Who Are You?

2013-05-26 Who Are You?

James McTyre

Lake Hills Presbyterian Church (USA)

1 Samuel 17:1-11, 38-50

Nine feet tall. Chest armor of 125 pounds. A bronze sword on his back. A spear 7 feet long, its blade alone weighing 15 pounds. His shield so large that another man had to walk in front of him carrying it.

Goliath is a killing machine. A one-man weapon of mass destruction.

He is giant. He is vain. He is mean.

David is a boy. The youngest and smallest of his brothers. He stays home and herds sheep while they go to war. He brings them lunch. He speaks, and his brothers mock him. He is bullied, teased, overlooked.

Fear paralyzes the king and his army. From across the valley, Goliath taunts them every day. King Saul promises a treasure to the man who will kill Goliath. He will give the man his daughter in marriage. He will give his family a permanent tax exemption.

But, no volunteers. The king and his army have meetings. They talk. They wring their hands. They do nothing. They’re afraid to fight. They’re afraid to die. They know Goliath will kill whoever steps forward. They’ve all but given up.

David, the boy, the shepherd, the musician, the poet, the servant; brings lunch to his brothers and asks, “Who does that filthy Philistine think he is? He’s making fun of the army of the living God!”[1]

David says to the great King Saul, “Your Majesty, this Philistine shouldn’t turn us into cowards. I’ll go out and fight him myself!”

He says, “Your Majesty, I take care of my father’s sheep. And when a lion or a bear drags one of them off, I go after it and beat the wild animal until it lets the sheep go. If the wild animal turns and attacks me, I grab it by the throat and kill it.

“Sir, I have killed lions and bears that way, and I can kill this dirty Philistine.”

“The Lord has rescued me from the claws of lions and bears, and he will keep me safe from the hands of this Philistine.

“All right,” Saul says. “Go ahead and fight him. And I hope the Lord will help you.”

Saul has his men dress David in his kingly suit of armor with a heavy bronze helmet.  David straps on a sword and tries to walk around.

“I can’t move with all this stuff on,” he says.

David takes off the armor and picks up his shepherd’s stick. He goes out to a stream and picks up five smooth rocks and puts them in his leather bag. Then with his sling in his hand, he walks straight toward Goliath.

Goliath goes out to meet him. When Goliath sees that David is just a farm boy, he makes fun of him.

“Do you think I’m a dog?” Goliath asks. “Is that why you’ve come after me with a stick?” He curses David in the name of the Philistine gods and shouts, “Come on! When I’m finished with you, I’ll feed you to the birds and wild animals!”

But David answers:

“You’ve come out to fight me with a sword and a spear and a dagger. But I’ve come out to fight you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful. He is the God of Israel’s army, and you have insulted him too!

“Today the Lord will help me defeat you. I’ll knock you down and cut off your head, and I’ll feed the bodies of the other Philistine soldiers to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a real God. Everybody here will see that the Lord doesn’t need swords or spears to save his people. The Lord always wins his battles, and he will help us defeat you."

Goliath starts forward. David runs toward him. He puts a rock in his sling and swings it around by its straps. He lets go. The rock flies out and hits Goliath on the forehead. It cracks his skull, and he falls facedown on the ground. David kills the giant without even using a sword.

David runs over and pulls out Goliath’s huge sword. With Goliath’s own sword, he cuts off the giant’s head.

The soldiers of Israel and Judah let out a battle cry and chase the fleeing Philistines back to Goliath’s hometown. The road is scattered with Philistine bodies.

King Saul turns to the commander of his army and says, “Abner, who is that young man?”

“Your Majesty,” Abner answers, “I swear by your life that I don’t know.”

“Then find out!” Saul tells him.

David comes back, carrying Goliath’s head.

Abner takes David to Saul, and Saul asks, “Who ARE you?”

--

Who is your Goliath?

What is the giant who mocks you every day?

You know. Everybody knows the names of the mean ones.

The real question is, “Who are YOU?”

Are you who the giant says you are?

Abner takes David to Saul, and Saul asks, “Who ARE you?”
David says: “I am David the son of Jesse, a loyal Israelite from Bethlehem.”

Who are YOU? What’s your answer?

If the story of David and Goliath was only about military conquest, it would have been forgotten long ago. If David and Goliath were only about defeating mean people, even in God’s name, it would have faded into the background of every other heroic story. But David and Goliath stands out because it’s not about victory as much as it’s about identity. It’s not about right and wrong; it’s not about good vs. evil; it’s not about what side you’re on: It’s about knowing WHO you are and WHOSE you are.

If you’re like me, you probably spend a lot of time dressing yourself in someone else’s armor for battle with whatever perceived threat you’re ready to fight. You can do that.

Or, you can use what you’ve got, take your best shot, and let God guide the stone.

Because, that’s what God does. That’s who God is.

Who are YOU?

---

[1] Story adapted from CEV.