WEDNESDAY HOMILY FOR 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
THEME: BE A GIANT-KILLER.
BY: FR. KARABARI PAUL
“You have come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts….”
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During the early days of Saul’s kingship, the Philistines controlled the western border of Israel, and battle lines were drawn at the pass called Michmash. And they could fight ‘by representation’. That means that one man would fight for the nation as a whole, and the country of the losing warrior became subservient to the country of the conquering warrior. So David versus Goliath, as recorded in the First Reading of today ( 1Sam. 17:32-33, 37, 40-51) was really Israel against the Philistines. It was a one-on-one contest: winner takes all.
God had always been the leader of Israel’s army. As long as they kept faith in Him, their victory was assured. However, in this particular battle, the philistines had a giant called Goliath whose presence made Israel’s soldiers to develop the mentality of slaves. Obviously, they forgot the place of God in the battlefield and focused on the human giant. It would take the young David to remind them that insult to Israel’s armies was insult to God; a confrontation against them was a confrontation against God. This was the only mindset they needed to kill Goliath. Even King Saul discouraged David and felt he was no match for Goliath. But giant killers see what others do not see. What a man knows gives him an advantage over the ignorant.
Firstly, David located his source of power. Before King Saul, he acknowledged the past and continuous faithfulness of God and His unfailing protection in dangerous situations. He drew his faith from there. We need to develop a faith that makes us realise that God has nothing to prove to us anymore; He has been consistent in all things and can’t leave halfway through the wilderness. To show clearly it was a habit and not flattery, David again acknowledged his source of power before the soon to be destroyed giant Goliath. And what killed Goliath wasn’t the expertise of David in handling sling. While Goliath was boastful before David, David humbled himself before God and projected Him before Goliath. The battle was then drawn between Goliath and God, and at this point, powers became unequal. No one should boast before God; a lesson we would never learn. To teach humility, God didn’t raise another giant against Goliath, He raised the boy David. And God hasn’t changed.
So the shepherd slayed the warrior. The boy conquered the giant. God gave David victory over his giant to inspire us to confront our own giants. Giants can be tangible or intangible: the things we can’t overcome because, seduced by fear, we think we can’t. They can also be unattainable goals, unfinished projects, or unfulfilled dreams, the ‘loose ends’ of life that keep us mired in mediocrity. A giant is anything or anybody keeping you from being or doing what God wants you to be or do. Giants can be internal or external, real or imagined, physical or emotional. A giant could be an attitude, a habit, a belief, a philosophy, or a memory. It could be a person who stands between you and God; between who you are and who God wants you to be; between where you are and where God wants you to go; between what you believe and what God wants you to believe.
Giants have one goal; to stop your progress and prevent you from reaching your destiny. But giant-killers see victory in the shadow of defeat! They are conscious that power comes from God alone. Giants can expose our hidden strengths, be a measuring stick for our growth, and feed our confidence in God. Giant-killers see opportunity in opposition, potential in problems, and victory in the shadow of defeat. And with God’s help, you can become a giant killer.
Most of us will have read the story of David’s victory over the giant with faith, a stone, and a slingshot. But it wasn’t just one stone he picked up, but ‘five smooth stones’. It wasn’t a lack of faith. David knew that Goliath had four brothers, and he may have needed extra stones to defeat them, too. Giant-killers realise that their giant represents greater issues. A giant never stands alone; behind it lie its causes. All issues, such as eating disorders, addiction, self-harm, and anger, are driven and supported by other issues. Somewhere behind the obvious giant are its supportive brothers; pain, guilt, loss, shame, and control. David was prepared with five stones – one for Goliath and one for each of his four brothers. We need to ask ourselves what lies behind our giant. With God’s help, we can conquer both the giant and the things that stand behind it. Sometimes, we need to go and talk to someone about those issues behind our giant. There’s no shame in needing to do that. Also, giant-killers are not overwhelmed by the challenges. We should never allow our fears to overwhelm our faith. The Bible says that ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power….’ (2 Timothy 1:7 ). Fear will feed on the failures of the past, but we can’t allow yesterday’s failure to overwhelm today’s faith.
The odds may not look good. But when you make a move that is motivated by God’s glory, it moves the heart and hand of God. What it requires is a step of faith. All it took was one daring decision! That is all it ever takes. When you move, God will move on your behalf. And if you don’t move, you will always wonder ‘what if?’ Our longest regrets are our inaction; the things we would have, could have, or should have done but did not do. Sometimes, we have to bracket all other factors and just focus on God alone. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God bless us, heal our country Nigeria and protect us all through Christ Our Lord Amen. Good morning
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