Matthew 25:14-30
November 16, 2014
There goes
Jesus again, shocking us with some crazy story about 3 slaves who have been
entrusted with gifts from their master: Crazy,
because… well… look at the numbers:
Take your annual salary and multiply that by 100 years: That’s how much money the first slave is entrusted with…
Take your annual salary and multiply
it by 40 years: That’s how much money
the second slave is entrusted with…
Take your annual salary and multiply
it by 20 years That’s how much money
the third slave is entrusted with…
100
years’ annual salary has been turned in to 200 years’ annual salary…
40 years’ annual salary has been turned in to
80 years’ annual salary…
The first two slaves have been faithful to
do what the master has required of them. The master's response to each is the
same. He commends the slaves for being good and faithful, entrusting them with
more authority, and inviting them to enter his "joy."
Not so with the third slave whose portfolio
has performed well below the Benchmark. To
his credit, this slave has not committed a crime. For he has neither embezzled the money nor
bet it on the ponies. He’s just
afraid. Informed by a worldview of
scarcity, he is afraid of losing the gift.
Instead of seeing the master’s gift as one
of abundance to be used in spreading abundance, this poor unfortunate slave has
fearfully circled the wagons, stashing the gift under his mattress-- saving it
for a “rainy” day.
The parable Jesus tells us this morning is very
unsettling, because he is compelling us to ask the question; “which slave are
we in the story?” Are we the first two
who blindly (and maybe even recklessly)
trust in God’s abundance?
Or are we the fearful slave, who in
response to the worldview of scarcity, becomes paralyzed and tries to safely
stash God under the mattress?
Jesus tells
us that the master is furious. He had entrusted this servant with a portion of
his property in order that the slave would use his abilities; abilities that
would help turn a profit for his lord. This slave, however, is too afraid to
take a risk -- even though risky behavior has always been a part of the
master's business. Instead, the slave attempts to secure his own well-being.
The master
expects the servants to continue his business, to take risks to make a profit,
and to emulate his behavior. Two servants are found faithful. Their
faithfulness has increased the master's wealth and expanded his estate.
Now before I go any further I need to be
perfectly clear about something. What
Jesus gives us this morning is NOT a story about the virtues of Wall
Street. Neither is this a story in which
Jesus says the purpose of the church is to get rich and if we can just grow our
bank account, God will smile mightily upon us.
No, what we have here this morning is a
parable revealing two competing world views.
Scarcity versus
abundance.
Do we
look around our congregation fearful of finances, lamenting at all that we do
NOT have? Or do we put on fresh eyes, marveling
at all that we are able to accomplish together in abundance? I neither have the resources nor the strength
to single-handedly feed 100 people at Mustard Seed Kitchen, or serve and house homeless
families 4 weeks a year or come up with ¾ of a million dollars to undertake
missional renovations to our building
But together,
you and I have done just that: And done so with abundance.
Do we
look at the Sunday School classrooms upstairs and become fearful for what
appears on the surface to be a declining Sunday School? Do we find ourselves longing for days gone by
when every classroom was filled, fearful that we may have to close the doors of
the church because we don’t have the same numbers of kids we had years ago?
Or do
we give thanks for the young families we have now and for the authentic and
faithful leadership our youth have given us now, both in worship and in the mission field,
whether it be locally, in Washington, D.C. or El Cercado?
We
may not have the sheer numbers of kids we had years ago in Sunday School, but
we are abundantly rich in young people who see themselves as the church of
today, who will not be relegated to the sidelines, who have seen Jesus here in
their midst, and who take their call to follow Jesus in love and service
seriously being formed for a lifetime of loving God and loving neighbor.
Scarcity versus
abundance:
Allow me for a moment to take off the
“pastor” hat and put on my “dad” hat. In
all their years of being in church, my kids have never been in a Sunday School
or youth group, with dozens of other kids their age. I suppose I could lament that fact and be
fearful that I’m not providing all that I can for my kids in their faith
formation because somehow their Sunday School classroom is not as full as their
public school classroom,
Or I
could give thanks that in all those years, my kids along with a whole host of
other kids here at Incarnate Word, have been given the chance to take
leadership roles in church and they have learned in abundance not only what it
is to love their God and to love their neighbor, but also what it is to do justice and love mercy.
In our fears of
scarcity, have we forgotten that a hungry people,
having just left everything they knew behind them in Egypt, journeying in the
wilderness find themselves recipients of God’s abundance as manna from heaven is
showered down upon them, assuring them of life?
In
our fears of scarcity, have we forgotten
that the God of abundance once came to a fearful, young, pregnant, unwed
teenager beckoning her not to be afraid, but to rejoice that she will share in
God’s abundance by bearing the savior of the world?
In
our fears of scarcity, have we forgotten
about that band of smelly old shepherds abiding in the fields with their sheep,
who suddenly find themselves surrounded by an abundance of heavenly hosts
exhorting them to “fear not”, for this night in the City of David is born a
savior out of God’s abundant love?
In
our fears of scarcity, have we forgotten
about Jesus’ friends, having seen him tortured and crucified, now hiding behind
locked doors in fear, encountered by the risen Christ breathing an abundance of
new life upon them with the gentle words “fear not… my peace I give to you?”
This is the God in whose presence we gather
today.
A
God who calls us out of our fears…
A God
who invites us to look below the surface of scarcity to the reality of deeply
rooted abundance…
A God
who knows no boundaries when it comes to giving us everything…
A God
who will not be tucked away in safety beneath our mattresses waiting to be used
for a rainy day…
A God
who beckons us to join him in trust on the journey of abundance with hands open
wide, sharing, healing, and serving.
This is the God, a God of reckless
abundance,
in whose presence we gather today...
in whose presence we are fed today...
in whose presence we are sent out to labor together in the abundant vineyards of God's Kingdom.
Amen.
