Homily on
Matt 25:13-30
The hour is
getting dark now. Jesus knows that time draws near- that soon the night would
fall on him and that this very night he would be taken from his followers and
dragged off in chains.
In fact, this
parable, along with the one from last week, and next weeks are given to the
disciples immediately before the last supper, where Jesus gives us this holy
meal of his body and blood.
So these
parables about the end of the world- about judgment and preparation take on
extra weight- they are the last desperate attempts of Jesus to prepare his
disciples for his departure.
Before we get
into this parable- I think it’s important to speak briefly to what parables are
and how we should and shouldn’t read them.
First, Parables,
like all portions of scripture, are never by themselves. They always are woven
into a much larger story, the story being told in the Gospels and the grand
story of God’s redemptive work in the world. You can’t just take one parable on
its own- isolated from the bigger story- when you do that you are doomed to
misunderstand what Jesus is teaching us.
We have to read this parable in light of what comes before and what goes
after it.
Second, When
Parables come in groups (which they most often do) you have to pay close
attention to the ways they connect to each other. The parable of the 10
bridesmaids with oil lamps from last week matters for interpreting this text.
Third,
Parables make illustrations and do not give direct moral teaching. Instead they
are meant to grab our attention in a dramatic way. Have you ever tried speaking to someone who
has very poor hearing? You have to raise your voice, and sometimes have to wave
your arms to illustrate a point. We like
these disciples are very hard of hearing- these parables are Jesus way of
waving his arms to show us something we could not understand otherwise.
This parable
of the talent has been misread so terribly so many times- sometimes in ways
that oppose the clear message of Matthews Gospel. So let me be very clear up front.
This parable
is not about how to invest your money.
This parable is not a vindication that God
rewards rich people who work hard.
This parable
is not God saying high interest loans from banks is ok.
Like the
parable of the oil lamps, Jesus is trying to tell us about how we are to live
our lives before God in preparation for our final Judgment when he returns.
The story is
simple enough. A lord is about to go away on a long journey (note the connection
here with Jesus own departure) and he goes to his servants. He looks them over, determining their ability
and decides to leave his wealth with them to work with while he is gone. The first servant he gives five talents to,
the second two talents and the third just one talent. Now to give you some perspective a talent of
silver was worth something like 15-20 years wages for the average worker. So
even the one talent is a huge amount to entrust someone with.
I imagine the
three servants lining up next to each other- anxious to figure our what their
master wanted from them. And then he comes out with these huge sums of money-
and the third servant watches with horror as first two guys get dramatically
more than he does. He starts to sweat.
The master is expecting me to produce the same amount as these other two guys
without any of the resources! How unfair- these other guys have so much that
they can take risks with the money but I just have this one talent and there is
no way I am putting it out there where it could be lost and give the master a
reason to punish me. I know he is just looking for ways to catch me doing
something wrong! I won’t give him the chance, I’ll burry his money in the
ground and give it back to him just the way he found it! That way I will have
lost nothing!
But of course
this course of action does not work out so well for the third Servant- The
master is outraged that he did nothing to grow his estate- not even hire other
people to do it by putting it in the bank! And so he is rejected and cast out,
his talent given to the one who had ten.
This is a
terrible end for this last servant (not unlike the bridesmaids who ran out of
oil) - Jesus wants us to pay attention and not make this mistake!
But what is
the sin of this third servant? What is
it that Jesus wants us to understand from this passage? Jesus wants us to recognize the tremendous
gifts we have received from the Lord and wants us to put everything we can
offer to work for God’s kingdom so that when he returns we will have invested
ourselves in what will not perish- in God’s Joy.
The sin of
this last servant is two-fold. First, he thinks the Lord reaps where he does
not sow- that is- demands things of us unjustly. He thinks God has not given
him enough and will require too much from him.
But thinks this is all about him! Sure he knows the Master wants the
money back- but he is gripped by fear
that the master will be upset with him and all his actions focus around saving
his own skin- he is obsessed with protecting himself- not considering how he
can make the Master’s estate grow. He buries the silver in the ground because
that’s what he thinks best for him.
Now lets
think about the other two servants. They get very different amounts of money
and are entrusted with even more responsibility. One makes five more talents and the other
makes two more talents- but what happens? Does the first servant receive a
greater reward? NO- no he does not! They both receive the very same reward- entrance
into the Master’s Joy- into the riches of the estate they poured themselves
into. The master didn’t look at the second servant and say- what’s wrong with
you? The first guy made five more talents! No- God reaps where God sows- from
each according to what they have been entrusted and rewards them equally for
their efforts. They are not working for their own money! The first guy does not
end up richer than the second. They both
hear words more valuable than any amount of silver- Well done my good and faithful
servant.
How are we to hear those words? How are we to avoid the fate of the third
servant?
It starts
with the recognition that God has given us, all of us, tremendous gifts! And these gifts are not valued the same way
the world values them- money and power are not the most valuable talents God
gives out. No the most valuable gifts God gives us are the gifts of Faith, Hope
and Love. The Lord gives us our very lives- lives that bear the image of God
that is of unimaginable value. In
addition to that each of you have tremendous things to offer- from musical
gifts to kindness - financial resources to knowledge of language. You may not
even know what talents you have yet.
But everything we have we can put to
work- not for our own benefit alone. No- the first two servants didn’t work for
their own wealth they worked for the master’s wealth- they were working for the
Kingdom of God. In the parable that
immediately follows this one in Matt. 25 it becomes clear that working for
God’s kingdom means working for a world where the poor are fed and the naked
clothed. John Chrysostom from the 4th
Century writes this:
“Let us
therefore, knowing these things, contribute whatever we have—wealth, diligence
or care giving—for our neighbor’s advantage. For the talents here are each
person’s abilities, whether in the way of protection, or in money, or in
teaching or in whatever thing you have been given. Let no one say, “I have but
one talent and can do nothing with it.” You are not poorer than the widow. You
are not more uninstructed than Peter and John, who were both “unlearned and
ignorant men.” Nevertheless, since they demonstrated zeal and did all things
for the common good, they were received into heaven. For nothing is so pleasing
to God as to live for the common advantage.
For this end God gave us speech, and hands, and feet, and strength of body and
mind and understanding, that we might use all these things both for our own
salvation and for our neighbor’s advantage. Our speech not only is useful for
hymns and thanksgiving, but it is profitable also for instruction and admonition.
And if indeed we used it to this end, we should be imitating our Master.”
We are to
work with all we have toward the growth of God’s kingdom. And this means we take risks! When the first
two servants put the money of the Master to work there was no guarantee that
they would make so much money- they could have lost some! We are called to take risks for God’s
Kingdom- there is no guarantee that we will see immediate returns- but we
invest our talents there because in the end the gifts and abilities we have are
not ours to possess- to bury in the ground and play it safe. God is not out to get you- waiting for a
reason to condemn you! When we commit ourselves to working for the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and his Kingdom God will forgive our mistakes, missteps and
failures because we are seeking his Glory not our own. If we try to possess our gifts rather than
give them back in service to God we lose them.
Mother Teresa
was a Catholic Nun in Calcutta, India. She was a very short woman- who took a
vow of poverty and had virtually no possessions. She created a ministry there
that cared for people who were sick, poor and dying- the least of these. And she said something that has always stuck
with me. “You can never do great things.
Only small things with great love.”
We don’t do great things- though great
things may happen when we work for the Lord because of his Spirit. All we can
do, like the two faithful servants in this parable, is use whatever has been
given to Love God and Neighbor.
We should not forget that this parable
is about the end of the world- when Jesus returns to set the whole world right
and bring his Kingdom to its fullness.
If you have lived your whole life investing not in the Kingdom of God,
but in your own Glory- or worse yet in fear and complacency- the end of this
age will not be a comfortable time for you! Everything you will have worked
for- everything you loved will pass away and nothing will be left. But if
instead you work for the Kingdom of God with all that you have despite struggles
and temptations- then at the end of this age all that you have loved, all that
you have given yourself to will not only remain but be magnified and expanded
100 fold. You will share in the bounty of the Master.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and
to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the Beginning, is Now
and Will Be forever,
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment