Clinging To the Threshold of Hope

ABSTRACT This sermon was preached on July 14, 2002 at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church in Black Mountain, NC, during a Sunday morning worship service after the Session (the governing body of the church) had approved a major policy paper on Domestic Violence. Included in the paper is a theological stand against domestic violence, an intervention plan when cases of domestic violence are identified within the community of the church, a training plan for church staff and key laity, and an educational strategy designed to include children from age 5 to adulthood. At present, we are educating parents and adults before we plan to teach our children this coming fall. This sermon is based on the Hebrew Scripture found in Judges 19, a highly unusual text, not just because it deals with the graphic violence of rape and murder, but because it seems to convey a message devoid of any hope or grace. Although the book of Judges is included extensively in the 3-year cycle of lectionary readings of scripture for Protesta...