Take a poll in the Sunday School. “What’s your favorite Bible story.
The boys will say “David and Goliath”! That was my favorite as a boy.
When I was a boy in Sunday School they offered David and Goliath in comic book
format. It fed my fantasies: nice clean-cut little boy goes out to slay
the evil giant who threatens his family, his town, the good church people.
Psychologists would have a field day with that!
What are the “giants” a boy has to slay to enter manhood?
Now I read the story and I laugh - not at the reality of giants, and not
at David’s childish faith, but at his feeble efforts to wear Saul’s armor!
Picture it. Goliath snorts and growls and hooks his thumbs in his T-shirt
saying PHILISTINES. He trash talks the Israelite and their God.
The Israelites tremble and run for cover. David, the brash little shepherd
boy, bringing water for his older brother, pipes up: “I’ll go!” So Saul
puts the king’s own armor on him -- six sizes too large (remember Saul was anointed
king because he was “head and shoulders” bigger than everybody else) -- and
David staggers around, barely able to stand up, in a helmet that covers his
eyes and a suit so heavy he can’t walk a straight line.
When we try to live somebody else’s life, when we try to meet somebody else’s
expectations . . . we are awkward and uncertain. Saul’s armor doesn’t
fit David and so it doesn’t protect him.
David takes off the king’s armor. “Can’t do it,” he says. “I’ve
got to do this on my own.”
Wellll, that’s not exactly what he says. David says, “Me and God, we’ll
do this together.”
So, armed with nothing but his slingshot and his faith, he sets out to meet
Goliath’s challenge. He reaches down and selects five smooth stones
to use in his slingshot. He puts them in the little leather pouch he carries
at his belt and off he goes to engage the giant.
That’s what I want to talk about this morning.
Those five smooth stones.
What are the five smooth stones you carry . . . when you face life’s challenges?
The giants...
Forty-four years ago we arrived in Berkeley, California. I was to enroll
in seminary; Carol had a job in San Francisco. We found the student housing
where we would live, a tiny studio apartment on the second floor. The
downstairs studio was occupied by Don and Marilyn McClellan. We soon forged
a fast friendship with Don and Marilyn, a friendship that has lasted 44 years.
Next Monday, right after next weekend’s retreat, we fly to Seattle to spend
some time with Don and Marilyn. Don has a few weeks left to live.
Two kinds of cancer; he’s in Hospice care. He’s going out to meet that
final and indominatable Goliath. The end of his life on earth.
Speaking of earth - this is Earth Sunday – a day to remember the threats
our very planet faces: industrial pollution, global warming, dwindling resources,
the extinction of species. How shall we confront the Goliaths that threaten
Earth itself?
A divided nation, immigration fears, coarse language . . . we do not lack
for giants! What are our five smooth stones, and where do we find them?
* * * *
* * * * * * * *
A few years ago three Nobel Peace Prize laureates were invited to speak at
a peace-making conference: the Dalai Lama, the sister of Rigoberto Menchu, and
Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor. Three non-violent “Davids” engaging the
violence that tears our world apart.
A friend of mine attended the conference and he wrote to me afterward: “The
wisdom of the sages can be boiled down to the following:
-
keep your material life simple
-
dedicate your life to something greater than yourself
-
incorporate silence (daily meditation) into your life.
That’s only three smooth stones, so we have room to add a couple of our own,
but I want to start with these insights from these three significant winners
of the Nobel Prize for Peace.
simplicity . . .
hope . . .
and silence . . . .
Material possessions are like Saul’s armor. They are heavy, cumbersome,
they take energy, cause worry, and tie us down. Most Americans are possessed
by their possessions.
There is no major religion that does not emphasize simplicity and the pathway
to God. Keep your life simple; that’s one smooth stone.
I’ve gotten myself in trouble in more than one parish for saying that we
have more than enough MBAs and marketing degrees. We have more than enough
engineers and computer techs. What we need are more excellent elementary
school teachers and Methodist ministers. You won’t make much money teaching
third grade or preaching the Gospel. But I yearn for the day when our
finest and our brightest say, “the real challenge is teaching kindergarten.
Or growing a church.”
A young missionary was diligent and effective in his first assignment.
After a respite at home he returned by ship to a new assignment. On board,
a businessman invested in the global economy, fell into conversation with him.
He couldn’t understand why a young man with such obvious abilities would waste
his life as a missionary. He offered him a job at five times the salary.
The young man smiled but turned it down. It turned into a game as the
businessman offered more money and more responsibility and still the young man
turned him down. “What’s the matter?” the businessman asked, “Isn’t the
salary big enough?” “Oh, the salary is plenty big enough,” the younger
man said, “but the job isn’t.”
Remember the comedy team of George Burns and Gracie Allen? (Maybe you
have to be as old as I am…) Gracie was the ditzy and flustered comedienne.
George was the perfect straight man.
In one skit Gracie complained that her electric clock kept losing time.
George pointed out that the electric clock was not plugged in.
Gracie said, “I know that! I don’t want to waste
electricity so I only plug it in when I need to know what time it is!”
( 1 )
I’m not talking about clocks. I’m talking about our spiritual life.
We try to plug in religion when we need it and then wonder why it doesn’t “work”
for us.
David had confidence in his slingshot because he had used it on bears and
wolves. He didn’t hit Goliath smack-dab in the middle of the forehead
with that first smooth stone by luck or chance. It was because he’d practiced.
He had honed his skill.
Our friend, Donel, dying of cancer. He laughs when he’s glad.
He cries when he’s sad. He’s the same Don we’ve always known, but more
distilled. When people come to offer their condolence, he comforts them.
He maintains a daily blog on the internet - a daily diary for anybody to read
and respond to. The wisdom of his words has been written up on the Seattle
newspapers; hundreds of people check in daily to see how this remarkable man
is confronting his death. He’s doing it with charm, grace, humor, honesty,
and confidence. A young woman who met him when she was a high school student
in the church youth group wrote:
Left behind we watch
As you drift away
Unable to comprehend
How you can smile
At a time like this
Your eyes are on the
heavens
Ours are on the horizon
As we look forward and
see
Emptiness in the space
That you now occupy
Your consciousness expands outward
Into the universe
Our consciousness shifts inward
To probe a wound
Raw with your leaving
We wonder at your peace
In the presence of our pain
Unable to understand
Your smile of compassion
At our turmoil
Lost in our physical selves
We never take the time
To experience the process
Of another
Becoming Spirit
And when we do
We wrap ourselves in grief
Instead of bursting with the Joy
At the Grace of a loved One
Returning Home
Throughout his 67 years Don has been patient in prayer, he has practiced his
faith, nurtured the silence that expands ever into an awareness of the presence
of God.
David doesn’t hit Goliath square in the forehead with his first shot by luck
or by chance, but because he has practiced on the wild animals surrounding his
father’s sheep since he was a little boy.
-
keep life simple, especially your material life
-
ground your life in something greater than yourself
-
incorporate silence
-- prayer, practice – the place where God will expand - daily
A friend of mine has a boy of eight. The boy was reading through a
book of Bible scenes illustrated by children of the world when he came across
a picture of David and Goliath. He asked his mother to read it to him
from the Bible. She got out their children’s Bible and she read:
Israel was in deep trouble. The Philistines were on the march, and
this time they had a champion to defeat all comers. His name was Goliath
of Gath. He stood ten feet tall, and was dressed in bronze from head to
foot. Every day he would stride out and jeer at the Israelites.
“Good morning, little people,” he bellowed. “Why don’t you send
someone to fight me? Don’t tell me you’re scared!” He brandished
his great spear, so that the Israeli soldiers broke ranks and ran for cover.
Then he turned and went back to his camp with a great laugh. This went
on morning and evening, for more than a month.
One day the Israelites had a visitor. A boy called David came from
Bethlehem, bringing food for his brother. He wasn’t in the army himself,
because he was too young. He stayed at home, looking after his father’s
sheep. David was surprised to find everyone so fearful. Even King
Saul sat staring into space.
At this point the boy (the reader), age 8, asked
his mother to read it from the “real” Bible. So she did, all 58 verses.
The boy’s sister, age 6, listened too, and when she finished reading the David
and Goliath story, a miracle occurred. The little girl made her mother
promise to read to them from the Bible every day. That’s a miracle!
The point is that this is not a children’s story. It has real power
that children are quick to recognize. We all come up against giants.
Too often we try to protect ourselves with armor that doesn’t fit, instead of
carefully selecting five smooth stones.
A man I know was invited to address to the California Chapter of Phi Beta
Kappa. His audience was made up of brilliant academics. He titled
his address, “Brilliant Is Not Enough.” Quoting a Stanford professor
named Nancy Packer, he said, “Brilliant is not enough. You’ve got to have
something else. You’ve got to have a moral center out of which the art
radiates.” 2 ( 3 )
Where does one find a moral center these days, if not in the Church?
Where does one find the five smooth stones we need to face life’s “giants”,
if not in the church!
Where else but the church do the generations meet and mingle and experience
grace such as I have seen and experienced in the fellowship of this congregation?
Beyond the Church, what are the alternatives? Where are the communities
that point to God and sanction pursuit of meaning and trust as legitimate enterprises
. . .
- that have material and personal resources to assist in the search;
- that provide regular occasions for confession of failure;
- that renew and inspire;
- that provide settings where children are nurtured,
- where family members can be buried,
- where births can be celebrated,
- where social issues can be debated
- and
where energy can be generated to work for a just society?
Several institutions deal with one or some of these areas, but historically
the Church has demonstrated its ability to energize all these activities.
I wonder if Peter, who lends his name to the little New Testament epistle
we read this morning, has David and his five smooth stones in mind when he describes
Jesus as the “living stone, rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s
sight.” And when he tells his undistinguished little congretation to become
“like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a
holy priesthood....” We are privileged to be living stones in God’s slingshot.
And we are not alone, for we have the companionship, the support, the encouragement,
the fellowship of this congregation of Christ’s holy church.
Pastor John spoke with such eloquence last week about the stones of this
church – encircling a space where we and our children and our children’s children
can be transformed into living stones for God’s slingshot: ready and able to
face with confidence and faith the giants of everyday life.
Goliaths still snort and hurl their ugly threats at us. We go forth
armed as David was, with five smooth stones:
> simplicity
> a cause much bigger than ourselves
> the strength of silence and prayer
> the companionship of the Church
> and the Living Stone, who is the guide and promise of God’s ultimate victory:
even Jesus Christ, our Lord.
David stepped up to engage Goliath. He was armed with five smooth stones.
We are asked to step up to engage today’s challenges, including the needs of
this church. We are God’s living stones.
1) Thanks to Rev. Gary Putnam, Central United
Methodist Church, Stockton, CA.
2) Rev. Eileen Lindsay, Davis United Methodist
Church, Davis, CA
3) Quoted by Dr. Robert Lee Stuart, University
of Redlands (unpublished).
