o This has got to be one of
o The best known stories in all the Bible
o Sunday School teachers have been
o Telling this story to children
o Ever since most of us can remember
o In fact, it is so well known
o That the very language of the story
o Has become a part of
o Our language today
o For example, have you ever heard of
o The Amur Siberian tiger?
o It is the largest subspecies of tiger
o In the world
o Because of their size
o They need a large range
o To feed themselves
o The their popularity with poachers
o Has reduced their numbers
o To less than 100 in the wild
o One of them is 5-years old
o & Weighs over 1,200 pounds
o Now that is one big cat!
o Guess what his name is - Goliath!
o Then there is the Goliath beetle
o Which measures up to
o 8 inches long & 2 inches wide
o Or the West African Goliath frog
o It grows to over 11 inches long
o & Weighs in at over 7 pounds

o The word Goliath in the English language
o Has come to mean something really big
o Like the 1,500 foot Goliath crane
o In Glasgow, Scotland
o Or even the super-powerful
o Goliath Pentium processor
o Being used in some large computers

o The problem is that our language
o Has missed the point here, hasn't it?
o The point of the story in the Bible
o Was not that Goliath was just big
o But that he was both big & evil
o Most of the modern "Goliath's"
o I just described
o Do not fit that category
o Because they are not evil
o They are just big
o But there are plenty of modern Goliaths
o That fit that category
o Everyone of us has encountered
o Something in life
o That is both big & evil
o The real Goliath today may be
o The alcoholic driving a 2-ton car
o At 80 miles per hour
o Down U.S. 60
o Or it may be the politician
o Who promotes harmful legislation
o Because of the support of
o Some powerful, wealthy lobbyist

o Or, the institution
o That cannot bend its rules
o To do the right thing
o Even when the right thing
o Is as plain as the nose on our faces
o Of course, the real Goliath
o May also be things in nature
o Things like
o Tornados
o Floods
o Droughts
o Cancer
o Heart disease
o AIDS
o It can be the neighborhood gang
o Terrorizing the elderly
o It can be a business that destroys
o A neighborhood, or a community
o It can be an addiction
o & Of course that includes
o Both addictions to physical things
o Like drugs & alcohol
o & More commonly, addictions
o To behavioral things
o Like pornography, gambling, & over-eating
o Goliath is still alive & well today
o He still stands before us
o Taunting us
o Defying us
o Threatening us

o He is big
o He is evil
o He is here
o & He wants to destroy us

o Now Saul & the whole Israelite army
o Were terrified of Goliath
o vs. 11 says, ". . . they were terrified and deeply shaken."
o vs. 24 says, "As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright."
o I know how they felt
o In 1980, following a routine chest x-ray
o I was told I had a spot on my lung
o That looked like tuberculosis
o We were living in the Philippines
o So that was a very real possibility
o After some extensive testing I learned
o I had pulmonary sarcoidosis
o A disease that can be
o Both handicapping & deadly
o At one point I was alone
o Lynne was in the Philippines
o & I was back in Texas for testing
o It was probably the 1st time in my life
o That I consciously recognized
o My mortality
o I realized I could did
o & Possibly in the not-too-distant future

o & I admit that, for awhile anyway,
o I was scared
o That disease was a "Goliath" to me
o & I was pretty puny & weak
o In comparison
o There were no medications I could take
o It was not a cancer
o That could be battled
o With chemo or radiation
o It was just me against the disease
o So I know how Saul & his army felt
o They were scared
o & They did not know what to do
o They just cowered before Goliath
o Unable & unwilling
o To do battle with him
o & Totally uncertain about
o What the future held for them
o I know what they felt like
o & So do you
o Because many of you
o Have faced or are facing
o Your own Goliaths
o Some of you have faced or are facing
o A whole army of Goliaths
o Saul & his army cowered before Goliath
o & That is our tendency too, isn't it?

o Now the conventional spin on this story
o Casts this as a battle
o Between a runt & a giant

o It is the little guy against the big guy
o & The little guy wins
o This view says the world
o Does not need super-humans
o We need more David's, not Goliath's
o We need more run-of-the-mill runts
o Those who try to clone
o Some super-human race
o Ignore the God who seems to delight
o In little people
o Who are easy to overlook
o But who have
o All the moral ingredients
o To be "giant-killers"
o Jesus hinted at this, when He said,
o ". . . those who humble themselves will be exalted."
o & Paul drove it home, when he said,
o "God chose what is foolish in the world
o "To shame the wise;
o "God chose what is weak in the world
o To shame the strong."
o It is part of why Harry Potter is popular
o The smart & athletic little boy
o Who is also kind & virtuous
o & Who does battle with
o The evil Lord Voldemord
o It is the school nerd vs. the school bully
o It makes good drama
o & It may even have good theology
o But it is NOT the point of the story!

o When Saul & Goliath each 1st saw David
o They said, "You are only a boy . . ."
o & Although the text does not say it
o I have a feeling that was what
o Both the Israelite & the Philistine armies were saying too
o "David, you are only a boy"
o "Goliath is not only a giant."
o "He is a professional soldier."
o It is so easy to get side-tracked, isn't it?
o When everyone all around you
o Is trying to tell you
o What you can do
o & What you cannot do
o What you should do
o & What you should not do
o But David did not get side-tracked
o He knew he was a boy
o & That Goliath was a giant
o But David knew this battle
o Was not between David & Goliath
o This battle was between
o God & Goliath
o This story is not about a conflict
o Between the weak & the strong
o Between the runt & the giant
o This story is about a conflict between
o A God-fearing person
o & A God-sneering person
o David did not get distracted
o By everyone else's opinions

o When Goliath sneered at David
o David said, "You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the Name of the Lord Almighty . . ."
o This story is not about David
o God would have been perfectly happy
o If one of the Hebrew soldiers
o Had stepped forward
o To do battle with Goliath
o God did not need David
o God just needed some person of faith
o So His infinite power
o Could be brought to bear
o Against this evil giant, Goliath
o & That is what God still needs today
o There are more than enough Goliaths
o In our world
o What God needs is persons of faith
o Who are willing to stand against evil
o Wherever it arises
o The world is out there
o Trying to build bigger & better things
o Even tinkering with cloning
o In an attempt to create
o A more perfect human race
o The world might say
o We need more Goliath's
o But what we really need
o Are more David's

o What we really need are
o Persons of faith
o Who are willing to say, "Yes"
o To God's call on their lives

o But what does that look like?
o We talked earlier about
o What a modern Goliath looks like?
o What does a modern David look like?
o Shirley Guthrie,
o In her 1986 book, "Diversity in Faith, Unity in Christ"
o Described a modern David
o When she discussed now Christians
o Bear witness to
o The presence of God in the world
o To paraphrase her, a modern David
o Keeps hoping & working for changes
o In people & in institutions
o Even when others say
o Nothing can be done
o A modern David
o Is selective in choosing
o Political or economic policies
o To support, or not to support
o Even when that stand
o May threaten his or her own
o Political or economic group
o A modern David
o Is often saddened or outraged by events
o That cause some others to rejoice

o Or rejoices, when others
o Are bitterly disappointed
o A modern David
o Remains calm when others panic
o Or, is deeply disturbed
o When others are complacent
o A modern David
o Is totally indifferent
o Whether he or his church
o Gets the credit
o When causes of peace & justice & freedom
o Are being advanced
o & They are just as glad
o When it happens as the result
o Of others' efforts
o As when it happens as the result
o Of their own efforts
o A modern David
o Experiences in his or her life
o The same joys & sorrows
o The same successes & failures
o That others experience
o But they do that
o Without congratulating themselves
o On their moral or spiritual superiority
o When life is good
o & Without becoming sour or bitter
o When it is not

o A modern David
o Experiences the same
o Godlessness & godforsakenness
o That others experience
o But despite all the evidence
o To the contrary
o They keep on living by their faith
o That God is still present in the world

o Some years ago a Federal judge
o Ordered New Orleans to open its schools
o To African-American children
o The white parents decided
o If they had to let black children in
o They would keep their children out
o & They let it be known that
o Any black children who came to school
o Would be in for trouble
o So, the black children stayed home too
o Except for one
o A little girl, only 6 years old
o Named Ruby Bridges
o Every morning she walked all alone
o Through a heckling crowd
o To an empty school
o White people lined up
o On both sides of the way
o Shaking their fists at her
o & Threatening to do
o Terrible things to her
o If she kept coming to their school

o But every morning at 10 minutes to eight
o Ruby walked
o Head up, eyes ahead
o Straight through that mob
o 2 U.S. marshals walked ahead of her
o & 2 walked behind her
o Then she spent the whole day
o Alone with her teachers
o Inside that big, silent school building
o Robert Coles, a Harvard professor
o Was curious about what went into
o The making of courageous children
o Like Ruby Bridges
o He talked to Ruby's mother, who said,
o "There's a lot of people
o "Who talk about doing good;"
o "And a lot of people
o "Who argue about what's good
o "And what's not good."
o "But there are other folks
o "Who just put
o "Their lives on the line
o "For what's right."

o If you want to really know
o What a modern David looks like
o Learn about people like Ruby Bridges
o But if you would be a modern David -
o Something this world really needs -
o Act like Ruby Bridges
o Put your faith in the Lord

o Put your life on the line
o & Take a stand against
o The Goliath's that are still
o Stalking our land
o People like David & Ruby Bridges
o Make a difference
o Do you?

AMEN