The Giant of Desperation.
There is a desperate person who sits in the corner of the assembly today. Dry mouth, moist palms, scarcely moves for fear of detection. He feels out of place in a room full of saints, but where else will he go? He has violated every belief he every had, he has hurt every person he has ever loved, he has done what he has sworn he will never do. Now comes Sunday and sits and stares, he thinks What if these people knew what I did…” Maybe that person is you this morning, scared, guilty, alone.
It could be an addict, at thief, a child beater, a wife cheater. He could even be a she, single, pregnant, confused. That could be any one of us this morning, any number of people come where God’s people are assembled in this condition, hopeless, hapless, and helpless.
How will we react? What will this person find? Criticism or compassion, rejection or acceptance, raised eyebrows or extended hands? What will they find?
I remember a story from a mission house preacher. There was a young woman who had come to the mission, hungry, helpless, addicted, sick and alone. She had prostituted herself to have money for her addiction. The men who normally came around grew tired of her, she could not get the money for her fix. She decided to sell her baby daughter, men would pay big bucks to have their way with this little girl. She had prostituted her daughter, now her daughter has an STD. The mission preacher asked why she did not turn to the church for help. “Why would I go there, I already feel bad for what I have done, going there would only make me feel worse.”
The church is a hospital for sinners, not a rest home for saints.
Sometimes the hurting will not come here because they don’t want to hear how bad a sinner they are. David was in the same situation. He was a wanted man, his face was on posters in every post office in the kingdom. He was Saul’s #1 public enemy. He runs, always looking over his shoulder, sleeps with one eye open, eats at the local restaurant with a seat next to the exit.
What happened? About three years prior David was in the field watching his father’s sheep, the overlooked runt of the liter went from serenading sheep to serenading Saul. He was one time covered with oil from Samuel and filled with the Holy Spirit from God. After the sixth attempt on his life, he finally got the message and was on the lam. He got the point Saul does not like me. He kissed his wife goodbye and runs out. Where will he go?
Bethlehem? He goes there and he puts his family at risk. Enemy territory? That’s for another time. For now he chooses another hideout. He goes to church.
1SA 21:1 David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest.
Ahimelech is the great grandson of Eli, he headed up a monastery of sorts. David rushes there for sanctuary.
There is a law that says anyone seeking refuge from the “blood avenger” may go to a designated city and find refuge there. Nob could have been a city of sanctuary.
However the priest wonders why David, a warrior, son in law to the King, would come to Nob. David is desperate, he buys time by lying to the priest.
1SA 21:2 David answered Ahimelech the priest, "The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, `No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find."
Desperate people sometimes resort to desperate measures. He is on the run and needs a place to hide, but he is also hungry. The Giant of desperation often leaves us in this condition. Tired from running, tired from hiding, tired of lies and deception, lets face this giant.
The church is not a rest home for saints, but a hospital for sinners.
Lets go back to that woman who had prostituted herself for her drug habit. What could we do? She already knows that what she is doing is wrong. Should we give her money so she won’t have to prostitute herself anymore? No, I don’t think that throwing money at the problem is the answer. Should we tell her she needs Jesus? Yeah, but that is not enough is it.
What about a woman who has to work as a bartender? What should we do if someone like that should come here? Tell her to get a different job and she can fellowship with us? Hmm somehow that does not seem to fit either.
How about the couple that are living together without being married? Should we tell them to get married first then come and fellowship with us?
Maybe we should ask different questions. Instead of “Why are you here?” We should ask “What can we do to help you out of that situation?” Someone with an addiction does not need more guilt, they need a way out.
I know of preacher who has some young children. His wife has to work so that they can pay their bills. The wife gets a job at a factory or other workplace working the late afternoon shift. The preacher watches the children during the day so his wife can get her rest. She gets up late morning, he then goes about ministry buisiness, they have early dinner together before she goes to work. Early evening, because his children are preschool age, he puts them down for the night and works in his office at home. Sounds like they got it all worked out.
Some of the church people feel putoff because he is not available 24/7. In fact if he has a call to make in the evening he has to bring his kids with him. Sometimes because his wife may need the car, he has to depend on someone else to give him a ride to a person’s house, or God-forbid, that needy person may have to come to his house.
Church members grumble, you got to get another car, you need to hire a babysitter, etc etc.
They are asking the wrong questions. Maybe they should ask “What can we do to help?” “Need me to babysit for you?” or “What can we do so that your wife does not have to go to work?”
The church is not a rest home for saints, it is a hospital for sinners.
Even been in a desperate situation like David? Ever been so hungry you had to lie to get some food? Ever been so tired of running you will do anything to get some rest? Welcome to David’s world.
Ravenous, David gulps down the food. Ahimelech likely gulps too, did I do the right thing? Has he bent the law? That bread is only for the priest, yet Ahimelech decides the higher calling was a hungry stomach, meeting the needs of a child of God.
What happened to David, how did he become so desperate? We can blame Saul if we want, but why tell a lie. David, who had the faith the refuse Saul’s armor and face a giant with just a slingshot, now resorts to lying. What happened? The same thing that happens to us when we are in these situations. When we want something we can’t have and resort to measures, ungodly measures, to gain what we don’t have. David lost his focus.
Instead of trusting God to help him conquer his giant, he resorts to lying, truth shading, fear stirring, lack of focus. Ask the wrong questions, we get the wrong answers.
Giants of desperation lead us down a path that may lead to no return.
So where can we go to defeat the Giant of Desperation? We go where the saints are gathered. We find sanctuary among HIS people. Eugene Peterson, an author/minister wrote; “A sanctuary is where I, like David, get bread and sword, strength for a day and weapons to fight.”
To the spiritually hungry the church offers nourishment;
Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is not how far we fell, it is how deep the Love of God is.
The story I told in the beginning has an ending. The size of the congregation, small, maybe a dozen or so. The place, a borrowed room in Jerusalem, the date, Sunday, a particular Sunday, it is the Sunday after the crucifixion, the Sunday after the denial and betrayal. Desperate disciples gathered in that upper room, Peter cowering in the corner remembering his empty promise “I will die for you.” He remembers and hears it over and over again. Just like all the others who left him, he wonders what will God think of him now.
Jesus answered the questions by walking into that room. John 20:21-22 "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
He did not ask why, instead he helped them defeat the Giant of desperation by filling the need. He gives Peace, which is food for the spirit, and he gives us a sword, hope, by giving us the Holy Spirit. He gives them both to all who will seek HIM.
