Sermons

Luke 22:7-14    Famous Supper: Jesus 

Rev. Mary Cox, Valley Presbyterian Church, Mesquite, NV

            Perhaps the most famous Biblical scene comes to mind not because of flannel boards and children’s coloring books but because of a very famous painting.

            In the late 15^th century Leonardo da Vinci painted a large mural we know as “The Last Supper.”  That image is quite active in our imaginations.  Recently books and movies have brought even more attention to the “who” depicted in the scene but it is the “what” that has caught my attention.

            There is a certain phrase that I have heard for most of my life; maybe you have too.  The words are spoken nearly every time we come to the Lord’s Table:  “He took the cup also, after supper…”.  I guess I knew, maybe, what that “supper” meant but sometimes we have to just stop, mid-thought, and say, “Wait a minute.  What supper?”  That is what we are doing today.  Let’s prayerfully take a look into Luke 22:7-14:

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸So Jesus^* sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’ ⁹They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for it?’ ¹⁰‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters ¹¹and say to the owner of the house, “The teacher asks you, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ” ¹²He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’ ¹³So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. 14 When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. (NRSV)

            The Feast of Unleavened Bread was one of three feasts celebrated in Jesus’ day by the Israelites from the time of the Exodus.  As Luke mentions, the Passover was the focal point of this feast.

            On this day many Jews would have been getting ready for the Passover.  It is a very Jewish scene.  Every year Jesus and his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.  People from out of town would have to have a place to participate.

            I witnessed a similar picture just recently.  When my husband and I were walking to the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem just before the Jewish Sabbath was to begin, we walked past a home with large widows and French doors.  Inside the lights were turned off, I could see that no one was there, yet the table was already set for the special Sabbath meal.

            Jesus’ instructions might sound rather strange to us but it would not have been unusual for a place to be readied.

            Peter and John are sent ahead to get things started.  Yet Luke gives a warning that is will be no ordinary event.  Jesus tells them to look for a man carrying a jar of water.  From our standpoint we might think “Okay…?” But here’s the point: men didn’t ordinarily carry water, only women did.  There was to be no doubt, this was to be the first of many surprising turn of events.

            Jesus’ disciples knew what the Passover meal meant. God is faithful.  Exodus 13 tells how Moses stressed its importance.  He was basically saying, “Remember, every time you eat it.  With every aroma you smell and every bite you taste, remember that God brought the Israelites out of the absolute worst conditions anyone could imagine.”  Under the brutal oppression of the Egyptians, God heard the cry of the Israelites and began a deliverance they would or should never forget.  The Holy One of Israel is a God who brings freedom and redemption.

            It was one thing to remember the story, but another thing to remember that God is still delivering will still redeem.  We hear the message echoed down through the ages: Don’t forget.  Don’t forget to eat.  Don’t forget to remember.

            The Jews took this matter of remembering very serious.  When Moses said, “It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead” (Exodus 13:9) to them it meant, go ahead and strap it to your forehead if you must.  The men wore phylacteries, small boxes of scripture on their heads.  The purpose was not to learn by osmosis.  They were to memorize the scripture, put it in case and strap it to a headband.  Don’t you think each time they looked in the mirror they might say, “Oh yeah…” Then God’s faithfulness would come to mind.  Even, when they would meet other Jews they would see and say “Oh yeah…” This is still a practice with some Jewish sects.

            Doesn’t that make sense?  Whatever is in our hand or what our hands are doing and whatever is on our minds affects what comes out of our mouths.  That’s not just biblical truth but common sense.  Here’s where it all comes together with our scripture today: Keeping everything up front and in the position of urgency is the point of unleavened bread.  In preparing leavened bread a person has to allow much time for the yeast to rise.

            Unleavened bread was a part of the Passover.  The meal brought back to memory what happened that night.  The lamb was slain and its blood smeared on the doorpost to serve as a sort of red flag.  The destroying spirit was to pass over that house.  But that’s not all.  Under the banner of blood they had to trust that God was really going to do what he said he would do.  As for them, they were to roast the meat, quickly make and bake the bread.  They were to expect to be protected and liberated.

            That’s what the supper meant.  Witnessing God’s faithfulness and trusting him all over again to save his people from death.  Now Jesus was not only going to remember with his disciples God’s covenant, he was going to fulfill it.

            The lamb again slaughtered and roasted.  The bread, urgently prepared.  The cup filled with a red drink.  Peter and John got made sure it was all ready, for the time was at hand.

            The hands that made the world were about to serve the meal one last time. A new memory was to take precedence.

            You see, it didn’t matter really who was there because we have all been invited.

            The meal that we partake today reminds us of Jesus sacrifice but let us not forget that it also reminds us to be ready, to be on the lookout for strange hints that something new is about to happen.  Especially when it feels that life is getting more difficult and the path is getting dimmer, we hear the call to pray and urgently listen.  You might not be preparing a meal for Jesus but you can prepare your heart to welcome him in.

Sermon 2/27/11

Jonah 1:1-4,15-17     Famous Fish: Jonah 

Rev. Mary Cox, Valley Presbyterian Church, Mesquite, NV

          In our sermon series about famous Bible stories I have been the most excited to preach about Jonah since I was introduced to a video on youtube.com.  Six-year-old Mary Margaret Douglass tells the story from a pulpit in “Shirley Temple” style delivery.  (You can view the video online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4VrujheblY).  If we had had the technology to show the video this morning I would have done that even though I’m not sure how I would have reacted to being upstaged.

          What Mary Margaret does is tells the story the way I think it is to be heard.  Stories in the scriptures are not just meant to be silently read and privately contemplated.  They are meant to be listened to and allowed to draw us into relationship with God who still speaks today.

          God uses all the stories, the law, promises, poems and prophecies in the scriptures to bring us closer, sometimes in a backhanded way to God and one another.

          Today we read and prayerfully hear from Jonah 1:1-4,15-17:

          Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ²‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’ ³But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

4          But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. ¹⁵So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

17          ^*But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. (NRSV)

          We need a little background to this story.  This is not the first time we hear of the prophet Jonah.  After the disastrous period of the judges of Israel, the people called out to God to provide them with a king like other surrounding nations.  Though the priest Samuel reminded them that God was their king, the people persisted and God called out first Saul, then David, and Solomon.  These were the glory days of Ancient Israel but it was rather short lived because Solomon’s sons allowed the kingdom to be divided.  Jonah was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom as it unfortunately fell to the brutal Assyrians.  Assyria’s city of glory was none other than Nineveh.

          You could say Jonah carried more than a little baggage when he heard the name of Nineveh.  That weight was heavy enough to cause this experienced prophet of Almighty God to not just argue with God but to deliberately ignore God and try to get the heck out of dodge.

          It reminds me in a way of the scene in “Hello Dolly” when Dolly  says, “Mr. Vandergelder, you go your way [she points in one direction] and I’ll go mine [then takes her other hand to point in the same direction].”  Well, if Jonah had even given God the time of day he would have been saying, “You go your way [pointing in one direction] and I’ll go mine[other hand points in the opposite direction].”  Nineveh was far inland so Jonah headed directly to the sea.

          Did you hear the text?  Not only was he just escaping God’s call but he was trying to escape God’s presence.  So the deep hold of a boat seemed as good a place as any. 

          Isn’t amazing that even God’s front runners can be found feeble and frail?  I guess Jonah’s story might not be that far fetched after all.  Like every other story in the Bible, we can see ourselves a little more clearly.

          For Jonah, a ticket to Tarshish meant not having to face the pain of his past.  God directed him to go to the very people who had wreaked havoc with his family and Jonah just couldn’t find it in himself to do it. What he thought he could do however was control his own destiny.

          Yet the Lord of the wind and sea had a different plan.  We think climate and weather seems out of control but at that point the mighty elements of nature were like putty in God’s hands compared to the strong will of human nature.  In God’s mercy, he didn’t take Jonah down, but he let him descend into the depths of darkness for a very peculiar time-out.

          If we stop right here and begin to debate the probability of surviving in the stomach of a fish then we will lose a golden opportunity to better understand the merciful hand of God.  Wherever Jonah was he was dwelling in a darkness he had never experienced.  He probably couldn’t see his hand in front of him but he knew God hadn’t abandoned him.  Soon he was seeing these three days as a rescue mission from God. 

          Still in darkness Jonah enters again his communion with God and prays with thanksgiving, “Deliverance belongs to the Lord!” The very next verse reminds us that God moves in mysterious ways, “¹⁰Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.” (2:10)

          Ah, a second chance for Jonah.  You know what is interesting?  God repeats the same basic instructions as before.  He didn’t have to rephrase and expand upon his original plan.   Jonah was ready to trust God and into the city he went.

          The scripture says he traveled for a whole day before he delivered his life-changing message.  I wonder how many times he wrote and rewrote that sermon in his mind along the way.  But here’s what he said to the people:  ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’(3:4)  That’s it, eight words.  You’d think he could get more creative than that.  He evidently didn’t take the seminary preaching courses that I took because eight words would never have cut it.

          Even Mary Margaret feels the need to improve a bit on Jonah’s sermon.  She carries on a made-up dialogue between Jonah and the polite Ninevites for more than a full minute.

          The people, all the people, believed God.  They felt the need to repent so they changed their behavior and their appearance.  They no longer looked for fulfillment in their feasts and elaborate clothing.  As they began to face their sin they fasted and put on undecorated robes of sackcloth.  They were showing a protest, silently rebelling against what their own evil ways had made of them.  Word got to the king and he joined the movement.  All as a result of eight words obediently spoken.

          This phenomenal story would have been told and retold in Jesus’ day.  But even then, I wonder if it was often reduced to being a fable about a famous fish.  Jesus knew there was more to the story.  In the Gospels he is known to use it as an illustration with a higher purpose.  Matthew records him saying, “For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. ⁴¹The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!” ⁴²(Matthew 12:40-41). 

          At first glance we might hear words of condemnation but if we listen, we will see that Jesus is witnessing to God’s love and grace.  Even the wicked people of Nineveh repented and found favor with God.  They only heard eight words but they listened with their whole heart, soul, and mind.  They believed God. 

          How much more hope is there for us to hear, listen and believe as a result of Jesus’ own encounter with darkness.  He went to the depths of death on our behalf so we could be saved from our own sinful ways.  The Apostles’ Creed says, “crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell.  The third day…”  You know the rest.  Wherever Christ was, he was dwelling in a darkness he had never experienced.  And with the help of Jonah’s story we see those three days and a rescue mission from God.⁵

          This book of Jonah, one of the shortest books in the Bible with only 4 chapters is packed full of twists and turns.  There’s more to this short story.  Of course, I want you to read this story for yourself, beginning to end.  But don’t just read it.  Hear it and enter into life anew.  I don’t recommend the belly of a whale, but get off to place where you can be alone with God and let God speak to you.  You will hear sounds of deliverance.

Sermon 2/20/11

 Judges 16:15-22    Famous Couple: Samson and Delilah

                           Rev. Mary Cox, Valley Presbyterian Church, Mesquite, NV

I had planned to talk of this famous couple, Samson and Delilah just prior to Valentine’s Day to maybe give some pointers. But thank God, that plan was thwarted because there are no relationship-building examples to be found in their story.  In fact, the book of Judges is full of nothing but surprises.

            Let’s talk about it for a moment because the story of Samson and Delilah is nothing without the build-up of the first 15 chapters of Judges.

            Judges 3:7 sets the tone, “The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, forgetting the Lord their God, and worshipping the Baals and the Asherahs.”

            The book of Judges presents 12 leaders.  These are not your typical legislative-types.  Let me tell you about a just a few.

            Ehud is introduced in a graphic scene describing how he killed the King of Moab.  You won’t hear this preacher reading that text from the pulpit but if you have the stomach for it then by all means read it, but later.  Anyway, Ehud then summoned the Israelites and they killed oh, about 10,000 Moabites.  Instead of calling this the book of Judges I think the title “Fast and Furious” would be more appropriate.

            Then there is Shamga who killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad (whatever that is).  Now I’m beginning to think the title “Dumb and Dumber” is more fitting.

            Another “judge” is Jair who had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys and had 30 towns.  Now I have a better name for this book: “The Young and the Restless” because if he had 30 sons you know he was not resting in the arms of one woman.  Nevertheless, Jair judged Israel 22 yrs.

            Story after story tell of hot-headed leaders who seem to let their egos get the best of them. But they are not all this way.

            Take Gideon.  Today his is a name that is pretty well respected by society.  You hear the name “Gideon” and you think of what? That’s right – bibles, given out of the goodness of one’s heart to service people and hotel guests.

            You’ll love this.  In Judges, Gideon asks God to make dew fall only on a scrap of material laying in the middle of the ground.  God does it.  The next day Gideon wants to make sure he’s not seeing things (or maybe he’s just stalling) so he requests just the opposite.  “Uh, if it’s really you God, then, uh, make the dew fall everywhere except on the material.”  And what is even more bizarre - God seems to not mind playing Gideon’s silly little game and does what he requests.

            Yes, these passages highlight quite a cast of characters.  But there seems to be one sane judge in the long list.  One who showed wisdom in counsel, strength in integrity and courage in battle. This judge was named Deborah.

            The book of Judges is no ordinary bible narrative, that much I know.

            I’m starting to think we need to picture the setting to be more like “Braveheart” –a movie I will remind you is rated “R” for violent content portraying brutal medieval warfare.  But even that era was centuries away from the day of Israel’s judges with a society much more refined in comparison.  I think it helps to realize that Samson’s story takes place in the renowned “iron age.” 

            There is not enough time this morning to walk through the life of Samson and you probably wouldn’t believe me if I gave you a synopsis, anyway.  But today we will pick up his story when he meets Delilah in Judges 16:4-5, 15-22.

            [Samson] fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵The lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, ‘Coax him, and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we may overpower him, so that we may bind him in order to subdue him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.’

            Then she said to him, ‘How can you say, “I love you”, when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me three times now and have not told me what makes your strength so great.’ ¹⁶Finally, after she had nagged him with her words day after day, and pestered him, he was tired to death. ¹⁷So he told her his whole secret, and said to her, ‘A razor has never come upon my head; for I have been a nazirite^* to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, then my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be like anyone else.’

            When Delilah realized that he had told her his whole secret, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, ‘This time come up, for he has told his whole secret to me.’ Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands. ¹⁹She let him fall asleep on her lap; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. He began to weaken,^* and his strength left him. ²⁰Then she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ When he awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him. ²¹So the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles; and he ground at the mill in the prison. ²²But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. (NRSV)

            Wow.  Are you thinking what I am thinking?  There is absolutely nothing redeemable in this story of Samson.  Except - it is in the bible.  Deep within the biblical narrative of God and God’s people this story must have a purpose.

            We are not the only ones struggling with finding meaning here.  The writer of the book of Hebrews tries to look at Samson in a positive light. Here’s how Hebrews 11:1-2, 32-34 reads:

            Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ²Indeed, by faith^* our ancestors received approval.

            And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.  (NRSV)

            Now, I have got to tell you, I think even that is a stretch.  It feels like the author tried to “pretty up” or “dumb down” the story and after reading the book of Judges I have a hard time embracing this list of spineless, thoughtless, and shameful people in the name of “faith.”

            Still, we can’t write Samson off. We have to take him in all of his “glory” no matter how sick it is.

             I love a good action film – I can usually take the “blood and guts” of a stirring war movie but I have to tell you, I couldn’t make it through “Braveheart.”  I decided that those images would do me no good.  But Samson and Delilah’s graphic dysfunction is laid plainly before us for a reason.  So we have to suck it up and dive in for a reason.   And here’s why:  I am “Samson” and so are you.  No matter who we are, that is a truth we must face.

            It doesn’t matter who you are or how your religious life has been set up, we are all capable of falling prey to sin. Samson could not have had a better start.  The story of a barren woman receiving a visit from a messenger of God is a familiar one.  Sarah… Rachel… Hannah… they all gave birth to men of promise and fulfillment.  The same was with Samson.  Not only was he destined to be a Nazarite, one set apart to radically serve God, even his mother held to her prenatal care “nazarite-style.” In Judges 13:4-5 the angel said to this nameless woman, “⁴Now be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, or to eat anything unclean, ⁵for you shall conceive and bear a son.”

            God and Samson’s parents had great plans for him but his Herculean greatness seemed to go to his head.  He had to always “one up” everyone in every situation.  Was that why he always seemed to welcome temptation?

            It is all too easy for us to judge Samson and his counterparts but this is as good a time as ever to remember that you and I are not judge.  These “judges” are not judge.  Only God is Judge and God’s judgment is not without mercy and love.

            Friends, I don’t understand why God used, and still uses sinful people to tell the story of his love except that there is a certain amount of credibility that comes with seeing the real deal.  No one can tell you more about the expansive love of God than one who has felt the depths of despair and loneliness.

            I remember singing a song that told the story of one who finally found hope.

Cursing every step of the way, he bore a heavy load to the market ten miles away;  the journey took its toll.  Every day he passed a monastery's high cathedral walls and it made his life seem meaningless and small. He wondered how it would be to live in such a place, to be warm, well fed and at peace; to shut the world away.  So when he saw a priest who walked, for once, beyond the iron gate he said, “Tell me of your life inside the place.”

And the priest replied... “We fall down, we get up. And the saints are just the sinners who fall down and get up.”

Disappointment followed him home; he'd hoped for so much more.  But he saw himself in a light he had never seen before.  Cause if the priest who fell could find the Grace of God to be enough then there must be some hope for the rest of us. Because we fall down, we get up.  We fall down, we get up.  We fall down, we get up.  And the saints are just the sinners who fall down and get up.

(“We Fall Down,” written by Kyle Matthews.)

We find nothing redeemable in Samson and Delilah’s story.  Except it is in the bible and that’s not the end of the story.  No matter what happens in our lives, God is still there and God still cares.  So, we fall down, we get up.

Sermon 02-06-11

I Sam 17:8-11,32-40       Famous Fighters: David and Goliath 

Rev. Mary Cox, Valley Presbyterian Church, Mesquite, NV

          I must confess up front that I did match today’s scripture reading of the story of David and Goliath with the Super Bowl weekend.  Maybe I was subconsciously rooting for the Giants (probably not) but the imagery that the “Packers” and the “Steelers” can offer will certainly suffice.  Today they will go head-to-head and toe-to-toe, but Lord willing, not “concussion-to-concussion!”  I enjoy watching most sports but I find myself cringing more and more at the amount of pain people are willing to endure for the sake of a game. 

Even for those of us who do our best to steer clear of undue suffering find that it is an unavoidable part of reality.  Whether physical, emotional, psychological, or mental pain we can each recall times in our lives when it felt as though we’d gotten the “wind knocked out of us.” 

            Our community has suffered a terrible blow.  While the newspaper and internet are readily available to grab our attention, as the people of God we gather to “regroup” and together look to the Lord to help us deal with the pain.

            Our scripture reading is found in I Sam 17:8-11, 32-40.  Let us prayerfully read the word of the Lord:

[Goliath] 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. ⁹If 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.’ ¹⁰And the Philistine said, ‘Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.’ ¹¹When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. ³²

David said to Saul, ‘Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.’ ³³Saul 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.’ ³⁴But 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, ³⁵I 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. ³⁶Your 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.’ ³⁷David 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!’ 38 Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹David 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. ⁴⁰Then 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 to the Philistine. (NRSV)

            The more time I spend reading the scriptural accounts of famous bible stories I felt that I knew so well, the more appreciation I have for those who wrote the shortened children’s stories we grew up hearing from our Sunday School teachers.  I mentioned being in awe of Joseph’s story that consumed the final 14 chapters of Genesis.  Today we look at a moment in the life of David, Israel’s most famous and beloved figure.  It takes more than chapters to cover his life.  It takes books. 

            As children, we loved the story of David’s defeat of mean ol’ Goliath.  I don’t know about you but I was a rather puny kid and besides being the last to get picked for the dreaded game of “Red-Rover,” I remember knowing what it was like to be bullied a little.  That phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words may never harm me” was a flat-out lie!  (And it still is today; let us not fool ourselves.)

            We all had “giants” to face back then. So David - young, innocent, impulsive David - was our hero.  But is this youthful story wasted on the young?  Of course not.  But friends, there is oh so much more to the story for our understanding today.

            Israel was in a state of grief because they had suffered insurmountable loss. They had been trying to survive as a young and growing nation in the day and age when known-world powers would invade territories and ravage peoples who stood between them and their thirsty greed for dominion.  Israel had been defeated by the Philistines as thousands upon thousands of their fathers, brothers, and sons were brutally killed in battle.

            While that was painful enough, the Philistines had confiscated the centerpiece of Israel’s worship, the ark of the covenant.  To the Israelites it was the place where God’s glory dwelt.  So now they were not only defeated but even more so suffering doubt and despair.  It looked as though their all-powerful God they pegged as the untouchable hero had gone under. All they had left was a feeling of abandonment as they tried to sort through their painful loss of lives and faith.

            I think we are in a state much like that today.  An unexplainable tragedy has happened and we are faced with questions: Where was God?  If Jesus Christ is Lord over all why didn’t he spare two people so many of us knew and respected?  As a community, I believe we are feeling that same abandonment as we try to make meaning of our loss and pain.  And the result is the same. Left on our own, things are easily blown out of proportion. Without an intervention we are all quick to heap pain upon pain and words begin to hold undue power.

            This is why the story of David and Goliath is so timely.  The battle lines between the Israelites and Philistines had been drawn again but this time the war began with taunting words.  It was one thing to see Goliath, standing oh, some 6ft. 9in. tall. That would set him apart in nearly any group, but especially in that culture. He was huge and he was heavily armed.  But it was his words that immobilized the army of Israel and her king.  The weapons of insult and intimidation were more piercing than anything they had experienced.

            Yet, when a warrior of a different kind witnessed what was happening the much needed intervention began.  You see David was accustomed to facing giants in his everyday job.  Don’t miss however that he recounted not just his way of fighting off and defending this helpless sheep – he said it was God who saved him.  No matter the circumstance, God is able to save.

            Evidently David’s faith was convincing because Saul was ready to send him in.  The king suited him up with what everyone thought was most appropriate to match the great Goliath.  Goliath had a helmet – David should have a helmet.  Goliath had a coat of mail – David should have a coat of mail.  Goliath had a sword – David should have a sword.  And I love this part: David tried to walk around like this, but he just wasn’t used to it.  These were strange ways to this simple shepherd.

            What is even more strange is that you and I try to walk around “clothed” in what has been put upon us.  We hear what hurtful things others are saying and our default, our sinful nature, is to receive them and then throw them right back. It is time that we see that these are strange ways to the children of God.

            David, this young, small boy of faith had a radical alternative.  He didn’t go into battle with this giant defenseless but with remembrance of what God had done.  His mind and heart were armored with knowledge of God’s faithfulness.  In his hand, he took what he was used to: and simple slingshot and 5 smooth stones.  Goliath and the enemy were defeated, the ark of the covenant had been returned, but just ask David – it was God who once again won the victory.

            It is most appropriate that we gather at the Lord’s Table today.  For it is the most profound place to let our remembrance of God’s faithfulness begin to guard our minds and hearts.  The battles and heartaches of life are not over for any of us.  But knowing that Jesus Christ gave his life to overcome death and defeat, we are armed to hope again.

We eat and are strengthened to take in our hands what the children of God are used to: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness.  I believe we can think of these as our 5 smooth stones, our firm foundations to a life of faithful living.  1. Love. 2. Joy. 3. Peace. 4. Patience. 5. Kindness.  We are used to these things because they have been unconditionally given to us by the Holy Spirit.  We are changed.

I asked a mural artist about her experience of painting this scene.  

She commented that it was an interesting time to paint and 

reflect on what actually happened.  

She thought about the innocence of the animals and how obedient and 

dedicated Noah was to God's wishes.  

She wondered if Noah had any doubts like so many people do. 

This morning we are going to think about some of the same things.  

We can probably picture the scene visually but we need to look to the 

scriptures to visualize and interpret what God would have us 

see with fresh eyes and an open heart.

Genesis 6:5-8,14-19(NRSV):The Lord saw that the wickedness of 

humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ 8But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord. 

14Make yourself an ark of cypress*wood; make rooms in the ark, 

nd cover it inside and out with pitch. 

15This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 

three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, 

and its height thirty cubits. 16Make a roof*for the ark, 

and finish it to a cubit above; 

and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, 

second, and third decks. 17For my part, 

I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, 

to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the 

breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 

18But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall 

come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ 

wives with you. 19And of every living thing, of all flesh, 

you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, 

to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

The picture has been “freshly painted” for us and we too should 

reflect upon what happened. We will leave the subject of historical 

accuracy to scholars,archeologist and other scientist.  

But we will not abandon the opportunity to learn more about who God is 

and who we are through this story – an equally daunting task.

A very reasonable reaction is to wonder how God could be so heartless.  But did you hear the text tell us that the state of affairs in the world grieved God’s heart?  We cannot make God out to be some distant and revengeful being.  He has a heart that is moved and affected by all of creation. God deliberately fashioned the whole world with purpose and even breathed his own breath into the life of all humankind.  Now that’s what I call “getting personal.”  But talk about two-steps-forward and three-steps-back!  God had created the world and now was ready to un-create it.