I really enjoyed going to Norfolk to the Virginia Conference Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I forgot how many people I know because of going to retreats at the Virginia Conference Center in Blackstone. I also know people from churches where I’ve worked and worshipped. There was a woman who remembered me because I welcomed her church when they worked at the Henry Fork Service Center. There are the people who I work with on the General Board of Global Missions. I also saw Pastor Dan Ivey from my first church after college. I also saw Pastor Waverly Rheames who baptized Jessica. Pastor Waverly is retiring this year. I saw Pastor Kenny Newsome from Pender UMC where I grew in my faith by having good Sunday School classes. I also made friends at the school of Christian Missions.
I’ve made good friends with my covenant group of Franklin County pastors who usually meets twice a month. All of these people are connected to me and to New Hope UMC with the ties of the United Methodist Church. All of us are connected because we are working together to share the love of Jesus Christ in ways that we cannot do by ourselves.
We also celebrate the success of the United Methodist Church, but we also grieve when the church fails. We voted to close about five churches within Virginia. One of the churches is close to home. Schoolfield UMC is in the heart of Danville. Schoolfield UMC is decommissioning their church today. It is always hard to hear that a church somewhere closed.
Most of the dying churches have a lot in common. The churches were usually over one hundred years old. The churches were focused inward on the handful of people who attended the church. The churches forgot about being the body of Christ. They did the same programs that they did the year before and the year before that year. In fact, the programs were probably the same when the adults were children.
The churches that are growing have a vision. The churches that are growing are reaching out to new people, different people, and people from other ethnic backgrounds. The churches are reaching out to the youth and children of their communities.
The story from today’s scripture is a story that we know from Vacation Bible School. I’m going to read from the Message. The Message is a contemporary version of the Bible that is easy to read and understand. It is especially great for making the Old Testament come to life. For example, the NIV translation says that Goliath’s armor weighed five thousand shekels and the Message states that the armor weighed 126 pounds.
We are reading 1 Samuel 17:1a , 4-7: The Philistines drew up their troops for battle. 4-7 A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor—126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail—the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him.”
In today’s society, we are used to seeing people six or seven feet tall. There are a few unusually tall people in the National Basketball Association that may be near eight feet tall, but they are not strong and muscular men wearing 126 pounds of bronze armor. Imagine the bronze armor shining in the sun. The sunlight that is reflecting off the bronze armor is blinding. The reflection off of the armor makes Goliath appear to be even taller and wider as the light reflects up, down, left and to the right.
The voice of Goliath booms out above the noise of two armies in 1 Samuel 17:8-11: “8-10 Goliath stood there and called out to the Israelite troops, "Why bother using your whole army? Am I not Philistine enough for you? And you're all committed to Saul, aren't you? So pick your best fighter and pit him against me. If he gets the upper hand and kills me, the Philistines will all become your slaves. But if I get the upper hand and kill him, you'll all become our slaves and serve us. I challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!"
Goliath has made an unusual offer. Usually, the armies fight with many people killed in battle. Goliath was offering a somewhat more civilized answer. He asked that the two best men from both armies fight to the death. The victor will win the war for his country. The loser will lose the war for all. The loser’s people will become slaves. In the past, scholars have suggested that if the people who started a war had to fight the war, that we would have a lot fewer wars. Goliath was trying to intimidate by calling the Jewish King by his first name, Saul. He also asked if the Jews were loyal to King Saul.
1 Samuel 17:11 tells of the reaction to Goliath’s offer: “11 When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine's challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope.” We lose all hope when we don’t have faith and belief in God. Faith will conquer fear, doubt, and hopelessness. King Saul didn’t think about turning to God in their hour of need. Instead King Saul and the rest of the Jews were caught up in fear and doubt.
I love what happens next. The father of a very skinny and young shepherd is asked to take food to his older brothers who are in the army. Young David is not old enough or big enough to be recruited for the army. He is only good enough to be the errand boy. Apparently, David’s father is worried that David’s brothers will argue and fight among themselves.
Here’s what happens next in 1 Samuel 17:17-23 “17-19 One day, Jesse told David his son, "Take this sack of cracked wheat and these ten loaves of bread and run them down to your brothers in the camp. And take these ten wedges of cheese to the captain of their division. Check in on your brothers to see whether they are getting along all right, and let me know how they're doing—Saul and your brothers, and all the Israelites in their war with the Philistines in the Oak Valley."
“20-23 David was up at the crack of dawn and, having arranged for someone to tend his flock, took the food and was on his way just as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the army was moving into battle formation, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines moved into position, facing each other, battle-ready. David left his bundles of food in the care of a sentry, ran to the troops who were deployed, and greeted his brothers. While they were talking together, the Philistine champion, Goliath of Gath, stepped out from the front lines of the Philistines, and gave his usual challenge. David heard him.”
David heard the challenge from Goliath in a whole different light. David heard the challenge from Goliath through the ears of God. David knew that God was with them. David knew that God was a mighty God. David realized that the impossible is possible. David believed that all things are possible for those who love the Lord. Faith enables action. Fear causes panic and inaction. David decides to take action.
1 Samuel 17:32-33 continues 32 "Master," said David, "don't give up hope. I'm ready to go and fight this Philistine." 33 Saul answered David, "You can't go and fight this Philistine. You're too young and inexperienced—and he's been at this fighting business since before you were born."
The comments by David and Saul show the contrast between faith and doubt. Saul saw the physical attributes of David. King Saul saw David’s youth and inexperience. It was difficult for King Saul to see the depth of David’s faith in God. We can either see with the eyes of faith like David or we can see through the eyes of fear like King Saul. We can also see New Hope United Methodist Church with the eyes of faith or with the eyes of doubt, but we’ll get to that later. Many people can say that New Hope UMC can’t grow or have a large mission program because we are small. We know that New Hope UMC can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens us.
1 Samuel 17:34-38 34-37 David said, "I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I'll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine." Saul said, "Go. And God help you!"
The shepherd boy, David, told of his experience protecting his flock of sheep from danger, but it was the testimony that he believed that God was alive and that God had delivered David from the mouth of a lion. David also believed that God would continue to protect David if David put all of his faith in God. Saul, agreed to let David go, but King Saul still did not understand where the boy David was going to get his strength. When Saul asked God to help David it was more from helplessness instead of faith that God would actually make a difference. Saul was going through the motions of being faithful. David actually was using his faith to guide him.
The trouble comes for a nation, a church or a person when we start going through the motions of faith and start doing what we’ve always done. The Jewish army was used to fitting their soldiers with the armor of battle instead of the Armor of God. (See Ephesians 6) New Hope UMC must not do what we’ve always done like King Saul. New Hope UMC must be centered on God in the same way as David.
In 1 Samuel 17:38-42 the scripture describes the contrast between the two kinds of armor: “38-39 Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge. David told Saul, "I can't even move with all this stuff on me. I'm not used to this." And he took it all off. 40 Then David took his shepherd's staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd's pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath.”
41-42 As the Philistine paced back and forth, his shield bearer in front of him, he noticed David. He took one look down on him and sneered—a mere youngster, apple-cheeked and peach-fuzzed. 43 The Philistine ridiculed David. "Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?" And he cursed him by his gods. 44 "Come on," said the Philistine. "I'll make road kill of you for the buzzards. I'll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice." 45-47 David answered, "You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel's troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I'm about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there's an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn't save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he's handing you to us on a platter!"
The shepherd boy is not speaking with fear. David is claiming God’s protection for himself. David is also claiming the head of the Jewish army is God and not a man. David is not claiming that he is strong and great. David is giving all of the glory and honor to God. David is humble. David is also stating that the victory will show that God is with the army of Israel.
Finally, in 1 Samuel 17:48-49, we learn that David’s speech caused Goliath to have a strong reaction. It says “48-49 That roused [Goliath] the Philistine, and he started toward David. David took off from the front line, running toward the Philistine. David reached into his pocket for a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine hard in the forehead, embedding the stone deeply. The Philistine crashed, face down in the dirt.”
We have so much to learn from the young shepherd boy. He knew God. He knew that God would protect him. He knew that God wins when we serve God without doubt and fear. David didn’t need all of the trappings of war. He just needed to believe in God.
I believe that New Hope United Methodist Church is becoming a David. We are putting our faith in God. The plan for the addition started awhile back. It didn’t make sense to expand a small country church in the middle of a recession. New Hope doesn’t look like a church that should be growing. It is logical to see New Hope growing if we look with the eyes of God at what is happening with our church. We have faith. We have hope. We have welcoming arms for new people and new ideas.
We’ve felt God’s presence among us. God is carrying us through the challenges and we are becoming men and women of God who expect to be given the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We believe that life is centered on God. David understood about God’s grace and favor. He was willing to step out on faith to serve God.
In the New International Version of the Bible in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 it says “As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.”
Let’s open our hearts to the call from God to share the love of our Father in Heaven to every father and family here on earth. Our church can impact the lives of so many people if we just believe like the shepherd boy, David. He knew that with God’s favor the impossible can and will happen. We could be the church closing our doors today like Schoolfield UMC in Danville. Instead, we are like the boy David who has put our hope and faith in God.
The impossible will happen here as well. We will find the money to build our addition. Young David trusted God with his life that day. God came through and it changed young David’s life forever. We will continue to grow in our faith. We will learn to trust God with our lives, too. We feel God’s touch in our lives yesterday, today, and forever. We are God’s people and New Hope UMC is God’s church.
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