Matthew 25:14-30

Eternal One, we thank you for your love and grace made known in Jesus Christ.  As you have been gracious and generous to us, may we in turn be gracious and generous.  Open now your word to our hearts and our hearts to your word, in the spirit of Jesus the Christ, Amen.

Jesus is a marvelous story teller.  Jesus knows how to get and hold your attention, which, after all, is the point of telling a story – getting people to listen and pay attention.

In our parable or story of the morning, Jesus gets our attention when he says, “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing even what they have will be taken away.”  Surely Jesus does not mean this.  It must be a misprint, an error in the text.  This is unfair confiscation.  This is the redistribution of wealth carried beyond anything which is reasonable.

Instead of burning a lot of calories over the apparent unfairness of this story or complaining about the one who tells us such demanding and challenging stories, we ought to pause, take a second look, and see that Jesus is telling us a story about living faithfully and responsibly.

A man goes on a journey – is Jesus speaking of himself, soon to be taken away as a physical presence from the disciples?  Are these instructions for the disciples and for us as to how we are to live until Jesus returns in glory?

Jesus says, a man goes on a journey.  Before he leaves, he summons three servants and entrusts them with the management of his property, his resources.  It is in the form of talents – money.  A sizeable amount of money, for a talent was worth about 15 years’ wages for a servant or a laborer.  This is not pocket change.  This is real money.  To one servant he gives a lot: five talents, or 75 years’ worth of his wages.  To another two talents, to the third one talent.  Each, Jesus says, is given according to his ability.

What to do next is the question.  How to exercise faithfully responsibility – faithful stewardship over that which has been entrusted to them?

The first servant takes the money to the market, invests, takes a risk and he doubles his investment, perhaps giving rise to the old adage, “While Jesus saves, Moses invests.”  Servant Two does the same thing.  The third servant chooses to play it safe.  Fearful, prudent, cautious, conservative, he buries the money in the ground for safekeeping.

The man returns from his journey.  His servants report.  Servant Number One tells him what happened and his master says, “Congratulations.  You have been trustworthy in a few things; I’ll put you in charge of many things.”  The exchange is repeated for Servant Two.   We have to assume the master is smart, astute.  He knows the two servants took tremendous risks with his money.  He likes their creative, ambitious management.
Servant Three reports.  I wonder what he was thinking as he watched what happened with his more risk-taking comrades.  In any event, he pulls out his own talent.  “Here it is, sir, exactly what you gave me.  I’ve kept it safe while you were gone.”

On Wall Street, so I am told, wise investments are grounded on good information.  We do not know what the other two fellows knew or did not know, but we do know what the third fellow thought, for he tells us by way of excuse and explanation.  “Master, I knew you were a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed, so I was afraid and hid your talent in the ground.”  For fear he reached for the shovel, which would be like you hiding it under your mattress or in your sock drawer.  For him it was not “Nothing ventured nothing gained;” rather it was “nothing ventured, nothing lost.”

The master does not deny this description of himself as a harsh man.  He says, “If you knew this, then why didn’t you put my money in the bank so it might earn some interest?”  This is a person of great expectations, with those who risked much for him being rewarded and those who risked nothing, losing everything.  So this poor fellow is treated about as harshly as anyone in the New Testament – stripped of all his possessions, kicked out and his money added to the account of the first servant.

Why doesn’t Jesus simply have the master say to this unfortunate fellow, “You’re fired!”  Why does Jesus have to go on to say, “For to all those who have, more will be given and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing even what they have will be taken away.”  Jesus says this because he is speaking not alone about money.  Jesus is talking about living faithfully as a steward of God.

The parable comes near the end of Matthew’s gospel:  Jesus is speaking to a group of people who are about to face the most critical, dangerous week of their lives.  Jesus is about to be arrested, tried and executed, and he seems to know this.  They will soon be on their own.  He wants them to take responsibility for their own lives and for the future.  They are managers now – they are now the stewards – not only of their own lives, but of the fragile enterprise he has started – this new thing, this quiet kingdom of compassion and kindness, reconciliation, justice and peace.

Stewardship for those first disciples and for us is about living faithfully in God’s world.  Stewardship involves how we use what has been entrusted to us, including our financial resources.  In the church we make a serious mistake when we speak of stewardship only in the fall at the time of the Christian enlistment.

Stewardship is our personal response to the Good News of the Gospel.
Stewardship is about living faithfully and responsibly in the world.
Stewardship is our concern for the environment and our care of the earth.
Stewardship is our commitment to live as faithful Christian citizens and voting with our eyes wide open.
Stewardship is our passion for justice and peace.
Stewardship is the realization that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, and we are guests here, just passing through, and while here we are called by God to live faithfully and act responsibly.

Stewardship is to be a year-round emphasis, for we need to be reminded over and again that the things we have are not really ours.  We could die tomorrow, or right now for that matter.  Who will get the stuff you have hidden away – all you have locked up in what you think is an irrevocable trust?  Who is going to get that stuff you have hidden away from a greedy relative?  Stewardship reminds us that if we put all our energy into these things, the day will surely come when we will be sadly and bitterly disappointed.

An anonymous poet has written some lines which are profoundly true:
 You say the little efforts that I make will do no good;
 They never will prevail to tip the scale where justice hangs in balance.
 I do not think I ever thought they would
 But I am prejudiced beyond debate in favor of my right to choose
 Which side shall feel the stubborn ounces of my weight.

Stewardship says to each of us, it matters, it makes a difference how you decide to handle your weaknesses and dedicate your strengths.  It matters to God, to your church, to your family, to your friends, and to yourself.

The third fellow reached for the shovel because he was afraid.  Fear so often holds us back and keeps us from living and sharing generously.

Jesus says to us time and again that generosity creates generosity.  If you live a life filled with generosity, then you will be much more likely to receive generosity in return.  If you go through life afraid and fearful, with clenched fists, a callous heart and a closed mind, allowing yourself to be possessed by your possessions, then very likely you will receive nothing in return.

We know from our own experience, do we not, how this truth runs its course in our personal relationships?  If you feel angry and hostile, communicate that to others, then chances are anger and hostility will be received in return.

The key to abundant living and good spiritual health, Jesus tells us, is generosity – God’s gracious generosity to us and our generosity to others in return.  If you long to discover the key to a richer and fuller life, here it is:  It is found in giving and sharing, not in having and getting.

In our annual Christian enlistment the tendency is to focus on the needs of the church, needs which are real and urgent.  Unless we meet the challenge, as Randy shared with us last week, there will be a significant shortfall in next year’s operating budget.  Make no mistake – it is your committed financial support which supplies the dollars which fuel the mission and ministry of this church you love.

While emphasis on the budget is necessary, the task of the church is always to teach and model faithful stewardship.  We give not alone in response to the needs of the church; we give in response to amazing grace, the generous gracious love of God which blesses our life each day.

The New Testament lifts up the yardstick of proportionate giving – not equal gifts, because our resources are not equal, but equal sacrifice.  In faithfulness to this teaching, each of us is encouraged to prayerfully consider what percentage of our income we are going to commit to the ministry and mission of our church.  The goal is 5% -- the modern tithe – 5% for the church and 5% for our other charitable giving.

As people of the Old South Church in Boston you have many reasons to be grateful to that great cloud of witnesses who have enriched this church by their faithfulness and generosity.  They continue to speak to us today through their generous gifts. This magnificent sanctuary alone reminds us that we did not get here on our own.  It is now your turn, through your generosity, to make certain the church you love is financially strong today and into the glorious future to which God is calling you.

The parable of the talents, then, is a story about money; yet it would be tedious and predictable if that were all it is.  Luke’s account calls it the Parable of the Pounds, and the financial element is clear.   Matthew calls it the Parable of the Talents – this casts a different light upon Jesus’ teaching, because while a talent as we have seen is indeed a denomination of money, it has also come to mean other things.

It is quite one thing to say, “He has a lot of pounds on him,” and quite another to say he or she is talented, by which we mean that he or she has gifts which are not only financial.  It is for this reason you have received a “Time and Talent” card along with your pledge card.

Again, this parable is about living faithfully and responsible, and we are responsible to God and to each other as members of this faith community as to how we use our talents and share our gifts.  When we are honest with ourselves, we know once again that it is our fear which holds us back, causes us to bury our gifts and talents rather than sharing them to enrich our common life.

Fred Craddock, one of our nation’s foremost preachers, tells a lovely story about the first church he served in rural Georgia.  The church received new members.  In the afternoon, Fred, some church leaders, and the new members went to a picnic spot out by the lake.  Perhaps someone was baptized in the lake, they may have had a softball game – I don’t recall all the details. They built a fire and cooked their supper.  After the meal they sat around a bonfire, singing, praying, telling stories.  As the fire was dying down, the Chair of the Board of Deacons stood up and said, “As we close, let’s introduce ourselves once again to the new members.  I’ll begin.  My name is Fred, and if you are ever sick and need a ride to the hospital of the doctor, you call me.”

“My name is Mildred, and if you are ever sick and need a meal, you call me.”
“My name is John.  I chop wood; if you ever need wood for your stove, call me.”

 “My name is Harriet.  If you ever need someone to look after your children, call me.”

“My name is Florence, and if you ever have a sadness in your family or are feeling low, I can help with your housework.”

“My name is Howard, and I have a car so I can fetch your groceries.”

There was a benediction, they poured water on the embers of the fire and left.  Fred Craddock says he went home and said to his wife: “I’ve been to church.  We really had church this evening out there by the lake.”

You see, and of course, you know this.  I am only reminding you of what you already know.  Our whole life together depends on generosity, on a faith community willing to share its gifts.

God calls us to overcome our fear and to risk discovering that offering what we have of our gifts of money, of time – the sharing of our gifts and talents – it is like the miracle of the loaves and fishes; offering what we have can become in God’s mysterious economy an abundance of life for each of us.

In the words of Edward Everett Hale:
 I am only one, but still I am one.  I cannot do everything, but still
 I can do something; and because I cannot do everything I will not
 refuse to do the something that I can do.

“For to all those who have, more will be given and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”

If there should be someone among you this morning who would like to have a motto, a saying, to take with you as you leave here today to put on your refrigerator door or to stick in the mirror of your bedroom with which to remember the parable of the talents, it is simply this:  “If you don’t use it you will surely lose it.”

Let us pray.

O God, great is your faithfulness to us, morning by morning your mercies we see.  Empower us to live faithfully in the world this week. Give us the courage to set aside our fear and timidness and to live and love generously and graciously, using our gifts to enrich the life of the church and to further in the world its ministry and mission.  To the glory of your name and for the sake of our sisters and brothers everywhere, in the spirit of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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SCRIPTURE READING

Matthew 25:14-30

"For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and
entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two,
to another one, to each according to his ability.  Then he went away.  The
one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them,
and made five more talents.  In the same way, the one who had the two
talents made two more talents.  But the one who had received the one talent
went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.  After a
long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five
more talents, saying, 'Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I
have made five more talents.'  His master said to him, 'Well done, good and
trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you
in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'  And the one
with the two talents also came forward, saying, 'Master, you handed over to
me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.' His master said to him,
'Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few
things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your
master.' Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward,
saying, 'Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not
sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I
went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But
his master replied, 'You wicked and lazy slave!  You knew, did you, that I
reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter?  Then you
ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would
have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him,
and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more
will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have
nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless
slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.'

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