Week Four

Part 4: In a changing world, are we ready

Read 1 Samuel 17: 1-50

(yep 50 verses, let’s look at the whole story, if you’re in a group you may want to break the reading up and take turns reading sections of it)

This is one of the most memorable and widely recognised encounters in the Bible. But let’s focus on one odd detail: the pile of cheese. While ‘David and Goliath’ is a familiar trope in pop culture it’s fair to say people’s first thought when they think of the story probably isn’t “Oh yeah, the kid that had to carry all that cheese.” (See verse 18.)

But carry cheese David did, and a big pile of it. While Saul and Eliab and Abinadab and Shammah and the rest are all engaged in the standoff with the Philistines, David has a job to do — two jobs in fact — he’s juggling looking after sheep and taking cheese to the frontline and before long he’s volunteered for a third job. We know reading this story that David is a plucky underdog hero but the people around him didn’t. He was just an awkward dude that smelled of cheese.

In the fast changing world we are now living in — which features many Goliaths to overcome — are we paying attention to the folk schlepping cheese around? And by that we mean the hardworking people on the fringes who we have been taking for granted.

How can we ensure that we are listening to the ‘young Davids’ around about us — the quirky souls outside the mainstream — that may well have the solutions to the big problems we face?

Read Psalm 133

Inspired by this psalm, what are three things we can do tomorrow to build up unity? It could be unity at home, unity at work, unity in the church, unity in society… As a group think of practical things you can do to work for unity.

Discuss

As we look to the future what are our prayers for this time of change? What are we wanting to let go of? And what are we wanting to hold on to?