Courageous Living
2 Samuel 23:8-12
“But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and
struck the Philistines down, and the L ORD brought about a great victory.” vs. 12
If I Were King Of The Forest
Since today is Memorial Day,I wanted to honor those that have served in the armed forces and who have literally laid it all on the line for our freedom. I really wanted to start with a clip from the movie “Saving Private Ryan.” To me, that movie was a real eye opening understanding of the difficulty and the seriousness of war. I went onto You Tube and started watching clips and I ran into a problem; they were all so graphic; the blood, the killing, the language, etc. It became very apparent that I just couldn’t use a clip from that movie in the sermon.
So today I thought I might have some fun and watch this clip about courage.
Read Passage – 2 Samuel 23:8-12
These are the names of David’s mighty warriors: Josheb-Basshebeth, aTahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter. 9 Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty warriors, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the Israelites retreated, 10 but Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead. 11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. 12 But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the LORD brought about a great victory.
Facing Our Fears
There are very few if anybody who does not have some fear. Our fears can paralyze us, they can immobilize us, they can prevent us from accomplishing things, they can dictate our behavior, they can ——, and for some they can ruin our lives.
Ex. Last week I faced one of my new found fears. Hiking on the coast last week and my vertigo kicking in. The minute we got to the beach I knew it would be rough. The winds were extremely hard (the kind that blow your car door when you are trying to open it.) We went out anyway and as we made our way up the bluff it was really beautiful. But we were on a gradual assent and it was hard for me as we ascended higher and it seemed that cliff was calling me. Okay that was the wind. Claudia could see my frame and body language were not normal. Claudia had to come along side me and help me because I kept feeling as if the wind were going to take me right over the side. I kept pushing even though we weren’t that close to the edge. Somehow, through a bit
of determination and maybe a bit of confusion and stubbornness, I made it, but it was really difficult.
Ex. When I was 18 they had just reintroduced the mandate to register for the draft. I remember being a little concerned that now I would be in a position to be draft if our country wore to become involved in war. That was a difficult thing to go down to city hall and register. War is a scary thing and we all face fears. Each of us have our won fears and we all act and react to them differently.
So how it it we over come our fears? Is it grit and determination, stubbornness; is it persistence, it s it playing mind games with ourselves? One thing about fighters, warriors, service men; they face their fears or may at times even seem fearless.
I Pledge Allegiance…
As I contemplated that question of facing fears, I realized that in our passage there is a clue to one of the things that needs to be consider, verse 8a:
“These are the names of David’s mighty warriors…” vs. 8a
One of the factors that help us overcome our fears is the pledges we make. When we give ourselves to something, there is much less a question of facing our fears because we have committed to something.
Ex. Our pledge of allegiance – I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of Amercia…
The men that we see listed in 2 Samuel 23 are the mighty men of David and 3 of them stand out above all the others, but the other 27 listed. These mighty men had committed themselves to Israel and even more importantly to David and that commitment drove them.
Courageous Living
In light of honoring those who have served in our military, and in our remembrance of Memorial Day, and remembering that this year we are looking at lesser know people in the Bible, let’s look at 3 men who were courageous in their living and how their courage helps us understand our ability to live a courageous life in light of the commitment we have made to God. First, as a point of reference, let’s define courage.
Courage: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty (Webster’s Dictionary)
Have the congregation circle mental, moral and persevere. Remember those words, they are important.
–JB: Passionate About The Cause (Mental)
The first courageous man we see is JB, that is how I will refer to him from this point on (Josheb-Bassebeth). His story is the shortest of the three and in verse 9 we read:
“…he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter.” vs. 9
From this I understand JB to have passion about his cause. I don’t think you would be willing to singlehandedly fight and kill 800 men without a certain amount of passion. This is the mental toughness aspect of preparing our mind. It’s the idea of deciding in your mind what is important to you and having the willingness to make it happen. In Romans 12:11 it says;
“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Rom. 12:11
Paul calls that mental toughness zeal. Many people make a commitment to God but aren’t passionate about it. Paul encourages us to be passionate with our zeal for God. I think he got that idea from Jesus when he told the parable of the wheat. In the parable of the sower and the seeds, Jesus likens some who accept God as those who accept Him and then are quickly scorched by the sun and wither and die. They don’t have the zeal for God.
Interestingly enough, JB means ‘the people will return.’ I think that is cool because what it implies to me is that when he goes to war, based on his name, he is determined in his mind to return; not to be killed in battle, to return to his land, to his family, to his country.
-Eleazar: Moral Strength To Go(Emotional)
The second of the three mighty warriors is Eleazar. This guy has an incredible story of valor. Verse 10:
“As one of the three mighty warriors, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the Israelites retreated, but Eleazar stood his ground …” vs. 10
Eleazar shows us that a second trait needed to live courageously is moral strength. That is the conviction to fight for a cause. It is the idea that you not only know what needs to be done but that you have the conviction to go and do it.
Ill. I showed that clip of The Wizard of Oz because I have always liked that movie and the Cowardly Lion has always been my favorite character. One of the crazy things about his character is that he is always nervous about something and almost never wants to act on he knows he should do bu t you know what, he always does it. He doesn’t want to go to the Emerald City, but he goes. He doesn’t want to see the Wizard, but he goes. He doesn’t want to face the Wicked Witch but he does. And the pinnacle of his story is when he and the other characters are trapped by the guards in the castle and the witch is there and she threatens Dorothy and throws fire at the Scarecrow. He is now willing to confront her. Why? He is attached to Dorothy and is willing to act on his convictions.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Gal. 6:9
One more interesting thing about Eleazar, his name means ‘God is my Helper’ Eleazar has a crazy story. He goes to battle with his men but when the battle gets going, his men take off and leave him by himself. Interestingly enough, his story mirrors the last of David’s 30 mighty men, Uriah. Remember him? He was Bathsheeba’s husband and this is the tactic David used to have Uriah killed. It is the same kind of thing that happens to Eleazar. When we have a moral conviction about the things of God, and we are willing to go and act on them, what better incentive to we have than to know God is with us. Paul said in Gal. 6:9:
–Shammmah: Stick To It(iveness) (Perseverance)
Finally, we arrive at Shammah. Shammah has a determination to him. I called it Stick-to-it(iveness). Yes I realize it’s not a real word but it sure has a good ring to it. Listen to verse 12 to hear his perseverance:
“But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it…” vs. 12a
His perseverance is taken to a new level when you realize that what he defended was a field of beans! His passion, his dedication, his commitment, and his drive showup in the trait of sticking it out til the end. Perseverance is a great trait to have because we can’t always expect things to go well and to be easy. Paul says in Hebrews 10:36:
“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:36
Shammah’s name means ‘wonderful thing’ and think how that adds to his story. When you complete a task doesn’t it feel great? Isn’t there a wonderful sense of accomplishment when you stick it out and follow through on somehtuing and see it to the end? Sure. How much more so when it’s something that draws us closer to God or something that God has called us to do.
Ill. Each of you look on the back of your bulltin. You see a post-it note or a sticky note. Take a pen and write “2 IT” on it. Now you have a…yes, stick to it. You can take this note and use on something you are going through or put it somewhere where it will remind you of the importance of sticking to a tough situation you are going through.
The Source of Victory
There is one more thing to take note of; it is something that occurs twice in this passage. Verse 12b:
“…and the LORD brought about a great victory.” vs. 12b
When we trust God and have the mental and moral strength to persevere, God brings about the victory. We don’t have to.
Let me tell you why when I thought about today I thought of the movie Saving Private Ryan. I was really drawn inot this movie from the opening scene. It’s a war veteran who is visiting a cemetery. It is Private Ryan when he is older. He is at the graveside of one of the men who died while attempting to save his life. He appears to be very reflective and solemn and breaks down and the line that really hit me, especially when you have seen the rest of the movie and then reflect on the line, “Did I do enough, Was I a good enough man?” (Not sure those are the exact words) He is asking if he lived his life in such a way that it honored those men that sacrificed all they had for him.
My desire is to the same. To do enough to honor Jesus, the one who gave his life for me. I can never repay it, never make up for it, but I can try to live up to it
