Irvine United Congregational Church                                                         Rev. Paul Tellström

“The Moment to Decide” copyright Paul Tellstrom 2006                                    August 27, 2006

Scripture- OT- II Kings 7: 3-11                             sermon word count: 2,013 + 221

 Scripture- NT- Matthew 25: 31-46 (The Last Judgment)

Hymn- insert- "To Us All, to Every Nation"

            THERE WAS a famine in the land.  There was a famine inside the gates of Samaria, and four outcasts sat outside the gates and discussed the situation.  The outcast knows that there is famine from natural causes, and famine that is political.  There is also spiritual famine, the worst kind, because it is always present.

            This was a political famine: the Aramean army was camped not far away, and the lepers at the gates could smell the food from the camp across the hill where the Arameans waited for the people of Samaria to turn on each other in their hunger.  Supplies were cut off, and surrender was inevitable.

            God looked to the outcasts, these lepers at the gates, to be ahead of the curve, and it is their conversation as they argued that afternoon that is implied in this passage, not those of the citizens within the city.  It is a decision made by those with nothing left to lose that we hear in this passage, and this is how I understand it: The first leper is a timid sort—he says, “I think it's too dangerous being here at these gates; we ought to go back.  Any way you look at it, we are surely going to die, so we might as well die among familiar surroundings at the hands of our own people.”

And then the second leper spoke up, and he said, “Since we are sure to die in any case, why do anything at all?  We're here- if we go back, we die, and if we go forward the Arameans will surely kill us, so I think we should just sit where we are and just wait and see.”

            The third leper was more animated in his response.  “We MUST go forward,” he said, “We will probably die, but there is food and drink there, and though we don't know for certain what will happen, it is possible that we will survive.  This is a new situation for us, and it calls for a new solution.”   And they fell to arguing amongst each other.

            The fourth leper had been quiet this entire time, so when he stood up, it silenced the others.  This is what he might have said.  “I'm a statistician, that's just who I am... I just look at the odds, and that's what I've been doing as I listen to you all... just checking our odds. Now you say we have to retreat, and my statistics show a 100% chance that we will die... you even admit it.   And you say we should simply maintain our position--you're the ‘status-quo-tician’, even though you give me 100% odds that by staying still we will also die.  Now You,” and he looked at the third leper, “You want to move forward, you want to go ahead, yet you can't offer me any real assurance that we will come out alive.  But after seeing that the other solutions guarantee our death, I know that moving forward is the only option we have.” 

            And Twilight came.  And so did the moment to decide.  It's Twilight, and the jig is up.  It's Twilight, and the four outcasts moved forward, and left the people of Samaria behind.  And God caused the army in their encampment to hear the noise of chariots and horses, and fearing they were overcome, the Arameans fled into the hills and left their supplies, left their food and wine, left their gold, silver, and possessions; all of it, behind.  And the four lepers moved into the empty camp that twilight having decided to place their trust in God and found not death but salvation.  And having found all this, they decided to return to Samaria to a people who had left them to die outside their gates, and to tell the King there what they had done, so that the people might not suffer, because...it was the thing to do.

            That the churches today could direct themselves forward in the saving of their neighborhoods, their cities, perhaps even the world, goes, I think, without saying.  The only question is whether Christians in sufficient numbers will stand together and decide…to direct and support their respective institutions in moving forward into the world through the gates into a new moment in faith; and stand with the stranger at the gate, for the sake of the least of these, as well as for themselves.  

            But, the direction that churches in our country have taken indicates anything but a gospel response, in fact, our churches seem too much on the inside, bunkered down with the powers that be.  Christianity was formed while Rome ruled.  It was a minority religion, and all of our texts speak from a minority point of view—calling for a new way amongst and against the powers that be.  What we as Christians don’t seem to see is the long and subtle shift from minority to majority, and then from speaking truth to power, to believing that power is truth.  To watch how Christianity and politics have melded in our country is to be confronted with the realism that we no longer rail against Rome; we are Rome.

            Perhaps by supporting the values of the status quo we have exposed ourselves to a spiritual famine.  By allowing a single expression of Christianity to bellow through the halls of justice and congress, we acquiesce to power structures that have a strong stake in remaining in control in an America that is complacent when the self-interests of the few are looked after at the expense of the many.

But even worse than the spiritual famine within the churches, is the neglect of the world outside the gates; the vast and growing majority of the world which is anything but middle class, in fact as we all know, there is a majority which grows every day which is wretchedly poor. 

READ MATTHEW 25:32-40 

“All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.  Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by our God, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’  And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”

Bill Coffin once said, “I think we can give up any notions of privilege, and accept the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in South America's invitation which reads “we invite all without distinction of class to accept and take up the cause of the poor and the outcast as if they were accepting and taking up their own cause, the cause of Jesus Christ.”  And this is where I think this invitation would lead to: a church that is formed from the bottom up and the outside in.”*

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” As I read today’s scriptures, I see a history in the churches that make up the United Church of Christ.  We have believed in the transforming power of God’s love in our lives to effect change.  We have stood with the stranger at the gate.  We have taken positions that have been unpopular with a status quo that has chosen to remain locked inside the walls of the city and within the walls of their hearts.

You are part of a strong tradition that seen in retrospect, has always been ahead of the curve.  You are needed by your community now more than ever.  We are the first church formed from the Reformation to stand against slavery, to ordain an African-American, to ordain a woman, and to ordain gay clergy.  We were there in every civil rights movement that took place in this country, and we are there now.  On the last fourth of July, our denomination took a stand for marriage equality at just the time when such a voice needed to be heard against the others.

One of my favorite quotes is from Arthur Schopenhauer, who said, “All truth goes through three stages:  FIRST, it is ridiculed, then it is violently opposed, and finally it is accepted as self-evident.”

It is easy to stand with others at the third stage.  It is much more difficult to stand with the stranger at the gate during the second one.  But we moved forward. 

“Lacking clothes, you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison, and you came to see me.”  You are the hands of Christ that are active in the world.  How you allow your faith to be informed by your reason and to act in this world sets you apart.  Still, John Ruskin once said, “What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence.  The only consequence is what we do.”

If what it means to be Christian, at least in America, is to be redeemed from the spectacle that is portrayed selectively by the media, then it should be clear that our churches must now take up a renewed and more vigorous practice of what our faith means to us.  Who in this community needs to hear the message of the Irvine United Congregational Church?  Who would you welcome who might not be welcomed elsewhere?  How will you spread the message that God loves you just as you are?

            Most of us reject the solution of the first outcast—we are not in retreat.  Perhaps we have been in a prolonged discussion with the second and third.  We have been sitting, and sitting is dangerous.

            The gospel encourages us to stretch our hearts and embrace all persons in this world.  It calls us to stand beside the wounded, to acknowledge those who are despised or ostracized, and to open our hearts in solidarity.  It is central to the meaning of our lives.  We are people making things happen for the good of all.  Feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, reaching out across the seas, restoring wild habitats, providing education, reaching out to those who are lonely and need to hear a good word.  Statistics show that over 90 million Americans, nearly half the adult population, spend over four hours a week in volunteer activities.  In times of change and social stress, people are challenged to stand up for what they believe.  Perhaps this is the hidden blessing released by the suffering of the world. 

The hymn we just sang is an old and powerful one, but it is theologically incorrect.  For not just once to very one and nation, but 3 times, 6 times, 17 times, comes the moment to decide.  For just as much as the church was built on St. Peter, we too are given a second chance.*  You are a part of a new and living opportunity whose collective heart beats resonantly in this place.  Our chance is always now.

William Sloane Coffin once spoke about the death of Socrates; how he could have escaped death and fled—he was given that opportunity.  But instead he gave a party and talked to his guests while drinking the hemlock.  He went on to quote Epictetus as saying, “Socrates could not have fled, because to save his life, he would have died to the world.  It is in meeting his death bravely that Socrates lives on.”  How will we be remembered?  

I'm not always as brave as I need to be.  I need a leader and a guide.  So I ask you—can you receive guidance in the teachings found in the life and principles of Jesus in this gospel message?  Is His example what you pattern your life after, and if so can you commit with me right now to advancing a way that prospers when love is supreme in its diverse  and full expression, with your hands, your hearts, your time, and your resources?  Can your church continue to grow, to expand and serve even more of your community in even more of a variety of ways?  Is this a place to come to be both comforted and challenged?  I’m here because I want to continue to be a part of that kind of place.  I want to stand with the stranger at the gate.  Is this a church that provides such a gateway? 

            It's Twilight.  It's Twilight and the jig is up.  It's Twilight and so comes the moment to decide.  And let the whole congregation say “AMEN.”

*Starred statements came roughly from notes taken on sermons by Rev. William Sloane Coffin