In a heart still never ending, there's a quirk for all of you.
March the voice of God, it's calling to the heart, it's calling you.
Little it's much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crowd and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name.
In the mass of the Broadway, in the hurry and the stride, tell of Jesus, love and mercy, give to them the word of life.
Little it's much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crowd and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name.
Just a place, you're called the labor, seems you're small and little known, it's great.
God is in it and you'll not forget his own.
Little it's much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crowd and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name.
Are you late? Sight and servants, body warm and toilet care, you can still be in the battle in the sacred place of prayer.
Little it's much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crowd and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name.
When the conflict is ended and the race on earth is run, he will say, we are faithful, welcome home, my child, well done.
Little it's much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crowd and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name.
Little it's much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crowd and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name.
The reading from 1 Samuel from chapter 17.
Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle.
They were gathered at Soco, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Soco and Azzeca in Ephes Damim.
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines, a champion named Goliath of God, whose height was six cubits and a span.
He had a helmet of bronze on his head and he was armed with a coat of mail.
The weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze.
He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.
The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam and his spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron and his shield bearer went before him.
He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, why have you come out to draw up for battle?
Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul?
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.
And the Philistines said, today I defy the ranks of Israel, give me a man that we may fight together.
When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistines, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.
David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with the keeper, took the provisions and went as Jesse had commanded him.
He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line shouting the war cry.
Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army.
David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers.
As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of God, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before.
And David heard him.
David said to Saul, let no one's heart fail because of him, your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
Saul said to David, you are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are just a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth.
But David said to Saul, your servant used to keep sheep for his father.
And whenever a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth.
And if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down and kill it.
Your servant has killed both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.
David said, 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.
So Saul said to David, go and may the Lord be with you.
Saul clothed David with his armor.
He put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.
David strapped Saul's sword over the armor and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them.
Then David said to Saul, I cannot walk with these, for I am not used to them.
So David removed them.
Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in his shepherd's bag in the pouch.
His sling was in his hand and he drew near the Philistine.
The Philistine came on and drew near to David with his shield bearer in front of him.
When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.
The Philistine said to David, am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?
And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
The Philistine said to David, come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.
But David said to the Philistine, you come to me with sword and spear and javelin,
but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied.
This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you down and cut off your head
and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth.
So that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know
that the Lord does not save by sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hand.
When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead.
The stone sang into his forehead and he fell face down on the ground.
Let us pray.
Father in the name of Jesus, we come before you with humble hearts, O God,
we come before you to forgive us of our sins, Lord, repenting of them right now in the name of Jesus,
that you may hear our prayer, O Lord.
Father, send this prayer around the world that they may feel your love when they feel like the giants are after them.
It is your love, O God, that we need to comfort us.
It is your love that we need when we feel troubled.
It is your love, O God, when we feel overwhelmed.
O God, allow us to feel your presence even when times are hard.
Just like David felt your love when he had to take down Goliath,
but just like you love David, we understand that you love Goliath,
but most of all, we ask that you meet everyone in the center of their needs,
our loved ones' needs, and our enemy's needs, because we serve a God that loves us all.
It's in the mighty name of Jesus that we pray the prayer that you taught your disciples to pray.
Our Father, the Lord of the Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts,
that we forgive our debts.
And lead us not into temptation, but into the rest of evil,
but behind this kingdom, and in power, and in glory forever.
Amen.
O God, my God, when I in awesome wonder
consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
I heart you out, the universe just came
Then sings of my soul, I say you've come to me
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings of my soul, I say you've come to me
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
And when I think that God, His Son, spent me
Sent Him to die, I scarce can't take it in
That on the cross, my burden glanning very
He bent and died to fake away my sin
Then sings my soul, my say you've come to me
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my say you've come to me
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
He anoints David as the new king.
And in this chapter, David, who isn't yet old enough to join the Israelite army,
is only in camp because Jesse sent him with some food for his older brothers.
And that's when he hears the taunts of this giant Philistine Goliath.
And in all of Israel's army, he alone has the faith that God will see him
with this towering adversary.
At this point in his life, David is not imposing at all.
Saul, the current king of Israel, was chosen in part for his impressive stature.
He was over six feet tall. He was broad. He was muscular.
He looked the part of a king.
David was so small in comparison that Saul's armor didn't have a chance of even fitting him.
In fact, David couldn't even walk in it.
Compared to Goliath, David was dwarfed even more.
Goliath was a full six cubits in height. That's nine feet 2.75 meters.
David probably reached half of that with his sandals on.
Goliath had an impressive bronze armor weighing 125 pounds, about 57 kilograms,
which is probably what David himself weighed.
Goliath's spear point was 15 pounds, about 7 kilograms, and it was sharpened bronze.
We compare that to David's five smooth stones that probably weighed less than a pound when put all together.
David was hopelessly outmatched.
Saul knew it. David's brothers knew it.
This battle looked completely one-sided.
It should be quick. Goliath wouldn't even raise a sweat.
But here's the point.
The reason we know that David is going to do big things is because he's not counting on his own strength.
Not the strength of his arms or even the strength of his mind to be able to accomplish these things.
He's counting on the strength of God. His mind and his heart are set on God's power.
As a shepherd, David protected his family flock from bears and lions that were far larger than he himself.
And David doesn't attribute that ability to take down those threats as if it was his own strength or his own skill.
He sees it as God working through him.
This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them is what he says to Saul.
To David, the battle is also completely one-sided.
It should be quick. Goliath won't even raise a sweat until he dies.
Verse 50 says it.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a single stone.
Striking down the Philistine and killing him, there was no sword in David's hand.
And so a youth, not yet of military age, takes down the biggest, and I do mean that pun, military threat in his time.
It was just the first of David's victories.
As David grew into a man, he led Israel's army through countless victories, time and time again, always counting on the power of God to bring him through.
And this would be our first point for today.
During our lives, we will undoubtedly face seemingly insurmountable obstacles that will stand in our way in the way of living out God's way for our lives.
Those battles might look to everyone around us, and if we're honest, to ourselves, as though they are completely one-sided against us.
And it's in those times of being hopelessly outmatched that we need to set our minds and our hearts on the power of God.
Knowing that whatever our adversary might be, it is the adversary that is hopelessly outmatched by the power of God to save.
It simply does not matter what bears or lions or Philistines are cruelly arrayed against us, a single stone will take them out.
That stone is the rock on which we stand, the cornerstone, the Lord, whose power so dwarfs the goliaths of our experience as to make them insignificant if only we trust God to do so.
Now that said, I would be remiss in my duties of correctly dividing the Word of God if I didn't go on to issue a few warnings.
David, in his youthful faith, I don't think ever conceived of a situation where God might not rescue him.
Yet to be sure, we in our lives will face a number of situations where God does not pull us out of the pain and the suffering.
Jesus, in his ministry, faced off against the political and religious powers of his day many times, and in all but the last, he was kept safe.
Yet the protection of God appeared to fail when those powers succeed in putting him to death.
God, however, had other plans that included defeating death itself through Christ's willing sacrifice.
The powers of this world's victory were short-lived when God vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead.
Likewise, of the twelve apostles and Paul, over half of them were eventually killed by the powers of their day, crucified, drowned, burned.
In every manner that was known to that time, they were put to death.
And even though we have not yet seen them raised in vindication, we can look at their works and their writings that have inspired the Church through the centuries,
and there can be no doubt that God used them both in life and in death in powerful ways.
And they are vindicated by the results that we still see today.
Their word still inspires.
That's the second one.
Even in those times when God may not save us from the suffering and loss, God will still vindicate us in life or in death.
Like Job, we can say, I know that my Redeemer lives and he will raise me up on the last day.
The difference between God guaranteeing our safety and God ensuring our vindication is vital.
It is very important.
It is easy in our humanness to slip from counting on God's power to save us from our enemies,
into calling on God's power to destroy our enemies.
I think if the Psalms were there in the indication, David himself fell into that.
It seems that David's faith may not have ever grown out of that early surety of God's protection and into that deeper understanding of God's vindication.
It may be in part what led David to his greatest error later in his life.
It is reasonable to think that David may have slipped from knowing that God's power would allow him to surmount impossible odds into thinking that he could do anything.
From knowing that he would be blessed whatever God called him to do into thinking that God would bless him whatever he chose to do.
And after David made that mistake, that was when he sent a man to his death so that David could take his wife for himself.
That's the danger of thinking that God will bless our enterprises.
Fortunately, David was good enough to know in his heart that this was wrong and he repented fervently when he was confronted with it.
But we must guard ourselves from David's error.
We must see past the foolishness of thinking that God is on our side.
And understand clearly that it is we who must be on God's side.
If anyone had a right to ask God for vengeance against his enemies, it would be someone like the German pastor, Martin Niemoller,
who protested Hitler's anti-Semitic agenda in person right before the Fuhrer.
Of course, he was promptly arrested and imprisoned for eight years in Sachsenhausen and in Dachau.
But here is how he responded to that great injustice.
He said, it took me a long time to learn that God is not the enemy of my enemies.
In fact, God is not even the enemy of God's enemies.
writer Anne Lamotte recounts on how her therapist once advised her that when God hates all the same people that we hate,
then you can be sure that we have created God in our own image.
That's idolatry.
God wants us to see those others not as enemies, but as neighbors.
As fellow children of God, we're loved by God as much as we are.
Which brings us to that final point.
The story of David helps us see the power of God that can be active in our lives and bring about otherwise impossible victories.
But we must see what it appears David might not have seen.
We must see that God's power to achieve great things is not for the purpose of crushing one's enemies,
or even crushing those who we believe are the enemies of God.
God's power to achieve great things can only truly be accessed when we tear down those false boundaries that create that deadly lie
that there are some people who are our enemies.
As a psalmist, David prayed for God to rebuke, destroy, and utterly annihilate even the memory of his enemies.
In order for us to truly worship and serve God, we have to do that far more difficult thing
of opening our hearts and our fellowship to those that we thought were the enemies of God and ourselves.
When James and John wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans because of their unbelief,
and in the Garden of Gethsemane, when his disciples tried to prevent his arrest,
Jesus rebuked those who tried to show their allegiance to him through violent means.
Instead, he insisted that his Father in heaven causes the sun to shine on both the wicked and the righteous.
Jesus told us to love our enemies and to do good for those who persecute us.
Because in the end, the ultimate measure of my love for God is my love for my neighbor.
To this land that thou art, thou art best called by day and by night,
waking or sleeping by burdens, by night.
Bring out a heaven by victory for, may I reach here and join the bright and sun.
I love my own mark, whatever it may be. Still be my vision, O ruler of all.
In the Gospel of Mark for this week, there's a passage about Jesus allaying the fears of the disciples on the sea.
And Jesus calms the sea.
And the disciples question, who are you that you can calm the sea?
In other passages in the other Gospels, Jesus invites his disciples to come to him on the sea that's turbulent.
And they're afraid.
We invite everyone to come to the communion table today.
It's a place of safe harbor, a place of love, and we celebrate that gift.
No big giants to clobber us.
Only the peace and love and protection of our God.
Let us pray.
Thank you, Lord, for this bread and for this cup and as we take it together in all places and join together with disciples of all times.
We pray that you would strengthen us with the memory of our Lord and our Savior.
In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
On the night he was betrayed, he took bread and he blessed it.
And he shared it with his disciples and he said to them, take this, all of you, and eat it.
This is my body.
Do this in remembrance of me.
And after supper, Jesus poured the last cup at the dinner and he shared it with his disciples.
And he said to them, take this, all of you, and drink it.
This is the blood in the new covenant that is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins.
As often as you do this, do this in remembrance of me.
The body and the blood of Christ given for all.
Come to the table.
In remembrance of me, be this bread.
Go out into this world seeing not people who are enemies of God or ourselves,
but see them as children of God who are loved and cherished by God.
And with that sight, begin to cherish them yourselves.
And those who look on in amazement will know that God's love and God's power goes with you.
Thank you.
