Joy to the World   Pentecost 27A 11/16/08   Matthew 25:14-30

Grace and peace be to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Me: What would it be like if you could read my mind and know what I was thinking during the sermon? Perhaps it would sound something like this…

Voice in my head: Here I am again, Lord. I did my part—please do yours! It’s funny. When I first get up here to the pulpit, I look around the sanctuary, and sometimes I can just tell what people are thinking. Like right now, that man over there is thinking, “Oh, the parable of the talents—here comes a stewardship sermon!” That lady there, she’s thinking, “His sermon title’s “Joy to the World” and it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet!” And that guy—the investment banker? He’s looking at this passage from Matthew and he’s saying to himself, “Wow! Jesus was a capitalist! In your face Marxists!”

Me: At first glance, this parable of the talents looks a lot like an advertisement for Fidelity or Merrill Lynch. “Double your investment. Let us make your money work for you.” It seems almost as if Jesus was espousing capitalism!

Voice: I never said I wouldn’t borrow their thoughts!

Me: Jesus, a capitalist? Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus talks about money quite a bit in the gospels—that’s true. But he’s not this time. Jesus is not praising the first two slaves for their investment savvy—their bold use of hedge funds, Roth IRAs and Real Estate Investment Trusts to increase their net worth. No. This is not an endorsement of our way of doing business.

Voice: In your face, capitalist!

Me: And you’ve probably heard a gazillion stewardship sermons based on this text. Don’t hide your talents. Make wise use of the money God trusts you with. All we have comes from God. But this text is not really addressing stewardship per se. In fact, I feel confident enough to say that the parable of the talents has nothing at all to do with money stewardship!

Voice: Look at that! Richard Ball’a jaw just dropped down to the floor. Hah! But I did promise him that I’d work stewardship into the sermon somehow. He should have known I wouldn’t take the obvious route!

Me: And, although the master sounds cold and calculating, and a bit harsh when he gets to the third slave’s timid, yet careful handling of his money, actually this parable is less about judgment and more about an invitation to abundance.

Voice: That was sure one heck of a run-on sentence! I can almost hear some people thinking, “Huh?” Maybe I’d better hit that point again.

Me: To put it another way, what you get from this parable is based largely on what you focus on in it. If you focus on the two financial wizard slaves and third slave’s low rate of return and the resulting scene of judgment and punishment, then you’re looking at it from the human perspective of scarcity. If, however, you focus on the master’s actions—then, then you are looking at from the perspective of divine abundance!

Voice: Way to go, you just confused them more!

Me: Look at what the master does. He trusts slaves with his money—not just a couple of bucks—a lot of money. A lot. The term “talent” has no precise monetary equivalent, but some scholars say one talent was the average worker’s yearly wage times fifteen! Others point out that the term has more the meaning of “ a vast sum of money,” sort of like saying “a million dollars.” The point is (and I’m borrowing here from Dr. Dirk Lange of Luther Seminary), the point is the superabundance that the master both gives and promises!

The master gives each of three slaves a superabundance—not equally, but definitely lavishly. He trusts them with this abundance—without reservations. Two of the slaves take that vast amount of money and expose it to possibility. A risk for sure, but each has taken the master’s trust to heart, and has decided to live abundantly.

The third slave receives less—still a fortune, though. But he decides to protect what he’s been given the most secure way possible—by burying it. What if he were to lose it,? He has decided to live with a scarcity mentality.

The first two come before the master for an accounting, and are invited to “enter the joy of the master.” Which they have already been participating in with the gifts of the talents. But now, they can fully understand that joy, and recognize it comes from the master’s sharing of himself, the redistribution of the riches of the kingdom!

The last slave, whom we feel is treated harshly, basically condemns himself by failing to recognize the master’s largesse and invitation, even mistaking it for a fearsome attitude towards failure. So, instead of rejoicing in his gift, the third slave is consumed by the fear of “not enough,” and ironically, separates himself from the master’s joy, burying himself along with the talent!

Voice: Okay, I think they’re with me so far. Except that one over there seems to be sleeping.

Me: Wake up!

Voice: Did I say that out loud? Quick! Fix it!

Me: You just want to tell that third guy to “Wake up, and see how abundantly you’ve been blessed. How much trust the master has put in you. What possibilities await you, if you only used this gift abundantly!

Voice: Whew! That was close. Now where was I? Oh yeah, I was about to tie it together.

Me: So—what is the kingdom of heaven like, viewed from this vantage point? It is joy. Joy in the master’s return, joy in an even greater superabundance, beyond all imagination, joy is being trusted and trusting in others. Joy that is “complete,” that has accomplished everything it set out to do. The kingdom of heaven is joy, and the master bids us enter into that joy, to love and be loved forevermore.

Voice: I don’t think they’re buying it. Maybe if I smile and nod my head knowingly…that didn’t help! Maybe this is all too “pie in the sky in the great by and by” for them. They’ll like the next part.

Me: But even more important to us, to those who live in the time between the master’s departure and return, this parable also implies something about the earthly kingdom, the world as we know it. And that implication can best be summed up in the title of many people’s favorite hymn—Joy to the World.

Voice; I worried about using that hymn—thought some might feel I’m rushing Christmas. That was, until I found out that Joy to the World is in the Advent section of the hymn book. So, they can only legitimately feel that I’m rushing Advent—I believe that’s only a liturgical misdemeanor.

Me: Joy to the World sums it up because that is what the master is effectively doing. He’s giving us a preview of the upcoming feature. He’s giving us a portion of our inheritance now. He’s giving us a foretaste of the feast to come. His giving us his joy, now!

And he shares that joy with us by giving us the wherewithal to give freely of ourselves and our time, talent and treasure. (without guilt, compulsion, or promise of reward) That it might be our joy to share with others the abundance that was first given us—no matter if that abundance be a million dollars, a year’s wages, or twenty cents. We joyfully give because giving is joyful.

Voice: That was pretty stewardship-y. I suppose that this parable can teach about the joyful kingdom of heaven and its breaking in to the world, and stewardship. As Ryan Theil would say, “It’s all good!” But the focus doesn’t have to be on money, it is better placed on opening up possibilities for God to work in the world. Taking risks.

Me: Hey who’s preaching this sermon?

Voice: Sorry, my bad! Go ahead.

Me: When you meet with a financial planner the first thing he or she wants to know is your toleration for risk. Are you bold in your investing—going for the biggest rate of return, but exposing your principal to loss?

Voice: Sorry for reminding you of that, if that’s you!

Me: Or perhaps you are a little less aggressive, so you invest in a balanced fund. A lower gain but through diversification, a more stable investment. But maybe you’re interested in interest without risk. You might put your dough in a bank, insured by the FDIC. Low rate of return, guaranteed and safe. Or you put it under the mattress or like our third slave, you bury it.

Voice: If you do that make sure you have a good map!

Me: Now remember, money is only an illustration. We’re not trying to figure out WWJD (Where would Jesus deposit?). We’re talking about opening yourself up to joy, by taking risks with what God has given you.

If you step out in faith, you might just fall flat on your face. But in falling on your face, you might come to a realization, or meet someone who becomes a spiritual guide for you. If you step out in faith, you may have great success, or nominal success—but the real value will probably come in the ways God uses those situations to draw you ever nearer to the future joy. Not stepping out in faith cuts back on the possibilities for you to experience God’s joy.

One thing you should make note of: the master doesn’t revile any one of his servants for risking some of his talents. He only has a problem with the one who didn’t. So we shouldn’t be fearful of “losing” our abundance, for the only way to lose it is to hold it too tightly. The joy that is ours is not based on what we have, but on what we share, and how God is able to use our frail human decisions to effect both good in the world, and salvation for us.

Voice: I’m thinking that a good place to end. I guess I’ll just say amen.

Me: Amen

Voice: AMEN! I wonder what’s for snack, today?