There is a Way

Text: 1 Samuel 17: 32-49

T.C. Morrow

June 20, 2021

Foundry United Methodist Church, Washington DC

We are in the middle of a sermon series on “The Call: Good Trouble.”  Last week Pastor Ginger spoke on a passage earlier in the book of 1 Samuel, the identification of David as the one God has picked out to be the king.  Picking the eighth and youngest son of a not particularly remarkable family is an unexpected choice.  Yet God again and again throughout our scriptures empowers leaders who defy societal expectations for leadership.

The late Representative John Lewis used the phrase “good trouble” to refer to activities for positive social change that push against unjust social norms or laws.  With pressure to follow the racist policies of the Jim Crow South, Rep. Lewis remembered his parents saying when he asked about “white only” signs, “That’s the way it is, don’t get in the way, don’t get in trouble.”  But inspired by leaders like Dr. King and Rosa Parks, Rep. Lewis says he did get in trouble, in “good trouble.”  Today we continue the story of the young David, his community under threat and divine inspiration for David to get involved.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

“The Lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.”  

The audacity to imagine that you can go from tending sheep to besting the biggest, strongest warrior in the Philistine army.  It’s improbable, it’s impossible.  The young David beating the experienced and physically stronger Goliath?  No way.

Yet there is a way.  For David there is a way through a leader who finally accepts young David’s offer but then tries to push the leader’s own way for how to proceed, and a way through an opponent who seemingly has every advantage.

For you and for me, there is a way.  Whatever the obstacles, there is a way “to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves” as we are called to in our baptismal vows.  It may not be in our time, it may not be how we want it, it surely will not be easy.  But through the power of the Holy Spirit there is always a way to turn those places where we are outraged over “that’s the way it is” into the next faithful step in being the body of Christ in the world.

In whatever situations where we are called to be about #GoodTrouble, God is with us drawing on our experiences and providing the tools and resources to face our obstacles.  As we look at today’s text, you’re welcome to have out your Bible or Bible App to 1 Samuel 17.  Let’s see what David encounters and what we might learn for our own journeys.

The stories of David in the books of 1 & 2 Samuel help the Israelites tell the story of their beginnings as a more cohesive entity from multiple tribes.  Importantly these books of the Bible show later generations the role of God in the lives of their ancestors, and therefore give hope that God is with them as well.  Like the passage last week of Samuel’s anointing of David, this story of David and Goliath shows that Yahweh -- “the Lord” as translated in the New Revised Standard Version -- Yahweh is with the unlikely protagonist David.  David has been sent by his father with food for his brothers who are part of Saul’s army facing the Philistines, a main external opponent to the Israelites in the narrative of 1 & 2 Samuel.  One of the Philistines, Goliath, has offered to fight a representative of the Israelites.  40 days – or a really long time – go by and no one from amongst the Israelites goes forward.  Goliath is described as tall and decked out with heavy armor (he’s gotten called a giant, but the point is that he is a formidable, seasoned warrior).  

As we pick up the story in verse 32, young David, fresh from tending the sheep flocks and serving as the food delivery service of the day, offers to be the one to go