23 Pentecost A – November 16, 2014

23 Pentecost A – November 16, 2014

23 Pentecost/Proper 28A/ Ordinary 33A           November 16, 2014

Luther Memorial Church                                     Seattle, WA

The Rev. Julie G. Hutson

Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18  +  Psalm 90: 1-8, 12  +  Matthew 25: 14-30

Grace and peace to you from God, who is the author of our stories.  Amen.

          We’ve all heard the expression “playing it safe.”  To play it safe is essentially the opposite of taking a risk, or taking a chance.  And frankly, anyone who knows me well at all will tell you that I am, generally speaking, a person who prefers playing it safe.  And I say that to you this morning more as a confession than anything else.  Because what I know about living as a disciple of Jesus Christ is that we are NOT called to play it safe.  Following the Gospel means taking a risk.  It’s the entire point of this parable from Matthew 25 today.

To understand this story that Jesus is telling the disciples, it’s helpful to start by remembering that Jesus is telling this story to the disciples, to those who are called to follow him.  It’s a story for the insiders, not for those who haven’t yet made up their minds.  And this ought to be our first clue that life as a Jesus follower, is about our willingness to take a risk.

It also helps to understand the value of a ‘talent’ in this story.  From the context we can tell that it’s a sum of money.  But what isn’t clear is that it is an absurdly LARGE sum of money.  One talent was the equivalent of about 15 years worth of wages!  So, the first servant was given seventy five years worth of wages, the second was given thirty years of wages and the third was given fifteen years worth of wages.  It would seem that the master is an extravagantly generous and trusting master, who gave an enormous, unbelievable, perhaps even foolish amount of money to the servants to steward, to take care of, to be responsible for.

And this is our first clue in this story about God:  God’s extravagant trust has been placed in us to steward God’s extravagant gifts.

The bulk of this story describes the investment strategies of the servants during the long time the master was away.  The first servant, who had been given the enormous gift of five talents, made five more – doubling the master’s original gift.  The second servant also doubled the gift.   Well done, well done….you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, said the master.  Enter into the joy of your master.

And then we get to the third servant.  The third servant’s biggest flaw was not his lack of investment moxie; it was that he did not know his master.  He misjudged the master, thinking him to be a harsh and unethical man, rather than the generous, trusting soul who had gifted him with fifteen years worth of income.   The third servant had received the gift from the master and had played it safe.  Rather than act out of faith, the third servant responded to this extravagant gift out of fear.  Fear of his master.  Fear of his own ability, perhaps.  Fear of failure.  Fear of success.  Fear.  And so he leaned into the status quo. He simply did nothing.

The prophet Zephaniah in our first reading this morning, reminded the people of Israel what God thinks of doing nothing.  Zephaniah said that God would punish those who rest complacently on their dregs, those who say in their hearts “The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm.”

Abundant, faithful life in the kingdom does not mean playing it safe.  And yet, that is what we Lutherans are very, very good at.  When our budgets are balanced and our strategic plans are in order….when we finally have the money to do what we plan to do,  we pat ourselves on the back.  But if today’s readings teach us anything it is that God has gifted us extravagantly and entrusted us with stewarding that gift.

God has gifted us extravagantly and entrusted us with stewarding that gift.

The way that we will enter into the joy intended for us and for all people by our master,  is by responding from faith, not from fear.

I confessed to you at the beginning of this sermon that I much prefer playing it safe.  I have to say that it’s entirely possible that, left to my own devices, I might simply hang onto the talent God gives me and hope that when I’m asked what I did with it,  it will please my generous master that I did not lose it.  That I buried it in the ground where it could do no good.   But the Gospel word…..the word that is living and breathing and compelling and calling….moves me….it moves us….from playing it safe, from resting complacently on our dregs….to living fully in the kingdom.

And if need reminding of this, I only turn to this place for a reminder.  I am reminded of the way that, over sixty years ago, when it became clear that while we thought this community of faith was here to be a Sunday School, it was actually here to be a worshipping community….this congregation was born.

I am reminded of the way that generations of students continue to learn and grow and serve in this place….generations of students singing the songs of their faith; learning the stories of their faith; and telling the stories of their faith.

I am reminded of the way that almost six years ago, Donna said, “well ok…we’ll go back to having Sunday School every Sunday” and what a gift that has been.  What a difference it made to step out in faith rather than in fear.

I am reminded of the way that every single Sunday a small group of singers comes together to sing the story to us.  Because what you might not know is that early on those Sunday mornings, when we gather to rehearse, we don’t always sound as good as we sound when we sing.  But faithfully ahead they rehearse and Paul coaxes out of us our praise to God.

I am reminded of the way a garden grew from a what if question and now helps feed a neighborhood.

I am reminded of the way a lunch bag program went from being a “what if” idea to something that many of our neighbors count on each day.

It is not always easy.  In fact it is almost never easy.  The Gospel is not about easy.  The Gospel is about faithfulness in the face of fear.  It is about trusting the generous master, who clearly loves and trusts the servants enough to offer to us an embarrassment of riches to tend and steward.

What is next for this corner of the Master’s kingdom and for this community, called to steward and share it, is ahead of us.  On many levels and in many ways, it would feel so secure to just play it safe.  To take that generous gift the Master gave us to steward and bury it so that it was still there, exactly as it was.  Doing no good to anyone, but no harm either.  We could breathe more easily and not ask hard questions and say it’s not our problem or that we don’t have what it takes to be a part of the solution.  We could dig ourselves a hole and put what the Master gave us there and call it good.

And how would we explain that when the Master asked for an accounting of what we had done with what we’d been given?  We were afraid?  It was too hard?  It seemed too much?  We were too small?  We were too old?  We were too young?  We were too tired?  Someone else will do it?

And yet it is to us…..it is to us….that this gift has been entrusted.  And here is the good news, hidden perhaps, at the beginning of the story.  The Master gave to each of the servants gifts according to their ability.  The Master knew what each servant was capable of.  The Master knew, perhaps better than they did, what they could do, if only they would act out of faith and not fear.  If only they wouldn’t play it safe, but trust the Master.

We have been entrusted with much.  And our exceedingly generous Master had a reason and a purpose in doing so.  What we do next is up to us.

Thanks be to God.  Amen.