Göttinger Predigten
Göttinger Predigten im Internet hg. von U. Nembach
Pentecost 24, 11/19/2017
Sermon on Matthew 25:14-30, by Evan McClanahan
Judges 4:1-7, Psalm 123, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Matthew 25:14-30
When Amanda and I were in New Orleans this summer for vacation, we stopped by one of the city’s many parks one afternoon. Upon getting back in the car and starting it, I noticed that the battery light came on. I asked Amanda to get out the owner’s manual to learn what it meant. Amanda said that particular light meant we should stop everything we were doing and get to a dealer immediately. I thought she was joking. She was not.
Apparently our alternator was going out and when they go, they go fast. We made our way to an AutoZone to learn more. While there, I learned that I could basically install the alternator myself! I just needed to buy the part, jack up the car, buy a few special tools, loosen the serpentine belt, undo the alternator, install the new one, and voila. Sounds easy, right? But the day was drawing to a close, it was hot, and the prospect of being underneath the car with just a roadside jack did not sound appealing.
Just then, Amanda noticed a gentleman wearing a T-shirt advertising a car shop. It turns out he was the mechanic. And it turns out fixing an alternator was for him about as easy as TicTacToe for me. (I’m a pretty good TicTacToe player.) So the next morning for a near $80, he replaced the alternator and even replaced my serpentine belt for only the cost of the part. The relief was palpable. If not for his skill and expertise and honesty, I would at least I’ve been out several more hundred dollars, and with a lot more stress at that. And if I had ended up under the car, I might not have even survived!
Jesus tells us that there are five-talent men and women, two-talent men and women, and one-talent men and women. I suppose it has probably always been the case, but we now are especially infatuated with those we deem five-talent men and women. Those with big followings, those in the media, those with lofty degrees, and those on the silver screen all get outsized influence in our minds because they are so important people. Celebrities who have never really studied any economic, climate, or moral issue in depth have opinions that we think matter because they are celebrities. In just one more way in which we need to constantly struggle against thinking the way the world wants us to think, we should clearly evaluate what famous people have to say on the merits of what they are saying. Not because of who they are.
Don’t get me wrong, we need five-talent people. We need bright minds who can solve real problems, and who can answer difficult questions. But most of the time, we don’t need a world-class expert. We need people who are willing and able to do an honest day’s work, who are content with the work that God has given them to do. Most of us most of the time simply need men and women who can change alternators, make house repairs, drive a bus, teach our children, change a diaper, or thousands of other small but critical daily tasks.
It goes without saying that we need people who cannot only do those tasks, but do them in accordance with the 10 Commandments, that is honorably. But it is precisely the one-talent man in the parable who does not lend his services or exploit his talent. He is the one who deprives his neighbor by hiding his talent in the ground. My concern for this social media-driven age, this celebrity-fueled time, is that one talent people more than ever will hide their talents because we don’t value “one-talent” work. “Go big or go home,” we are told. That is not what Jesus said. He said, “Serve your neighbor and even the small ways.”
And so it is that the Christian message is once again radical, remarkable, unexpected, and a breath of fresh air to this world. For Jesus sees value where others do not. Jesus lifts up the lowly yet again. Jesus is not a respecter of persons. Even the vast majority of us who are only one- or two-talent people are encouraged to maximize their talents in service of their neighbor.
For God does not see a mere teacher. He does not see a mere mechanic. He does not see a mere stay-at-home parent. He does not see a mere accountant. He sees gifted people who are terribly needed to solve problems in this sinful world. And he says “You are valuable! You are needed!”
But so far, I have only spoken of our vocational life outside of the church. Certainly, within the church, there is a conversation to be had about employing all of our gifts in service of the Church. And most of the gifts employed in the Church are not in the pastoral role, per se. Any ministry that ever gets done, it’s done because of the faithful offering their variety of talents to accomplish them. Taking out the trash. Stacking chairs. Cooking food. Offering legal advice. Folding bulletins. Helping to pay for electricity. And on and on.
Still, the church is in need of pastors, and I have not said that often enough. Without being melodramatic, it does appear that demographics are against us. There are not enough pastors in the coming years for the number of churches that need them. Our seminary enrollment probably needs to double or triple in the next five years to keep up. And we need to encourage future pastors to think about it early. To be blunt, we have had too many second-career pastors in the seminary. Let’s just say it is harder to train for the ministry while you were also raising children and in need of money! We need to encourage talented young men and women into the ministry and we need them to start thinking about it when they’re young. If you or your children have the talents need it for ministry, do not bury that in the sand. As Paul says in Romans 10: “And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’”
Jesus, though he was God himself, in many ways lived as a one-talent person. Yes he spoke profound wisdom and he healed many and even raised the dead! And yet his supreme work was not even raising Lazarus from the dead after four days, but going to the cross and bearing the weight of sin of the world on his shoulders. And then rising from the dead…that was his chief work, to reconcile you and me to the Father. He did not fail in his task. He did not let the cup pass from him. He did not bury his talent in the sand. He carried his cross and that death right salvation God’s people.
Indeed, the cross highlights the difference between the way God sees things and the way the world sees things. The world lifts up power and money and influence and fame. God lifts up his Son to die for us. It is a profound difference and one the church must learn to embrace. For in that act, the act of cross and resurrection is the greatest gift. So we as Christians are content to live and work, no matter how many talents we have been given. Because we are not ashamed to be people of the cross, a most humble work indeed. Amen.