I Met Goliath

Published on August 25, 2008 by Paul Keim

Last week I spent an evening in San Francisco. What I expected to be an evening of fun with friends, turned out to be a night when God grabbed my heart and taught me a valuable lesson. I recently read a book called “Under the Overpass” about 2 men who decided to live on the streets of the US for 5 months to experience what the down and out in our society experience. What resulted was an even bigger burden in my heart for the poor and broken. So, there I was on the streets “dressed to the nines” when this woman walked by us asking for money. Within minutes we were learning her story and the reason she was on the streets. She had been married, divorced, and married again. Her second marriage ended when her husband and child were both shot and killed. With nothing left, and no money, she now is homeless trying to find hope and friendship on the dark streets of SF. We prayed with her, shared the hope of Jesus Christ with her, gave her some money, and invited her to come out to Neighborhood.

Later that evening we met Otis. Singing an Otis Redding song as he approached, we could tell Otis wanted two things: money and drugs. Instead, we asked him his name and within seconds he was telling us his story. Although there were points when we could barely understand him, we knew what he really wanted deep down was someone to listen. 3 minutes into our conversation, he suddenly snapped out of our moment, said, “alright,” and left us standing there.

About an hour later, I met Robert. Robert came up to us revealing a diamond earring he found earlier that day. He was trying to sell it to us for $20.  When we said we were ok, he said, “how about $10 or $5.” I told him he should try to sell it at a pawnshop, to which he replied that he was not allowed inside the pawnshop. In fact, while talking with him I found out he was not allowed inside of a lot of places simply because he was homeless. Robert was 45 years old, and had been on the streets since he was 15. That’s 20 years!! I had a chance to talk to Robert for a good hour. There was a man who needed hope, someone to listen, someone to care, an answer to be lifted out of the pit of poverty. Everyday he walked the streets begging, and every night slept on the hard concrete; looking for a way out, but living as if this was the end.

I left that night not feeling so good. As we drove home my heart hurt, my eyes welled up, and I found myself asking God, how? How do I make a difference…a lasting difference?

We, as a church, face a Goliath situation today. You see, just like the Israelites we often run from the giant. I’m sure the Israelites sat in their tents at night asking God, “Why the Philistines? Why this Giant? Why don’t you do something? Where are you?” But you see, God was calling them to BELIEVE and to have FAITH that God is greater than the one who is in the world. Sure they held the line of battle, but everyday Goliath mocked them, mocked God, and laughed in their faces; and they all ran back to their tents with unbelieving hearts.

As a church, our giant is the lost and broken in the world. And everyday Satan mocks us: telling us we have no power, that the world doesn’t listen to us, that the poor are too big of a problem, that we need to just go home and live our own lives, and keep to ourselves. SADLY ENOUGH WE LISTEN!! We make excuses: “They’re just going to use that money on drugs”, “They don’t care what I have to say”, “I need to be somewhere”, “God hasn’t called me to this”, “I’m saving for a new car”, “I don’t want to offend him”, “They’re going to think I’m stupid”, etc. Everyday Satan brings someone else under slavery, and we walk past him or her as if they don’t exist. I cannot do that anymore. If we are Christians, we ARE called to this. Isaiah 58:6 says,


What if we as a church lived like that? Instead of saying that it’s the governments problem, we go out and meet people, broken, battered, bruised: the homeless on the street, the rich alcoholic, the money hungry student, the single mom, the hurting child, and in the name of Jesus bring physical and spiritual healing that only JESUS CHRIST can bring!

David not only knew that he was part of God’s chosen, but he knew that Goliath was nothing compared to God’s promises. He did not timidly approach the battle line weighing his chances. HE RAN FULL FORCE TOWARD THE GIANT, and slayed him. We have an opportunity to be David, or an opportunity to be Saul; to run with all our might at the giant of a lost world, the giant of poverty, the giant of injustice. Or we can sit in our tents afraid, unmoved, complacent, and never see God use us in any great way. If one man changed the face of a nation, what could one local church do?