumbered. Eschewing the stigma of mental illness
in the small town, southeast Texas culture of the 1970s, we let go of the need
for secrecy. We shared my Dad’s
illness, and others joined us in facing up to this giant. We became unencumbered. We let go of the need for a complete,
long-term cure, and we celebrated even short periods of health and wholeness.
Just
about every time my dad experienced a manic episode, I would become fearful
again. And like the disciples
crossing the Sea of Galilee in today’s gospel reading, I would demand of God, “Don’t you care that we are drowning—drowning
in this storm of mental illness?” “God,
Don’t you care what’s happening to Daddy?” When my Daddy died, I railed at God again—“God, did you even care what
happened to Daddy over all those years?”
And a couple of days after his death, reading all the scriptures my
Daddy had underlined in his Bible, I came across Romans 8: 38 – 39—one of my
own favorite scriptures. I read my
Dad’s statement of faith. I read
my Dad’s affirmation of Paul’s claim that nothing can separate us from God’s
love. And a great sense of peace
came over me, for I realized—Of course God cares . . . God was with my Daddy in
the boat that crossed the storm-tossed sea of his mental illness. With every wave that crashed against
that boat, God was holding onto my Daddy’s hand—not letting the waves
wash him overboard, but keeping him in the boat. With every gust of wind that may have
blown my Daddy down, God was holding onto him, keeping him in the
boat.
Daddy
always said our vision is 20/20 in hindsight. Looking back, I see God with us in the storm-tossed
boat. So now, when like David, I
face a giant, I can claim the God, who
delivered my Daddy from the teeth of mania and the claws of depression, will
deliver me from whatever giant that challenges me.
Sometimes,
like the disciples, we cry out, “God, don’t you care, what’s happening to
us? Don’t you care that we’re
drowning?” Of course God
cares. God cares so much that God
is in the boat with us. Riding out
the storms of broken relationships and financial troubles. God’s presence reminds us, “Do not be
afraid. You are not alone.” We cry out, “God, don’t you care, what’s
happening to us? Do you even see
these giants who are mocking and deriding us, challenging our faith in you?” Of course God cares. God cares so much, that God is standing
right beside us, facing down the giants of illness and addictions with us. God’s presence reminds us, “Do not be
afraid. You are not alone.” For nothing—neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8: 37 – 38) Let
us pray:
Give
us faith, O God—to ride out the storms of life and to face the giants that
challenge us—knowing you are with us.
Help us walk the paths of our life by faith and not by sight. Amen.
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