Charlotte
Collins Reed
Christ Church
Episcopal
November 15, 2020
28 Proper A
Many years ago, in the Diocese of
Southern Ohio, I participated in a pick-up choir for the Eucharist at Diocesan
Convention. Because this was a pick-up
choir with one rehearsal the night before, I assumed a) that the piece would be
easy, and b) that the ability to read music was not required. I cannot read music, but I can generally follow
along, so I figured I was up to singing in a pick-up choir. Was I ever wrong! I do not remember what the piece was, but simple
was by no means an accurate description.
And the ability to read music was assumed as if everyone on the planet
knows what the notes sound like without hearing them. But since there was no graceful way to bow
out, or flee, I did my best and tried to pretend I had some clue what to
sing. But at the peace, after the pick-up
choir had sung, Bishop Thompson came up to me, winked and said, and I quote “Keep
your day job.”
So, I can find myself a little defensive
when I hear the parable of the talents.
Sometimes we have to do what we can with what little talent we have and
make the best of a less than optimal situation.
On the surface, the parable of the talents rewards those who have much
and punishes those who have little and are afraid to lose what little they
have. On the surface, Jesus seems to be
offering advice to Finance Committees everywhere to invest for growth not just
for savings.
But Jesus is not a financial advisor,
and as I have said many times, when Jesus looks to be giving common sense advice,
we need to look deeper. Jesus is not a
common sense savior. Plus, the parable
ends with the words for which Matthew is famous “throw him into outer darkness
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This happened to the person
who was not dressed for the wedding banquet a few weeks ago, and we can assume
that something similar happened to the foolish bridesmaids last week. This is another clue that Jesus is giving neither
financial nor common sense advice.
So what is Jesus up to this morning in
yet another tricky little parable? A man
has entrusted his property to three of his servants, giving one person 5 talents,
another 3 talents, and yet another 1 talent.
Two of the servants double the master’s money while he is away, and when
the master returns, the servants hear the blessed words “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.” But when the person who received one talent comes forward,
that servant says to the master “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping
where you did not sow….so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the
ground.” And the servant returns the single talent to the master at which point
the servant is cast into utter darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of
teeth.
This parable raises a lot of
questions. First, how does the last
servant know the master is harsh? There
is nothing in the parable from the master except generosity and joy until the
master gets to the servant who failed to use his one talent to produce anything
more. Secondly, the third servant is very
bold to speak to the master the way he does if the servant is so very afraid of
the master. And thirdly, what might the
master have done had the first two slaves risked the talents they received on
some big venture that failed and they had nothing to return to the master? Would they, too, have ended up in the outer
darkness? And the big question: where is
the good news in this parable?
I believe the meaning of the parable
hinges on the line “so I was afraid.” Through
out the gospels, the opposite of faith is not doubt, but fear. The first two servants acted on faith, both
faith in their master that they would not be punished if they tried and failed,
and faith in their abilities to use what they were given to make more. They were invited to enter into the joy of
the master. I honestly do not think the
master would have been angry with them had they tried and failed. The third servant acted in fear of the master
and thus in fear of the servant’s own abilities. That servant ended up in outer darkness.
I wonder if we might think of the
talents as the immeasurable love of God. Some days we may feel like we have been given
a full measure and rush out in faith and joy to share that love and grow the
Kingdom of God. Other days, such as in
the midst of a pandemic, or deep national division, or racial injustice or
whatever personal challenges we face, we may feel like we have a smaller
measure, even if though the reality is that the love of God is immeasurable and
we each have been given God’s love in abundance. However we might be feeling, whatever challenges
we face, we are called to act in faith, not fear, and share that love and be a
blessing to the world, not bury God’s love in the ground because we feel we
have so little. Jesus also says in this
same gospel “No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but
on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let
your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give
glory to your Father in heaven.” The
message is the same. The love of God has
been poured into our hearts to be shared so that we can be a blessing to the
world and make the Kingdom of God a present reality on earth.
The Good News in this parable is that,
as humans, we are loved immeasurably by God, and as humans who follow Jesus, we
have not only a call, but a responsibility to step out in faith and make that
love known in the world, even and especially when times are hard. God loves humankind too much to let us simply
bury that love in the ground to be dug up and returned someday. We can get hung up on what happened to the
poor servant who acted in fear and was cast into outer darkness, or we can be
people of love, taking a risk and stepping out in faith, so that one day we
will hear God say to everyone “Enter into the joy of your master.”
Amen.
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