Sunday, June 24, 2018

Knowing and trusting


A Sermon preached at the Family Service on Sunday, June 24, at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

1 Samuel 17:32-49, (2 Corinthians 6:1-13), Mark 4:35-41

We heard two stories this morning. The first was a long extract from the story of David and Goliath, the second a short story about Jesus in a boat. In the first one, David, “only a youth, but ruddy and handsome in appearance” (1 Samuel 17:42) goes out to fight the Philistine Goliath, “a warrior from his youth,” (17:33) heavily armed and if not a giant, at least a very big man. In the other, a windstorm arises and threatens to swamp and sink the boat that Jesus and his disciples are in. In the first one, David defeats and kills Goliath just with the help of sling. In the other, Jesus commands the violent sea “Peace! Be still! Then the wind ceased and there was a dead calm.” (Mark 4:39)
What do the two episodes have in common? For one thing, they both are victories against all odds: a shepherd boy against a warrior, a word against a storm. That is an important part of both stories, as it helps make one message clearer. Neither David’s victory and salvation of Israel nor Jesus’ calming the storm and saving his friends would be possible without God. But I think that both events are also about trust and faith and the consequences of the lack of trust and faith.
We only heard an extract from the David and Goliath story this morning, it takes up all of chapter 17 and if we had read it all, it would take up most of the service. But to understand the meaning of David’s victory, we need to know that Saul and the Israelites have been hanging around at the battle site for 40 days. Each day, morning and evening, Goliath has come out of the Philistine camp to issue a challenge: “’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.’ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” (1 Samuel 17:8-9, 11) And every time he came out, “all the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from him and were very much afraid.” (17:24)
And then David appears. He’s just come to bring his brothers some food. But much to the annoyance of his own brothers, and to King Saul’s disbelief, when David sees and hears Goliath he does not flee and instead offers to take up the challenge and fight Goliath. Looking back on his life, remembering how God had chosen him and commanded Samuel the priest to anoint him as a future king, seeing how God had intervened again and again to save him when he was attacked by wild animals, David is convinced that God will deliver Goliath into his hand. David trusts in the Lord God who "does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand." (17:47) In the words of author John Ohmer[1], David does not have self-confidence, but God-confidence. Saul and the Israelites have been paralyzed by fear, a fear resulting from their lack of confidence in God. David can act and take a risk because he feels safe in God’s hand.
In Mark’s Gospel, the disciples are also paralyzed by fear, and we can understand their distress. After all they are in mortal danger. They cannot understand why and how Jesus can be asleep at this critical time and so they wake Jesus with the rather harsh words, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ (Mark 4:38) Jesus can sleep because he trusts in the Lord God, his father, and is sure that he is at no risk at all in this stage of his ministry. When he rebukes the disciples with the words ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ (4:40) he seems disappointed. Perhaps because they couldn’t follow his example and just trust in God. Or I think more likely as he had hoped that through his teaching and acts of healing the disciples would already have realized who he is. By the end of this passage, and after this demonstration of power even over the forces of nature they are certainly beginning to wonder: ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ (4:41) I think Jesus was being bit unfair. The disciples could not yet know God as intimately as he does, God’s Son or as intimately as David did, who had felt and known God’s support all his life.
Just so I am not misunderstood on this Sunday school graduation day. I am not recommending that you all get yourself into dangerous situations or start fighting large, well-armed men. Nor am I going to hand out slings and stones as the children’s graduation presents.
What I want you to take away is that while you and I will hopefully never face a giant such as Goliath, or get caught in a perfect storm like Jesus, we will face giants of some kind in our daily life, we will all encounter life’s “perfect storms.” Whatever those challenges are, fear is not the answer. Fear paralyses and leads to wrong choices. What you need at that moment is confidence: “God-confidence!” One purpose of Sunday school is to help you get to know God and God’s Son Jesus Christ better. That never stops. Getting to know God better is also one purpose of our Sunday worship – through God’s word and through Jesus’ presence in the Sacrament.
Only when we know God well, when we know God intimately, by hearing how God has acted and experiencing how God continues to act in our lives, will we be confident like David and Jesus, confident that God will help us overcome our daily problems, big and small. Knowing God is the basis of trust. David knew God and trusted God to give him victory, by taking and enhancing his own skills and ability. Jesus knew his Father and trusted that he would keep him safe and act through him to save everyone in the boat.  For God nothing is impossible. In that we can trust. Amen.


[1] „Slaying your Goliaths“