Sermons for the Month
Overcoming Giants
DATE: October 10, 1999
Stewardship Sunday
TEXT: 1 Samuel 17:1-11; 32-36; 48-50“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN For some reason, giants don't have a very positive reputation. It seems that often in stories and in fairy tales giants are portrayed as the bad guys. Like the giant in Jack in the Beanstalk or the giant in the Brave Little Tailor. Maybe giants get a bad rap because of their size. They're so big that they intimidate us. Because they are bigger than we are, because they are stronger than we are, they seem to have power and control over us. Because of their size, wherever they go they create problems, they wreak havoc. Maybe giants aren't so popular because they're different than we are. And we don't respond well to those who are different from us. For whatever reason, giants aren't high on our list of people we want to hang out with. That negative stereotype toward giants is best seen in the way we talk about our problems. Whenever we face a tough time we talk about the problems in terms of size. It's such a huge problem; it's a giant standing in the way, its an issue we can't get around. Maybe for you that giant is a challenge at work that threatens to bring down your entire company. Maybe that giant is a relationship that isn't working out so well." Or a health problem that threatens your life or a sense of emptiness. Whatever it is, that challenge, that problem, that giant that stands in your way can be pretty intimidating. It can leave you paralyzed with fear. In our Bible reading for today we have a true story about a giant that absolutely shut down an entire army because of its size. He left the army of God limp with fear. As was for us, the Israelites were in a way against their archenemy the Philistines. In this particular war, as is true with every war, it was very bloody. There were a lot of dead bodies all around. And people suffering in pain. And so the Philistines, trying to minimize their casualties, suggested an alternative to this bloody war. They would send out their top soldier to fight Israel's top soldier and whoever won that hand-to-hand combat would win the war for his side and the other side would surrender. The problem was that the Philistine champion was a nine-foot giant by the name of Goliath. And as soon as the Israelite soldiers saw him they were paralyzed with fear. They couldn't move. You see, they had chosen to focus on the size of the problem--the size of the giant--rather than the size of their God. Well, day after day, Goliath would walk out onto the battlefield and challenge the Israelites to a duel. Day after day the Israelites would cower in fear until David came. David was a teenager, a shepherd boy, who was visiting his brothers who were Israelite soldiers. He happened to be there at the exact moment that Goliath walked out for his daily taunt. David listened while Goliath made fun of the soldiers, and more importantly, that Goliath made fun of God. As David heard that he ran from soldier to soldier begging someone to go and take on this giant for surely God would win the battle. But the soldiers told him to bug off. David was called into King Saul's tent. The king had heard about David's courage and asked him what the deal was. And he said, "I just think that God is bigger than that giant. We can take him down. In fact, I'm so confident of that I'll take him on myself if I have to." Well, no one else was willing to go. So David, armed only with a slingshot and five stones, walked onto the battlefield to face the toughest challenge of his life. When Goliath saw him he started laughing. "They send a boy out to do a man's job!" But the laughing didn't last long when a stone lodged itself in Goliath's forehead. And as he was tumbling to his death, I can't help but imagine that Goliath was thinking to himself, "Wow! Nothing like that ever entered my mind before!" Well, Goliath was dead before he hit the ground. And the rout was on. The Israelites, emboldened by their victory, started chasing after the Philistines who had lost and God had the victory. It's an important story for us for two reasons. First of all, the story of David and Goliath teaches us that God is in the business of slaying giants. There is no problem, no challenge, no giant so big that God cannot overcome it. And when we surrender the giants in our lives to God to win the victory, he'll overcome that giant for us. He is always faithful. But the story's important for a second reason. The story of David and Goliath teaches us that God uses ordinary people like you and me--people like David--to slay giants. He uses our gifts and talents--like David's slingshot and stones--to make a difference, to make the impossible, possible. As we think about the year 2000 and our ministry, David's story is vitally important for us because this will be a new millenium that will be filled with all kinds of giants. But that's nothing new because throughout our history here at Faith, every time God has called us to do something significant, giants have tried to stand in our way to keep us from doing what God wanted us to do. And every time that's happened, when God's people here at Faith have been faithful, God has used us to overcome those giants and the impossible has become possible time and time again. This morning I would like to first share some of the giants that we've overcome here at Faith. It's been a long journey to get to where we are and it's going to be a longer one to get to where we need to be, but God has been faithful so far, and we know he's going to be again provided we with stick with him and not go off on our own somewhere. Second, I want to share some of the giants that I see challenging us in the next five years. We have been at this together for 17 years working together for the sake of the Kingdom of God. I want to be as candid as I can be. Years ago one of our charter members -- Roy Olhoeft -- told me that in the beginning we had not one but two giants that challenged those pioneers of Faith -- delay and apathy. I remember Roy pushing his red sunburned face into mine and telling me that in the beginning when Faith Lutheran Church was a mission, he told the people here there was going to be an Easter Service in 1955 even if he had to do the preaching himself. He shared with me the giant doubts that were everywhere whether this church would ever get off the ground. Harold Lange later told me about the giant arguments over the building of the first unit where our Light Services is now being held, the same room where the first services in this building were held. Charley Horn talked to me about the huge monstrous debt and the dubious distinction of Faith Lutheran Church once upon a time having the biggest debt in the entire Ohio Synod. Then there were the giants of "style" and "substance" and a host of others that threatened to undermine the fabric of our community. I can tell you about days when Akron was laid waste by corporate giants with their intimidating downsizing clubs and rubber bullets that were intended not to kill but only subdue. A wave of fear in those days spread through Akron and consequently this church. We were all afraid of taking on any giants whatsoever. The building betrayed us to the giants of decay, depression and drain. But they did not prevail and here we are and we have routed those giants and made them cry "uncle" in the name of Jesus. We vowed to confront those giants and when we let God take the lead we persevered. Looking ahead then, with regards to this building, the giants we must knock down are relatively few. One, we must air-condition this worship center -- the nave. People young and old will no longer tolerate facilities that are not air-conditioned. More than one "father of the bride" complained to me this summer about our lack of AC. Most homes, all theaters, stores, shopping malls, restaurants, gathering places are air-conditioned. I know some of you will say, "What a waste of money?" But after last summer and the relatively few persons who came to worship in this room, it is obvious that we are doing a disservice to God, to our members and especially our guests by asking them to chose between staying away or suffering. I believe another one of the smaller giants facing us is building space. We are already maxed out on Sunday morning and most evenings. Daytime is only a little better. That is why we will need a portable classroom by next fall for our "growing by leaps and bounds" youth ministry, to buy us time to rethink our building. Helping people especially youth grow spiritually into disciples is our mission. We can not let the building dictate whether or even how we do that. Now for some really big giants. The first is land. We are hemmed in on all four sides by a bank, a street and another church. We have only 2.7 acres here. I believe we must start thinking about buying land for another campus for our ministry. I am not talking about a mission church. I am talking about another focal point for ministry reaching people with the good news of Jesus through counseling, alternative worship and Christ-centered small groups. We could move our preschool there and allow it to expand if necessary into a parochial elementary school. I would like to see it on Cleveland--Massillon Road. Another giant in our path right now, I believe is our fear of the future. Franklin Roosevelt said as much during the Second World War. The church I grew up knowing is vanishing and in 20-30 years it will be gone. One reason that is inevitable is because all of us born before 1946 will be in our seventies and eighties. All but a few historians in America will have heard of Pete Fountain, the TVA or the wringer-washer. In fact, this year's freshman class in college can only really remember one president, never owned a record player, always had MTV, can't remember the space shuttle blowing up or imagine what hard contact lenses are. Microsoft is now running commercials showing 10-year-olds from around the world saying, "Are you ready?' Ready for what? A truly global community. We have to organize ourselves for that or your pastor in twenty-five years will be helping to draw up papers to sell this building to a designer store. I don't want that to happen to a church I served. And it won't provided with stick with God's word. Until this fall, the Quaker Swarthmore College football team had been defeated in 28 straight games--the longest loosing streak in college football. Their last win was in 1995, and the final score, 2-0, sounded more like a soccer match. The school considered dropping football altogether. Players quite the team in droves. Only a handful of students showed up to watch Saturday home games. In 1997, during a 73-0 drubbing by Johns Hopkins, the scorekeeper, in an act of mercy, let the clock run through time-outs. Last summer, the team decided it was time to make a change. Under new coach Peter Alvanos, the players decided it was high-time to stop getting stomped on. They showed up two weeks earlier than required to begin practice. They threw out the old play book and learned new ones. By game time of the season opener against Oberlin College, the Swarthmore college students decided to stop behaving like old-time Quakers. Close to 200 showed up for the game--not bad for a campus of 1380. Like most Swarthmore contests, the game started out a mismatch, but this time the tide turned. Leading 14-6 at half time, Swarthmore scored three touchdowns in the third quarter and went on to win the game 42 to 6. After the game defensive back and senior Joe Aliffi said, "I had to dig deep within myself to get through the past three years. Now I'm just so relieved." Joe 's father, John, 52, said, "I'll tell you, this had been a tremendous test of character." There have been lots of giants challenging Faith Lutheran Church over the years. But none of them have been greater than God. This morning we're going to all have the privilege to join in this exciting adventure (many have already joined the team). Over these last months you have received detailed information about our ministry and the little giants we are facing. My friends none of us can slay these giants by ourselves. We need the Lord's help. And he will provided we follow his play book. He has the game plan and its all in here. When we follow it we will win. I believe that it's a privilege to be a part of God's plan. I know that as all of us pray, participate, and get involved -- involvement is an act of love -- we can be part of God's winning team to finish God's dream. Let us pray. Accept these pledges dear Lord in the spirit of your mission, To share the good news of Jesus with everyone; to transform followers into disciples with a faith that works in real life; to joyfully go and share his love in the world.
AMEN