The sermon this week is an imagined press conference with King Saul immediately after the events described in today’s readings….
Saul: Hello, hello, welcome to the press conference. I’m King Saul. Yes, the first and only king of Israel.
But don’t be fooled by the dashing good looks and boyish charm, I do know what I’m doing here. So let’s get to the reason we’re all here.
I suppose you’ve all seen the news:
DAVID DEFEATS GOLIATH
Philistines Go Home
Yes, yes, yes, we’re all very happy for him. It’s a great day for us, a great day for Israel. I have nothing else to add. Any questions? Perhaps about how I am taller from the shoulders to the head than any man in Israel? Or about my exploits on the battlefield against the Ammonites back in the day?
Yes, you sir, there:
Reporter: Umm… no. Not about that. I actually wanted to ask about Goliath. There are reports coming out that when Goliath came out to challenge you, you cowered in fear. Any truth to that?
Saul: Well, I don’t know about cowering. But was I a little… “uneasy?” Sure. Look, we were all uneasy. Have you seen this Philistine Goliath? The guy’s like Shaquille O’Neal with a sword. So yeah, I wasn’t excited to try to take him on. And uh…yeah then David came out and said he’d take him on. And I said, “Sure. Why the heck not?” It’s not like we had any better options. Better Goliath takes out his rage on some poor shepherd boy than the one and only king of Israel.
And by the way, this is what you reporters aren’t covering. I tried to help him. I gave him my best armor: my best helmet, my best sword.
Reporter: Yeah, but it didn’t fit.
Saul: Not my department. “It didn’t fit.” What is this: a Macy’s? Look, this is 1000 BC, people, you take what you can get.
Reporter: Fair enough. But then he killed him with a slingshot!
Saul: I know. We’ve all read the papers. What’s your question?
Reporter: Well, I guess my question is how?
Saul: Look, I don’t know. Maybe he got lucky. Or maybe…
Reporter: Maybe what?
Saul: Well, maybe there was more to it. I remember back in the day, it sure seemed like there was a lot more to my victories than my swordplay or dashing good looks or height. You know, people are saying God is on David’s side. And that it’s really David’s trust in God that allowed him to beat Goliath.
Reporter: What do you think about all that?
Saul: Well, I don’t know what to think. Obviously that scares me.
Reporter: Why?
Saul: Well, because if God’s on David’s side then, I, Saul, Israel’s one and only king, might be in some trouble! There’s even a rumor that that annoying old fogey, that self-proclaimed prophet-priest Samuel went out to David’s house a couple weeks ago and anointed him as a new king! The nerve!
Reporter: …Yeah, there are some ugly rumors out there that you tried to kill him with a spear.
Saul: You can’t believe everything you read, Guy. Is this still a free country or not? Isn’t a guy allowed to throw around his own spear in his own house and if it just happens to hit his main rival for the throne, then them’s the breaks.
Reporter: Uh huh….
Saul: Look, you seem like a nice enough guy, so I’m gonna level with you. I’ve had enough of this David. I set him over my army. I mean, isn’t that enough? But noooooooooo. You listen to the people. And it’s “David this,” and “David that.” It’s like they forgot all about those Ammonites I took care of back in the day. Remember that? Oh those were the days. But now, no, none of it. David, David, David. Even my own son Jonathan’s gone after him.
Reporter: Yeah, David and Jonathan seem to be really close friends.
Saul: Close? They’re always together! And let me tell you: it’s NUTS. N-U-T-S. NUTS. If David ever becomes king like the people want, you know who no longer is next-in-line for the throne: Jonathan. I thought I raised this boy better than that.
Reporter: Yeah, why do you think that is?
Saul: Well, I don’t know that Jonathan’s head is screwed on right. But maybe…
Reporter: Maybe what?
Saul: Well I guess it could be that Jonathan understands something that I don’t. That maybe God’s calling David to be the king and God’s calling Jonathan to do something different with his life. Not “less than” but different.
Reporter: Why would that be?
Saul: Well sometimes I can’t help but think that God calls each of us to play different roles in life and serve him in different ways. I’m a reflective guy, buddy. But then when it gets to be too deep, I just go back and look at the mirror and see Israel’s one and only king with the dashing good looks and all those victories over the Ammonites. It’s good to be king.
Reporter: Right. Well, what did you learn out there watching all this happen the last few days?
Saul: Hey, remember, you’re never too old to learn new tricks. Even this remarkably well- preserved boyishly charming King Saul. But what did I learn? From that shepherd boy David?
Yuck.
Alright, I’ll give it a go.
The thing that most impressed me was when David chose not to wear my armor. It was like he was saying he didn’t need all those fancy weapons. And more than that, he didn’t need to try to pretend to be someone rich, famous, (and did I mention dashing and charming and handsome) like myself. He needed to be himself. And trust that even though he was facing something scary, God would be with him.
And let me jump into the future for a minute. All of us in a way are like David. We are all different. We have different personalities, different gifts, different callings, and different Goliaths we face in our everyday lives. But if David could trust in God, maybe we can too. Maybe we can trust in David’s descendant Jesus who was so powerful he calmed the storm, even rose from the grave.
Anyway, you’ve asked a lot of questions; let me ask you and everyone here a couple of my own:
How can we be the people God is calling us? Can we trust that God will equip us when we face
giants in our lives?
No more questions for today; thanks for listening in.