Friday as I was sitting in my car in
the parking lot of Shopko I thought about the “furious squall” that was
mentioned in our gospel reading this morning.
Sitting in the car I endured a quick thunderstorm that produced
torrential rain, hail, and winds that were rocking the car. It got so bad that I could not even see the
car that was parked one stall away. When
it calmed down there was a lake in the parking lot and two inches of hail
covering the ground . . . it was a mess.
From the moment the darkness of the storm set in and began its furious
attack I kept hoping that the hail didn’t get any larger than the pea size that
it was and that the wind didn’t flip the car over. To say the least . . . it was scary.
That little thunderstorm made me think
of the story we heard a few minutes ago of Jesus and the disciples crossing
over to the other side. It was an easy
journey at first with calm waters . . . one of those sorts of trips in a boat
where the boat seems to rock you to sleep . . . which, of course, is what Jesus
did. He laid down to take a nap. We all know that thunderstorms or squalls
know no boundaries and have a tendency to show up when they are least expected. So it was on the trip across to the other
side . . . a quick and unexpected squall unleashed its fury upon the disciples
and Jesus in the boat.
The winds were blowing. The rain was coming down. The waves were lapping over the sides of the
boat. They were getting pounded . . .
and, all the while, Jesus laid there sleeping.
The disciples panicked . . . “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Now the writer of the story this
morning does not say whether or not Jesus was having a great nap, but I would
imagine that after all the teaching and preaching and dealing with people Jesus
had just done that it was a well-earned nap.
And, I do not know about Jesus, but I know that I can be quite grumpy
when I get woke up from a nap I am not really to surrender. Because of that, I imagine that Jesus was not
in too good of a mood when the disciples started panicking and bothering him.
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the
waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely
calm. Then he turned to his
disciples and addressed them: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
As I was being rocked in my car on
Friday afternoon under a torrential downpour of heavy rain and hail . . .
swaying in the wind . . . under a deafening onslaught of noise . . . I will
admit that I was scared. It was a mess .
. . a nasty mess. I was scared about
what the storm could do to me . . . what it could do to my car. Yeah I was scared and at that moment I really
wasn’t giving my faith a whole lot of consideration. I just wanted out.
At the end of eighth grade I got what
I considered the worst whooping ever when I got into a fight with the class
bully. Billy Zapor was the biggest and
meanest kid in the class and he liked using that to his advantage. On the last day of school he started picking
on a kid on the bus when I told him to “knock it off” . . . which, I guess, he
thought meant that he should turn all of his attention to me. Flicking my ears with his fingers, slapping
my head, he antagonized me until I had had enough.
You know how you say stupid things
when you are mad or scared? Well, I said
a stupid thing . . . I told Billy I was going to pound him when we got off the
bus. Scrawny little me was going to pound
big, monstrous Billy. He just smiled,
“Yeah, right, Keener.” From that moment
on I became scared . . . thought about jumping off the bus a stop early to save
my life . . . thought about the fact that I was going to be in a world of hurt
and it was all because of my big mouth.
At the last stop everyone piled off
the bus. The circle of kids was made
with me and Billy standing in the middle facing each other. I realized that my only chance was one of
surprise . . . that I had to get the first punch in. So, I rared back and punched Billy right in
the mouth . . . a mouth filled with braces . . . the blood spurted out. You know how the sight of blood—especially
your own—can make some people crazy?
Well, Billy went crazy. He
grabbed me . . . threw me into a head lock . . . and, began wailing on me. It was not a pretty sight from my point of
view . . . and, then, just as suddenly as it had started . . . it stopped.
It just stopped. Billy released my head from his grip and
declared that the fight was a draw . . . which, of course, no one was going to
argue with him about, especially me.
Bleeding and bruised I took his declaration and crawled home. From that moment on Billy and I were pretty
good friends . . . he never picked on me . . . and, he gave me the reputation
that I wouldn’t back down from a fight.
Actually, I think he gave me the reputation of being a crazy person and
no one wants to mess with a crazy person.
When it comes to the forces of nature
. . . I admit that I am no match. When
it comes to taking on people like Billy Zapor . . . huge behemoth individuals .
. . I am no match. In both situations I
am sure the odds makers would put me down as the underdog . . . and, who am I
to argue? I know when the odds are
stacked against me . . . I wasn’t going to beat that storm on Friday
afternoon—no one was. Nor, was I going
to beat Billy Zapor . . . shoot I never saw a fight in the years that I knew
Billy that he ever lost a fight. I know
the underdog role quite well.
Which brings us to the story of David
and Goliath over in I Samuel that is
a part of our scripture readings this morning.
As we all know, the Philistines had gathered their forces to invade
Israel. Saul, the king of Israel,
gathered his forces to opposite the Philistines . . . a battle line had been
drawn. It was a draw . . . or at least
what seemed to be a draw until the Philistines sent out their secret weapon—a
monstrous warrior by the name of Goliath.
Goliath was huge—over nine feet tall and ripped like Adonis. Goliath had never lost a battle . . . he was
undefeated. Out steps Goliath who issues
a challenge—send out a warrior to fight me and if he wins we are done . . . we
go home.
Now remember . . . Goliath is over
nine feet tall, built like a brick house, and has never—ever—lost a
battle. He towers over the
competition. So, what do the Israelites
and Saul do upon hearing this challenge?
The writer of the scripture tells us that they were “dismayed and terrified.” They knew that they did not have a
warrior to beat Goliath . . . they knew beating the Philistines was a long shot
especially since Goliath was on their side . . . they knew they were the
underdogs. Knowing this, the Philistines
pushed forward and encroached on the land of Israel.
This continued for forty days until a
challenger step forward . . . a shepherd boy by the name of David. Now I imagine that David was not an
individual who struck fear into others with his presence, after all, he was a
mere boy . . . a skinny, scrawny child . . . one with no military training . .
. no fighting experience . . . and, no real weapon. Nope, all he had was a sling shot he used to
scare the varmints away from the sheep.
He steps up and volunteers to fight Goliath to stop the Philistine onslaught. At best, David was a long . . . long . . .
shot to defeat Goliath. He was an
underdog.
Now this is not a picture of expectant
triumph . . . no, far from it. Despite
their fear of the Philistines and Goliath, I am sure that the mere presence of
David volunteering to take on Goliath brought out more than a few snickers of
laughter. But David was adamant that he
could defeat Goliath . . . that he could do it with his sling shot. After all, time after time, when the sheep
had been threatened and attacked by bears and lions God had been with David . .
. and, he had won by striking them dead with his sling shot. As far as he was concerned, underdog or not,
he had this in the bag . . . God was on his side. If God was on his side, who could be against
him?
So . . . Saul let David take on
Goliath. Not only does he take Goliath
on, but he pops him in the head with a rock from his sling shot killing the
monstrous warrior instantly. The battle
is over and done . . . just like that to the amazement of the warriors on both
sides of the conflict. The skinny,
scrawny shepherd boy takes out the champion . . . the underdog wins. The underdog wins because he believes that he
cannot lose with God on his side . . . he has faith.
So, Jesus looked at his disciples
after rebuking the storm, and asks, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” We are among the disciples that he addresses.
There are moments and times in our
lives in which we feel as if face unbeatable odds . . . that we are overwhelmed
with life and the world around us . . . that life’s storms are more than we can
handle . . . that we are the underdogs.
Times when we are scared and frightened . . . times when we are
terrified. Times when we feel as if are
on a boat being lashed upon by a furious squall . . . facing an unbeatable
foe. Times when we just want to embrace
our status as an underdog and slink away to our homes.
And, then there is Jesus . . .
standing there and asking us: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Where was the faith of the disciples
when the storm began to rage? Where was
the faith of Saul and his army when they were threatened by the Philistines and
Goliath? Sometimes in life we are
reminded from the littlest things or people what faith is and what its power
is. In the example of David we see the
underdog triumph because the underdog believes . . . believes that God will not
abandon . . . that God will not desert. We
are reminded that no matter how bad it looks, how unbeatable the odds seem, and
now much the odds are against us . . . God will always be there. In God’s presence we never lose.
As badly as Billy Zapor whipped me . .
. and, everyone who was there knows it . . . it turned out okay. Billy and I became friends. I got a reputation that saved me from a whole
bunch of fights in the future. And, life
was great. Was it faith that propelled
me into that fight with Billy Zapor? Not
really, but I stepped forward anyways . . . took my beating . . . and, reaped
the rewards. God took care of me in the
end for standing up for the underdogs . . . God will take care of you.
Love it. I might go back to church if I could find a preacher that told memorable stories like that.
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