Rector’s Sermon
Novmeber 16, 2008
27 Pentecost

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The Parable of the Talents: Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus said, "For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, `Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.' His master said to him, `Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, `Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.' His master said to him, `Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, `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? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "

So how many talents do you have for the Kingdom of God? Are you a five-talent person, good looking, loaded with charm, nice inheritance, a Kellogg or Tuck or Harvard MBA, smart, entrepreneurial? You’ve got it all—modesty too—and you’re going to put it to work for Jesus, right here at Christ Church.

Maybe, however, you’re a two-talent person, clever, o.k.-looking, not much of an inheritance and the darn thing keeps dropping, no MBA, but college, and you’re willing to work hard. Jesus can use you for the Kingdom, if not here at Christ Church, then certainly somewhere.

But maybe you’re a one-talent person, a little mousy, a tad overweight, never could get into college, but not too bad with figures, and you made the JV tennis team. However, the $1,000 you got in your inheritance invested with Washington Mutual is now worthless. Frankly, you would have been better off burying it because now you’ve got nothing to use for Jesus, and if you had you couldn’t even think about using it at Christ Church because you couldn’t afford to live in Winnetka anyway.

            In the Parable of the Talents, the master, let’s call him Jesus, is enormously pleased with the five-talent and two-talent persons. The timid, one-talent person who buries it gets trashed by Jesus. I’ve always hated that about this parable. It doesn’t seem very inclusive or understanding and instead seems to reward the Donald Trumps of this world, bouffant hairdo and all. And yet, Jesus seems especially clear in his harsh judgment of those who are like a deer in headlights when it comes time to pay the piper.

            I’m a little nervous about any literal kind of interpretation of this parable, especially in this economic climate where burying what you’ve got would in fact be the shrewdest possible course of action a few months ago, while investing it like the five-talent and two-talent people did would have taken a bath for the master. So let’s not take it literally but contextually.

            The context here is how the Church was to survive in the toxic environment of the First Century A.D. How was the message of Christ’s resurrection and the work of the Holy Spirit going to be spread in the face of persecution or indifference or seemingly more attractive alternatives? How was the Church going to effectively communicate a life-changing gift that had been given in the face of such a tremendous risk that information represented?

            Lots of people thought these Christians were crazy, delusional, a joke, clowns, dangerous. They should be locked up in an insane asylum. Can you imagine? They tell a story about an insignificant Jewish bumpkin of a rabbi who survives a Roman crucifixion, actually raised from the dead, they say. I’m all for a new teaching, but this is ridiculous!

            But here we are, beneficiaries of the commitment and the guts of those who took the risk of proclaiming that the resurrection was true and who lived out that truth with a compassion for others the world had never witnessed before. You see, the spread of the Church began with a conviction that Christ had been raised from the dead, but was sustained by the Church’s love for all God’s people.

            An example: During the first few centuries following Christ’s death and resurrection, the Roman Empire had suffered terrible decimation by plague. People living in cities fled in droves to get away from the pestilence that claimed so many lives. Christians, however, stayed in those cities caring for the sick and thus, ironically, having a lower mortality rate because of their ministrations. Talk about taking a risk with the resources God has given you—an investment if you like—with the reward of saving more lives than you lose! Now those Christians who engaged in that kind of ministry did not think of it as an especially shrewd way to grow the Church. They were simply loving their neighbor as themselves, like Jesus, willing to risk their own lives for the sake of others.

            That’s the legacy you and I have inherited. We have been given five talents and two talents and one talent to be used in the service of God wherever and however we are called to do that. We are asked to take risks on behalf of the wellbeing of the world in which we live. And whatever our motive for doing that, we do so as part of the Church’s mission to be the hands and heart of Jesus who is resurrected again and again every time we do.