SERMON OF THE WEEK First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu September 4, 2005 Five Smooth Stones (King David Series #2) Rev. Dr. Dan Chun W e continue our Sermon series on King David with one of the most famous stories in the Bible. It's the showdown between David and the giant Goliath. Quick review: We learned last week how David had been anointed by a judge named Samuel to be the future king of Israel. Israel's reigning king was Saul but he had turned his heart away from God. At that time Israel's neighbors, the Philistines, attacked her. The Israelites and the Philistines confronted each other in the Valley of Elah, taunting each other from opposite sides of the valley. We pick up our story today from the Bible in 1 Samuel 17:2. Open your Bibles to 1 Samuel 17: 2. 1Sam. 17:2 Saul and the Israelites gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and formed ranks against the Philistines. 1Sam. 17:3 The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 1Sam. 17:4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 1Sam. 17:5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand T shekels of bronze. 1Sam. 17:6 He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 1Sam. 17:7 The 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. 1Sam. 17:8 He 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 man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 1Sam. 17:9 If 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. 1Sam. 17:10 And the Philistine said, Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together. 1Sam. 17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. For forty days Goliath came out day and night daring Israel's men to come forward and fight him, but no one did because the Israelites were too afraid. How big a giant was Goliath? The Bible said he stood three cubits and a span. How tall is that? That is 1 about nine and-a-half feet, or if you need a visual aid, it would be THIS TALL! (Show 9.5 feet pole with Darth Vader head on top.) That's tall! That's two feet taller than Chinese NBA star Yao Ming. (By the way, you know this world is turning upside down when the tallest player in the NBA is a Chinese guy.) That makes Goliath taller than the Guinness Book World Record holder, Robert Pershing Wadlow, who stood 8 feet 11 inches tall by the time of his death in 1940 at the age of 22. Goliath was 7 inches taller than him! Goliath wore a coat of mail weighing between 90 and 220 pounds. He had a javelin with the spearhead alone weighing up to 26 and 1/2 pounds. However, I should point out that javelins back then might have been more like a huge sword that you thrust at your opponent rather than throw. A formidable opponent, Goliath taunted the Israelite army for 40 days challenging them to a winnertake-all battle. But, like dogs with tails between their legs, the Israelites refused to pick up the gauntlet. Now to the hero of our story. Last week I told you that a man named Jesse had eight sons. His three eldest - Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah - were recruited to serve in the army and they were there.
T he 8th and youngest son, David, was a sheepherder, and too young to fight. For this battle his father asked him to be a food runner for the army. He was tasked to check on his brothers and to take ten loaves of bread and parched grain to them, and ten cheeses to the commander of the army. David was out there delivering his food when he hears Goliath yelling his daily challenge. 1Sam. 17:26 David said to the men who stood by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? Going to verse 28 and beyond: 1Sam. 17:28 His eldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David. He said, Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart; for you have come down just to see the battle. 1Sam. 17:29 David said, What have I done now? It was only a question. 1Sam. 17:30 He turned away from him toward another and spoke in the same way; and the people answered him again as before. 1Sam. 17:31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul; and he sent for him. 1Sam. 17:32 David said to Saul, Let no one's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 1Sam. 17:33 Saul 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. 1Sam. 17:34 But 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, 1Sam. 17:35 I 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. 1Sam. 17:36 Your 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. 1Sam. 17:37 David 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! 1Sam. 17:38 Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. 1Sam. 17:39 David 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. 1Sam. 17:40 Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, (a dry river bed) and put them in his shepherd's bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. The Philistine giant came up against David and had great disdain for him since he was so young and small. Goliath taunted him. Now to verse 45 1Sam. 17:45 But 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. 1Sam. 17:46 This 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, 1Sam. 17:47 and 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. We all played with slingshots when we were young. The kids in my neighborhood used u-shaped metal ones painted in bright red or blue. We would pick up pebbles the size of peas and shoot them at cans or trees. On that historic day in the Valley of Elah, David used a rock and a slingshot to fight Goliath. Pam and I went to the Valley of Elah 20 years ago on a study leave. There were green hills on both sides with a river flowing in the open plain between them. It was there that this famous battle occurred. And it was out of that same river, that same wadi, as our Bible says, that David picked up a stone from the brook. I decided back in 1983 to take a rock from the same brook of the same size that David probably used. (By the way, I was told it was legal back then.) Our study program lecturers told us that the rocks David used was the size of softballs. I always thought it was like the pebbles I used. This was the kind of stone that the shepherds of old used to kill lions and bears. Their slingshots cradled the rock in leather pouches and they would swing them around their heads and let the rocks fly. (A rock of this size and weight would kind of wreck your day.) 1Sam. 17:48 When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 1 2
1 Sam. 17:49 David 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. 1Sam. 17:51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine; he grasped his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and killed him; then he cut off his head with it. See, it's a trick question from the game Trivial Pursuit. What killed Goliath? Most people would answer, A stone, a rock! But Goliath did not die from the stone that hit him. It was the sword that put him away. Now what does this all mean? Verse 40 says that David, before battling Goliath, chose five smooth stones from a brook in the valley of Elah. Why did the writer of this account decide to put in the detail of five smooth stones? Peculiar. Nothing in the Bible is put there without care. Five smooth stones. Why five? Was it customary back then for all shepherds or sling shooter to always pick up five rocks whenever they were going to use their slingshots? Maybe it's like always getting three balls in a tennis can. You never get four or two; it's always three. Maybe it's like playing baseball where there are always four balls and three strikes. That's just the rules of the game. So maybe in ancient Israel, sling shooters always picked up five stones because that was the thing to do. I can just imagine an ad for slingshots on ancient papyrus saying, 5 Stones -Don't Leave Home Without Them. Why five stones? I seriously believe the reason David picked up five stones was that in his humble, honest appraisal he knew that he might not stop Goliath with one. O If he went with one stone and then threw it and missed, then what? You can't take your time looking around for more stones when a man like Goliath has just thrust a 26-pound spearhead at you with your name on it! Suppose David did hit Goliath with one stone, but he hit him in the leg, or the arm, or clipped his shoulder or hit his coat of mail, which weighed up to 150 pounds. Or what if Goliath's' four brothers, who were probably there since they lived five miles away in the city of Gath, came to Goliath's aid? David would not have time to say a prayer before Goliath would have been upon him. In fact, more Bible trivia, not only were Goliath's brothers probably big but one had 6 toes and 6 fingers (1 Chronicles 20:6)! Little known facts that even Joe Moore doesn't know! Isn't Bible study fun? (So sign up for our Adult Education classes called WAHO!) Now the inquiring mind would ask, Okay, so that's why he had FIVE stones. But why five SMOOTH stones? Because only smooth stones can give a stone thrower an accurate, straight trajectory. If it were oblong or irregularly shaped, the rock would not fly true. But if it were smooth and round, the stone's flight would be clean, mean and accurate. David thought it out. He had faith, and was not foolhardy. When we become Christians it doesn't mean we put our minds on the shelf. In fact, it means just the opposite, God shows us how to use our brains but not just as we're accustomed to think but to think as He thinks, to use our abilities and gifts to their fullest potential so that we can, with His help, defeat the Goliaths in our lives. It is only when we act in faith and obedience, first having listened to God's instruction that we grow as 3 Christians. It is only then, after the battles with the Goliaths, after we have thrown the stone to knock the giants down and picked up the sword to sever their heads, that we know how faithful God has been all along in guiding us. To pray is to think how God would think. We should always try to have, as the Bible says in 1 Cor. 2:16, the mind of Christ. Did you know that the original Hebrew meaning of the word prayer means to think through? Praying means to think through an issue with God and weigh the pros and cons, as how GOD would think it through. Too often we see prayer as a magical chant or blessing that will ensure success when in reality it is more than that. In prayer we ask God to walk with us through the issues and tissues of our heart and to come up with the decisions that rely upon the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Traditionally this passage is held up as an example of David's tremendous bravery, courage and faith. But I would ADMIT THAT THERE ARE GIANTS IN OUR LIVES and don t deny them. like to underline the aspect of humility in the story. If we had five smooth stones in our bag to fight the challenges of every day life, what would they represent? Let me suggest that these five stones all represent humility, for if we do, we will not only survive but win all of our battles. The first stone of humility is to ADMIT THAT THERE ARE GIANTS IN OUR LIVES and not deny them. Admitting that there are Goliaths in our lives that we cannot conquer and control without help is the first step towards any recovery. By admitting our weaknesses we become strong. Denying our problems only leads to a dead end.
O ften when someone comes to me for help, I start with affirming them for having the courage and the humility to even ask for help. To me that means they are on their way to better health. No shame in my game in admitting I have a problem. True mental health means seeing reality as it is, and the reality is that we all have problems and that we all have giants to face. The second stone of humility is to ADMIT HELPLESSNESS. There are problems, addictions, temptations, illnesses and challenges to which we are truly helpless and not in control of. Don't believe the lie that God only helps those who help themselves. That is one phrase that many, many Americans believe is in the Bible, but it is not. Actually, it is the antithesis of what Christianity is about. God can't help us fully if we only believe that it is we who can help ourselves. Third stone - ADMIT THE NEED FOR NEW ARMOR - fresh new ways of attacking old problems. When David decided to fight Goliath, King Saul offered David his armor. That was the traditional way of fighting. Saul put on a helmet of bronze on David's head and clothed him with a coat of mail, more armor and then gave him a big sword. But David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I am not used to them. Yes, in that sense David went back to his own style, but I would add that his new, bold and fresh technique was what helped him kill Goliath. Remember how the Bible passage we read earlier said that David killed lions and bears by using his hands around their jaws. But with Goliath, David knew he needed to do something different. T ADMIT THE NEED FOR NEW ARMOR - fresh new ways of attacking old problems. When God moves in our lives, the Holy Spirit always brings fresh new techniques that are uniquely matched to our gifts, temperament and style. It is still God who does it. And that bring us to the fourth stone of humility - ADMIT THAT ONLY THE LORD IS THE ONE WHO TRULY DELIVERS US. When you read how confident David was and how he could take on Goliath, one could say, Boy, wasn't he cocky and self-assured about what he could do? Well, there may have been some of that, but the bottom line truth is that it is the Lord who has blessed us in our past, blesses us in our present and will deliver us in the future. Never lose track of the fact that our lives must always be centered on the Lord if we are to defeat our Goliaths. Look what David says in verse 37: 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. It is clear to David that in his past any victories were an account of the Lord who saved him. Can we say that about our businesses, our families and our health? Can we say that it is the Lord who saved us time and time again and we should get zero credit? Notice, too, that David got upset when Goliath yelled his insults to taunt Israel because to him Goliath was insulting the Lord, too. 1Sam. 17:26 David said to the men who stood by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? 4 For David, insulting Israel, a country that followed God, was an insult to God himself! As for David's confidence that he could take down Goliath, it was not a confidence in his own strength but a confidence in what God would do through him. David made sure this was recorded in 1 Samuel because he wanted God's role in this battle to be really clear in the annals of Israelite history. 1Sam. 17:45 But 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. 1Sam. 17:46 This 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 (not that David is great but) that there is a God in Israel, 1Sam. 17:47 and 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. David is saying that all of our battles are the Lord's. Hence, we need not ever wallow in self-pity and say, Poor me, poor me. If the battle is the Lord's and we are His people, He will strengthen us and help us. And if you are here with a burden, give the battle and burden over to the Lord. Center your life on God and watch the Goliaths fall. Now one last thing. Often sermons about David and Goliath end just where I am now. It leans on the truth that whatever challenges we are facing God will help us overcome them. We can triumph over tragedy. And I say, Amen. That is true. But the sermon can't end here for it would only be a half-truth if I did.
T he final point of the sermon, the final and fifth smooth stone we need in our bag of humility is to remember that this is a story that asks us not only to stand up to the giants in our lives but also TO HUNT DOWN AND DEFEAT THE GIANTS IN OTHER PEOPLE S LIVES. Look at our Bible text. David fought a giant who threatened OTHER people The soldiers were scared. His brothers were scared. His country was scared because a bully threatened the nation. Goliath was not going after David, but rather after David's loved ones and others in the community. We are called as followers of God to not just take care of ourselves but to fight the giants who hurt and threaten other people. There is a giant who came and hurt our land called Hurricane Katrina, and its aftermath continues to threaten our nation. We must rise up to fight the aftermath. How? First we must pray daily for the victims, their families and our nation. Prayer is powerful. Second, we must not only pray but also send help. They don't want people to come. But we can send financial help. It should be the mark of Christians to go to the frontlines to help during tragedies, and the world, especially during tragedies, understands that. Did you notice how last Thursday's edition of the Honolulu Advertiser (Thursday, September 1, 2005, p. A-7) highlighted the top three disaster relief agencies to donate to help the hurricane victims? The three agencies listed by the Honolulu Advertiser were the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and Catholic Charities. ALL THREE agencies listed were started by Christians who knew deep down in their hearts that to be a L follower of Christ means helping others and stopping giants who threaten our land. It's a message to us of how all Christians should act and be known. Let's look first at the Red Cross. It has become so familiar and common to us... stand up to the giants in our lives but also... HUNT DOWN AND DEFEAT THE GIANTS IN OTHER PEOPLE S LIVES. that we forget that its name is meant to remind us of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that was shed to save the people of the world. The International Committee of The Red Cross was founded by Swiss businessman Henry Dunant. As a teenager he was highly devout and his family had joined the Church of the Awakening, a group that emphasized giving to charity (Brown, Pam, Henry Dunant, People Who Saved the World, Exley Publications, UK, 1988, p. 8). In 1855 Dunant formed what we know today as the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). He was the main author of the charter that YMCA still uses today. One day in 1859, he was horrified to watch 40,000 soldiers slaughtered and wounded in one of the worst 19th-century battles. Strange but true, people back then would picnic on nearby hills and watch real battles for recreation. It was a battle between the Austrians and the Italians in Solferino, northern Italy. When the battle ended, Dunant, with a feeling of angst and distraught because of the carnage, ran to the battlefield and organized volunteers, whoever he could find, to care for the wounded no matter what country they were from. Right then, he decided that there must be a neutral compassion agency that can help the wounded, the sick and the poor. Soon after that he started the Red Cross in 1863 with five other men, the same year we were having our own American Civil War. 5 Today, the Red Cross is called the Red Crescent in Muslim countries to be culturally sensitive. Israel, not wanting the crescent or the cross, is proposing that the Red Cross change its emblem to a red Star of David when in Israel. But when Dunant started the agency he called it the Red Cross. I believe his faith in a compassionate Christ gave him the reason and the strength to have compassion for the ill, the injured, and poor and to choose that symbol. Second organization the Honolulu Advertiser highlighted was the Salvation Army, which was founded in 1865 by William and Catherine Booth. A strongly Christ-centered organization, the Salvation Army is always on the frontlines whether it's Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Iniki or September 11. Salvation Army moves out in Christ's name, and many of their followers take vows of simplicity. Church leaders wear the Salvation Army uniforms because in their minds they see it as warfare against evil. Founders William and Catherine Booth saw the evil of poverty and made their slogan, Soup, Soap, Salvation - meaning give people food and health and lead them to salvation. They say their red-colored emblem stands for the blood of Christ. The third organization promoted by the Honolulu Advertiser is Catholic Charities USA. They do great work here, and not only on the frontlines for the poor, the homeless and disaster victims but also for those who have been physically or sexually abused. It's wonderful organization started by the Catholics. Catholic Charities Hawaii, according to their website, is rooted in the gospel of Jesus, exists to carry out the social mission of the church by serving the people of Hawai`i, without regard to their culture or faith.
L ater the Honolulu Advertiser came out with a longer list and I was happy to see that it chose Presbyterian Church's Disaster Relief Agency as a reputable and highly effective organization that is on the frontlines of compassion for hurricane victims in Louisiana and Mississippi. All of these agencies are giantkillers, and we are called to fight giants too. In whatever way we can, yes send help, money. We can go to the websites of the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Catholic Charities USA. I don't know their addresses offhand. I do know that our reputable Presbyterian Disaster Relief s web address is www.pcusa.org. Let us pray. Lord, you, even more than David, took on the giants in our lives - sin, despair and depression - and gave Your life that we might have life. You can be in all of our battles and in all our struggles. Be with us now and guide us. Be with us. In Christ's name, Amen. * * * * * * Sunday worship sermons can also be heard on Strength for the Journey, First Prez s weekly radio show on KGU 760 AM. Sunday mornings at 10. The home page shows how to give money or how to volunteer as they are now gathering names and organizing work teams for when the time is appropriate to move in. Our church is waiting to see how we can best help. We are talking to a Presbyterian church in Houston to see if they need our help moneywise or volunteers to help those at the Astrodome. Know that our staff and elders are analyzing how to put our best foot forward, keeping our power dry for when we can help with human or financial resources. The point is: the very core of the follower of Christ is the passion to help fight off the giants that threaten our land. When we are born into Christ He puts into our genetic code a double portion of faith to fight battles that others might be saved. There will always be giants in the land scaring our nation - terrorism, racial prejudice, poverty or hurricanes, but God says, Hey, the God who saved you from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. will save you and others again. The battle is of the Lord's. And as we move towards the sacrament of Communion, let us not cower in fear but know instead that the red cross of Christ's blood that shows His sacrifice for those who are in need will lead us. 6