Our Sermon from November 19, 2017: To Be Entrusted, Judges 4:1-7 and Matthew 25:14-30

Judges 4:1-7
​The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly for twenty years.

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgement. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, “Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.” ’

Matthew 25:14-30
 ‘For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, “Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, “Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But his master replied, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

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To Be Entrusted: Judges 4:1-7 and Matthew 25:14-30 

Every person that I’ve actually personally known who has hiked the Appalachian Trail has been in their mid-twenties. Most of them have been guys. All of them have been white. When I picture a thru-hiker (that's the phrase I've learned that you call someone who has hike the whole trail), I think of one of these guys' faces, skinnier than when they began the hike and usually covered in a scraggly beard that they’ve grown along the way. While many of the people who hike the Appalachian Trail fit this description, all of the thru-hikers don’t. If I only ever talk about or share pictures of people who look like these guys I know, I’m not capturing the reality of the trail or the people who hike. And, I’m not helping different kinds of people imagine themselves taking on a challenge like a through-hike. This week, I remembered the story of Emma Gatewood. Ms. Gatewood did not look like the hikers I know. But, she was a thru-hiker. And, she probably helped save the trail. 

There are a couple books and movies about Emma Gatewood. I’ll put links to one particularly helpful article and a film below. I read about her in article written in 2015 in the Washington Post. Gatewood decided to hike the trail after reading about it in National Geographic. She was about 66 years old when she first attempted a thru-hike in 1954. She began here in Maine. She didn’t make it on that first attempt because she broke her glasses. She went home, prepared some more, and started out again in 1955. She was 67. She wore regular old sneakers to hike the trail. All she carried with her was a blanket and a plastic shower curtain, a far cry from the enormous and technically advanced gear many hikers use. While all thru-hikers rely on the kindness of the people they meet on the trail, this was especially true for Gatewood. While she ate many Vienna sausages, raisins, peanuts, and greens she gathered along the way, a good portion of her meals were supplied by strangers. As she traveled, she slept on porches, under picnic tables, and on beds of leaves. While the trail was much more difficult than she thought it would be, she said she would not and could not quit. She finished hiking the whole trail in 146 days.  

Emma Gatewood, who many people would call Grandma Gatewood, would go on to hike the whole trail two more times. She was 74 years old during her third successful attempt. She was the first woman to hike the whole trail and the first person to hike it two and three times. She completed other long hikes, as well, including one from Independence, Missouri to Portland, Oregon. A part of the Buckeye Trail, a trail across her home state of Ohio, is named after her (which is fair… she helped get the whole trail made). When she was hiking, journalists were fascinated by her story and covered it widely. Stories about her hikes brought attention to poorly maintained parts of the trail. The article I read actually credited the attention she brought the Appalachian trail with helping keep the trail from falling into complete disrepair.  

What seems clear from the article I read is that Gatewood, who had survived a 30 year marriage to an abusive husband and had secured a divorce in a time when that was rarely able to happen, was already strong before she hiked the Appalachian Trail. The press coverage just helped other people see it. In turn, she inspired generations of new hikers and also helped preserve natural areas that had seemed to mean a great deal to her. Telling stories like hers has helped generations of people see a world of greater possibility. Telling her story has helped people know that hiking is not just for young guys in their twenties. It is for everyone who is called to the challenge. Gatewood, just by existing and choosing to share her adventure with the world, has helped people imagine a world full of possibility.  

I chose to share some of Emma Gatewood’s story because one of the scriptures today is about a woman in an unexpected place. You remember how I said I picture thru-hikers based on the patterns of people I know who have hiked the trail? Well, the judges in the book of Judges have a pattern, too. A scholar named Dennis Olsen describes the pattern as something like this…  

• Israel sins and worships other gods while living in Canaan. 
• God becomes angry and allows enemies to attack Israel. 
• The Israelites cry out in pain because of the attack, and God has pity on them. No repentance here, just pain. 
• God raises up a judge who delivers Israel and returns the people to proper worship of Israel’s God for a time. 

• When the judge dies, the Israelites return to their old ways. The cycle begins all over again. 

There are six of these judges, political and military leaders who bring together the disorganized coalition of Israelite tribes, in the book of Judges. Five of their stories are told in the pattern I described to you. This reading from Judges 4 is the one story that’s different. Like Emma Gatewood’s story, this is a story of a woman who was already doing some incredible stuff before she does the thing that gains her notoriety.  Deborah will become the only woman judge in the whole book, and one of the few national women leaders in whole Bible. She will save her people. 

Her story starts out similarly to the other judges. The people have turned away from the covenant with God following death of a previous judge. In this portion of the Bible, the authors express a belief that God is being willing to dole out punishment for lack of attention to covenant. They say that God allow a Canaanite king named Jabin to oppress the Israelites. Then the people cry out. Up to this point, this sounds just like the other five stories. In the other stories, it says specifically that God appoints a man, Ehud or Shamgar or Gideon or Tola, as prophet, judge, and military leader to save the people. It is different here with Deborah. She was already serving as prophet to God’s people. In fact, she had been doing it long enough, and with enough wisdom, that the place where she was based carried her name. They called in the Palm of Deborah.  

One of my favorite things that I learned about Deborah is that we’re not actually sure if she’s married. In many English translations, she is called the Wife of Lappidoth, but the Hebrew is far from clear. According to the scholar Sarah Koenig, in Hebrew, the same word is used for both “wife” and “woman” and the word Lappidoth means “torch” or “lightning.” It is entirely possible that Deborah was being called a fiery woman as well as a prophet and judge. Given what she does next in the story, I could totally believe that someone would call her a woman of lightning. She calls up the Israelite general Barak and she tells him that God has given him a mission. She then gives him strategic military instruction on how to defeat the Canaanite general Sisera. Military leadership is rarely in the hands of a woman in the Bible. In this story, the confidence and the strategy are all Deborah’s. Barak mostly has to do what he’s told. 

Now, this is where our reading for the day stopped. I think we should really hear what happens in the next couple chapters, too. When Deborah, a respected prophet and judge, tells Barak what to do, he has a very interesting response. He says, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” Doesn’t that strike you as a strange response from a military leader? God tells him, through Deborah, what to do and how to defeat his enemy and he says no. Well, not exactly no, but insists that Deborah goes with him? Some scholars read this as Barak having such great respect for Deborah that he can’t imagine leading his army without her by his side. Some other scholars think he is afraid. Whatever the reason, Deborah, woman of lightning, immediately agrees to go. She then proceeds to tell Barak that God will defeat Sisera not by his hands, but at the hands of a woman. Now, you might think this is Deborah referencing her own leadership. This may actually be a reference to another woman, Jael. Sisera, who grows terrified on the battlefield while facing Barak, hides in Jael’s tent, where he assumes he will be safe. He wasn’t safe. Jael finishes the job Barak started. And, the Israelites are saved, at the hands of two fiery women and one reluctant man. 

Our reading from Matthew reminds us that each one of us has been entrusted with great gifts that we can choose to use to serve God. In Jesus’ parable, not everyone understood how to use the gifts with which they were entrusted. Jesus’ harshest criticism is for the people who squander the gifts they’ve been given. His greatest invitation is to each of us to use all of our gifts to serve God and neighbor. I think one of our greatest gifts is these surprising stories: Stories about fiery women and bold leaders… stories about women of lightning who are not afraid to act. These stories show us how God can use any person for good, especially those whom the broader culture ignores or denigrates. The more we hear stories like this, the easier it becomes to imagine our own future with God. Maybe we are the ones who will be called up next to serve. If we are, I pray that we can use our gifts as boldly as Deborah and Emma did.  ​

Resources Pastor Chrissy consulted when writing this sermon: 
Stories/films about Emma Gatewood: 

• Diana Reese: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2015/01/05/grandma-gatewood-survived-domestic-violence-to-walk-the-appalachian-trail-alone-at-67/?utm_term=.914e71a86190
• Trail Magic, The Grandma Gatewood Story: https://grandmagatewood.wordpress.com/

Dennis Olson: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3470
Sara Koenig: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2216
Talitha Arnold: https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2002-10/sit-it
Buechner: http://www.frederickbuechner.com/blog/2017/11/13/weekly-sermon-illustration-deborah?rq=Jael
Kathryn Matthews: http://www.ucc.org/worship_samuel_sermon_seeds_november_19_2017
Karoline Lewis: http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=4998
David Schnasa Jacobsen: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3469