August 10, 2025 – Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Psalm 11
Matthew 5.9, 43-48
Tale of Two Cities – A Parable
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
There once was a small country in a remote area of the world, so far removed from civilization that the citizens believed there was no other civilization – so far as they knew, theirs was the only nation on the planet. By the same token, no one outside their tiny nation knew they existed either, which was to their benefit, for theirs was a land of great beauty. The air was crisp and clear, the flowers dotting the countryside were divinely fragrant, their colors and hues made every day seem festive and glorious. The beauty of the place, the serenity of their surroundings and the opulence of pastoral colors made the people more than content to spend their entire lives close to home, with little desire to travel anywhere else.
Two compelling reasons for their isolation were a pair of imposing peaks, one to the east, one to the west, with the population nestled comfortably in the valley between, giving them an added sense of safety from the world outside. So formidable were these sentinels that both leaving and entering the country would have been a difficult though not entirely impossible undertaking, but to their knowledge, no one had ever tried.
As peaceful as the countryside was, its people were a different story. The nation was divided into two cities, and to say there was no love lost between them would be to understate their mutual suspicion and animosity. The citizens of each city despised those of the other with unmatched passion. The first word on their lips in the morning and the last in the evening was a curse on the rival town and its people. The situation was only made worse by the rulers of each city who forbade them to visit the rival town. A clear boundary had been established across the valley, and though it was little more than a simple line – no wall, no gate, not even a token fence – no one ever crossed the line, no one had contact with a member of the other city. Oddly enough – or maybe not so odd – was that very few residents could recall the reason for their shared animosity. The distrust and suspicion had endured for generations, and no one was quite certain any more why the two were enemies; they only knew that their rulers told them the other city was never to be trusted, and that was reason enough for them. It was an enmity that had endured for years until it just became another unquestioned tradition to be passed from one generation to the next.
Another curious feature of these cities in the valley was their names. The city to the west called itself the Unabashedly Superior, or U.S., or simply, “US.” US’s name for the rival city was Those Heathen Empty-headed Morons, or THEM for short. The city to the east, understandably, rejected the appellation out of hand and had their own names for themselves and their rivals. They called themselves the Utter Supremacy and their opponents That Hateful Evil Menace, which of course also translated into US and THEM. Now this would have led to a terrible confusion, had anyone from the west bothered to speak with anyone from the east, but since they didn’t, everyone knew who was meant by US and who was meant by THEM, and each maintained their own blinkered ways.
One sunny afternoon, the unprecedented occurred. A complete stranger had managed to scale and then descend one of the towering peaks protecting the cities and descended into the city of US, although which city of US, the one to the east or to the west, is lost to history. But after hiking and exploring uncharted mountains and valleys and lands, the stranger clambered down the peak and entered the city. Such excitement filled the population like never before, and the stranger was treated like royalty. She had an audience with the king, met all the leading citizens, and was treated like a hero. The stranger was somewhat taken aback at this, but, as an explorer, decided to stay a few days to see what life in this undiscovered county in the valley was like. She was kindly given a place to stay and complete access to every part of the city.
So the stranger went exploring. She visited schools and museums, government buildings and places of worship, had meetings with politicians and merchants, interviewed children and adults. Yet in those conversations and encounters, the visitor gradually became aware of a certain reluctance and fear in the people of US to talk about the village of THEM. The USites were friendly and charming most of the time, but when the subject of their sister city came up, the stranger noted, they became bitter and suspicious, though it wasn’t quite clear why. When asked directly, the people just scowled and shook their heads as though everyone should know why THEM was such an evil people. The stranger even asked outright if she could cross the line and visit with THEM in the interest of research, but was made to understand that unspeakable horror awaited on the other side of the border. Since the good folks of US had been so kind and warm and welcoming, the stranger decided not to press the issue. Besides, after living among them for a while, she unwittingly began to harbor her own fears and suspicion of THEM, and decided the further she kept from the border, the safer she would be.
One morning the stranger set out to explore, and ascended the peak that protected the city of US. It was a beautiful day, as was every day in the valley, and the climber encountered multiple rock and flower specimens never before seen. Higher and higher went the climb, until voices from just over the mountain ridge reached the visitor’s ears. Scrambling over, she was struck by an awesome sight: a small army of men and women were struggling with the most enormous boulder of a rock ever seen by mortal eyes. It was larger than the largest house and appeared to threaten the entire valley below. At first glance the stranger believed the workers were doing their best to secure it and prevent it from ever doing any harm. But on approach, the sinister laughter and language stopped her cold.
“This will show THEM not to mess with US. By the time we are done, this stone will have the ability to destroy everything in its path, and the entire city of THEM will become nothing but rubble.” The horror of that sight was underscored by a distant and menacing laugh.
The stranger wasted no time, raced down the hill and headed straight for the most powerful rulers of the city. Breathlessly she managed to blurt out the entire scene on the mountaintop, and concluded by saying, “If that boulder is ever unharnessed and released down the into the valley, there will be nothing left of your city. There will be no place to run, your village will be annihilated and your people will perish.”
Oddly though, the rulers were nonplussed, led the stranger to a seat, and began patiently to explain. “Friend, that was not THEM you saw on the mountaintop this afternoon, that was US. The massive boulder is ours, and it is intended to protect us against THEM. It is aimed directly at their city.”
This didn’t seem to make any sense, but the stranger pressed on. “Not to question your collective wisdom, but won’t that boulder roll over the city of US first before it ever reaches the city of THEM?” Without a word, she was led to a window which overlooked the city of THEM and handed her a pair of binoculars. “Look over there, stranger. See the city of THEM? Follow your eyes to the top of the peak behind THEM.” She raised the glasses, looked up over the rooftops, far up the hill and finally to the pinnacle, where her eyes came to rest on a giant boulder at least as big as the one she had seen earlier that morning; there was a small army of men and women working on it, getting it into position and measuring their accuracy.
“I – I’m not sure I understand,” she stammered. “Is that US or THEM up there? The boulder seems to be aimed at the city of THEM. but why..?”
“Very simple,” came the reply. “That giant rock on their peak is aimed at US, not THEM. We discovered THEM weaponizing it several months ago, and immediately decided to fashion our own. This way they will ever be able to threaten US. We will have our boulder and they will have theirs, and each will be poised at a moment’s notice to destroy the other. It has become a reality of life in the valley.”
The explorer was perplexed. She could understand the stalemate the boulders represented, but could not imagine either city ever daring to use it. “But if either of you ever decides to let the boulder loose, won’t you destroy your own city as well as your enemy’s?”
“Ah, but there is the genius of the boulder,” they replied. “The entire reason we have built it, the entire reason we keep making it bigger and more deadly, is so that we will never have to use it.”
“And if, by the ever-so-slightest chance, you ever do have to use it?” the stranger ventured.
“Well, then, it won’t make any difference, will it? After all, it will be better for all of US to be dead than for THEM to win the battle.”
It was at this point the visitor decided the rulers were completely insane. She ran out into the streets and tried to warn the people about the madness of mutual destruction that loomed over the valley. But wherever she went she was met by a wall of unconcern. Some acknowledged the danger, but refused to say anything because they didn’t want to get involved. Others didn’t believe their rulers would ever do anything to harm their own citizens. Some were so intent on leering across the border with hate they did not let themselves think for a moment about the danger their leaders had placed over their own city. And while some thought the entire situation unusual, they figured the leaders must know what they are doing.
Exasperated by the apathy and self-inflicted ignorance of the population, the stranger turned to a nearby church. Surely the highly respected priest could do something to make the people understand. After all, wouldn’t the church have something to say about killing people and how to deal more reasonably with an enemy? When she asked the priest that very question, he solemnly opened the Bible to Matthew 5 and gave it to the stranger to read:
“You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so you may be children of God in heaven; for God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward to you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect therefore, as God in heaven is perfect.”
“Yes!” the stranger exclaimed, “this is it! I am certain that if you point this out to the leaders of US and the leaders of THEM, they will see this madness for what it is! This is the key to overcoming their mutual fear!” But the priest placed his hand on her arm as if to restrain her.
“It was all right for Jesus to offer his idealistic words to the impressionable peasants on the mount,” he said, “but he just did not understand that people could be so evil and hateful as THEM. I am quite confident that if our Lord lived today he would recognize the fatal folly of loving one’s enemies.”
The stranger could not believe her ears. “Do you mean to tell me that Jesus’s words no longer apply, that we are meant to hate those who are unlike us?” she asked incredulously.
“No need to be so blunt, my child” came the reply. “Let’s just say that the man was not quite so realistic as to recognize our current exigency.”
The stranger could not listen any longer. The entire city seemed insane. For all she knew, the other city was equally insane, and just might be preparing to start its own boulder on that long fatal roll. After all, if they were crazy enough to build a weapon that would destroy themselves as well as their enemies, they were crazy enough to do anything. Besides this, she sensed a number of the locals were beginning to become suspicious of all her questions. Perhaps they were deciding that if she dared question the wisdom of US, she just might be one of THEM. So she wasted little time packing and leaving the cities in the valley to their mutual fear and enmity. It is too bad, she thought as she left, that such a beautiful little nation is populated by two peoples who have forgotten how to love. And as she reached the summit, as she turned to catch one last glimpse of the valley and bid her goodbye, she could swear she heard the sound of a distant ominous rumbling…