Matthew 25:14-30
This
is Stewardship Sunday, a day when we celebrate our God given gifts and talents
by making a financial commitment toward the ministry of this church and the
church universal. So I know when the text was read this morning, the eyes of
the Stewardship Ministry Team became as large as silver dollars and they slipped
to the edge of their pews, silently screaming, “Preach, Louie, preach.”
And why shouldn’t they
be excited? We’ve all experienced a very
literal reading of this text. The owner of a great farm, who we instantly
identify as God, gave three slaves gifts of varying sizes. Each was encouraged
to make the most of their financial windfall. The first two recipients
researched the latest data in venture capitalism, took a giant leap, and their
risk paid off. The third slave buried his money in the ground. Nothing ventured,
nothing lost.
The
owner returns. He is delighted with the results of the first two recipients.
But he is less than pleased with the choice made by the third. He calls the slave
lazy and evil. Then the owner remarks, “For those who have much, more will be
given. For those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” The
preacher then ties up the parable with the promise that if you invest in the
work of God, you will be rewarded for your efforts.
I
am certain you have heard that sermon. I am just as certain that I have
preached it somewhere in my past. But along the way, I have developed a
suspicion concerning texts that have always been taught and preached the same way.
The more I read this text the more I have come to see that perhaps the parable
we embrace might not have been the parable Jesus originally told. If we dig
deeper, we might discover this is not only a great story concerning
stewardship, it is an even greater story concerning faith.
A
few years ago I read a book by William Herzog, professor of New Testament
Interpretation, at Colgate Divinity School which challenged me to look at
parables in a completely different light. Herzog claims we analyze parables in
so many different ways, we forget the reason Jesus originally told the story. Herzog believes before parables became
theologically sanitized, or as we like to say, earthly stories with a heavenly
meaning, they were open-ended riddles aimed at starting a conversation. 2,000
years later we have made the parables definitive statements concerning God and
heaven. So let me begin with a question?
Do you really believe that the land owner represents God? Do you place your
faith in a God who instills fear or denounces those who don’t jump at his
commands as evil? I suspect most of us
are put off by response of the land owner. I think Jesus told stories with
heavy not heavily meanings which were meant to begin not end a conversation.
What
do we know about the audience hearing these stories? Most of the preaching done
by Jesus was near the Sea of Galilee. The
people who came out to hear him were fisherman, farmers and shop keepers. They
were regular folks interested in hearing from this new rabbi who had set up his
tent just outside of their village. As he had done so often before Jesus began
the conversation with a story. I’m not sure the listeners identified with the
first two slaves entrusted with a large fortune. But then Jesus adds a third slave
who is given one talent, or the equivalent of seven yeas wages. At this point
Jesus may have asked, “What kind of risk would you take with the land owner’s
money.”
Some
of the listeners were farmers. Every day was a risk for them. They never
dreamed beyond putting enough food on the table. Each year they planted seeds
and each day they fought heat, weeds, and insects. Every night they prayed for
rain. Ironically, their neighbors the fisherman prayed no storm would sweep
across the water. Each day they went out into the Sea of Galilee and hoped for
clear weather. Deadly storms would come out of nowhere. Every fisherman knew a
family that had lost a son or husband. These folks who worked the fields and
fished the waters knew what it meant to take a risk. The livelihood of their
families depended on the risk they were willing to take. They heard Jesus’ story and might have
concluded the slave acted wisely. If the man lost the money of the landowner,
he would be indebted for life. So why not protect the money and make it through
another year?
Now
the conversation begins. Imagine Jesus asking why the man hid the money. If he
did, I promise you someone replied, “Because he was afraid of the boss.”
These were folks who
fought the elements every day. These
were folks who superstitiously believed the winds and rains fell at the whims
of the gods. They carefully protected every investment they made because they
knew if they had one bad season they were ruined.
So, in our imaginary
conversation Jesus begins to preach. “Who said God was the landowner. God is
not to be feared. God does not see you as a slave. God is the one who sustains
you. God is the one who brings the gentle rain upon the land. God is the one
who promises, “Fear not! I am with you,
ALWAYS.”
The consistent message
of Jesus has always been, “My Father is gracious. My Father gives you the land
to be harvested and the fish to be gathered. My Father expects you to share in
your bounty but my Father will not condemn you if you lose faith or courage. My
Father knows you and loves you and lifts you up even when you have lost hope.”
My friends, this is
the good news of the gospel. The third slave was not a bad man, and neither are
we. The third slave was a prudent, careful investor, and so are we. He was not
about to take a chance with the owners money because as a slave he knew what
the consequences could be. But we are not slaves in the eyes of God.
God loves us and wants
us to love each other. God trust us and wants us to trust each other. God has
invested in us and wants us to invest in each others. Then God wants to us to
extend that love and trust to folks we don’t even know.
I am not telling you
something you don’t already know. Long
before I was given the honor of serving this congregation you already believed
we don’t work as slaves for the master. We
work for a God who empowers us. We labor
willingly for a God who calls us to look beyond ourselves. We toil effortlessly
for a God who embraces acts of justice and peace. We
celebrate daily a God who gives us the opportunity to invest back into this
community. Why do you do this with such joy and fervor? Because you worship a
God who dispels hate and division with a single phrase, “Fear not! I am with
you always.”
Thursday is
Thanksgiving. Here at Rockfish, because we are not afraid, we not only give
thanks every day, we celebrate our faith by generously and joyfully investing in
God’s amazing vision of grace, mercy, and steadfast love.
Today is Stewardship Sunday.
You just keep doing what you have always done and God will be delighted.
To God be the glory. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment