Showing Up For Battle
I Samuel 17
Preached on Sunday, July 29, 2012
This is one of the most difficult sermons I have ever had to preach. I thought it would be Wednesday evening’s Bible Study, but the Lord would not let me escape preaching it on Sunday morning.
The story found in our text is a familiar one. It is David facing Goliath. I wish to use it in an allegorical manner. For our purposes this morning I want us to assume that the Israelite Army is representative of the church and the Philistine Army is representative of the enemies of the church and the faith.
We find both armies facing each other, prepared for Battle. However, forty days after they arrived at the place for battle there was still no fighting. Why not? Both armies were there.
David is sent to his brothers and even brings some food for the commander. Jesse, David’s father sent him looking for “assurances” (The NIV footnote indicates that he was expecting some sort of spoils of war to be coming back his way) In other words, Jesse didn’t send his sons into battle so much as to defend the people of God and their land, but at the very least had an ulterior motive of expecting to receive some sort of financial/physical recompense for sending them to fight.
So while the people of God were present, some had the wrong motives for showing up for battle. Isn’t this the way it is in every church? Some folks are present for “fire insurance” so that they can escape Hell. Some folks show up because their friends are there or to please their parents. Some folks use the church as a place to make business connections. Some folks just attend out of tradition. Wherever you have people gathered in the name of the Lord you are likely to have people who are there for the wrong reasons. I might mention “Simon the Sorcerer” from the book of Acts who appears to have been following Christianity because of the miracles and in hopes of learning the apostles’ “secrets.”
Let’s not fault the Israelite Army, though. At least they showed up, and lined up for battle. Then, something stopped them. For forty days, this giant Goliath came out and challenged them. He threw out his terms.. He wanted a champion to come and fight.
Here’s where our allegory starts becoming even more interesting. Goliath attempted to redefine the terms of the battle as a one on one affair and the Israelites let him do so. The world consistently tries to define the work of the church and a local church that allows the world to define their work is going to be in trouble. Our mission statement is clear—it is called the GREAT COMMISSION.. Our goal is to reach people for Christ and then to grow people in Christ. Teaching people to live for Jesus Christ and to abide in his ways is the goal of the church. EVERYTHING that the church does must stem from or aim at this goal. If the church has a Christian School ministry it is to reach young people for Christ and to train them in the faith. If a church feeds hungry people it must do so for the purpose of sharing the gospel to those hungry people. Feeding hungry people is NOT the work of the church. Reaching people with the gospel message is the work of the church.
The world seeks to redefine the mission of the church. Many churches have become distracted with business of turning their church into a charity program and neglecting the gospel. Churches have tried to become a social club for troubled youth and once again neglect the gospel. Every ministry of a church must FOCUS on the gospel of Jesus Christ and disciplined living. This includes POTLUCK FELLOWSHIPS and GOSPEL CONCERTS.
In the text, we can see that when David arrived, the Israelites lined up for warfare and shouted the war cry. Let’s give them credit, they lined up, reported to the front lines, and were willing to shout defiance. The sad thing is that they stopped there.
Across America, on Sunday mornings, millions of people attend church. They show up and sing praise, they give their offerings, they pray, they listen to the sermon. They were present and accounted for and vocal in their faith. However, they stop short of going down in the Valley where the enemy is. They are willing to shout praise. They enjoy the “fun” and “easy” stuff. They are comfortable in the camp with the rest of the army, but they are unwilling to go down into the valley where the fight is to take place. This morning, I want to tell this congregation that the fight is not fought in the chapel of the church on Sunday morning. That’s the CAMP.. the battle is fought in your homes, at your school or workplace, in your neighborhood, where you shop, where you go to the ballgame. Your Christian faith must be a part of your daily routine, all day long, all night long.. when you wake and when you sleep. The evil one, Satan, wants to convince the church that they have done their duty just by showing up for church and singing some hymns or praise songs. The test of you spiritual walk isn’t how well you sing “How Great is Our God” or “How Great Thou Art.”
Do the math with me for a moment. The most committed believer who shows up for church events might spend three-four hours in church on Sunday and another hour or so for mid-week service. Contrast that with your waking hours and you’ll discover it really isn’t very much.
But the point really is this: The work of the Church isn’t normally done simply by showing up for church. The lost people that we are called to reach are not normally attending church. They aren’t drawn to church, they aren’t compelled to go to church, and if we are honest, they are rarely even invited to church. Guess what—unless you share your faith with them, inviting them to church will do very little for them. They need to respond to the gospel message to get saved.
We, as a church, have a responsibility. I’m about to shock you. We are not responsible to reach this community for Jesus Christ. WOW! That’s hard to believe, isn’t it? That is redefining the mission, just like Goliath tried to do. No, our mission is to MAKE DISCIPLES from the community. We aren’t called to reach people who are rejecting God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ. We are called to reach people who are ready to respond positively to Jesus—ONE AT A TIME! Too many churches see the picture too big. They want to reach whole cities and communities. Really??? Tell that to Jesus ministering to one soul at a time. The woman at the well in Samaria is a prime example. He reached her and then she brought others to him. Other one-on-one experiences Jesus had with others would include Zachaeus, the wee little man and Nicodemus, the Jewish leader who came to him at night. If we view our job as conquering a community we will miss the individuals God wants to lead us to. We redefine the mission and suddenly it seems impossible.
David immediately questioned the situation and his older brother jumped all over him. In our allegory, that happens in a lot of churches. Someone sees and mentions a ministry need and the other believers, who THINK that they are already doing God’s will just be showing up and praising the Lord turn on him.
The next time you hear someone suggest an area of ministry need in a church you’d better not chew that person out. That person may not be the critic you think he is. He may also not be prepared to step in and lead that ministry, but don’t be so quick as to judge his motives. Eliab was pretty upset because he perceived David’s attitude as an attack because he knew that someone, perhaps himself, should have been down in the Valley instead of on the hillside. David was willing to fight and Eliab saw it as some form of indictment against him and the whole army.
When King Saul heard that David was willing to fight he sent for him. When he got him in his sight, he began to tell David that he couldn’t beat Goliath. After all, Goliath was a trained fighting man.
Here’s the shame of it all. When Samuel is led by God to select a king, he finds Saul to be a larger man, standing head and shoulders above the average Israelite. Didn’t Saul, as the biggest guy in the army, have a responsibility to be the one to go down in the valley to face Goliath? Yet, even he saw the task as overwhelming and impossible.
Continuing with the allegory, King Saul represents church leadership, or the Pastor. There are times when even a pastor feels that the job is too big, too daunting, or impossible. Not only is he, at times, unwilling to face the challenge, but he also discourages others from doing it, telling them it cannot be done. Church leadership needs to be careful about discouraging those who feel led to meet needs and lead out in ministry endeavors.
In our local association we have a pastor who has led a rough life. (I’m not certain, but he may even have done time in prison in his youth)… His first pastorate is a small church across town. He had not been pastor there for a long time when he went across town, to the inner city, to visit a fellow pastor in the African-American community. He told that pastor that he felt led to minister among the gangs. The pastor told him that it was a difficult task. He told him frankly that it would be difficult for a “white boy” to minister to gang members from the “Crips” or “Bloods” in the area. He even showed him bullet holes in the church building and advised him that bullets fly in that area. The “White boy” was not dissuaded and the Pastor gave him a place to meet. The last I heard, he had more than twenty-five former gang members meeting for Bible study on a regular basis. While one pastor saw it as a difficult and impossible task, God led the other into the battlefield for the Lord.
Church leadership should take care not to discourage our young “Davids” who see the calling and mission clearly, and courageously are willing to step out and enter the valley.
David’s response to Saul’s discouraging words were based on his past experiences. He tells of defending the flock against a lion and a bear. He testifies that it wasn’t his great strength or skill that rescued those lambs, but God delivered him. Based on his past experiences, David knew that God could be counted on.
One of my favorite movies as a kid was “The Shakiest Gun in the West” starring Don Knotts. This was a remake of the old Bob Hope classic “Paleface.” Don Knotts plays an Eastern Dude who gets hooked up with a Calamity Jane type secret agent. She is undercover and cannot reveal her skill with guns, and when they are attacked by Indians she kills a bunch of them and lets the dude think he was the great gunman, Indian fighter. In the next scene, we find Don Knotts strutting about as only Don Knotts can, daring people to get in his way, and acting belligerent, much as he did when playing Barney Fife on the old Andy Griffith television programs. Later, when he learns that his wife was the one who had been protecting him (shooting an enemy from a window) he has the wind knocked out of his sails and admits he is really not a big hot shot.
David is the opposite of this character. He isn’t bragging about what he did, but instead expresses his faith in Almighty God. His past experience with God gave him confidence for the future. Everything God does in your life is to prepare you for the next step. You can either pay attention and move forward, or like the Hebrews delivered from Egypt, ignore the past deliverance and refuse to enter the promised land. If we are like David, our victory in the past leads us to victory tomorrow. Our memory of God’s faithfulness in the past to take care of our needs teaches us that He will be faithful today and tomorrow.
Saul offered David his armor, but David declined to take it. Once more, our allegory should remind us that church leadership should not be restricted to conventional methods. I think we need to be careful about discarding tradition, but sometimes God will lead us to unconventional methodology to reach people. I don’t think the contest between Elijah and the false prophets of Baal was by any means conventional. We cannot expect to restrict young, enthusiastic believers to our sense of how it is done.
What do I mean by that? Well, about one hundred and fifty years ago, during the mid 1800’s, someone came up with a new ministry idea. It was called Sunday School. Churches adopted Sunday Schools and many, many souls were reached through Sunday Schools. I imagine that there were some ministers who declined to lead their churches in this “new” ministry. Today, Sunday School doesn’t seem to be as effective of an evangelistic tool as it once was, at least in many churches. A lot of churches have adopted “small groups” or “mini-churches” that meet at other times during the week for Bible Study,etc. Don’t despise new methods of ministry. At the same time, we need to be careful we don’t jump onto every new ministry bandwagon that comes along, but must follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit to determine the ministries that a church should involve itself in for the express purpose of meeting the goals of reaching people and discipling people.
Finally, David stepped into the Valley, ready to fight. He takes Goliath down and leaving no doubt that the big guy is dead, he lopes off his head and holds it up for all to see. Suddenly, the Philistine Army is shaken and turns to run. The Israelites jump up and rush out to battle, dealing them a terrible blow and chasing them back into Philistine territory. VICTORY!
You need to get down into the valley and fight because it is an encouragement to others to come down into the valley, too! Someone is always watching you.
I’ll never forget that the Sunday morning that I got saved someone else came forward. I came and admitted that I wasn’t really saved and needed salvation and received Christ. In regards to popularity, I was not really important in our church, but one of the more popular (at least with the ladies) young men came forward. He was in his twenties, I was eighteen. He made the statement that if I could come forward and confess my lost condition, he could come forward and confess his need to rededicate his life to the Lord. This experience has always reminded me to tell, especially young people, that while you might not be “cool” but someone is always watching you and if you do right you can influence others in that direction as well. Of course, the same is also true of doing wrong.
In our allegory, David represents the person who goes forward in ministry, against the odds, and then gets to encourage and inspire others. Think about this.. is your hesitation to get involved in ministry allowing others to sit back and refuse to be involved, too. Are you the one holding back the church by your fear of the battle in the valley?
The battle is not fought in praise, though praise is important. The battle is not fought through simple church attendance, though attending church is important. The battle is fought by moving forward in ministry and taking on the challenges that God has set before you.
