I Sam 17 -18 We spoke of small size last week and now move to a giant.Goliath (name derived from exile or to reveal?) was the size of Robert Wadlow. One of the reasons I love sports is the promise of an upset, that is often called David v. Goliath. 5 smooth stones and the power of the seemingly small- David brings his brothers provisions, as his father told him, but they put him down,like the runt of the litter, and David responds like an annoyed teen. It is a bit of a jab at militarism.David is handed the armament of Saul but it is like a size 50 suit on a 36 body. (I went to the Middletown yard sales and was crushed when I was going to buy up a lot of shirts, but for once the gentleman was two or three neck sizes bigger than me, if such a thing can be imagined).The valley of Elah lies between them.The united forces of Israel cower in fear of the giant, but a boy without armament faces and brings down the giant. David’s courage comes from God and his own ambition. David the shepherd notices some tool sin a dry creek bed, some smooth stones, probably unnoticed by anyone else.
2 Cor. 6-Paul rattles off the weapons of righteousness against a flurry of terrible storms. Open wide your hearts-This may not still a natural storm but Paul is convinced these weapons have real power in a stormy world. They seem so small, these non-violent weapons. They are not even 5 smooth stones from a creek bed but small items in our personal quiver.They will fail often, maybe especially in church.virtues such as purity/chaste-long-suffering/forbearance, unfeigned love, kindness-I don't even see how they relate to the terrors inflicted on paul.
Mark 4:35-A terrible storm is a goliath.When faced with goliath we get anxious and want to flee, but there they are in the boat.Fear often paralyzes us as it catches us between fight or flight. Recall that the boat is an early Christian symbol.Jesus a descendant of David, rebukes the wind and tells the sea to simmer down; the first word ("Peace!" in the NRSV) be silent; the second ("Be still!" in the NRSV) be muzzled. The word for rebuke is used when Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit in 1:25 (also 3:12 and 9:25). And the unclean spirit in 1:25 is also told to be muzzled. In 1:27, ...Why are you still afraid?" Jesus asks The word translated afraid here might also be translated cowardly (as in Revelation 21:8). In 4:41, the phrase translated awe in the NRSV literally says that the disciples feared a great fear. That great fear, or awe, is understandable in the face of the storm and in the presence of the immense power at the disposal of jesus. That same fear of 4:41 is felt by the healed woman (Stamper)-At Sundance, a standing ovation at the end seemed more for Rogers himself than the film. hunched and cold in a tall field, a lone figure fighting the wind. He couldn’t control life’s storms. But he’d show people how to endure them.
We put the VBS children in a carved boat about the length of the boats used in Galilee at the time. One boy stood up at the front and said peace be still, as they remembered an awful storm that pushed back some of our work there.
I have used peace be still as a mantra for years. In facing pettiness or something truly deliberately hurtful,I use it. That centered stability fights anxiety and gives security.
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