“Facing the Giants”

Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:1-58

A growing problem in society today is that of bullying. We see it most notably in our schools, but it isn’t restricted to the classroom. It occurs in business, in politics, in families, and in social settings. It can take any number of forms, ranging from verbal abuse, to emotional coercion and control, to religious hatred, to physical intimidation.
And it isn’t anything new to our century – it has existed throughout history, and it all began with Cain and his brother Abel. Even Jesus had those who tried to bully him, and of course they failed in every attempt until they eventually took his life, and that must be seen as a victory in every way.

For the past 3 weeks, we have looked at Nicodemus and John the Baptist who would, themselves, be victims of bullying. Nicodemus, as a Pharisee, was emotionally bullied to the point that he had to sneak around at night to get to visit Jesus. John, on the other hand, seemed to take up every gauntlet that was cast down and became more and more intentional in his preaching. His extreme devotion to Christ would, of course, eventually lead to his death. And all of Jesus’ disciples, except for one, would also be executed for their faith.

Spiritual bullying has been a favorite sport for the world since time began. And our scripture today is a familiar story of the game and how the tables were turned.

Read 1 Samuel 17:1-3, 8-11

On occasion, we talk about the “giants of faith” – those people who come into our lives as encouragers, examples, servants, teachers and leaders. They are seldom famous or even obvious to the world, but they always have a huge impact on our life in faith.
There are also those “giants” who come up against us – in life as well as in faith. It sometimes seems as though their only responsibility in life is to tear us down, to drag us down to not only their level, but below. They demean us, they make us doubt, make us struggle, make us fear, and they won’t stop until either we are sufficiently broken or they tire of the game. Goliath was one of these, and he didn’t become exhausted easily!

Israel had been assaulted by “giants” since they left Egypt hundreds of years before. They came in the forms of a desert, of the Egyptian army and a broad expanse of water,of a golden calf, of thirst and hunger, of opposing armies, but every time that they placed their trust in Almighty God, they were rescued from certain death. But they also had problems in facing this “Spiritual Giant” who they knew as Yahweh. He was too big, too powerful, too unknown, and they just couldn’t get a good grasp of whom and why he was. Why did this Giant God let them get into such deep and desperate trouble before he came to their rescue? Why didn’t he make life easier for them? Doesn’t he love them? And these questions have continued to exist for both Israel and the Church throughout the centuries.

And if you think the men of Israel weren’t asking themselves those very same questions that day in the Valley of Elah, then you just don’t understand the situation. A 9 foot tall warrior who wore armor and carried weapons that would overpower any normal man? And this “giant” stood out in the open, defying the army of Israel to attack him, and throwing out a challenge that terrified the most experienced of Israel’s warriors.

Who are your “giants”?
What kinds of challenges do they throw at you?
Are you content to simply let them exist out of fear of confronting them, of naming them, of addressing them, of throwing a challenge back at them?
Nicodemus had at least 2 giants – 1 that was drawing him back, and one that kept calling him forward. Even as he knew that there had to be more to life than just legality, his comfort and security in being a Pharisee was beginning to teeter and slide away as he was being drawn closer and closer to the Light of Jesus Christ, toward new knowledge and understanding and away from the status quo, toward true faith and away from ritualism.
John the Baptist also had two giants – one was the enmity of the world, the hatred of the established way, and the other was his rock solid belief in Jesus Messiah. But in his case, the world held little comfort for him. He gave up comfortable clothes in favor of rough cloth made from camel hair. He gave up bread and meat and wine, in favor of honey and locusts. He abandoned the age old practice of sacrifice, and instead, called the people to repentance and baptism for their sins. He rejected the practice of showing honor to the learned men of Israel, and instead referred to them, face to face, as a brood of vipers.

How do you deal with your giants? Are you trying a sneaky end run around them, as Nicodemus did at first, without directly confronting them, or are you standing face to face with them, naming them for what they truly are? Either way, you need the power of the One who is greater than all of Satan’s giants put together the only One who could create a dry way through the waters, the only One who could topple the walls of Jericho through a shout, the only One who could give Esther the courage to take a public stand against the evil of Haman, the only One who could walk with the 3 Jewish men in Nebuchadnezzar’s roaring furnace, and the only One who could raise up a champion to stand against the Philistine Goliath!

Read 1 Samuel 17:32-40

David reassures the king that he has faced giants just as great and ferocious as the giant that stood before them that day. And he convincingly explained how he was able to do it in the past, and how he would be able to do it today. Verse 37 - “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” David would become a giant for Israel because he knew that the One who was the greatest would see him through this and every ordeal.
Saul tried to give him worldly armor and worldly weapons, but David was wise enough to reject them. Scripture tells us that he only took his staff, 5 smooth stones, and his sling, but we also know that the most important weapon that he carried that day was his absolute faith in Almighty God. Saul, even though he knew that God had been the one who chose him as the first king of Israel, put more store in iron and bronze than he did in the Lord. Saul was no giant, even though he could have been. Saul was a spiritual midget.

The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
--Omar Bradley in a speech, November 10, 1948, quoted in Christianity Today, February 9, 1998, 78.

These words were spoken by General Omar Bradley in 1948, and the reality of it has never rung truer. Saul had put his trust in earthly powers, and had completely forgotten about the power of God. David was just the opposite – his trust was totally in the power of God. Saul would have lost the battle, even with all of his weapons and armor and chariots and warriors. David would win his battle, with only a few small stones and the mighty arm of Yahweh.
With a little faith, we, too, can take a mighty stand against the giants of today, for it is our Omnipotent, our all powerful God, who will seize the day through our humble faith.

Read 1 Samuel 17:41-52

David, in faith, made victory look so easy and so complete, that he inspired the entire army to rise up and pursue the enemy all the way back to their home towns.

Dr. David Kundtz writes of an inspiration that he received from Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He writes:

[The] Russian dissident and novelist, said, “If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. That includes mine and yours. If we could have the courage to embrace our scary shadows, we would thereby take a giant leap to heal our deep and lasting pain... .”
-Dr. David Kundtz, Stopping (Berkeley: Conari Press, 1998), 156.

Did you notice that he didn’t say that we could eliminate those giants, those “scary shadows”? He said that we could “heal our deep and lasting pain”. Nicodemus didn’t initially sever his ties with the Pharisees, he went around them. John the Baptist didn’t destroy his opposition, he faced them. Jesus wouldn’t destroy those who opposed his message of Good News, he continued to share those words of eternal life with all who would hear until he took his last human breath. The apostles would never end the hatred and hostility that the world would show toward them, but, by the power of God, they continued to spread the words of hope and life and Jesus for all who would stand still and listen.

Did the giants come against them? Absolutely! All of them! Totally!
Will the giants come against us, even after we claim faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior? Without question. But in Jesus Christ, we will have power and a glory that can accomplish every task that the Lord lays out for us. And while others have been spiritual giants for us, we can also be spiritual giants for others.

We must stand face to face against the “evil giants” of this world, and walk arm in arm with the “spiritual giants” that the Lord sends to us. Never doubt, never waiver, never turn back, because the Lord Jesus is out in front - leading and preparing and setting all things in motion. And never forget the message that we are to carry – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Look to the Lord as the only Giant worth caring about. And he will make you a Giant for him.