David and Goliath.
Just to mention the names brings to mind a particular scenario. Underdog versus overwhelming adversary. Little guy takes on the big and powerful. Little versus big, weak versus strong, it’s used in sports, business, politics, science - pretty much everywhere with that singular meaning. Even the name Goliath has come to mean someone or something huge, gigantic, strong and powerful.
This is the power of a metaphor. This situation is like that situation, so we use this as a colourful way to describe it. I’ve been talking about metaphors a lot lately, especially the ones Jesus uses, as well as the parables. I’ve been encouraging a deeper dive, suggesting that metaphors are really an invitation to look more closely at something, to ask more questions and learn more. Unfortunately, we tend to use them to simplify, to point at one particular meaning. That’s too bad and often does a disservice to both the thing we’re highlighting and the thing - or story - we’re using to describe it.
Sometimes it even pushes us to think of the original thing so much in the context of how we’re using it that it loses its original meaning.
Like David and Goliath.
Sure, little David and big Goliath. Sometimes when we use it that simply, it’s not even about who wins, but the comparison of the adversaries. Except the story’s not about that.
To begin with, it’s not just about two individuals, it’s a story. So it’s more than a metaphor, it’s an allegory, an expanded metaphor that’s complex, nuanced and detailed. And the story of David and Goliath isn’t just about an underdog facing an overwhelmingly superior opponent.
1 Samuel 17 records the Israelites, under King Saul, coming to battle the Philistines at Elah. In a tradition of the ancient world, the Philistines sent out a champion so that the day could be decided by single combat, sparing the two armies. Goliath is described as huge, wearing armour, carrying a spear and shield. He’s a great warrior who taunts the Israelites to send out their best.
The Israelites are afraid. No one wants to fight Goliath. David is a boy who takes care of sheep and runs errands to his older brothers who are with Saul. David isn’t afraid and is willing to fight Goliath. David has a plan.
See, I imagine David was just as scared as everyone else. But he wasn’t afraid, in that same way that Jesus means when he tells us “don’t be afraid.” It’s okay, sensible even, to be scared, but David knows that God is with him, whatever happens. Not that God would take care of everything for him, but that the spirit inspired him to know that his skill with a sling could make the difference. And it does. He knocks down Goliath, takes Goliath’s own sword and cuts his head off. (Yeah, that’s the part we often leave out - it’s not the sling that kills him, it just brings him down.)
The story’s really about believing in yourself and the power of the spirit to engage even the greatest obstacles in our life. That’s God at work in each of us. Don’t be afraid.
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