I Can't Stay Here: Dare to Take the Step of Faith

Introduction

Preached at Elevation Church, this message by Earl McClellan starts from a strange scene in the second book of Kings: four lepers sitting at the gate of a besieged city, in the middle of a famine. They can neither enter the city nor go back anywhere. If they stay, they die. And yet, by daring just one step toward the enemy camp, they trigger a miracle they didn't even ask for. The sermon brings you back to your own city gate: in what area of your life are you dying in place? And what step is God waiting for you to take so He can act on His side?

Message Outline

1. Don't confuse informative with transformational

The pastor begins with a simple image: the sun is essential, but you can hear about it without being moved. It's different with the Son.
Colossians 1 reminds us that the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, the one by whom and for whom all things hold together.
A Sunday can be interesting without being life-changing, essential without being personal, informative without being transformational.
Earl McClellan prays clearly: "Lord, don't let us leave the way we came." That's the framework of the message.

2. Four lepers at the gate: staying means dying

The text is 2 Kings 7:3-4. The Arameans have besieged the city, famine has set in, and at the gate stand four lepers, excluded from the city because of their disease.
They reason aloud: "Why stay here until we die?" Three options, only one that leaves a chance of survival.
You too are somewhere: emotionally, financially, mentally, professionally, relationally. Sometimes in a good place. Sometimes in a very hard place.
Even a good place can become a tomb if you stop growing. A couple you preserve without maintaining, a business you protect without taking risks: comfort can kill you just as surely as crisis.
The lepers don't cling to what they don't have. They look at what they can do, what they still have. That's the first turning point of the sermon.

3. A step here, a miracle over there

Verse 5: "At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans." Verse 7: "At dusk they got up and fled." The two movements are simultaneous.
While the lepers walk on one side, the Lord causes the enemy army to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army on the other side, sending them fleeing. They take a step here, and God performs a miracle over there.
Earl McClellan illustrates this with his Nest app: from his phone in his hand, he changes the temperature, and the thermostat in his house in Dallas reacts remotely. It's an image of prayer and the step of faith.
He also tells the story of the first meeting for their adoption process. He and his wife fill out the questionnaire, and on the line "How will you pay?" he writes "by faith." The next morning, at a men's meeting at his church, a brother comes to him: "My wife and I have never been able to have children. We just sold a piece of land and we want to be part of your adoption story." And he hands him a check for $5,000.
The lesson: you don't see what God is doing on the other side until you've taken the step. God doesn't wait for you to understand before acting; He waits for you to move so He can show you what He's already doing.

4. Good news can't stay a secret

Verse 8: the lepers enter a tent, eat, drink, carry away silver, gold, and clothing, and go hide them. They do the same in another tent. Then, verse 9, one of them catches himself: "What we're doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this to the royal palace."
Earl McClellan sees a picture of the Gospel here. You and I were like these lepers: excluded, separated from God, unable to approach. Then God drew us to His table, and we found an abundance we had stopped daring to hope for.
Bad things kept secret grow. Good things, when you keep them to yourself, end up losing their power.
The lepers go back to the city and tell the gatekeepers what they've seen. The message reaches the king. An entire people eats because four men refused to stay where they were.
Your step isn't just for you. There may be a generation, a teenager, an unborn child, a business, a ministry waiting on the other side of your yes.

5. The Spirit lifts you to your feet

At the end of the message, Earl McClellan shares that he didn't want to give "steps to follow." He felt the Lord say: "Don't give steps; invite them into an experience."
He quotes Ezekiel 2:2: "The Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet." Then Ezekiel 3:24, where the same image returns.
Acts 1:8: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 2, the day of Pentecost: suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house, tongues of fire rested on each of them, and Peter stands up with the Eleven to speak. Once again, the Spirit who lifts up.
What you have to do cannot be done in the flesh. Not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit. Your part is the step; His part is to raise you up and do everything else.

Key Takeaways

A message can be interesting, essential, and informative without ever transforming you. Don't settle for receiving well: move.
Even a good place can become a tomb if you stop growing. Preservation kills just as surely as crisis.
The lepers didn't focus on what they didn't have but on what they could still do. Your next decision comes through that lens.
A step of faith here triggers a work of God over there, even if you can't see it yet. He doesn't show you first so you'll move: He asks you to move so He can show you.
The good news you've received is not just for you. If you keep it, it loses its power. If you share it, it feeds an entire people.

Personal Application

At which city gate are you sitting right now? Where are you dying in place without daring to say it?
What "good place" in your life risks becoming your tomb because you've switched to preservation mode?
What are you stuck on because of what you don't have, instead of looking at what God has already given you to take a step?
What concrete step is God asking of you this week, even if you can't see the result: a phone call, forgiveness, a gift, a sign-up, a conversation?
Who is the good news you've received meant for, beyond you? What friend, colleague, or child will you tell before it loses its power?

Scriptures Referenced

Frequently Asked Questions

Was this sermon preached in French?

No. This message is translated from an English sermon by Earl McClellan, senior pastor of Shoreline City Church in Dallas, preached as a guest at Elevation Church on June 23, 2024. The original title was "I Can't Stay Here."

What does the account of 2 Kings 7 tell?

The kingdom of Israel, capital Samaria, is besieged by the Aramean army. The famine is so severe that the city is collapsing from within. Four lepers, excluded from the city, decide to go out toward the enemy camp rather than die in place. They discover an empty camp: the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, and they had fled, abandoning everything. The lepers eat, then run to alert the city.

How do I know what step God is asking me to take?

Earl McClellan answers honestly in the sermon: he tried to pull practical steps from the text, but the Lord said to his heart: "Don't give steps; invite them into an experience." He then points to the Spirit of God, the one who "raised me to my feet" (Ezekiel 2:2). Practically, the step is often the one you already see but refuse because it seems too small, too humbling, too costly, or because you haven't yet seen how God will use it. You take the step when the pain of staying becomes greater than the fear of moving forward.

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