Giants In Your Way
Sermon
THE WAY OF THE KING
Sermons For Pentecost (First Third)
The hand of the Philistines was heavy upon Israel. The Philistines were an overwhelming, oppressive, intrusive presence in the land. They threatened to take away everything the people of Israel held dear. They threatened life itself, for death followed in their wake as they ravaged the land. Just when Saul and his armies were poised to drive the Philistines out of the land, Goliath appeared - a giant standing in their way.
Faced with the Philistines and their giant, Goliath, Saul and his people were feeling oppressed. Just as happens to us when we see giants in our way, insurmountable, impassable, uncooperative giants of opposition and disagreement, of competition and rejection, for Saul and his people oppression soon turned into depression. And as also happens with us, Saul and his people didn't know what to do, so they did nothing. Depression does that to you - it immobilizes you. Day after day they sat in their tents and sulked, as Goliath came out and issued his challenge.
A minister of my acquaintance was so overwhelmed and depressed by contentious and demanding people, a dying church and a failing ministry, that one morning he simply stayed in bed. He stayed in bed for several days, hardly moving, not talking, his face turned to the wall. And there are days when that doesn't sound like such a bad idea to many of us. I have heard it said that one in four of the people we meet at any given time is experiencing some level of depression.
So Saul and his people sat in their tents, immobilized by their fears and their anxieties, immobilized by the very sight of this giant, standing in their way. Did you notice that was exactly what happened: they were immobilized by their fear of Goliath - not by anything the giant had done to them. Not one single soldier of the people of Israel had been defeated in battle by Goliath, because not one single soldier of the people of Israel had overcome his fear long enough to fight Goliath. Not yet. They were not depressed because of what the giant had done to them, they were depressed just because he was there.
Like so many giants which confront us, which keep us from doing the things we dream of doing, which tell us, "It can't be done" before we even try, Goliath went unchallenged. Like so many of the giants which confront us, Goliath didn't win by strength of sword and spear, but by anxiety and fear.
What was the root of the fear experienced by Saul and his army? It was that the giant would defeat them. How did they know he could defeat them? Goliath told them so. Perhaps that is the root of our problem and our depression as well, that we listen overmuch to our giants.
But worse than that, we ourselves do some of the giants' work for them. Goliath's boasting was bad enough, but it was nothing compared to the way Saul's men let their fears grow within them in the dark hours of the night. In the anxious minds of fearful soldiers Goliath grew taller and taller, until this very large man turned into a giant indeed.
When we are depressed, we are our own worst enemies. When we are depressed, we often won't talk about our fears to anyone. And the more we talk to ourselves alone, the more those fears grow and grow, until they're giant-size. Faced with Goliath, Saul sulked silently in his tent. When David finally came on the scene, David talked. David talked and talked and talked. He talked so much his brother Eliab finally told him to keep quiet, but David kept talking anyway. By the time he talked with Saul, David had talked that giant down to a manageable size - to a size David thought he could manage. "Let no one's heart fail because of (this giant); your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." (1 Samuel 17:32)
Saul at first said, "No way, you can't do it, you're just a boy." But David kept talking Saul's fears down, and after awhile some little spark of something Saul hardly recognized any more started to grow in Saul. It had been so long since he had felt any of it in himself, Saul didn't quite recognize that spark for what it was, just a little bit of hope growing inside him. Talking helped. Just like talking helps us, when we're depressed, to get our fears sorted out and to get in touch with reality. There is no greater gift anyone can receive than to have a friend who will listen to us when we're depressed, a friend who will talk with us and help us sort out just how big those giants are or are not. Talk about them with a friend and you may find the whole way you look at your giants is changing.
So David talked and Saul began to hope. Saul still didn't quite believe it, but there was something about this boy. Then David reminded Saul of something important - something Saul and all of Israel had apparently forgotten: that God also has a part in our battles with giants.
David the shepherd 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." (1 Samuel 17:17a)
So if talking is our first line of defense in our struggle with depression, remembering is just as important, or more so, for what we are remembering is that we are not alone. We don't face these giants alone, and we never have. So remember the times God has been with us in the past (through troubles that looked like giants then) and we survived - more than survived!
When I remember times when I have lain awake at night - tossing and turning, worrying about troubles that threatened to overwhelm me - I realize now that I was never alone. There was always someone who helped me through. Sometimes the experience of getting through felt like a victory and other times it felt like a defeat, but I was never alone. So Saul caught a little bit of David's hope and a little bit of David's faith, maybe by remembering what it was like back in times when the Lord had been with him also. Saul said: "Go ahead. I don't know what you can do, but go ahead."
"And may the Lord be with you." - 1 Samuel 17:37b
Then Saul gave David his armor, thinking at least he could do that, for if you were going to fight a giant everyone knew the way you fought a giant was to put on the most protection you could wear, pick up the biggest sword in sight, and go bang away at him. But it was ridiculous, it was a ludicrous sight: little David standing there with Saul's huge armor draped all over him every which way, and the helmet that kept sliding over his eyes so he couldn't see. David finally said "No, I'm sure you mean well and I'm grateful, but I can't wear this, I'll just take my staff and my sling and these five smooth stones, and go fight the giant."
I'm sure that someone standing nearby said: "You can't do that. We've never done it that way before." They were partly right. It never had been done that way. But it was about to be. Saul was the past, Goliath was now, but David was the future. New challenges require new resources and new tools to do a new job. To wear Saul's armor would have meant fighting Goliath on Goliath's terms and David would have surely died had he tried that.
To face up to the giants that oppress us and depress us needs new ways of thinking. Most of the giants life puts in our path are not illusions - they are very real and really threatening. But most of them will fall easier than they would like us to believe. We just need to figure out some new ways of getting at them or around them, which of course takes exactly the kind of creative thinking that depression inhibits us from doing, just because we are so depressed.
So we talk, and we remember, and we find new ways of thinking: hopeful, faithful, trust-filled ways of thinking. And along the way we pick up five smooth stones.
The rest of the story is almost anti-climactic - right up to and including the time Goliath took his great fall. The real battle, which decided who would win or lose, took place back in the tent of Saul, before David ever set foot on the field. Just as our great battle is in our own hearts and minds, with our fears and anxieties and depressions; we: talk, remember, hope, know we are not alone, trust God who has saved us before, and find new strategies.
That is how the battle is won. By the time you step out on the field and face your giants, you have already won. By the time David said, "I come ... in the name of the Lord of hosts," the battle was over. When the giant was gone, Saul's day was gone too. The days of David had begun.
Forgive us, O Lord, for those times when we are overwhelmed, and life puts giants in our path, and we do not know where to turn. Forgive us for forgetting to turn to you. Forgive us for doubting that you have the strength or will to conquer whatever giants life throws before us. Help us to learn to turn again, to accept the strength you offer, to hear the word you speak and to accept the new possibilities you hold out for us each day. In the name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.
Faced with the Philistines and their giant, Goliath, Saul and his people were feeling oppressed. Just as happens to us when we see giants in our way, insurmountable, impassable, uncooperative giants of opposition and disagreement, of competition and rejection, for Saul and his people oppression soon turned into depression. And as also happens with us, Saul and his people didn't know what to do, so they did nothing. Depression does that to you - it immobilizes you. Day after day they sat in their tents and sulked, as Goliath came out and issued his challenge.
A minister of my acquaintance was so overwhelmed and depressed by contentious and demanding people, a dying church and a failing ministry, that one morning he simply stayed in bed. He stayed in bed for several days, hardly moving, not talking, his face turned to the wall. And there are days when that doesn't sound like such a bad idea to many of us. I have heard it said that one in four of the people we meet at any given time is experiencing some level of depression.
So Saul and his people sat in their tents, immobilized by their fears and their anxieties, immobilized by the very sight of this giant, standing in their way. Did you notice that was exactly what happened: they were immobilized by their fear of Goliath - not by anything the giant had done to them. Not one single soldier of the people of Israel had been defeated in battle by Goliath, because not one single soldier of the people of Israel had overcome his fear long enough to fight Goliath. Not yet. They were not depressed because of what the giant had done to them, they were depressed just because he was there.
Like so many giants which confront us, which keep us from doing the things we dream of doing, which tell us, "It can't be done" before we even try, Goliath went unchallenged. Like so many of the giants which confront us, Goliath didn't win by strength of sword and spear, but by anxiety and fear.
What was the root of the fear experienced by Saul and his army? It was that the giant would defeat them. How did they know he could defeat them? Goliath told them so. Perhaps that is the root of our problem and our depression as well, that we listen overmuch to our giants.
But worse than that, we ourselves do some of the giants' work for them. Goliath's boasting was bad enough, but it was nothing compared to the way Saul's men let their fears grow within them in the dark hours of the night. In the anxious minds of fearful soldiers Goliath grew taller and taller, until this very large man turned into a giant indeed.
When we are depressed, we are our own worst enemies. When we are depressed, we often won't talk about our fears to anyone. And the more we talk to ourselves alone, the more those fears grow and grow, until they're giant-size. Faced with Goliath, Saul sulked silently in his tent. When David finally came on the scene, David talked. David talked and talked and talked. He talked so much his brother Eliab finally told him to keep quiet, but David kept talking anyway. By the time he talked with Saul, David had talked that giant down to a manageable size - to a size David thought he could manage. "Let no one's heart fail because of (this giant); your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." (1 Samuel 17:32)
Saul at first said, "No way, you can't do it, you're just a boy." But David kept talking Saul's fears down, and after awhile some little spark of something Saul hardly recognized any more started to grow in Saul. It had been so long since he had felt any of it in himself, Saul didn't quite recognize that spark for what it was, just a little bit of hope growing inside him. Talking helped. Just like talking helps us, when we're depressed, to get our fears sorted out and to get in touch with reality. There is no greater gift anyone can receive than to have a friend who will listen to us when we're depressed, a friend who will talk with us and help us sort out just how big those giants are or are not. Talk about them with a friend and you may find the whole way you look at your giants is changing.
So David talked and Saul began to hope. Saul still didn't quite believe it, but there was something about this boy. Then David reminded Saul of something important - something Saul and all of Israel had apparently forgotten: that God also has a part in our battles with giants.
David the shepherd 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." (1 Samuel 17:17a)
So if talking is our first line of defense in our struggle with depression, remembering is just as important, or more so, for what we are remembering is that we are not alone. We don't face these giants alone, and we never have. So remember the times God has been with us in the past (through troubles that looked like giants then) and we survived - more than survived!
When I remember times when I have lain awake at night - tossing and turning, worrying about troubles that threatened to overwhelm me - I realize now that I was never alone. There was always someone who helped me through. Sometimes the experience of getting through felt like a victory and other times it felt like a defeat, but I was never alone. So Saul caught a little bit of David's hope and a little bit of David's faith, maybe by remembering what it was like back in times when the Lord had been with him also. Saul said: "Go ahead. I don't know what you can do, but go ahead."
"And may the Lord be with you." - 1 Samuel 17:37b
Then Saul gave David his armor, thinking at least he could do that, for if you were going to fight a giant everyone knew the way you fought a giant was to put on the most protection you could wear, pick up the biggest sword in sight, and go bang away at him. But it was ridiculous, it was a ludicrous sight: little David standing there with Saul's huge armor draped all over him every which way, and the helmet that kept sliding over his eyes so he couldn't see. David finally said "No, I'm sure you mean well and I'm grateful, but I can't wear this, I'll just take my staff and my sling and these five smooth stones, and go fight the giant."
I'm sure that someone standing nearby said: "You can't do that. We've never done it that way before." They were partly right. It never had been done that way. But it was about to be. Saul was the past, Goliath was now, but David was the future. New challenges require new resources and new tools to do a new job. To wear Saul's armor would have meant fighting Goliath on Goliath's terms and David would have surely died had he tried that.
To face up to the giants that oppress us and depress us needs new ways of thinking. Most of the giants life puts in our path are not illusions - they are very real and really threatening. But most of them will fall easier than they would like us to believe. We just need to figure out some new ways of getting at them or around them, which of course takes exactly the kind of creative thinking that depression inhibits us from doing, just because we are so depressed.
So we talk, and we remember, and we find new ways of thinking: hopeful, faithful, trust-filled ways of thinking. And along the way we pick up five smooth stones.
The rest of the story is almost anti-climactic - right up to and including the time Goliath took his great fall. The real battle, which decided who would win or lose, took place back in the tent of Saul, before David ever set foot on the field. Just as our great battle is in our own hearts and minds, with our fears and anxieties and depressions; we: talk, remember, hope, know we are not alone, trust God who has saved us before, and find new strategies.
That is how the battle is won. By the time you step out on the field and face your giants, you have already won. By the time David said, "I come ... in the name of the Lord of hosts," the battle was over. When the giant was gone, Saul's day was gone too. The days of David had begun.
Forgive us, O Lord, for those times when we are overwhelmed, and life puts giants in our path, and we do not know where to turn. Forgive us for forgetting to turn to you. Forgive us for doubting that you have the strength or will to conquer whatever giants life throws before us. Help us to learn to turn again, to accept the strength you offer, to hear the word you speak and to accept the new possibilities you hold out for us each day. In the name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.
