November 17, 2002 - The 26th Sunday After Pentecost - Father Armand Kreft

THE FIRST READING: JUDGES 4: 1-7

The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. So the Lord sold them in to the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years. At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, "The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, 'Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.'"

PSALM 123

1 To you I lift up my eyes, to you enthroned in the heavens.

2 As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, and the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,

3 So our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he show us his mercy.

4 Have mercy upon us, O Lord have mercy, for we have had more than enough of contempt.

5 Too much of the scorn of the indolent rich, and of the derision of the proud.

THE SECOND READING: 1 THESSALONIANS 5: 1-11

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO MATTHEW (25: 14-30)

Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven will be as when 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, thrown him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

Well, nothing like starting out the day with some evangelical zeal! One of my favorite hymns!

A talent - a talent - is a very large sum of money, especially in Jesus' time. It was approximately 15 years' salary, so think of what you made when you were working, and multiply that by 15 years. So this parable is about major financial activity. And, thank God the stock market went up, so I can tell you about risking money! It would be a mistake - it would be a mistake on your part to just read the surface of this parable and confuse the master in this parable with God. Please remember that Jesus always identified with the lowest of society - those who had nothing - not with those who were giving the orders. However, the parable does refer to the extravagance of God in the gifts that He bestows upon us. This parable is about what we do with those gifts. Three servants, each with a different approach to life - for, you see, how we deal with what is most important to us is a reflection on how we deal with life as a whole.

The first two servants took a mighty risk with the gifts they were given. The talent was then, to them, an enormous amount of money. Both of them at least doubled the amount of money entrusted to them - hardly a possibility without running the risk of losing the original investment. Now, those of us who do have money in the stock market know that we can lose our original investment. However, we cannot - we cannot lose the original investment that God made in us at our creation. His love will never be taken from us. We cannot lose it. So, we have a choice to live extravagantly, but not recklessly, with these gifts that God gave us, or to live in fear of losing what we have, and, thereby, not sharing or cooperating with others living an emotionally, poverty-stricken life of solitude.

God has given us gifts, and, along with those gifts, come responsibility. He has commanded us - He has commanded us to witness to our faith. From the prayer book of New Zealand: "You must be prepared to be what you proclaim. Serve Christ simply and willingly; let your joy in Christ overcome all discouragement; have no fear; be humble and full of hope."

Be prepared to be what you proclaim. As an aside, speaking of being prepared, did you know that, every year, a quarter of a million Christians are martyred for their faith because they live in hostile lands? Be prepared to be what you proclaim.

God has given us the gifts, the talents, to work for the Kingdom in a very critical way. No one else is able to do our job the way we can. Each one of us has a unique opportunity, as well as the ability, to do the job easily, sustainably, with joy and satisfaction. To avoid the call and waste the gift - even to do something else that may seem important or necessary at the time - is to cheat God and the community of an important part of our life together.

On Wednesday evenings, at the Eucharist, the Rector usually chooses some obscure, or not so obscure, saint or religious figure to honor. The discussion then centers around the bravery and the courage of this person in witnessing for their faith. Most have faced obstacles and hurdles that we will never have to deal with. Around the table, the admiration of these people is unanimous, and, usually, the discussion ends with, "Where are people like these now?" My answer is that we are sitting around the table on Wednesday night, or sitting here, or in every other church, world-wide. Yet, too many of us live in fear or embarrassment about our faith in Jesus Christ, and we sit, at the worst, paralyzed, or, at the very least, apathetic about our faith. Our faith in Jesus Christ, for us to care, to give, to witness, to trust, to hope, and, most of all, to love, cannot be understood or lived without knowing the risks involved.

The third servant was paralyzed with the fear of losing what he had been given, so he hid the light of Christ that shines in all of us. He dimmed the glory of God and turned his back out of fear. Now, for us, a talent is not just the big things, like the ability to sing opera, or a perfect knack for cooking or playing the organ magnificently. A talent is anything that we know how to do that someone else needs to know. Those of us of a certain age have the talent for living that the young and the clueless need! (You liked that, Virginia, didn't you?! Yeah!). When I started working here a few weeks ago, I didn't know what the office procedures were. I didn't know what the customary for serving at the liturgics was; and, yet, people have that knowledge, and they shared it with me. Yet people who never have a chance to know what they are capable of doing are a sin against our society. People who know and never get a chance to do what they know how to do, likewise, are a judgment against the culture that stifles them. And again, people who withhold themselves, who do not offer what they know and possess, or are fearful of loving, are sinning. It is like withholding the truth from someone. It is like not using your lungs, which God has given you. When you don't use them, you die. And, when we don't use the gifts God has given us, a big part of us dies. When we withhold the love that God has given us, when we do not invest our talents, when we do not risk to dream, it is like the poet Langston Hughes wrote: "What happens with a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" When you hide out of fear; when you do not risk; when you never have a chance to know what you are capable of becoming; you become a sin against society, for you are giving nothing back to that which sustains you. If we fear losing, then we will never gain. If we do not take the risk to care for another, to give to another, to hope in another, and, most of all, to love another, then we will never be open to another's love or God's - for it is with our involvement with one another that we exemplify the Kingdom of God. We are doing our part to usher in that Kingdom now.

In Eugene Peterson's translation of Scripture, called "The Message", Jesus sends out His Disciples to do the work and tells them to take nothing with them; and Jesus said, "Because you are the equipment." All of us are the equipment to make the world work, and, when the talents of ourselves or anyone else's are buried, it is no wonder the world is a mess. Why do we fear to risk? What will we lose? Will we lose our self-respect? Will we lose our money? Will we lose love? Will we experience rejection, guilt, or embarrassment? What is it that you fear to lose?

During the Falkland's war, Margaret Thatcher was asked what would happen if Britain failed in its attempt to reclaim the islands. She responded in her typical fashion, "Failure? The possibility does not exist." I like Margaret Thatcher!

There is also a saying, a popular saying that is going around now, "If you knew you could not fail, what would you dare to dream?" If you knew you could not fail, what would you dare to dream? (Oh, I am pounding on the pulpit! O.K.).

Take a look at your lives and the risks you have taken. Have you moved from where you were raised? Have you entered into relationships that have deepened your love for another person or yourself and thanked God for that opportunity? Have you raised children and respected their lives, even though their lives may be way different from what you had hoped? Have you started a new career at some time that required you to learn something new? All of us have risked. All of us have risked and sometimes been hurt, but, more often than not, we have gained much by the experience. I ask you, therefore, to continue to be bold and continue to risk for Jesus' sake. You will not fail! You cannot fail if you do it through Jesus Christ! Your arms become His as you embrace those around you. Your eyes become His as you look at the injustices and the inequities of our community. Your mouth echoes His words as you speak out against bigotry and prejudice and social and financial disparities, and as you silence those who use degrading names when speaking of people different from themselves. Your legs become His as you continue on your pilgrimage that may, in fact, lead you to Calvary; but you will always wind up in the promised land, and your heart becomes His sacred heart as you offer it in love and to be loved and to ache as our Savior's heart aches for those who are lost and live in fear.

What's important in your life? How does this reflect on your life as a whole? Well, you get to make up your own mind about that. That is the beauty of being an Episcopalian! You have a choice of what is important to you. You have a choice about the hard issues of life - the ethical and moral issues. You have a choice on how you care, give, witness, trust, hope, and, most of all, you have a choice of whom and what you love.

Now, the Rector asked me to speak a bit about the stewardship season (trust me - it's going to be two sentences - just to fulfill my promise!). You know, we have so much here at St. Paul's. Our newsletter is called "The Abundant Life". All of us have extraordinary gifts given by God, so I will ask you to look deep into your lives and see how you can share in the ministry of the Church. Soon, you will be asked to make your pledge to St. Paul's ministry. Dare to risk for us and for God.

Dietrich Bonhoffer was a theologian, who was in a concentration camp, and, while awaiting execution by the Nazi's, he wrote this. It is a quote that I have on my desk, because it is how I lead my life and how I lead my ministry, and I share it with you. Bonhoffer wrote, "To do and dare, not what you would, but what is right, never hesitate over what is within your power, but boldly grasp what lies before you. Not in the flight of fancy, but only in the deed, is there freedom. Away with timidity and reluctance! Out into the story of events, sustained only by the commandments of God and your faith, and freedom will receive your spirit with exaltation."

A talent was a lot of money - 15 years' wages. It was a lifetime, in a sense - a talent, the worth of a life. So, what have you done with your greatest treasure? For, you see, it is how we deal with what is most important to us that is a reflection on how we deal with life as a whole.

In the name of the risen Christ,

AMEN