David spoke to Saul:
“Let your majesty not lose courage. I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.” But Saul answered David, “You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him, for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.” David continued: “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.” Saul answered David, “Go! the LORD will be with you.” Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag. With his sling also ready to hand, he approached the Philistine. With his shield bearer marching before him, the Philistine also advanced closer and closer to David. When he had sized David up, and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance, the Philistine held David in contempt. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff? Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods and said to him, “Come here to me, and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.” David answered him: “You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted. Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand; I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will leave your corpse and the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God. All this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves. For the battle is the LORD’s and he shall deliver you into our hands.” The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters, while David ran quickly toward the battle line in the direction of the Philistine. David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone, hurled it with the sling, and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone embedded itself in his brow, and he fell prostrate on the ground. Thus David overcame the Philistine with sling and stone; he struck the Philistine mortally, and did it without a sword. Then David ran and stood over him; with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath he dispatched him and cut off his head.
Hmmm. Familiar story, I should say. Who did not know how this was going to end? Of course this one of stories from the Hebrew Testament that is more cultural than religious. We see references to underdogs taking on overwhelming odds only to come out on top because of the righteousness of their cause every day. Marvel Comics is based upon that very idea. With faith and a stone, good will trump evil. One of the fun things about growing Methodist was the opportunity to go to Sunday School on a weekly basis. By the age of 10 I was well steeped in the stories from the Hebrew testament. Moses in the basket saved by the princess. Joshua blowing the horn and walls of Jericho fell down. Samson and Delilah, it looked grim for a second and then he pulled to walls down to smite the bad guys. Noah and the Ark. Let's be honest here. The Hebrew Testament makes for pretty interesting reading if you don't give a hoot about the faith lessons they are intended to be rather than historical records.
The rub, however, is we know that the good guy with bravery up the wazoo and absolute conviction in his values which propels into the breech does not always win. Sometimes bad guys take the day. If we look first at Goliath, consider how many lives he took in previous battles with the Hebrews. There was a history of confrontation in which the hero's were struck down by the dozens. Think of the Charge of Light Brigade. How about the Alamo? As long as we are in Israel, how about Masada? There is more recent example that I keep thinking about where the success of one righteous man would have changed the course of History. In July 1944, Claus Von Stauffenberg had a grand idea about ending the war. He would carry a bomb in a briefcase into a meeting with Hitler and then kill Hitler with the bomb. The plot was nearly perfect except Hitler sat on the other side of pillar from the bomb and was protected from the blast. Just think of the lives that would have been saved both on and off the battlefield and in the camps. Von Stauffenberg was convinced the war was going to be lost because of the successful landing at Normandy and he wanted to save Germany the protracted destruction he knew was going to continue. Hitler lived. The war continued and nearly 5 thousand were executed for real or imagined participation in the conspiracy.
What does this all mean for us today? To not rely on faith when it is time to confront something evil or destructed to your well being? Of course not. After all, the good guys eventually won the war and put Hitler and his gang in the ground, except for the ones who got a way to live out their lives as janitors in places like Winnetka Illinois.
Our battles are not just about politics, power, riches or influence. They are about who we are as people, how we see the world and interact with others all while trying to operate under the expectation we honor the will of God and to live in accordance with his plans for us.
Coming back around to David and Goliath, there is something for us to learn today. We are all locked in combat just as David was with Goliath. Our very spiritual existence is at stake. As one who is plagued by fear, I need to carefully some rocks for spiritual warfare and prepare to hit the enemy head on. I have a Goliath to engage, confront and overcome. My Goliath wells up from inside me. He is me, he is my ego. The rocks are tools I need to protect the person I wish to become from the person whom I might become if my aim is not true.
A hallmark of RSD (rejection sympathetic dysmorphia) is the speed with which the symptoms can strike. One minute I am bebopping along and the next I will have been engulfed with negative emotions because somehow my fragile self esteem took a hit. In recent months I learned that humility is the bag that holds the weapons I need to defend myself and those I love from the baseless reactions that can redefine a day that was good into a day of conflict.
I have a bucket of rocks to sling at Goliath and some days I bonk with more that other times the stones just sail by him. The point is there is not just one grand defining moment when Goliath takes it in the forehead, goes down and the battle is over. Every morning, Goliath gets back to his feet before I can get close enough to end the struggle forever. Every day I have to drag the bucket of stones up to confront him and have the courage to make the first throw. That first throw, however, can be overwhelming and can require effort that I can muster. The problem, you see, is I have to want to take on my ego, to knock him down so I can prevail even just for a moment. The problem is harder than you think. Sometimes is just to easy and familiar to wallow in the anger and hurt than it is to take the Herculean first step toward recovery. On those days Goliath wins and what is lost is not just my attitude but my relationships with people who are beyond measure in value to me are hurt as well.
If I can just make up my mind and gin up my courage to take a look at the hurt to see if it is real, the image of Goliath fades and the sound of his taunts becomes lost in the breeze of the spirit. This imagery came to me at Mass this past Sunday. When the time for Eucharist arrived, I realized that the bad guys have already lost because of the surrender of life offered by Jesus. In the end, good will prevail. Today, however, evil still has power over us on an individual basis just as Goliath clearly had the advantage over David. We can lose battles but with faith we will never lose the war. We will overcome if we believe we will. That what God wants for us and it should be what we want for each other.
As we close, I offer this question for you to ponder. Who is your Goliath?
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