May 6, 2022 — David and Goliath 

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“So she said, “See, your sister- in- law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister- in- law.”  But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!  Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.. Where you die, I will die— 

there will I be buried.. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” 

 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.” Ruth 1:15-18 

“What the Israelites saw, from high on the ridge, was an intimidating giant.  In reality, the very thing that gave  the giant his size was also the source of his greatest weakness.  There is an important lesson in that for battles with all kinds of giants.  The powerful and the strong are not always what they seem.  David came running toward Goliath, powered by courage and faith.  Goliath was blind to his approach–and then he was down, too big and slow and blurry-eyed to comprehend the way the tables had been turned.  All these years, we’ve been telling these kinds of stories wrong.” (David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell, p. 14-15)  

Powered by Courage and Faith 

What powers your courage and strength? Do you feel powerless often in your situation? Our individual power can come from many sources. Knowledge gives us power. For each one of us to form a knowledgeable and informed opinion on a topic, we should learn as much as we can about that subject. In many countries, the color of your skin or the place of your birth can give you power. Education can give you power. And finally our faith should give us power — the power to stand up to injustice, the power to face corruption, and the power to face sin, death and the devil.   

For Lutherans, we find our power through the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to us through means – the Word and the Sacraments. We empower our faith through the scriptures, and we take in the power of Christ’s presence through Holy Communion. We may not be intimidating, we may not be of large stature, we may not even be rich or powerful – but when we are empowered with the Holy Spirit, when Christ is in us, and we are in Christ, we are giants in the faith.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, we do not always feel gigantic in our faith. We do not always feel powerful in the faith. But your Spirit is just what we need each and every day. Help me today to feel your Spirit and help me to be powerful in my faith. Amen.

Pastor Dave