"Action and Belief" by Rev. Jillian Hankamer

Action and Belief

A sermon for Northminster Church

October 5, 2025

Matthew 25: 31-46

Visitors, or those thinking of visiting Northminster, often approach me with trepidation. If they’ve been brave enough to worship with us, they know we’re a safe place for LGBTQ+ folks, but they want to know what we believe and if it’s okay if they don’t know what they believe. One of the most common questions I get is “Do you believe in hell?”

What they really mean is, “Are you going to tell me I’m going to hell?” and every time I hear that question it breaks my heart. Because my answer to that question is almost always more important than anything I might say “about God’s sovereignty, about God’s overwhelming grace…[because]...so many “recovering Christians” walking the earth [are] carrying with them painful scars inflicted by the churches of their youth…”^[1]

Such conversations invariably make me think of a man who attended my home church for years. His name was Curtis. He was a lawyer, he shuffled when he walked, dressed like a baggy version of Mr. Rogers, was soft-spoken, kind, brilliant, and as far as I know, a lifelong atheist. And yet he came to church every week because on her deathbed, his mother had asked him to because she was afraid if he didn’t, Curtis would go to hell.

In this morning’s Matthew passage, we hear the story of the sheep and the goats, which is, as commentator Robert McClellan says, “ is… a story about us, but it is not faithfully told when it is told in order to incite fear.”^[2] It’s entirely possible that “Jesus’ image of the king casting those at his left into ‘eternal fire’ is hyperbole,”^[3] meaning not to be taken literally, but even if it is, this is a “frightful image, and simple fear does not move people into a life of vibrant discipleship.”^[4] 

To make the image of eternal fire the central message of these verses is a mistake. Particularly because in the parable just before these verses is that of the talents. In those verses, the servant who is chastised is the one who buries his master’s money in the ground rather than doing anything to increase the funds. Jesus’ point with the parable is “that operating out of fear is not the way to live in response to God’s provisions. Fear paralyzes, and if Jesus [is] about anything, it [is] motion.”^[5] It is about “moving us into a different reality called the kingdom and the Spirit of God who moves constantly through the world.”^[6]

But as we know, particularly now, fear is used “by those who would try to dominate the world. Leaders use it for political advantage. Businesses use it for profit. Groups of all kinds use it to advance their agendas.”^[7] Political parties use it to vilify black and brown people. And religious institutions use fear to convince people that they, and they alone, have the answers. Fear is the buried root of the plant whose visible leaves are bigotry, racism, xenophobia, sexism, and surface emotions that have deeper motivations.

In relation to this morning’s passage, fear leads us to fixate on the things we have not done or cannot do. Fear obscures our “ability to see the innumerable essential things [we] can do.”^[8]  Commentator Robert McClellan offers these examples: “‘I throw food away while others starve! I turn my head when I pass a homeless man on the street! I have more clothing than my closets can hold, while some go cold! I am afraid of hospitals, so I stay away!”^[9] As McClellan explains, “self-reflection is critical to the life of faith, [and] it is only when [it is] accompanied by grace and forgiveness that a better vantage point is found.”^[10]

Said another way, when we read Jesus’ words with faith instead of fear, these verses move us “into a space of holy assurance that empowers action more fitting in the kingdom.”^[11] When we read these verses with our anchor in the faithfulness of God, it allows the focus to move “from a prospect of damnation to the possibility of participation in the coming kingdom of heaven and eternal life.”

            With careful, generous, thoughtful reading, we can see that the tasks God sets before us are actually straightforward. “Food, water, clothing, hospitality, companionship: these are not only the most necessary elements for communal life; they are the most readily available gifts to give.”^[12] In fact, the parable of the sheep and the goats is good news, because it asks each of us to share precisely what we already have. That is the actual heart of Jesus’ words. Be it “food or water, a compassionate ear or an open heart, everyone has something to share.”^[13] We should, in fact, “feel enlivened by this passage” because it calls us “to serve in ways firmly within [our] grasp.” Rather than being a cheap, easy scare tactic about heaven and hell, Jesus' words, if read in the proper light, are reassuring, supportive, and generous, not scary.

            There is another piece of good news in these verses. The other most common question I get when people want to talk about faith with me is, “What if I am not sure what I believe?” “Christians have long concentrated on right belief, good teaching, and a proper theological understanding of how God works in the world. Councils have been formed, creeds written, and wars fought to determine how we are to believe in God.”^[14]  And despite the fact that we often joke that “we don’t believe in that here at Northminster” about a whole bunch of dangerous, damaging theology, what we believe is important. “How we think about God is inextricably related to how we live our lives and interact with the world around us.”^[15] 

Defining our doctrine or our set of beliefs is necessary in guiding our lives and knowing what we do and do not need to embrace and make important. But as Robert McClellan says so well,” ...belief can strangely be a stumbling block as well. Often, people feel somehow less Christian because they have trouble with one of our traditions’ positions or statements. They feel somehow left on the outside because they are not sure of their beliefs. As a result, they feel less suitable for the work of the church, less likely to engage in it, and thereby less likely to have the very experiences that will inspire the faith they feel they lack.”^[16]

            And this is where that other good news I mentioned comes into play, because the other thing we find in this passage is relief. “Relief from the pressure to have all the answers before being able to act.” What Jesus’ words point out is that while we might hesitate or feel stymied by the need to clearly voice our doctrines, we might not have all the theological words to explain why we’re committed to being inclusive, we’re willing to do the work. To lend a hand. To run out to the truck for a wrench to unscrew a sink from the bathroom wall.

I can make a list of people who aren’t interested in reading scripture but who would be here in a snap if I told you I needed help. There are those among us who will never serve communion but are always making a meal. More than a few of you will never sing in the choir - and perhaps that’s for the best - but will take someone to the doctor, spend a day helping them move, or drive them to a much-needed haircut. These things are also faith, and “according to the passage, [are] perhaps more blessed than someone who believes all the right things, but fails to put the faith into actual practice.”^[17] Again, as  Robert McClellan says, “...in the same way right belief can foster faithful action, right action can nurture belief. I carry around with me plenty of unsettled theological questions, but it is in moments of the kind of service Jesus describes that I feel God closest and my faith most unwavering.”^[18]

            In the end, action and belief aren’t opposites. They do not oppose each other. Rather, when we live into the generosity and faithful love of God, action and belief become so intertwined in us as faithful believers that we have the ability to move through life without fearing eternal punishment. We can move through life without being riddled with guilt about what we do or do not believe. When we allow our actions and beliefs to intermingle and are fully guided by the love of God we can live “simply and wonderfully as those changed by the transformative Spirit and Word into those who feed, share, drink, welcome in, and clothe.”^[19]

            When do we see Christ? When we walk through our fear to act, to believe, and to serve.

^[1] Robert M. McClellan, Pastoral Perspective on Matthew 25: 31-46, Feasting on the Gospels, Matthew, Volume 2 Chapters 14-28, pg. 266.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Ibid, pg. 267.

^[5] Ibid.

^[6] Ibid.

^[7] Ibid.

^[8] Ibid.

^[9] Ibid.

^[10] Ibid.

^[11] Ibid.

^[12] Ibid, pg. 278.

^[13] Ibid.

^[14] Ibid.

^[15] Ibid.

^[16] Ibid.

^[17] Ibid.

^[18] Ibid.

^[19] Ibid.