TOO AFRAID TO BELIEVE

June 28, 2015

Pentecost 5

1^st Samuel 17:32-49

Mark 4:35-41

(prayer)

At this time of year, I spend several hours a week out on the football field.  Right now, I am having fun with my youngest child’s experience at the bantam football level - it is for players who will be going into grades eight and nine in the fall.
This is the third time, I have had a son play bantam football.

If you have any familiarity with children in grades eight and nine, you likely know that it is a time when the body’s chemistry kicks into high gear and ‘children’ transition into ‘youth’.

When I look out at this year’s edition of the Leduc Bantam TiCats, that transition is on full display. 

There are three females on the team, but focusing on the males for a moment, you eyes can’t help but notice that on the same field, playing alongside each other, are what you could call ‘little boys’ and ‘young men’.  The variation of physical maturity at this level is quite stricking.

It is why, I think, that not every player finds it easy to make the jump from peewee to bantam football.  There is a huge change in the speed and toughness of the game at this level.

Now, as coaches, we don’t want to put any player in a dangerous position and there are times when we are doing one-on-one drills that we might adjust who faces who based on size and skill, but we don’t go as far to avoid having the smaller players facing their larger teammates - afterall, it is unlikely the other teams (in game situations) would be so kind to match us up in that way.

What the players learn, as we try to teach them, is that - as they practice good tackling and running techniques, size doesn’t always matter as much as you might think.  There are seldom louder cheers at practice that when a smaller defensive back successfully brings down a bigger running back.

It is only on the level of size that it may look like a mismatch.

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King Saul and the Israelites were at war with the Philistines.  Philistia was a small coastal nation that blocked Judah to the southernmost access to the Mediterranean coast and so you can imagine a natural conflict, but in the case of what we read from First Samuel seventeen today, it seems that the Philistines were the aggressors - they were moving inland.

Part of the reason for their imperialistic confidence may have been this giant of a soldier they had:  Goliath of Gath.  It is said that very tall.  The text of the Hebrew Bible claim his height measures six cubits and one span.  A cubit is the distance between your elbow and your finger tip.  So it is a relative measure - may vary depending on the size of the average arm.

A span is the distance between your thumb and the tip of your middle finger.  That works out to be about half of a cubit. 

6.5 cubits would be about 3 metres or 9 feet, 9 inches tall.

In many bibles, you will find a footnote on 1^st Samuel 17:4 noting that some other ancient manuscripts claim the height to be four cubits and a span.  Some of the greek versions of the Old Testament say this, for example.  As does the Dead Sea Scrolls.  And so does Josephus, a first century Roman Jewish historian.

Now, 4.5 cubits is certainly not vertically challenged: 2 metres or 6’9” tall - that’s two inches taller than the average NBA player.

When you consider that the average height of people in about the year 1000 BCE was closer to five and a half feet, Goliath by either measure was ‘huge’.

The very sight of Goliath (looking even larger all clad in his armour) on the other side of the battle field would have caused some of Saul’s soldiers to question their military resolve.

The place that this all took place is referred to as Ep-has Dam-mim or the boundary of blood.  It was a valley between two hills in western Judah - likely the site of many battles that gave rise to the name.

And so, Goliath makes an offer to the Israelites to avoid another large battle on the boundary of blood.

“Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 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.” 

Goliath made this offer twice a day for 40 days.

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Among the Israelite soldiers were three of the older sons of Jesse.  Jesse worried about these sons and told his youngest David to take a break from watching the flocks at home and to bring his brothers some food and to see how they were doing; and bring word back to their father.

Sadly, when the saw him, David’s brothers mocked him for simply wanting to watch a battle - be a spectator of war, not a participant.  They even said that David wasn’t even a good shepherd because he has obviously left his flocks.

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While David was there, he heard Goliath’s daily challenge.  And he heard the talk of the soldiers that King Saul would certainly greatly honour anyone who could kill Goliath.

That is where we picked up the story today.
David says “I’ll do it.  

I’ll face the Philistine.”

After all of these weeks, no one had stood up to the challenge - we can only speculate ‘why’ - my guess is that they were all simply too frightened.  Goliath was too big, too strong.  Unbeatable.

David made the case that working in the hills with the sheep, he has had to fight off predators; he has killed lions and bears.

Saul relents and outfits David with the king’s own armour.  It must have been a comical sight - too much armour for too small a person - David could barely walk in all of that ‘protection’.

So David removed the soldier’s garb and chose to face Goliath as a shepherd.  He had his sling shot and five smooth stones he had just picked up from the dry river bed.

You know the story. 

You heard it earlier. 

David took down Goliath and provided an enduring metaphor for underdogs everywhere.

No one else believed it was possible; but David used all of his skills and knowledge and won the mismatch.

David wasn’t afraid.  He believed.

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Several of Jesus close followers were avid sailors - they were fishermen by trade.  They had battled storms and rain on the sea before.

Jesus trusted that he was in good hands when the group of them ventured across the water to carry on their ministry on the other side.  Jesus trusted their skill even when the weather got bad.

You know the story.

You heard it earlier.

The experienced sailors knew that this was a dangerous storm - one in which they might not be able to keep the boat afloat.

All the while, Jesus ignored it all sleeping in the back of the boat.  Until... they woke him up in a panic.
But the least experience sailor among them was not afraid - a fact that seems to have annoyed his panicked disciples.

Be at peace.  Be still.

Words of calm in a time of chaos.

Words directed at hearts and nature alike.

When the storm abated, the disciples were amazed.

‘Why are you afraid?’

Jesus asked, ‘Have you no faith?’

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In the world of common antonyms, we often think of the opposite of fear to be confidence or bravery; and the opposite of faith to be doubt or disbelief.

Jesus melds those two together and makes the case that it is fear that often gets in the way of faith, not doubt.  That faith is a form of courage - a belief that we do not face the struggles of life alone.

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However, I am very aware that (for me at least and maybe for others) that leaping from a
time of paralyzing fear to confident faith is not as easy as Jesus makes it sound.

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A couple of weeks ago, one of the players of the bantam football got a deep cut on his hand - stepped on by another players cleat during a football practice.  

He had never experienced anything like this before.
The fear of the gushing blood and the prospect of stitches (which seemed obvious to the team trainer and me) was a very fearful situation. 

No matter what kind and calming words I offered, the fear was dominant.  Even as others described far worse wounds that had healed, the fear remained.  It took the experience of seeing the doctor, getting the stitches to allow for the player to look back on the whole situation and see that it wasn’t all that scary at all.

That experience will now inform this young person’s future.

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I suspect that there were times in young David’s life that allowed his to not be paralyzed in the fear when facing Goliath.
His faithful confidence came from somewhere - from inner or outer experiences.

I think that a key point made in the story of David and Goliath is that David drew on his strengths to face the uncertain future - he did not try to be someone he wasn’t.  He did not follow the expectations of others, but he was confident enough to know himself, to understand where his skills and hopes were.

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Jesus' fishermen followers had been through storms before, and they knew that this one was as bad as it gets.  It would be miraculous if they did not end up in the water.

They tried to heap their expectations on to Jesus, but his life experiences were different - he did not share their fear for some reason and was able to be the voice of calm in the storm for them - it saw them through that time.

As we can imply from the last line of the reading from Mark today - this new experience with Jesus helped inform how they looked at him later on.

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I have experienced and can understand that fear can shelter us from knowing peace.  It can hold us in one place emotionally and hide hopeful possibilities from us.

Fear makes us very vulnerable.

And I do agree with Jesus that - fear is in many ways an opposite to faith.  I see faith as a path out of fear.

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I see faith as a path out of fear; but I am always embarrassed and dismayed by fellow church pastors who preach using fear as a vehicle to faith.  “Believe because it is too scary not to!”  Fear of some divine punishment; fear of others who are different:  that kind of message leads to ecclesial isolation and is about as far from the goodnews that Jesus preached and taught as can be.

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Jesus speaks calm into our apprehensions.

I believe that - as I am open my heart more to Jesus’ gospel - I am more able to feel that inner calmness.  I am more able to believe that I am not alone in this world.

God does not shield the faithful from struggles - God does not protect them from that which causes distress - instead God is the companion for the journey: the one along side: leading, supporting, guiding and embracing.

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In family systems theory, people are encouraged to try to be a non-anxious presence in tense situations.  Parents know this style well - having to hold in personal fears to help keep children calm:  when the wasp or spider finds its way into the house; to hold their hand when they are getting those stitches.

Jesus was the non-anxious presence for his disciples that day on the lake.

David’s confidence and success must have made an impression on his kings and fellow Israelites (maybe even his brothers). 

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First fears are hard to see beyond.

But the promise of the gospel is that (even when we are not aware of it) God holds us close - like the hen sheltering her brood. 

As we move forward, faith can slowly grow - in those moments that fear abates and hope in God’s presence is known. 

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I am envious of people who can make quick leaps of faith.  I think the more common experience is faith that develops and evolves over time.  It is grown (as Charles Wesley proposed) in at least four ways:

A study of scripture - delving into the experiences and teaching of those whose faith was preserved
in these ancient text; to feel the inspiration they felt.

An appreciation for the traditions of the church and theological thought that has bridges the gaps of time between the writing of scripture to today.  We are not the only ones who have travelled this road.

Charles Wesley was a man of the age of reason - he expected us to use our critical minds to discern what we learn through study and history. 

Finally Wesley said that our experience guides us.  We add our own voices to the emerging traditions.  To take that a step further, Wesley was always open to the experience of inspiration - he believed that faith is not only grown in the mind, but also within the heart of revelation.  We might find ourselves simply feeling God speaking anew. 

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A promise that lies within our scriptures today is NOT that we will have to fear, but instead that we will not be alone in our fears - that God is along for the ride with us.  God has equipped us with gifts and skills that we have developed along the way and that - in faith, there is hope.

The more we are able to channel this through the lenses of heart, mind and body, the deeper our faith can be potentially.

God is patient and compassionate.

God will take the time we need.

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We have sung it many times during prayers here over the last several years.  I invite us to sing it again now: #90MV  “Don’t be afraid”

Don’t be afraid, My love is stronger,

My love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid, My love is stronger

and I have promised,

promised to be always here.

//  Amen.
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#626VU  “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say”