Sermon 19th November 2023 – 25th Sunday after Pentecost
Text: Matthew 25:14-30 – A trusting
relationship
Although he didn’t invent the
saying, famous basketballer Michael Jordan made popular the saying: “You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.” In
other words, if you have a shot and miss then at least you gave it a go. If you
don’t have a shot then it doesn’t matter how good or experienced you are you
will never make the shot.
As we read today’s Gospel
reading, the parable speaks along similar lines. The message of the parable is
that what God requires of us is not success, but faithfulness. The parable
opens with an act of trust. The master
is about to leave town on a journey and he entrusts his wealth to three
servants. Each is given a different sum
of money. The master trusts each of his
servants handing over the money without any instructions on what they have to
do with it or what he expects when he returns. It’s simply trust.
After a long time, the master
returns and calls in his three servants. Two of them have doubled their money. The
third has made nothing at all; he returns to his master exactly what he
received. He thought he was doing his master a favour by simply looking after
it by burying the money in the ground. He reveals the reason for his action:
fear. Fear of the master. So while the first 2 servants had a relationship
based on trust – the 3rd servant’s relationship was based on fear. And what a
difference it makes both in how they deal with their master’s property and how
they relate to the master. The trust of the 3rd servant in his master was zero,
so he reduced his financial risk to zero. Yet he reduced the possibility of profit so
that it, too, was zero. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t make.
The story does have unanswered
questions. How would the master have
responded to the first two servants if they had lost the money or not made a
profit? I think the master would have
accepted them. Because as we look at the parable what he commends is not their
profits, but their faithfulness. He says - Well done, good and trustworthy
slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of
many things. Certainly the Master would have been experienced in some ventures
not working. Even though the first servant earns more than the second, both
receive the same commendation: “Well done, good and trustworthy servant.” Both receive the same reward: “You have been
trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter
into the joy of your master.” But in responding to the third servant, the
master makes it clear that he would have accepted anything – even rock-bottom,
savings-account interest – that was motivated by faith rather than fear.
The parable is not about money
or ability so much as it is about trust. The master trusts his servants and
hopes for their trust in return. Two of
the servants return the favor by living out of trust rather than fear. Interestingly,
the 3rd servant is not judged on what he didn’t make but he his judged on his
own words in his relationship with the Master: 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? What this servant gets is exactly the rejection he fears. The other two servants, however, understand
grace when they see it. Here is a man
who’s generous, who takes a risk, who accepts them, even honors them. They feel
empowered, and are willing to take risks of their own. They have watched their
master and learned from him. The love their master has shown them overcomes
their fear of failure. The master’s love
for them has generated love for their master – that he is more interested in
them than in gaining a profit.
This relationship turns upside
down the standards of the world which sees profit as success. This parable rejects the notion of a God who
is unmerciful and judgmental. The 3rd servant was not judged by the master’s
standards but by his own words and relationship with the Master. Likewise God
does not banish people to hell but honours their relationship with himself. As
Jesus says - Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be
ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and
of the holy angels. The 3rd servant has judged himself. The parable assures us
that failing is not a sin. The worst thing is living in fear of God. In the
eyes of God, the fear that keeps a treasure in the ground is a lack of trust
and belief in God.
The freedom we live with puts
that treasure of God at risk – and may even result in its loss – that is an act
of faith. The same faith shown by God in creating us with free-will. A free
will that could return his love or reject him. A free will that saw his own son
put to death. And that is why we have forgiveness.
We can learn from our
failures, and often it is failure that provides the most valuable lessons. But fear teaches us nothing and earns nothing.
So many times in the Gospels the disciples are rebuked by Jesus not for lack of
faith but for fear. And we see many examples of how fear creates selfishness
and self-preservation rather than generosity. The same traits in our 3rd
servant who thought of his own preservation. Like the elder brother who refuses to welcome
home the prodigal son. The all-day workers who demand that late arrivals
receive less than the daily wage. The Pharisee who tries to talk God into
accepting him because he’s kept the rules, unlike that tax collector over there
– and yet it was the tax collector who went home justified before God. The
criticism of Jesus for letting “that woman” touch him and waste expensive
perfume on him. All these and more live in a fearful world, where grace is
absent and selfishness abounds.
But we, too, are often given
to burying our talent out of fear. We live in what is called ‘maintenance
ministry’ rather than mission ministry. Checking if we can afford to do
something rather than trusting that God will provide. The Good News of Jesus
gives new meaning to success and security. Grace is about our willingness to risk in
response to God’s invitation. Security
is found in a God who trusts us and who takes a risk in us, and asks that we
risk also. God doesn’t need our money – he needs our faith and trust in him. Like
the poor widow who gave 2 small copper coins – all she had – whom Jesus said
gave more than all the riches given to the treasury. The only thing that
concerns God and all he seeks is that “I desire mercy not sacrifice”.
“The Parable of the Talents”
is not about money or abilities. It’s a
story about trust, a story about risk.
Life is the same way. What turns out to be important is not our
money or abilities in themselves, but using what God has given us in ways that
show our willingness to risk and to trust. Jesus has left us with the promise of his
return. While we wait, he has given us
gifts to use for the benefit of the community. Using these gifts can be risky;
we may face persecution, rejection, ridicule. Sometimes it’s easier to bury our
faith and just wait. We’re right. We have assurance of our salvation. But what
about everyone else. We cannot “play it safe” like the third servant, fearing
negative possibilities, letting those gifts be unused, or underused.
God took a risk with us and
asks us to trust him as Jesus says in John 14 – you trust in God, trust also in
me.
So let us live lives of trust
and not fear as we wait to here those words - Well done, good and trustworthy
servant; enter into the joy of your master.
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