St. Charles Episcopal Church, St. Charles, IL
The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, November 13, 2011
Judges 4:1-7; Psalm 123; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30
The Reverend Elizabeth G. Meade

To listen to the sermon as it was preached at the 9:00 am service, click here.
To listen to the sermon as it was preached at the 10:45 am service, click here.

On Tuesday this week, I had coffee with a friend of mine who is a pastor in the United Church of Christ. Eventually, our conversation turned to what we were preaching on this Sunday. "I think I'm going to preach on Deborah this week," I said.
"Deborah, "she said, "she's the judge, right?"
"Yes," I said.
"Mmmmm," she said, "you're going to think I'm terrible, but I don't remember much from that story except to know that she was a judge."
And from that minute on, I knew I had to take this rare opportunity to preach on Deborah today.

So let's talk about Deborah. She was a judge, and to give you some background, the period when the judges ruled Israel came soon after Moses brought the people up from Egypt to the land God had promised them. And if you remember, Moses died just before crossing into the Promised Land, and it was Joshua who finally led the people into the land. During Joshua's time, the people were faithful to God, and enjoyed a period of relative peace. But then Joshua died, and again the Israelites took up their old patterns, and, to quote an earlier chapter of Judges, "they abandoned the Lord, and served Baal." (Judges 2: 13) It's a familiar theme in scripture: when the people are faithful, they enjoy peace and prosperity, and when they lack good leadership, they become unfaithful and turn away from Yahweh – with disastrous results.

The first lines of today's text explain the context. There is a different oppressor, but it's the same scenario. The passage reads: "The Israelites AGAIN did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died, so the Lord sold them into the hands of King Jabin of Canaan. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD for help; for King Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years."Predictably, after twenty years of cruel oppression, God sends in someone to rescue them… and that is where we find ourselves this morning – under a palm tree in the hill country of Ephraim, which is now in present day Galilee. Deborah, the text tells us, is a prophetess and a judge, the wife of Lappidoth. The Isaaelites used to come to her, sitting under her palm tree between Ramah and Bethel, for judgment: to settle their disputes. To have this job, we understand that she must be wise – and well respected.

In today's passage, we see Deborah summoning one of the leaders of the tribes, a general named Barak, to tell him what the Lord commands him to do. Bring 10,000 men to Mount Tabor and wage war against Sisera, King Jabin's general, and his 900 iron chariots, the Lord says, I will defeat them for you. Now, unfortunately, the reading today leaves us dangling there. I urge you to go home and read the rest of Chapter 4 in Judges to find out what happens, but I'll give you a hint: Barak doubts Deborah's prophecy. The odds are against them. King Jabin has 900 iron chariots! 900 0f them!!! Surely they'll all be killed. So Barak starts putting conditions on doing what the Lord commands. To find out whether goes into battle – and to find out whether he wins or loses, you'll have to read the rest of Judges Chapter 4 – but be forewarned – there's a surprise twist at the end!

So, why did I want to talk about Deborah? Well first, because we see a woman in an enormous place of power in the history of Israel. That, too, will change by the time Jesus is born in a manger 1000 years later, but Deborah's gender isn't the focus here. Deborah is important because when God speaks, she listens; and not only does she listen, she obeys…. She doesn't second guess the word of God. When God speaks, she takes action. Deborah is, for us, an icon of faithfulness while Barak is more like most of us….. governed by fear; second guessing the Holy One in the midst of us.

As disciples, God wants all of us. Our hearts and our minds and our bodies. The point here is that God wants committed disciples; disciples that love God as much as God loves us. Isn't that what the first and greatest commandment asks of us? To love the Lord our God with all our hearts, our souls, & our minds? God wanted Barak to take a risk, even in the face of lousy odds. God wanted Barak to BELIEVE what God had promised: " I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his 900 iron chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand." But Barak's fear prevented him from hearing that last line. His fear got the best of him at the 900 iron chariots. His doubts got the best of him. He was only able to trust God up to a point and, then, with conditions. Isn't that our own human struggle? When we get paralyzed by fear, it is easy to forget God's grave and mercy.

Which brings us to the Gospel this morning. Jesus tells a parable, saying, "Suppose a man was going on a trip, and entrusted his fortune to his servants. To one he gave five talents, to one he gave two talents, and to the third, he gave one talent." Scholars disagree about how much a talent is worth, but it was a serious amount of money!

The number generally batted around is that ONE talent equaled what a laborer could earn in 15 years of work. So, to the man who was given five talents, it was equal to what someone could amass if he worked for 75 years – for more than a lifetime – but to the man who was given only one talent, it was still a fortune.

We may be uncomfortable with the landowner's wrath when he came home to see that the man who had been given only one talent had safely stashed it underground so that it wouldn't be stolen. I mean, the guy was prudent. He played it safe. But he, Jesus says, HE will be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Why is he so tough on the guy? And yet…..there it is. It's a tough lesson to hear. Jesus, in these last three weeks of the Church year, has been warning us about the end that is to come. He warned us about the people who didn't come to the wedding feast and the man who refused to put on a wedding garment. And he warned us about the foolish bridesmaids who did not save enough oil for their lamps. Today, here is another stern warning: Don't play it safe when it comes to shining a light on my Kingdom. Don't let fear snuff out the light of the world. Jesus is warning us about the Cost of Discipleship. Last week, Father Bill reminded us that the GOAL of Christian living is NOT to ensure our own salvation. The reason for following Jesus, for following The Way, as Jesus called it, is so that we are equipped and empowered to be his hands and feet in this world. To be followers of The Way means to be actively and decisively engaged in shining a light on the Kingdom of God: right here, right now. That's our task. That's why we're here today.

Deborah knew that, but Barak did not. Deborah was not afraid to take action; she proclaimed the word of God – served the people who came to her palm tree. But Barak? Barak was willing to serve God to a point, but only on his terms and with his conditions. We see a similar set of circumstance s in Jesus' parable today. The men who had been given fine talents and two talents took action with their Master's money… they invested it; they made it grow. But the man who had been entrusted with only one talent wasn't so inclined. He didn't want to risk it. He hid it. He played it safe… Yet it was HE who was cast into the outer darkness.

And here's the segue into our own contemporary context:
We have each been given our own assignments as Christian people: to spread the Good News; to respect the dignity of every human being; to Love God, and to our neighbors as ourselves. The texts today invite us to examine all that God has entrusted to us. Are we holding onto it as safely as you can, never taking risks, never reaching out in faith to share God's gifts? Or are we growing God's gifts? Taking risks and proclaiming the Good News? It always comes back to us, doesn't it?

Our job as Christians is to take action. To be decisive. To take a stand for Christ. It is not to live safely within this community, holding on to what we have – burying it here under the altar. It is to be on the streets, in the community, in the world, shining the light on injustice and doing something about it. Deborah did that. Barak wanted a compromise.

As to the man who buried the Master's talent….. What if he had invested it wisely… taken a risk, but lost the master's money? Would the Master have treated him differently? I think so because God knows our hearts and honors our intentions. His punishment was because he was paralyzed by feat and judgment.

South African theologian Anso Coetzer, says it this way:
"Decisions become easier when your will to please God outweighs your will to please the world."
Why do we hesitate? Why is making a decision to live in The Way, and to act so hard? Where are our priorities in this place? In this Valley? In this World? What decisions must we make?

As Mother Theresa points out:
Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. Let us each begin. Let us each make decisions. Let us commit to taking action. We have only today. Let us begin. Amen.