Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30
9/15/2019
We are told that there is a man who is going on a trip, and, almost immediately, Jesus’s followers would have recognized that this was a person of great wealth. In that society and in that time the separation between the wealthy and the rest of the populace was vast and the number of persons who could afford to hire and keep servants was fairly minuscule and those who did were seen as the upper class of within that culture. And because these three persons are servants we know that they are from a different socio-economic status within the population, a class of people who lived much closer to the margins than did their bosses. This isn’t to say that you could not earn a living, feed your family, feel a measure of security as a servant, but when that is your life and existence, you are well aware that your economic security is intimately tied to the wealth possessed by head of the house. So it is that there is a fair amount of fear and trepidation that goes into the lived experience of these three men. And this trepidation only increases when the head of the house tells each of the servants of his plan to go on a trip and his intention to entrust each of them with a measure of his wealth. And maybe it is for the first two men the moment they have been waiting for. Maybe they had spent years studying the economy of the area, the needs and wants of the community and knew exactly where they would invest that which had been entrusted to them. Maybe it was a booming time for olive harvesting or perhaps the fishing industry on the Sea of Galilee had experienced a uptick in the number of fish that were being caught and sold at market and if the most successful fisherman just had a larger net, a bigger boat, more crew members, he could explode his business and all his investors would reap the benefits of his fishing prowess. Whatever it was, we are told that they went off and were shrewd business men. Clearly the owner of the house has taught them well. And when he returns from his trip, you can almost see them bubbling over with excitement to show the wealthy man just how well they have done for themselves and his money. And as the first man comes into the room and lays double what he had been given on the table, you can see a beaming smile break out across the taciturn countenance of the stern man’s dour face. Some combination of happiness at the man’s efforts mixed with a measure of relief that he had done the right thing by giving his most talented servant such a large share of his estate. As the second man comes in, the scene repeats himself and while the actual amount is less, he has done equally well with the amount that he had been given and again the wealthy man experiences relief and pride at the exceptional work of his good and faithful servant. And being pleased with both of them, he calls them back into his presence and tells them he is going to trust them with the original talents and then all that they have made to go out and invest even more money into the community. And at that moment, the joy and elation experienced by the first two workers is overwhelming. The trust that they had earned from their masters, the continued possession and management of their talents, the profits already earned meant that they and their families would have a greater feeling of security and peace. And then comes the third man. And, for him, the apprehension with which he holds the moneys given to him is palpable. And from the beginning, it is it clear that this is the lowliest of the servants that the owner trusts with his wealth because he is only given a meager one talent before the man leaves. And this must reflect the manner in which he has sought to serve his master in the day-to-day operation of the house. So upon returning one is left to wonder really how shocked is the wealthy man is to discover that the one to whom he entrusted the least amount of this wealth took the safest route possible to return the man’s money. But it is in this part of the story that the true lesson that Jesus has for his followers becomes illumined. It is here that we see that the stakes for living the faithful life, faithful to the call of God on all our lives begin to come into focus. For lest we believe that it is enough to simply hold on to whatever has been give only to later return it to the giver, lest we find comfort that at least whatever was entrusted to the man if found completely intact upon the wealthy landowner’s return, we see the full anger of the owner flare up against the servant. We see him cast out of the house and into the darkness, cast out of the presence of his benefactor, denuded of whatever safety and security he had previously experience only to be left cold and alone in the darkness where, we are told, there is wailing and grinding of teeth.
Every time I read this story of the entrusting of the talents it always seems incredibly harsh to me upon first hearing it. While it is commendable that both the first two servants preformed admirably, taking whatever they have been given and doubling the owner’s wealth, it seems like the wealthy man is far too hard on the one who feared the unknown and chose the path of greatest security. But, perhaps, that is the whole point of the story, perhaps that is what Jesus is getting at. The first two men take whatever they have been given and throw caution to the wind, step out in faith, and believe that some measure of courage and willingness to try will be rewarded. Both men take what is given to them and are able to grow what has been given to them. And that’s good, it is good to be industrious with the things of this life—to be gutsy and adventurers and daring with the resources and life that we are given. The third man, by contrast, is timid, fearful, unsure of himself from the moment that he enters the master’s presence for a settling up of accounts. “Knowing your ruthlessness,” he said, “you who reap where you did not sow and gather where you did not scatter—and fearing your wrath.” This man clearly knew that his job was not just to get by, not just to dig a hole, not just to play it safe only to return back to his master in the exact same place the master had found him. And this is no small matter—neither for the man, nor the master. For we are told that the master is both ruthless and wrathful, expecting those who follow him to be about his work in the world. And in that world there is no room for timidity, for fear, for seeking the path of least resistance, least risk. And we know that this is the case because, immediately after receiving back that which he gave, the master is so upset that he has the man thrown out into he darkness where there is wailing and grinding of teeth. Signifying that even in the case of those who have very little, there is still the expectation that we are supposed to do something with what we have been entrusted. And maybe Jesus uses the example of this third man to put on display that which remains hidden away inside all of us to one degree or another. I am convinced that within each of us is drive to do amazing things with our time here on earth. Perhaps we, who know ourselves and our deepest pleasures and talents better than anyone else, know what we would love to do with our time. Perhaps we have talents as a musician and in our heads we can see ourselves singing and performing, maybe playing a piano in a jazz club or singing in a choir. Maybe we know that we get the greatest amount of pleasure when we paint and in our mind’s eye we can see ourselves teaching classes to young children and helping the next generation develop the love of art that you possess. Perhaps we know that we simply enjoy writing and would love to write a great American novel. Whatever it is, we know that there is a drive that is in each one of us simply because we are human, because we are children of God. But there is also a second voice—a voice with which we battle in our minds—the voice of fear. And it is that fear that too often drives us. It is fear that squelches out our passions and our talents. It is fear that causes us to live the lives that we might otherwise live solely in our heads. Look again at the story of the three servants and their talents. From beginning to end, the story is told on top of a foundation of fear. From the outset, we see servants living within the house of a wealthy landowner. There is no one so close to God in the world of the servant as the landowner. There is little they could not do to the servants if they so desired to. So it is that in entrusting the servants with his wealth, there has to be a fear in the mind of the servants of what will happen should they not return at least the principal of the man’s wealth back to him following his journey. Given all that, Jesus makes it clear that it is the first two who have done the will of God by risking everything they have been given to seek to grow it for the wealthy landowner. It is they who will now be given all the more to use for the landowner. And maybe, there is, for Jesus, a trickle effect that is at work, not just for the men in the story, but for all of us. Maybe, what Jesus is saying is that if we will but venture out, just a bit, just an inch in faith, that we will be rewarded with success and with even more responsibility to use the things that we have been given for the betterment of God’s world. Maybe it is that it only take a little push, someone being willing to give a little push, to step out, just an inch to begin a movement of change within the world. It is sad when those to whom much is trusted and expected, abdicated their responsibility to the rest of the world in favor of what they believe will ensure our own survival. When those with the most to share and offer the world become timid and fearful in the face of the issues that face our time. This is not the call to follow Jesus, this is not what it means to have faith. For, in seeking to be faithful to the call of Jesus, fear cannot be given the last word. Timidness in the face of such pressing needs and opportunities in the world cannot be tolerated. Being walled off from the rest of the world mentally, spiritually, physically renders the words of God for the people of God moot. The words of Jesus seem incredibly harsh, until you realize that for Jesus, just as for us, the stakes of inactivity are incredibly high—as high as you can imagine.
We live in a time of struggle for a great many across the expanse of the world. Children, no different than my own, live in deadly poverty where death by preventable illness is rampant, where there isn’t access to remotely potable drinking water, where there are a lack of clean clothes, and stability, and hope. Closer to home, we know of the chasm between the haves and the have-nots, of the taxing of food banks trying to keep up with the growing demands of the hungry and destitute. We know of the struggles of those who cannot find gainful employment, who battle the demons of addition and disillusionment, who seek only to feed their families and find some measure of hard-earned dignity. Each day these folk pass before our eyes, each day it is on our radios, our televisions, our computer screens, our street corners, our living rooms. We see it each time we drive to the grocery store or stop to fill up our cars with gas. We see it in the eyes of children going to school or adults who don’t know from whence their next meal will come, or how they will get to work, or pay the rent. It passes by our faces each moment of everyday in one form or another, and this parable, told by Jesus, tells us that we can no longer ignore the plight of those in our midst and around the world if we possess any talents that can be used to aid in their struggles and in their lives. We have a responsibility to those we should proudly call our brothers and our sisters to bring to bear the full force of whatever resources we possess in order to alleviate the suffering of those in our midst.
Each day, we find ourselves at a crossroads—a crossroads at which we might move closer to the light of Christ, a crossroads at which we may hold that which we have, keep it for ourselves, and not worry about the plight of anyone in the world in hopes that we might merely save ourselves. Because, if we are honest, it is often the much more difficult path to take, to follow Jesus in this broken world. It is much easier to dwell in our own little world unencumbered by the struggles of our brother, our sister, our neighbor. It is not easy to believe in the unbelievable, to both see the world as it is but also have visions and dream dreams of a better, brighter, more whole, more holy creation for all God’s children. It’s much easier to simply lose faith in the power of the Spirit of God. But, friends, we needn’t lose our faith, not today, not tomorrow, not ever, because ours is a God that still makes a way out of no way. Ours is a God that still makes the crooked straight and gives sight to the blind. Ours is a God that still calls on us to feed the hungry, to cloth the naked, and to work for life-altering, world changing peace. And so the words we hear this morning from Jesus should not give us anxiety, but peace. Not fear, but assurance. Not doubt and despair, but hope and hope eternal. We now know exactly what is expected of us, even in times when we might feel fear. Because Jesus lays it all out so as not to be misunderstood. If we decide to act in a manner that we believe ensures our survival. If we only seek to hole ourselves in our own little enclaves and merely exist, then all that we have will be taken from us and we will be thrown into the darkness where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. But if we choose, on this day, to step out in faith, taking all the power that we have simply by being Children of God and really try to change the world, then we have to believe, we have to believe that God will meet us in our endeavors. That God will bless us in our efforts. That God will uplift and the lives of the faithful and that we will find life and find it in abundance.
The stakes are no different now than they were in Jesus’s time. God needs folks who are willing to give everything they have, every talent, all their time, all their resources to better God’s world. To lift up those who have fallen. To feed those who hunger both for the word but also for bread. To clothe those who have no clothes to put on their backs. To give sight to those who have been blinded by their own brokenness and sin. To step our bravely, believing that we move only where the spirit blows, that we walk only in the steps of Jesus, and that at the beginning of time was God and at the end will be God and we remain founded in the hands of God, now and always. Glory be to God in the highest and on earth peace amongst all God’s peoples. Alleluia, Amen.
Image taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attic_talent#/media/File:001-athens-drachm-3.jpg