Pentecost 26

Zephaniah 1:7,12-18

Psalm 90

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Matthew 25:14-30

Raise your hand if you like to be affirmed? Thought so. We all need affirmation. We like to hear we are doing well, we are loved, and we are good folks. We really like to hear that someone else agrees with us. That other folks back us up.

What’s better than, say, reading a book that supports our current argument, or finding a newspaper article that backs up our own beliefs.

That is so human of us. The need for affirmation. The need to have others argee with our points of view. So who likes to be challenged? That makes most of us uncomfortable, perhaps defensive.

The need to be affirmed can explain a lot of human behavior. Why like people are attracted to some groups. Why some churches seem to be more “successful” than others.

And why we are attracted more to some parts of Scripture than others, and why, even church leaders are more attracted to some commentators on Scripture than others.

Come on now, we all try to gloss over the hard stuff. Either ignore it or explain it away.

Which leads me to today’s parable. At first reading this is a great parable. It affirms the American way. Three slaves are given some property, a huge among, actually. The first 2 invest it wisely in money market accounts or high risk stock. And make a killing. The third hides his and is condemned.

Ah, lovely. Good stewardship stuff here. Use your gifts, time and money wisely and they will grow. Amen. I’ll go sit down….except….

For that line, verse 24…”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, if this is a parable about the kingdom of God, and the man going on a journey is God and the slaves are God’s people….explain to me this line about the harsh man. I line included not once but twice!!

And then the encouragement to at least bank the money…and get interest…usury it is also called, and that word is not used positively anywhere in Scripture.

We had better unpack this parable a little if we are going to be honest about it.

First, this parable never says “The kingdom of God is like”, in contrast to many other parables.

Secondly, here is a quick course in Biblical economics. The belief is that God made enough, just enough for everyone. So if someone has too much that means someone is doing without. So profit = exploitation. Then the first 2 slaves, are exploiting others on behalf of the master…and being praised for it. Just read the Psalms or the prophets and you will see this theme running through them. God is into fair trade, enough for all. Like the manna in the wilderness. Collect just enough, says God. Too much and it will be wormy before morning. Too little and I will make it last.

No wonder us wealthy westerners have never bothered to dig into this text.

Even Matthew seems to try to twist out of it. Apparently there was an earlier version of this passage, talked about by a guy names Eusebius, that made it clear the third slave was the hero of the story and commended by God.

We don’t want that to happen. But who is Jesus telling this parable to? Peasants. Poor folk. Folk who work hard only to see others grow rich. If you were a peasant, which slave would you like?

And you would probably agree that the master is a harsh man, reaping where he does not sow and gathering where he did not scatter.

And then you would feel for the slave that is thrown out into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

You would be on the side of the one who refused to participate in the greed of the master. The one who won’t play the game. The one who blows the whistle. Who tells it like it is. Who points to the truth.

Ah, who comes to mind…say…Jesus? His truth-telling was not received with open arms by every crowd. In the end he went it alone, alone into the darkness. Because the truth can hurt. And because what is good news for one person is not good news for another.

In another case of timely discussion, my ecumenical clergy group, all mainline folks with at some level struggling congregations, was discussing the phenomenon of those big churches, the mega-churches. One colleague had visited a 7,000 member church in Colorado. He remarked on how the vehicles parked outside where nice SUV’s, Beamers, and Volvos.

Some of my best friends drive Volvos. But what does it say when an entire congregation is made up of the same class of people?

What is the message that attracts them and keeps them together? Is this the kingdom of God?

Or is the kingdom of God reflected in diversity? In rich folk who are challenged to share their riches and poor folk who are lovingly cared for and all those in-between-folk that both give and receive depending on the circumstances the month brings.

Is there room in the hall for the whistle-blowers and the truth tellers? Is there room for the prophets? Is there room to squirm in our seats while the word works its subtle way into our lives?

Cause we are affirmed here. Of course we are. Our choir rocked the house at the Good Neighbors Choir Concert. Our Crop Walkers won the challenge. We are becoming known as “that generous church.”

But we are not yet what we shall be. God is still working in us and through us and in spite of us. And growth is uncomfortable, ask any teen-ager! And we are still being challenged to do more and be more and give more!

And we are still called to be truth-tellers in a church that remains fearful of inclusion.

And we still answer to the man….not the harsh man who reaps where he does not sow and gathers where he does not scatter seed.

But the one who enters the darkness with us when we speak the truth. The one who walks with us when we refuse to walk with the rest of the world. The one who sings with us when we sing a different song that the culture is singing.

We answer to the man/woman God that encourages us to stand firm in our faith even while we might squirm in our pews, to the God that sets Scripture in front of us and says, read it well and deeply.

A God that says: “you are mine, I love you, you are my child. I want you to keep growing, wise and healthy and strong and brave. I may challenge you, I may push you, I may give you more questions than answers. But I will also give you a community to share them with. Now go, tell others that this is a safe place for questions. This is a safe place for doubts. And a safe place in which faith grows.”

All I can say is watch out for the Word of God. Read it carefully. Be open to hear it in new ways. To struggle with it and be challenged by it. Sometimes it makes us uncomfortable. But it always makes us more alive. It always stretches us until we can’t go back to the way we were before.

Just when we think we have it all figured out, the Word, living and active, twists out of our grip and sends us in a new direction. It’s an amazing thing. Stick around and see what God does with us next!!

Thanks be to God!

Amen.