PUT ME IN COACH!
1 Samuel 17
Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.
A-roundin’ third, and headed for home, it’s a brown-eyed handsome man;
Anyone can understand the way I feel.
CHORUS:
Oh, PUT ME IN, COACH - I’m ready to play today;
PUT ME IN, COACH - I’m ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.
Well, I spent some time in the Mudville Nine, watchin’ it from the bench;
You know I took some lumps when the Mighty Casey struck out.
So Say Hey Willie, tell Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio;
Don’t say "it ain’t so", you know the time is now.
CHORUS
Yeah! I got it, I got it!
Got a beat-up glove, a homemade bat, and brand-new pair of shoes;
You know I think it’s time to give this game a ride.
Just to hit the ball and touch ’em all - a moment in the sun;
(pop) It’s gone and you can tell that one goodbye!
INTRODUCTION: Every baseball fan knows this song “Centerfield” by John Fogerty (Creedance Clearwater Revival). Over the past two decades it has almost replaced Take Me Out to the Ballgame as the quintessential baseball anthem.
A. I guess I like it because I identify with it.
1. It has something to say about people.
a. Personally, I never wanted to sit on the sidelines in the Kingdom.
b. I’ve always wanted to be in the center of it all … play Centerfield!!
c. You’ve got to respect a guy like that. He’s sitting on the bench but his heart is in centerfield.
2. As in almost everything else, there are groups - The Spectators and The Players. You can spend your life in the stands or on the field. Personally, in the important things in life, I want to be a Player. When I stand before the Lord, I want to hear “Well done you good and faithful player.” Spectators will never hear those words. Well done is for those who “do;” not for those who watch others do.
3. What I want to do today is instill in every believer here a desire to get in the Game.
a. I want your prayer to become, “Put me in Coach, I’m ready to play, today.”
b. I want you on the field; not in the stands.
4. Let’s take a look at a little guy who wanted in the game. He was forced to be a spectator, but he wanted in the game. (First Samuel 17): 24As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. 25"Have you seen the giant?" the men were asking. "He comes out each day to challenge Israel. And have you heard about the huge reward the king has offered to anyone who kills him? The king will give him one of his daughters for a wife, and his whole family will be exempted from paying taxes!" 26David talked to some others standing there to verify the report. "What will a man get for killing this Philistine and putting an end to his abuse of Israel?" he asked them. "Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?" 27And David received the same reply as before: "What you have been hearing is true. That is the reward for killing the giant." 28But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. "What are you doing around here anyway?" he demanded. "What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and dishonesty. You just want to see the battle!" 29"What have I done now?" David replied. "I was only asking a question!" 30He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. 31Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.
We know the story well of David’s amazing victory over the Giant. But it occurred to me that David won more than one victory that afternoon. He won three. Before we can defeat the giants in our lives, we will have to defeat some other things, too. If we are to every win this great game of life, we are going to have to do it on three fronts.
WE CHALLENGE THE ENEMY ON THREE FIELDS.
I. FIRST DAVID HAD TO WIN A VICTORY OVER HIMSELF. His fears, his flaws, his past failures, his sorry station in life. He was a guy who was willing to play the hand he was dealt without excuses.
A. Fear keeps us off the playing-field more than anything else I can think of.
1. Some of us fear FAILURE.
a. We don’t fail, we give up trying.
b. We are not always willing to pay the price for achieving our dreams … Paderewski. “Before I was a genius, I was a drudge.”
c. We fear that we can’t, so we don’t.
2. Some people fear SUCCESS.
a. Afraid of not being able to handle it if they achieve it.
b. It’s a fear of the unknown.
c. It’s a fear of responsibility.
B. The first enemy David had to destroy was his own image of himself.
1. His fears. … He was no warrior.
2. His flaws. … He was an inexperienced kid.
3. His failures. … He had never risen to any position of entitlement.
II. THE SECOND THING DAVID HAD TO DEFEAT, WAS A HIS DOUBTS.
A. I believe that most of us have an adequate faith in God. It is not faith in the almighty that we lack … We lack faith in ourselves.
1. We infer, “What God can do in others He may not be able to do in me.”
2. David had overcome his fears. (1 Samuel 17) 32"Don’t worry about a thing," David told Saul. "I’ll go fight this Philistine!"
33"Don’t be ridiculous!" Saul replied. "There is no way you can go against this Philistine. You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!" 34But David persisted. "I have been taking care of my father’s sheep," he said. "When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35I go after it with a club and take the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The LORD who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!" Saul finally consented. "All right, go ahead," he said. "And may the LORD be with you!"
3. . David recounted his past successes and felt that, if God had helped him in the past, He would help him now. God is not arbitrary in His dealings with us. He doesn’t run on emotion. He is not capricious or impulsive or unpredictable ……. (1 Samuel 17) 38Then Saul gave David his own armor--a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. 39David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. "I can’t go in these," he protested. "I’m not used to them." So he took them off again.
B. Here’s an important lesson in playing the Game: YOU ARE WHO GOD MADE YOU TO BE. He doesn’t want you to be somebody else or He would have made you somebody else. You have things to offer this team that no one else has to offer. It would be a shame if we lost the game because a talented person like you who could play a key position on this team chose to sit and the stands and cheer the rest of us on.
1. It is as important to know both your limitations as well as your abilities.
2. David was not the warrior Saul was. He was not as big as Saul was.
3. Someone has said that it is just as presumptuous to say, I can do nothing, as it is to say, I can do everything.
4. If we do not recognize and use the gifts God has given us for the advancement of His kingdom, then we have wasted our lives. If we have used our God given abilities just to make money for ourselves or the company for which we work, we have squandered our true wealth. God is not interested in your comforts … He is interested in His kingdom.
III. THE FINAL THING THAT DAVID WON THE VICTORY OVER THAT AFTERNOON IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH WAS THE GIANT.
A. There are always giants in our Valleys.
1. In fact, I’m convinced that that is where they live. From the mountaintops even giants look like grasshoppers. But when you have to face them.
2. And another thing … (1 Samuel 17) 41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
B. Giants are intimidating. That’s why the Devil sends them our way. …
1. Saul’s method was to put it off.
2. The longer you put it off the bigger your giants become … the more intimidating the problem is.
C. So how do you defeat Giants?
1. Be yourself.
a. Your faith should be in God not in chariots and weapons and techniques (or Dr. Phil or Oprah).
b. Never assume that what worked for somebody else to defeat their giants will automatically work for you.
2. Trust first in the Lord and not just in the weapons you’ve been given.
a. Your gifts will assist you, but God is the ultimate source of your Victory!
b. Your faith is in God not your giftings.
3. Celebrate your past victories. (David)
a. ILLUSTRATION:
The British Army knew how to celebrate their victories. In 1978, there was a fireman’s strike in London, England. The Army was called in to handle the emergency fire fighting operations. One day in January 1978, they were called by an elderly lady in South London whose cat had climbed a tree and wouldn’t come down. So the army arrived quickly, discharged their duties, rescued the cat, and life had returned to normal. The lady was so grateful, she invited the firemen in for tea and crumpets. They celebrated their victory. As they were leaving and saying their farewells, the men got back into their trucks, and you know what they did? They ran over the cat! The moral of the story is celebrate your victories while you can. You never know when you may have to fight your next battle!
b. CONCLUSION:
Senator Mark Hatfield writes of touring Calcutta with Mother Teresa and visiting the “House of Dying.” It was a home where sick children are cared for in their last days and where the poor line up by the hundreds to receive medical attention. Hatfield was watching Mother Teresa and her companions care for those who had been left by others to die and he remembers being so overwhelmed by the magnitude of the suffering they faced everyday. Hatfield approached Mother Teresa and said, “How can you bear the load without being crushed by it?” And Mother Teresa responded, “I’m not called to be successful. I’m simply called to be faithful.”
You are not called to be successful. You are called to be faithful. Your victory is assured if God alone is enough for you!
