1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-37 17:1a Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us." 10 And the Philistine said, "Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together." 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 32 David said to Saul, "Let no one's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." 33 Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth." 34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock. 35 I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God." 37 David said, "The LORD, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine." So Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you!" Mark 4:35-41 4:35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" How can we compare Goliath and the ocean? Goliath is a big, scary, evil giant that mocks the people of God. The ocean is calming and beautiful—a place we long to visit for vacation. However, To the ancient world, the ocean was seen as chaos, a realm where monsters and darkness dwelled, the opposite of God. The ocean was a place where God was not present, just like Goliath was a threat to God’s people experiencing the fruit of the promised land.
How did we get so far from this view of the ocean? Much of this shift comes from the belief that, as humans, we have tamed the ocean just as we have tamed the land. We have sailed the seven seas and built cities on the water. Yet, we know this is an illusion. The ocean depths are as unexplored as space, our cities are sinking, and the storms are only getting stronger as the weather gets hotter. I invite you back to a truer understanding of the ocean, not to a place of panic but of healthy fear. Much like the understanding of the fear of God, we should have a respectful fear of the ocean—a fear that leads us to respect its strength and power. The ocean is neither a raging enemy nor a pet for a holiday; it is a strong force: friendly, living, and dangerous. Imagine you are the disciples on a small boat in the middle of a great storm, or a young person like David about to face a giant in a one-on-one duel. On a typical day, this would mean death. Yet, neither of these days was typical. In both stories, the one anointed by God was present. Jesus had so much trust in God that he was sleeping in the stern of the boat in the middle of the storm, and David believed that the God who saved him from wild beasts would also save Israel from Goliath. God calmed the chaos in both stories, saving the kingdom. With climate change, rising temperatures and their effects on storms and flooding, pollution, over-harvesting of animals, and the killing of marine life, the ocean can feel a lot more like the chaotic Goliath. We fear death. Thankfully, we are God’s anointed, a royal priesthood; Jesus lives within us through the Spirit. Through God’s anointing, we have the power to face death and say, “peace, be still,” in the midst of our work alongside God to make the world more livable by helping the ocean. This helping is mutual, we both give life by caring for marine life and receive it back from the health of the ocean like the ebb and flow of the tides. God loves the ocean and its power, and yet the ocean obeys God. Let us learn from the ocean to do the same—not to be afraid of power but to use it in obedience to God. Caroline Hiler is a Seminary Intern at Creation Justice Ministries.
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