Psalm 90 |
November 17, 2002 Proper 28, Year A;
The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector
On Monday during the clergy Bible study with the Bishop when we discussed the Gospel reading for today we naturally got around to talking about stewardship and the annual pledge drives that all of the parishes were in the midst of. The parable of the talents has often been used to promote the stewardship of identifying and using your gifts or “talents” for the strengthening of the ministries of the church.
As we talked about stewardship Bishop Gepert made the statement during our discussion that “the purpose of giving is to make you poorer.” As he said this I thought, what a way to sabotage giving to the church. Just imagine a pledge campaign with the slogan “give to us so that you will be poorer.” I feel safe in bringing this up because most of you have already made your pledge for 2003.
The danger in making the statement, that “the purpose of giving is to make you poorer,” is that, that is all we will hear. Lost in the initial shock of that statement is the explanation that follows. This is especially true today for anyone who is dependent on the stock market for all or a portion of their income. The realization of how risky investment in the stock market is has hit us smack in the face as we have witnessed stocks plummet. Many people are already “poorer” before they make a contribution to the church.
What is behind the Bishop’s statement “the purpose of giving is to make you poorer”? To begin with, I must say that I agree with the Bishop. When we give to support the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ through the church we become financially poorer. We do not receive goods or services in the normal sense of everyday living from the money that we give to the church. So why are we willing to risk giving our money to the church? I am not going to attempt to answer that for you. I will answer only why I give to the church. I give to St. Philip’s because it is the means through which you and I can experience and know more about God. I believe that St. Philip’s is a community that is on a quest to understand and live the life of the man we call Jesus, the Christ. We have our questions and doubts, but we come together for mutual support, with people who are caring and supportive. I give to St. Philip’s because God has placed us here to deliver his message and draw even more people to him through his Son, Jesus Christ. Yes, I give because I have been blessed by God. I am blessed that he called me to be a priest in the Church of his Son. I am willing to give a portion of my money to St. Philip’s even though it will make me financially poorer, because money cannot buy what I have received from God and from you, his people. And finally I give of my money because God took a great risk in offering me eternal life through his Son Jesus Christ.
But the parable this morning is not so much about money as it is about taking risks – risks for the spread of God’s kingdom. Imagine what the world would be like if God did not risk sending his Son for our salvation. Or imagine what would have happened if the disciples did not take a risk to share the teachings of Christ and preach about his resurrection to other people. What if they had all stayed huddled together in that upper room in Jerusalem, afraid to go out and tell the world what they had seen and heard. Or imagine what would have happened if that small group of Episcopalians would not have taken a risk to organize the mission of St. Philip’s some 40 plus years ago.
In the parable the Master takes the greatest risk by entrusting his money to his slaves. He must have been a pretty good judge of character to distribute his money the way that he did. But I wonder what he really expected from the slave that he gave one talent too. Certainly he must have known from his past performance that he was taking a greater risk by entrusting money to him. After-all the other two slaves must have already exhibited – you know, I wonder exactly what they did exhibit for their master to entrust them with so much money. A talent was worth about $2,000 in Jesus day. You do the math to figure out how much it would have been worth today. We’re talking about a lot of money! How would a slave, servant, or hired hand exhibit the ability to manage money well? Perhaps it was through their loyalty, or hard work, being able to manage their time and work well.
Anyhow, Jesus makes a point in the story to say that each one was entrusted “according to his ability.” We know that the first two slaves accepted the responsibility, but a responsibility for what? There are no instructions included in the parable as to what the expectations were, or what the slaves were suppose to do with the talents. The expectations are summed up in the response of the Master to the last slave, “The you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.” The Master expected the slaves to increase that which he had entrusted to them.
The slave was so afraid of loosing that which had been entrust to him and being punished by the Master when he returned that all he could do was bury the talent so he wouldn’t loose it. The Master took a risk in giving it to him. The slave took no risk at all. In burying the talent he actually lost money if you take inflation into account. I believe the slave was not only afraid, he was selfish, thinking only of himself.
When I was about ten or eleven year old my mother increased my allowance with the understanding that I would put fifty cents a week into a Christmas Club Account so that I would be able to buy presents for everyone in the family for Christmas. When the day came to withdraw the money and buy presents I had this very selfish thought. If I was careful how much I spent on everyone there would be money left over for me. I was very frugal in my shopping and did indeed have money left over to get me something. But when Christmas came and I unwrapped my wonderful presents I began to feel guilty because I had not gotten the nicest presents my money could buy for them.
God has given us each a life. He has taken the risk that we will use and live the life he has entrusted to us responsibly. He has taken the risk that we will respond to his offer of salvation through his Son. Each of us has been given talents or gifts to use in this life. Dare we risk using these gifts as God intended for the spread of his kingdom, or do we bury them – ignoring the offer that has been entrusted to our care?
We may think that the conclusion of this parable is harsh and unfair for the last slave. But I believe what the parable is saying is that if we do not respond to what God offers us and use it to spread his kingdom on earth, then we will receive only this life.
For me the parable is implying that the fate of the last slave who buried his talent in the ground will be just that. He was given the opportunity to have more, but he refused to take the risk and upon his death he will be buried in the ground and that will be his end.