The Courageous Heart Rich Nathan July 29-30, 2006 1 and 2 Samuel: A Heart After God Series 1 Samuel 17

I want to begin by telling you the story of a man whom many of you may not be familiar with, but who is a local hero. His name is Robert Graetz. He grew up in Charleston, West Virginia, in a largely segregated city as a white boy attending an all-white school. Following high school in the 1940’s, Robert Graetz attended here in Columbus.

It was there during college that he began to read about and discover the extent of racial discrimination in our country. It was the first time he found out that black people had been almost entirely excluded from most American universities. This revelation changed his life. He switched his major to social science. He organized a race relations club at Capital University and he joined the NAACP.

Robert Graetz became a Lutheran pastor. In 1955 he accepted a call to pastor Trinity Lutheran Church in Montgomery, Alabama, which was an all-black congregation. So, here he was, a white pastor in 1955, and he and his young wife, Jeannie, and their two toddlers, packed their belongings into their car and drove from Columbus to Montgomery in the sweltering June heat of that year.

Six months later, , who was the adult advisor to the Montgomery NAACP Youth Council, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. And it was as a result of that arrest that the was born. As you know, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became the leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and all the other black pastors and congregations in the city joined the boycott. And so did Robert Graetz, this white Lutheran pastor of the all-black Trinity Lutheran Church.

Well, Pastor Graetz thought he would enlist some of the other white pastors in town to support the boycott. So he mimeographed a letter to all of the members of the white Montgomery ministerial association – there were two different ministerial associations; one for white pastors, one for black pastors. Graetz participated in both. His letter to each of the Montgomery ministerial associations said this:

SLIDE Dear Christian Brother, I am certain you are aware of the great tension that hangs like a cloud over our city, which has manifested itself particularly in the so-called “boycott” of the city buses by the Negro people of Montgomery. And I’m certain that you are interested in keeping peace between the races and in seeing that all parties concerned are treated justly.

Graetz went on in his letter to explain that:

SLIDE …The Negroes of Montgomery are not protesting segregation of the buses as such, but are protesting the unfair and unjust treatment they regularly received.

Graetz asked the white pastors to keep their congregations correctly informed and to speak to their congregations regarding this boycott. He closed his letter saying,

SLIDE Please consider this matter prayerfully and carefully with Christian love. Our Lord said, “Inasmuch as you have done unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me.”

A week later he sent another letter to the pastors asking them to communicate with their congregations, and to communicate their concerns to city officials and to the bus company. He naively believed that a few white pastors would speak out about this. But that was too much to expect. Because if they had spoken up, their congregations would have fired them and that was a bridge that the white pastors were unwilling to cross.

But the nightmare was just about to begin for Robert Graetz. Pastor Graetz was arrested by the police for transporting blacks in his car. They said he was running an unlicensed taxi service. Before he was released from jail, the sheriff lectured him and said to him: “I don’t see how you can claim to be a Christian and a minister and believe the things you believe about race.” He had a flood of phone calls and hate mail sent to his house threatening his life and calling him every horrible name under the sun.

One morning, he tried to start his car. It wouldn’t start. When he began to check things out, he discovered that someone had poured sugar in his gasoline tank. And when the car was put up on a rack, the mechanic said, “Someone has also slashed your tires.” They had cut them from the inside so that he could not see.

A petition was circulated among the white citizens of Montgomery which asked Pastor Graetz to leave the city “for the good of Montgomery and for his own good.” The opposition began to escalate. There was a letter to the editor of the local newspaper which said: “It appears that the Rev. Robert Graetz spends more time stirring up dissatisfaction among the Negroes than he spends in the pulpit. I notice that Graetz hails from Charleston, WV. I discovered in my encyclopedia that in 1859, just 96 years ago in Charleston, Virginia, another

2 fanatic by the name of John Brown was hanged. This John Brown ought to be hanged too. Signed James Greene Montgomery.”

But the worst was still to come. Robert Graetz’s home was bombed. And the mayor of Montgomery accused the Graetz family of bombing their own home in order to stir up publicity and raise Northern contributions for their boycott. The newspaper kept up its editorial campaign against Pastor Graetz accusing him of having a “persecution complex.” The threatening calls continued. Anonymous callers would say: “We saw your children playing out in the field just a few minutes ago, but they’re not there anymore.”

His house was bombed again. And then, bombed a third time. It was only by the most miraculous circumstances that the 11 sticks of dynamite tossed in his yard one evening did not go off and kill the Graetz family who was asleep in the house.

Years later, people asked Robert Graetz: “How were you able to do it? How could you keep going with daily death threats against you and your wife and your children? With the newspaper in town regularly hammering you on the editorial page? The Mayor of Montgomery publicly accusing you of bombing your own house? With petition drives to have you move out of town? Regular vandalism of your property? Weren’t you afraid?”

Pastor Graetz gave this wise response: “I can’t speak for the rest of the people in Montgomery, but there were times I was scared to death. But we began to define courage as doing what needed to be done even when you were afraid.”

We’ve been doing a series from the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel that focuses on the heart. Today we are going to look at one of the most popular stories in the Bible – the story of David and Goliath. I’ve called today’s talk “The Courageous Heart.” Let’s pray.

SLIDE 1Sa 17:1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 1Sa 17:2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 1Sa 17:3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. 1Sa 17:4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. 1Sa 17:5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; 1Sa 17:6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.

3 1Sa 17:7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. 1Sa 17:8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 1Sa 17:9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 1Sa 17:10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 1Sa 17:11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

SLIDE 1Sa 17:23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 1Sa 17:24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.

As I said, we are going to talk today about courage. Courage, as Pastor Graetz put it, does not mean the absence of fear. The absence of fear can simply be fool-hardiness, or cluelessness. A person who is utterly out of touch with the risk can be fearless. Let’s just go down to a crack house and we’ll witness there. Or you are a petite woman and you say, “I’ll just walk down some back alley in the campus area at 3:00 a.m. I’m not afraid.” Courage is NOT the absence of fear.

Robert Graetz’s definition of courage was that courage is doing what needs to be done even when you are afraid. Courage means not being controlled by your fear, not making your decisions or choices based on your fear, doing what needs to be done even when you are afraid.

And for a Christian, I would define courage as

SLIDE Courage is choosing to do the will of God even when it is risky and you feel afraid.

When the Israelites saw Goliath they ran away in fear. They were controlled by their fear. What was so frightening about Goliath?

Well, it says in 1 Sam. 17:4 that he was over 9’ tall. Now, there is a significant dispute among the ancient manuscripts concerning Goliath’s height. In the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, called the Septuagint, a translation done a couple of centuries before the time of Christ, Goliath’s height is listed as 6’9”. This, of course, was measured not in feet and inches, but in cubits – the length from a man’s elbow to the tips of his fingers. But however we measure Goliath, he was big.

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And he was not only big, he was well defended. The author spends a lot of time portraying his armaments, his shield and his spear. When you lay out all of his weapons, depending on the weight of the ancient shekel that is used, it appears that he was carrying over 100 pounds of gear. Basically, he was an ancient Rambo. Today he would have rows of bullets across his chest. He would be carrying an automatic rifle. He would have a huge knife between his teeth. And over his back he would have a grenade launcher. This guy was very formidable.

Have you ever been up against a really formidable opponent? Think about a divorce action against a husband, who is a corporate attorney. He has this huge expensive team of divorce lawyers. The wife is a homemaker, or an office assistant. She has very few resources. Some of you have faced similar kinds of things in divorce actions or lawsuits. You were up against overwhelming odds. Some of you in politics may have found yourself fighting against very well-funded lobby groups. Or at your job, you’ve been threatened by the person who does control your job security.

So what is the fundamental issue when you are up against a formidable opponent, someone who appears to be huge, powerful and well defended? The issue, of course, is how we are going to react to that kind of an enemy, which leads us squarely to what the Bible calls the “fear of man.”

You know, I rarely recommend books in the psychological or therapeutic realm, even Christian books, because most Christian books in the psychological or therapeutic realm, in my experience, are just warmed over pop-psychology, psycho-analytic theory with a cheap veneer of poorly applied Bible verses. If I’m going to read psychology or self-help, I would rather get it straight without the pretense of Christianity around it. But I do want to recommend one Christian therapy book to you with great confidence. It is not only psychologically helpful, but I think it is biblically faithful. It is called When People Are Big and God Is Small by Ed Welch.

That is what was going on for the Israelites who faced Goliath. That is what is going on with some of you who are facing injustice at work. That is what is going on for others of you who are facing abusers in your family. It says in 1 Sam. 17.11,

SLIDE 1Sa 17:11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

The issue for Saul and the Israelites was what the Bible calls “the fear of man.” Proverbs 29.25 says:

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SLIDE Pr 29:25 To fear anyone will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.

As Ed Welch puts it in his book, When People Are Big And God Is Small, the fear of man goes by different names. Sometimes there is the fear of being physically abused or hurt. Like the Israelites in v. 11, I’ve talked with adults who told me that when they were children, they literally would quake with fear when their fathers came home drunk because they knew that they or their mothers would be abused.

I just spoke with an English friend who said that he could hardly stand the smell of beer because when he was a child, he went to one of those English boarding schools and the headmaster would come into the dorm room at night reeking of beer. He would lean over the bed of one of the boys and drag the boy out and beat him. He said in those days, 45 years ago, you didn’t tell your parents about this kind of abuse. You didn’t tell anyone that you cried yourself to sleep at night as a 10-year old. It would have been too embarrassing. It was a matter of honor that as a little boy you chose to be a man. So he said to this day, almost a half century later, the smell of beer still reminds him of that abusive headmaster.

But it is not just terror regarding one’s physical safety that is described by the phrase “the fear of man.” Much of our fear of man is nothing other than idolatry towards another person. We human beings replace the awe and reverent fear that we ought to feel of offending God with the fear of other people. We just call this idolatry and fear of others by other names. We call it “peer pressure.” And so when a teenager goes along with the crowd and experiments with drugs or sex, or idolizing the “in crowd,” we don’t say that that teenager has fallen into the trap of “the fear of man,” we say that he or she has succumbed to peer pressure. And when we as adults keep our mouths shut in the office when we ought to speak, or laugh at a joke that we ought to not even smile at, we are also succumbing not just to peer pressure, but to the “fear of man.”

We have lots of euphemisms for “the fear of man.” We call it co-dependency or people-pleasing. Do you find yourself to be a people-pleaser? Are you the kind of person who is simply unable to say no even when you ought to say no? You are continually over-committed. You live a crazy life, but you can’t say no to one more request? What is that? That’s the fear of man.

Do you easily get embarrassed? Do you find yourself going over a conversation and slapping yourself saying, “How could I be so stupid? I can’t believe I said that. I’m so embarrassed.” What is the ease at which you get embarrassed other than the fear of man? You are controlled by the opinions of others.

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Let’s be honest with each other. Why are so many of us on diets? Is it because of our health? If so, great. Sometimes our doctors will tell us that we need to lose some weight. But for many of us, our concern about our weight has nothing to do with our health, and everything to do with our desire to impress other people. It is just another way for us to exalt the opinion of people above the opinion of God.

Let me ask you a question: Do you find yourself in some area of your life controlled by what other people think or feel about you, or what other people have rather than what God thinks, what God feels, and what God has? Would you say, friend that in some area of your life, there is a person or a group who seems to have more power in controlling your choices than God does? Are you more afraid of what someone else might think than what God thinks of your behavior?

For the Israelites, Goliath was big and God was small. The problem was not that they were afraid of Goliath. He was, after all huge; he was well armed. The problem was not that they were afraid, but that they were controlled by their fear. But as we are going to see, of course, that with all of Goliath’s armor, he wasn’t wearing the armor of God and so he could be defeated. It doesn’t matter how formidable the enemy is. If they are not wearing the Ephesians 6 armor of God, if they are not protected by a righteous life and a strong faith and a proper use of God’s Word, they can easily be taken down. David took Goliath down with a few rocks and a sling.

SLIDE – 1 Samuel 17.48-51 1Sa 17:48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 1Sa 17:49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 1Sa 17:50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 1Sa 17:51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

Let me tell you a true story. There is a country in this world that forces young girls into prostitution. The local police protect this sex trade and they even hunt down girls who try to run away and put them in stockades to hold them there for the brothel owners. There is a woman, who we will call Sister Kay, who is aware of nearly 60 brothels where she works. She has found several hundred young girls, 13-14 years old, being prostituted out to all the local men. When they object, they are beaten, punched and pummeled.

7 There was a government investigation, but they found there was no need for a state interference. Sister Kay even learned about one poor woman who was covered with oil and murdered by being set on fire. The coroner even named the person who set her on fire, but no charges were brought. Local politicians prevented any legal action from being taken against the forced prostitution rings because they owed their positions and influence to the wealthy interests behind the brothels. What can Sister Kay do?

The story I just told you is a true story. It comes from Gary Haugen’s book, Good News About Injustice. Sister Kay is actually Dr. Kate Bushnell and she lived in the a century ago. She was a devout Christian and she was the traveling evangelist for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Everywhere Kate turned in trying to deal with this horror of forced prostitution of young women, she was met by a well-financed, well-coordinated opposition group. Even physicians would not support Dr. Kate Bushnell because they were making money by treating the girls.

As I said, Dr. Kate Bushnell was a Christian. It doesn’t matter how well-financed and well-armed the opponent is. It doesn’t matter how big Goliath is. God is bigger still. And so Dr. Bushnell reported her findings at the Chicago convention of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. The state of Wisconsin where all of this was going on tried to discredit Dr. Bushnell. The state inspector actually accused Dr. Bushnell of being unchaste. When she appeared before the Wisconsin state legislature she actually had to be escorted by armed police because of threats of violence against her. Standing before a hostile assembly, she was the only woman in the room. She said she felt overwhelming fear. But as she lifted up her heart to God, God had 50 other Christian women into the room and stand shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Kate Bushnell. They strengthened her. And it was because of her efforts that what became known as the Anti-White Slavery Act was passed in Wisconsin and subsequently passed across America.

Well, in this story the tension builds. In 1 Sam. 17.12-19 we read about David’s insignificance.

SLIDE 1Sa 17:12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old. 1Sa 17:13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 1Sa 17:14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 1Sa 17:15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 1Sa 17:16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

8 1Sa 17:17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 1Sa 17:18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. 1Sa 17:19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

He is an errand boy. He’s given menial tasks at home to be a shepherd and he is given the menial task of delivering food to his older brothers. He is the youngest son of eight boys. He apparently does not come from a wealthy family since the food provisions would have been those of a poor family. David lacks in military experience. The author is increasing the tension of the story by drawing a sharp contrast between David’s utter insignificance and Goliath’s mammoth size.

So, how does a person overcome the fear of man? How do we deal with peer pressure and codependency, and the inability to say “no?” How do we come up with Pastor Graetz or a David? How does a courageous heart get formed in our chests? Vv. 20-27,

SLIDE 1Sa 17:20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 1Sa 17:21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 1Sa 17:22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 1Sa 17:23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 1Sa 17:24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. 1Sa 17:25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family line from taxes in Israel.” 1Sa 17:26 David asked those standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 1Sa 17:27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

SLIDE A courageous heart is formed as we look to the reward.

9 It is apparent that David is, in part, motivated to confront Goliath because of the prospect of reward. V. 27,

SLIDE 1Sa 17:27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

The Bible continually tells us stories about heroes and heroines who were able to overcome their fear and do God’s will because they had a conviction that there was something more important in life than their comfort or security. The Bible heroes and heroines were driven by something greater than comfort or security. They were looking for the rewards. So we read about Abraham in Hebrews 11.8- 10,

SLIDE Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Heb 11:9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. Heb 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

And we read about Moses in Hebrews 11.24-26,

SLIDE Heb 11:24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Heb 11:25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Heb 11:26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Friend, is there anything in your life so important that you would be willing to risk your comfort and security to achieve that goal? There is a problem in the American middle class and there is a problem in the American Christian middle class. The problem is that we middle class folks are committed to our comfort and security above all else. Anything that threatens a middle class person’s comfort or security becomes unthinkable to us. Many of us allow God to work in such narrow parameters of our lives. We won’t even consider that God might want us to do something that would put comfort or security at risk. No, that is not even a possibility. The only thing we allow God to do is increase our comfort and our security. But that God might wish to take it away? That’s unthinkable.

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Our middle class theology won’t permit that kind of view of God. So Christian convictions are defeated in the workplace, in our classrooms, and in our neighborhoods by a vocal, angry minority of 2-3 people because to challenge this group puts our comfort and security at risk.

Friends, what boring, insipid, low-flying lives so many of us live because we maintain a death grip on comfort and security. So few of us know the thrill of allowing our lives to really take flight with God. What would it be like if you loosened your death grip on the need to always be comfortable and secure? Not everyone lives the safe life. Some people value something higher than security.

Some of you are familiar with the story of Jeffrey Wigand. His story was portrayed in the movie “The Insider.” Dr. Wigand was the chief scientist at the Louisville, Kentucky based Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company. He went to work trying to develop a less addictive, safer cigarette. He soon realized that his company had a financial stake in addicting people to tobacco. Dr. Wigand said, “My daughters used to come home from school asking me why I was killing people in my job.”

He was relieved when he finally got fired. The company made him sign a non- disclosure form. But he began feeling guilty about safe-guarding company secrets even though if he broke his silence the company would take his benefits, including his medical benefits, which he desperately needed because his middle daughter had spina-bifida.

He began talking with government investigators, lawyers, and journalists. Tobacco executives were scared. They sent people to follow him home. He received threatening calls. He found a bullet in his mailbox. Brown and Williamson sued him for violating the confidentiality agreement. They publicized unsubstantiated allegations of past shoplifting. Dr. Wigand’s wife divorced him. He was left without a job, without a house, without a family. “60 Minutes” promised to air his story, but in a cowardly move capitulated under the threat of lawsuits by big tobacco.

What kept Dr. Wigand going? He said, “My goal in life was to prevent tobacco companies from hooking young children and hooking them for life.”

There was something for him that was bigger than his own comfort or personal security. And what about you, friend? Is there anything in your life big enough for you to risk your own comfort and security over? Any core conviction? Any love? Anything you want to see happen in this world that is big enough for you to not be controlled by your fear? Maybe see your family come to Christ? Your mom or dad or sister or brother not go to hell? Maybe for you it’s the relief of someone’s misery or the love of seeing the truth win, or the glory of God. Is there anything more important to you than your own comfort or security?

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Well, in the story, David not only has to deal with Goliath, but he experiences opposition from God’s own people. 1 Sam. 17.27-30,

SLIDE 1Sa 17:27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.” 1Sa 17:28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” 1Sa 17:29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” 1Sa 17:30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.

Sometimes we get shot at by the people who should be supporting us. Pastor Robert Graetz, who I referred to in my introduction, was regularly accused by people in the city of Montgomery of not being a real Christian, of not being a good pastor, of being an agitator, of being a liar and fraud. These charges were made by others who claimed to be Christians.

John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard Movement, faced regular opposition and had horrible things said about him for two decades not by people in the world, but by people in the church. God’s own people threw rocks at John, wrote hateful and untrue things about John in books and on websites, all because John decided to pursue the activity of the Holy Spirit in ways that threatened the church establishment and the comfortable middle class theology of many suburban churches.

John was a Quaker. He was part of the Evangelical Friends denomination. And when the Holy Spirit began visiting John’s little group, the elders of that Quaker church asked John if he would promise that none of the people in the group would exercise certain spiritual gifts. John said he couldn’t do that and remain faithful to God. The elders said, “Well, will you promise that this will die out in a few months?” John said that he couldn’t promise that, that it was up to God. But he hoped the renewal would last and grow. And so the elders then said to John, “Well, then, will you agree to resign from the church and take your group with you.” John agreed. But he said, “I want to go with your blessing and the blessing of the church.” They held a service and blessed John and his little group and sent them off.

But a pastor in the city who was utterly opposed to the current day practice of spiritual gifts began handing out leaflets all around the city saying that John was kicked out of the Quaker church because of gross immorality. And for 20 years John faced these false accusations by God’s people. And so did David.

12 So we read in v. 28,

SLIDE 1Sa 17:28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

How do we have a courageous heart when we are faced with Goliaths in the world and even some of us opposition from God’s own people in the church?

Now, we can be filled with a sense of our importance and self-righteousness so that we are utterly unable to be corrected by God’s people. That happens very often. But in some cases God is using an individual to point the church towards a better expression of his will, or a deeper understanding of his kingdom. How else is the courageous heart formed? Vv. 31-16,

SLIDE 1Sa 17:31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. 1Sa 17:32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” 1Sa 17:33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are little more than a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 1Sa 17:34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock. 1Sa 17:35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 1Sa 17:36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.

SLIDE The courageous heart is formed as we develop habits of courageous living.

David had developed habits of courageous living over years in dealing with threatening enemies – wild animals and thieves. I admit that it is possible that someone somewhere might suddenly get infused with a huge dose of courage after living a life of private cowardice and compromise. I’ve heard testimonies of people who said they were private cowards, but in the make or break moments of their lives when the supreme tests came, they were suddenly filled miraculous boldness. But that is the exception that proves the rule. The rule is that a

13 courageous heart is mostly formed in us as we develop habits of courageous living over years of private battles.

For years it has been popular in the U.S. for people to say the way that you live a moral life is to always ask yourself the question what would Jesus do if he were in my situation? Dallas Willard, who has taught philosophy at the University of Southern California for decades, said it is not sufficient to ask the question: What would Jesus do if he were in my situation, because you will not be able to do what Jesus would do unless you start living the way Jesus lived. Unless you put into practice Jesus’ habits, habits like frequently withdrawing to be alone with God the Father; habits like private alms giving; habits like fasting, whenever the tests come, you won’t be able to do what Jesus did.

Let me make this even more simple. Asking what Jesus would do and doing that is like saying, “I’m just going to do what Michael Redd would do on a basketball court. What would Michael Redd do? I’ll just do that.”

But totally apart from his natural ability, Michael Redd could not do what Michael Redd does on a basketball court apart from hundreds of hours of private practice and workouts. Unless you live the life of Michael Redd, you can’t play the basketball of Michael Redd.

And unless you form habits of courageous living through years of practice, you will not have the courage to not be controlled by your fears when the moment of testing comes. Likewise, years of private compromise and cutting corners will rob you of the ability to stand up when you face your Goliath.

There is a fascinating story that comes out of WWII. Researchers for years wondered why one little French town, the city of Le Chambon was absolutely unique. It stood alone in its willingness to hide Jews during the Nazi occupation. Now why did this little town of Le Chambon hide more Jews in the city than there were actual citizens of the city while virtually all the other French cities capitulated and quaked with fear in the face of the Nazi Goliath? Why was this town willing to risk its life when everyone else in France opted for personal safety and security?

There is a wonderful book titled The Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust. Those Gentiles who were willing to put their comfort and security at risk to save Jews during the Holocaust. Among other stories in the book The Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, the author, David Gushee, tells the story of the little town of Le Chambon.

Le Chambon was a town made up of descendents of the French Huguenots. These French Huguenots were French Protestants who were dreadfully persecuted by the Roman Catholic majority back in the 16th and 17th centuries. The memory of the Huguenot suffering was passed down to their descendents

14 through the celebration of various holidays, memorials, and rituals that were practiced. It was these holidays, memorials, and rituals that were practiced year after year that gave the residents of the town of Le Chambon a sense of identification with persecuted minorities like the Jews. The residents of the city of Le Chambon had centuries of practice in identifying with persecuted people.

SLIDE A courageous heart is formed as we develop habits of courageous living.

Let me press this home. For those of us who are parents and grandparents. Parents, grandparents, it is so important that we make it among our highest priorities to build habits of courage in our children and grandchildren.  I know you are afraid, but you need to perform in that piano recital anyway.  I know this is hard for you, but you need to try out in that play.  I want you to tell the truth even if you are going to get punished after you tell the truth.  We are going to go back to the corner store where you stole that piece of candy and you are going to confess what you did and pay for your mistake, even though it’s hard.  You are not going to be able to cheat or plagiarize even if other kids are doing it and even if you are going to suffer by comparison.  In our home we are going to stand up for the underdog. We are going to stand up for the minority. We are not going to go along with the crowd.  We are not going to be mean to this other child, even though that’s what the popular kids are doing.  Son or daughter, if participating in a select soccer, baseball, or hockey team means compromising your ability to connect with kids at church or to worship God on the weekend, then we will not participate even though it is costly.

Parents, grandparents, there is almost nothing more important that you instill in your child than this lesson: In our home, we will celebrate the development of habits of courage more than we will celebrate good grades or success in sports, or popularity, or anything else. Your child will be able to courageously be able to meet the tests when the tests come your child’s way if they develop the lifelong habit of courageous living.

And finally,

SLIDE A courageous heart is formed as we focus upon the living God. vv. 26, 36, and 37:

15 SLIDES 1Sa 17:26 David asked those standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

1Sa 17:36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 1Sa 17:37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

How did the people in the Bible press through the fear barriers? They discovered that God is bigger and more powerful than any enemy, any opponent they were facing. When you stand next to a redwood tree, you are not intimidated by a dogwood anymore. When you stand next to the Grand Canyon, you are not impressed by the size of the pool your neighbor is putting in. As people in the Bible stood next to God and encountered God, they were able to deal with the Goliaths in their lives. So Moses was able to face Pharaoh only after he met God at the Burning Bush. And Isaiah was able to confront the King of Israel because Isaiah first met God in the Temple.

This month’s Journal of Biblical Counseling had an article titled “Don’t Waste Your Cancer.” In the article, among many other bits of advice, the author says this:

SLIDE You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.

The author goes on to say,

SLIDE It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more about cancer and the lack of zeal to know God more is a symptom of our unbelief in God. What is so for your reading, is also so for your conversation with others. Other people will often express their care and concern by inquiring about your health. That’s good, but the conversation easily gets stuck there. So tell other people openly about your sickness, seeking their prayers and counsel, but then change the direction of conversation by telling them what your God is doing to faithfully sustain you with one thousand mercies.

Robert Murray McCheyne wisely said, “For every one look at your sins, take ten looks at Christ.” He was countering our tendency to reverse that 10:1 ratio by brooding over our failings and forgetting the Lord of mercy. What McCheyne

16 says about our sins, we can also apply to our sufferings. For every one sentence you say to others about your cancer, say ten sentences about your God, and your hope, and what he is teaching you, and the small blessings of every day. For every hour you spend researching or discussing your cancer, spend ten hours researching and discussing and serving your Lord.

I want to close today by sharing with you a brief video of a woman in our congregation who was pregnant and found herself facing a medical establishment that insisted she get an abortion. This woman’s name is Joyce Kuma-Perry. And I want you to listen to the secret of her courage. It is all wrapped up in her focus on the living God.

VIDEO – Joyce Kuma-Perry

You know, courageous living is a rare thing in contemporary America. And one of the most courageous things that any one of us can ever do is bring ourselves to the cross of Jesus Christ. It is hard to stand beneath the cross because at the cross our pride is humbled, all of our attempts to lift ourselves up and justify ourselves and compare ourselves with other people, all of that is done away with at the cross of Jesus Christ.

It is hard to stand beneath the cross because the cross forces us to repent of our trust in the innocence of our souls. The cross forces us to repent of our self- righteousness. The cross displaces you and me from the center of the universe. The cross forces us to confront the sobering evaluation of God on our fallen lives rather than the rosy picture of our lives that we like to delude ourselves with. It takes courage to stand before the cross and not only allow God to judge our lives, but to allow God to show us the only way that we could ever be accepted before him.

Trusting in the work of our substitute, Jesus Christ. Only by looking entirely away from ourselves and trusting in Christ can you and I ever be saved. It is one of the most courageous things a man or woman could ever do to get done with yourself and rest your confidence and your future happiness entirely upon Jesus. But that’s what we need to do. Let’s pray.

17 The Courageous Heart Rich Nathan July 29-30, 2006 1 and 2 Samuel: A Heart After God Series 1 Samuel 17

I. A Story Of Courage: Pastor Robert Graetz

II. A Need For Courage: Facing Our Goliaths (1 Sam. 17.1-11)

A. The Size Of Goliath

B. The Fear Of Man (Prov. 29.25)

III. Forming Courageous Hearts: Some Lessons

A. A Courageous Heart Is Formed As We Look To the Reward. (1 Sam. 17.20-27; Heb. 11.8-10; 24-26)

Interlude: Opposition From God’s Own People (1 Sam. 17.28, 29)

B. A Courageous Heart Is Formed As We Develop Habits Of Courageous Living. (1 Sam. 17.31-37)

C. A Courageous Heart Is Formed As We Focus Upon The Living God. (1 Sam. 17.26, 36, 37)

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