Pentecost 27, 11/16/2008

Sermon on Matthew 25:14-30, by James V. Stockton

Jesus said, "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.' "

Here's a true story: it's about pretty regular fellow, named Luigi Tarisio. During most of his life, he lived alone and kept to himself. One day, his neighbor realizes that he hasn't seen Luigi today. Shortly, the neighbor and the authorities enter Luigi's house and find that he has died. Looking around, they're struck by the sparseness of the house. There are no pictures on the wall, no ornaments or figures and few shelves on which to place them anyway. And they discover something else. In the attic, they discover a fantastic collection. Put away in dinghy boxes and the drawers of dreary old furniture, are 246 of some of the finest violins ever made. As the collection becomes public, folks discover that some of these instruments have been shut away and silent for as long as a 150 years. Someone said later that by their hoarding of these instruments, these collectors had failed both themselves and humanity. They'd deprived the world of incomparable and exquisite musical joys. They deprived themselves of the special joy of helping to bring it to the rest of us.

This story suggests, I think, that to be custodian of something special and precious and valuable, may indeed be a privilege; but more to the point, it is a responsibility. It's just in these terms that, all throughout his ministry, Jesus and his opponents continue to debate. And as this debate grows more heated, we can see that Jesus changes the emphasis of his parables. Whereas early on Jesus speaks always of the breadth of God's Kingdom, a realm into which God welcomes countless numbers of people who had long been thought to be unworthy of God's love. Here, later in his ministry, and as opposition solidifies, Jesus turns our attention in his parables to God' judgment and, as a consequence, to thoughts of those whom God might not welcome.

In light of this, I believe you and I do well to consider, in terms of privilege and responsibility, what do we think and feel about our relationship with God? Largely, those opposed to Jesus' broad definition of God's Kingdom have been those who interpret their inheritance of both God's covenant with Abraham and of the Law of Moses as God's conferring upon them an elite status among the world's people. So, God would have them show compassion toward others; instead, they've shown contempt. God would have them take to the world the good news of God's universal sovereignty and love for all. But they've deemed the world unworthy of their efforts. So instead, they've obscured humanity's path to God, behind a complex criteria by which they sustain themselves as the elites.

Jesus' parable is his reminder to his people that relationship with God, through their covenant with God, either in baptism or in circumcision, is less privilege, and more a responsibility. Jesus warns his followers that those who fail to carry out the responsibility will be turned out. The idea that God would pass judgment against someone at all is almost antithetical to some of the more popular notions of God. Stories of God's judgment, like this one, can be fearful things. However, there are times when people of God have faced certain defeat and crushing humiliation. And here, the prophetic news that God would finally judge and render just punishment has been a hopeful and encouraging word.

So, is there hope and justice in the parable Jesus tells today? The very terms of the story would seem to make that unlikely. ‘Slave' and ‘master' are repugnant concepts today, thanks be to God. But if we accept the story in its own terms, we hear of the kingdom of God in terms of God being in charge; and we see that the people of the kingdom are accountable to God. It would seem important for us to know, then, that God has expectations of God's people. For one thing, I think, God expects that having a relationship with the God of all, of everything that is, was, and ever shall be, is something that God expects will matter to you and me, that that'll be a formative influence in our lives. And so Jesus tells us that we're accountable for all that we do and for all that we fail to do as it derives from the amazing fact of our relationship with God.

So if the faithful slaves in the story represent the ideal of the diligent and conscientious Christian, whom then does the wicked and lazy slave represent? Is this the complacent, the jaded, Christian? The one who has forgotten the marvel of his or her relationship with God? Is this the one whom God condemns? Is this the one who dares to doubt God or the justice of God's will? Is this the one whom God condemns? Well, I hope not. I myself move in and out of complacency with my relationship with God; and I almost regularly doubt or question God, too. This is a way fro me to check my best understanding of God's will.

I don't think Jesus is telling us that God turns from either the complacent or the questioning. I suggest that the third slave is the person, or the people, or perhaps the impulse in us all, that actively opposes God with more ferocity than either complacency or doubt can muster. Perhaps this slave resents being entrusted with too little; perhaps this slave hungers to be a master rather than a servant. It may be that this is the one whose sense of privilege is threatened by the breadth of God's grace. Perhaps this is one whose elitist sense of self is undone by God's sovereignty. Perhaps this is the one who so rejects God that he or she claims right and competency to pass judgment on God and so to condemn God's will. Like Lucifer in Milton's Paradise Lost, this is the one would rather rule in Hell than serve in Heaven.

You and I then, can rightly understand God's judgment less as aggressively and vindictively punitive, and more as God simply turning from those who already turn from God. God simply cannot embrace and welcome into the kingdom those who simply prefer not to be there. Yes, the truth of the Gospel is that Jesus seeks our obedience to God's will; but Jesus does not try to frighten us into compliance using talk of God's power, or to shame us into compliance using talk of God's goodness. To the contrary, the truth of the Gospel is that God believes in us. God trusts us with God's Kingdom because God trusts us as God's Kingdom. And as we accept the responsibility of being the object of God's own faith, we find God bringing out from forgotten places that secret wonder that we may share it with those around: that hidden joy that is the melody of our lives. Amen.

The Rev. James V. Stockton
Episcopal Church of the Resurrection
Austin, Texas

E-Mail: jstockton@sbcglobal.net

(top)