The New England Church Pulpit New England Congregational Church UCC Aurora Illinois

This story is one of paradox--the paradox of life that often escapes us because it is so close to us. Life at its best is a paradox of one hand clapping; an oxymoron at its finest. It is the enthusiasm of clapping experienced in the silent unconscious moment of peace; it is the intense frustration of one hand clapping against the air in moments of sadness or grief. It is the paradox of the kingdom of God, present all around us, bringing both peace and sadness as it confronts the world.

When we read the story Jesus told of the talents, we get a sense that it is autobiographical, a story of one holy hand clapping against the evil of the system. The story is about a wealthy man who entrusts his estate with those who work for him. He gives $25 million to one servant, $12.5 million to a second, and $2.5 million to a third. Then he goes on a long journey. When he returns, he gathers the servants and learns that the first and second man had doubled the money; 100% return. The master rewards them: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have shown yourself worthy of being entrusted with even more.” But the third merely gives back what was originally given him, with no return. The master is angry and dismisses the servant to the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

You have to remember that in those days there was no stock market. There was no way to invest money as we think of it today. The only way to double a fortune in that agrarian society was by stealing, extortion, and violence. The slaves who doubled their fortunes acted as the master himself would have done--by exploitation, by stealing. They were commended, all right, but by the one who had gained his fortune in the first place through unscrupulous means at the expense of others.

Said the servant: “Master, I know that you are a harsh and demanding businessman, harvesting what you have not sown and gathering where you had not scattered seed. So I hid your talent in the ground. I give back to you what belongs to you.” Said the master: “You wicked, lazy servant. So you know that I take things I haven’t worked for, and have things that I didn’t buy. I will banish you for exposing me.”

It was the third servant who was the whistle-blower. He refused to be involved in a system that took advantage of others. He exposed the evil system. He told the truth by his unwillingness to participate in business as usual. He was banned to outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus told the truth to the system, and the system put him to death. (Interpretation of parable from Ched Myers and Eric DeBode, The Other Side, May/June 1999 via a sermon by Emery Percell, May 2, 1999)

Jesus gave his life fighting the system that manipulates and sidelines people. His presence made visible the kingdom of God around us, bringing peace to some and conflict to others. To follow in his footsteps requires a certain loss of life for us, as well. The popular attitudes are not often the right attitudes. To stand against business as usual often banishes us to ridicule, weeping, and the outer darkness of separation. It is the story of the many who died in the fight for our freedom, whose lives are remembered this Memorial Day. Often we feel as helpless and as useless as one hand clapping, but remember that our refusal to accept the status quo when it damages others reveals the presence of the sea of God’s kingdom.

A friend of mine tells the story of Walt Everett, a man whose only child, a son, in his twenties had been murdered by another young man, a total stranger in an unpremeditated act of violence. The murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment. Walt struggled with his anger and grief for nearly a year, when he decided to write a letter expressing all his feelings and concern for the young man who had taken his son’s life and destroyed his own as well.

Walt received a reply out of which regular correspondence was born. Some time later Walt visited the young murderer in prison and learned that his mother had abandoned him when he was a child. He never knew his father. Violence had become a way of survival for him. Walt Everett was the only person who had ever cared about him.

After several years, the young man was paroled and placed in Walt’s care. Eventually that young man was studying in college, and had become another son to Walt. (From a sermon by Emery Percell, The Forgiving Hand, April 11, 1999)

Most of us could not do what Walt did. It is a story of one hand clapping, a story of one fish whose swimming in the sea revealed the truth for a young man, the story of one man who said no to the usual way of doing things and in that found and revealed a peace evolving amid conflict.

Jesus revealed the Way to Life; it is found only in Truth. Truth telling leads to the cross and outer darkness as it exposes the systems which exploit others. As followers of Jesus, we find the paradox of both peace and conflict in this new kingdom. One hand clapping. Fish swimming in the sea. Yet by our swimming we reveal the truth at the center of life. Amen.