A Call to Stand

Standing ‘six cubits and a span’ theologian Ralph Klein says Goliath would be 9’9” carrying 127 pounds of armor. Goliath is big. He’s mean. And he stands on the fault lines of war calling out to Saul to send out his best warrior to fight.

At that moment David, a goat herder, walks into the temple courts and demands to see the king. He stands confidently as he reels off his credentials before Saul saying, “I’ve saved lambs from lions and I can save you from the Philistines. For it is not me that will win this fight but rather YHWH.”

So Saul clothes David with his armor but to no avail. It’s too heavy. He sheds it, picks up a sling and a rock, and heads out onto the battlefield.

Goliath is fit to be tied when he sees it’s a boy the Israelites have selected to fight him. So he runs after him with an armor bearer. And David takes off running too. Scripture says as Goliath charged with a sword, spear and javelin but David charges with the Lord of Hosts. What a moment in scripture!

We are just like David standing out on the fault lines of fear. We live in a world in which we face governmental sized bullying, people groups who are too insecure to live at peace with one another, and individuals who just want to watch the world burn.

Yet, we are our generation’s preachers, prophets, social workers, missionaries, counselors and priests. We, like David, are on a crash course in leadership, social activism, and protest, and we are called to stand against bullies.

And here I think seems to be the message for us. No matter our age, young, old, and anything in-between, when God calls . . . we stand.

But you may feel at times like your ragged slingshot and measly pebbles aren’t good enough to face the bullies of the times, but in God, even the most meager of tools can meet the fiercest opponent.

Parker Palmer reminds us,
We have places of fear inside of us, but we have other places as well – places with names like trust and hope and faith. We can choose to lead from one of those places, to stand on ground that is not riddled with the fault lines of fear, to move toward others from a place of promise instead of anxiety.
God doesn’t promise us a life that will be giant free or bully proof. We will face our Goliaths and we will stand on the fault lines of fear. It may not be a giant human that we face, but it will be ‘six cubits and a span’ of worldview, ignorance, fear, and hate. If we we don’t stand, more women will be lied to, more people groups will be overlooked, and more humans will suffer.

We must stand against the bullies of our day

But the story of David and Goliath breaks down at the point that God calls us to destroy our bullies. That’s not the message. Rather, in the midst of our battle, in the midst of a bully’s campaign, God calls us to stand. Stand for righteousness, stand for justice, stand for peace, love, restoration, and please stand for redemption.

There are little boys and little girls who need ministering to that face the heartache of abuse that comes from being bullied. There are illegal immigrants, homosexuals, homeless, impoverished, malnourished, diseased people who feel the sting of an oppressive society bullying them. There are countries who are bullied by other countries, laws that push people groups to the fringes, and doctrinal statements that damn people to hell – all of these sad situations need a faithful goat herder to stand against them.

For some of us just making it through today is a battle with Goliath. I get that. Life, at times, is about standing in the middle of our field stripped of armor and facing our Goliaths . . . and that’s fearful. But take heart, for Christianity teaches God is present in our standing.

As faithful Christians, we must accept the call to stand.

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