November 16, 2008

God Gives Us Gifts to Use with Joy!
Matthew 25:14-30
Pentecost + 27 – November 16, 2008
Commitment Sunday

What would you do if you won the lottery? What would you do with all that money? It's a question that gets the imagination running, & it's a question I ask our 8th graders every year at the beginning of Confirmation. Imagine you have just won the lottery – how would you use the money if you suddenly had more of it than you had ever dreamed, all at once? I don't give them any limits or rules or suggestions – and their answers are as unique as they are. Some of the money they would spend on themselves, for clothes or candy or cars, music or video games or parties. Parents, you'll probably be glad to know that most of them would give some to you or to other family members to help pay off the house or other debt or just because they love you. Some of them mention using it to help solve some of the world's big problems, like hunger & poverty or global warming. And some would put most of it away in the bank to help pay for college or their own homes someday. But no matter how they would use it, not a single one of them has any difficulty coming up with ways to use it. And none of them ever says that they would bury it underground for safekeeping.

Yet that's exactly what the 3rd slave does in the story Jesus tells in the gospel this morning. Here comes the master of the slaves, who apparently was Warren-Buffet-rich. He gathers 3 of his servants together, and tells them that he's going away for a while. And on that note, he dumps huge amounts of money into their care. Jesus says he entrusted his property to them – giving the 1st 5 talents, and the 2nd 2 talents, and the 3rd 1 talent, giving to each according to their ability. But even one talent was a huge amount of money – it was about 20 years worth of wages. Can you imagine suddenly having 20 years' worth of paychecks added to your checking account all at once? And once he does this, the master is out of there, off on his journey, leaving them all this money, and no instructions on how to use it.

But the expectation is obvious. The master clearly expects the slaves to do something worthwhile with his money – he expects them to use it wisely, to do his work while he's gone, to have something to show for it when he gets back. And two of them do just that. They went off at once and traded with it. The master has trusted them with this money, and so they go boldly, seeking to live up to that trust.

But the 3rd slave – he is caught up in fear. Given this money as an incredible symbol of the trust his boss had placed in him, he's paralyzed. Slave number 3 doesn't know what to do. For whatever reason, he holds a very low opinion of the master, an opinion the other 2 don't seem to have, I might point out. And so what does he do? He lets his fears over what might happen if he makes a mistake, if he does the wrong thing, if he somehow loses some of the money that's been given to him to work with – he lets those fears take charge, and he hides the money away. He grabs a shovel, digs a hole, and throws the money in (maybe he thought money really does grow on trees?, marking the spot in his mind for the day the master will return. And the master is gone for a long time, Jesus says. I kind of get this picture in my mind's eye of the 3rd slave, going out every day to check on the money, to make sure it hasn't been disturbed, unable to enjoy life because he has allowed his fear to take over.

Fear and worry about money is something we can all relate to, especially these days. Every day brings some new bad news about the economy – unemployment is rising, big businesses are sliding toward bankruptcy if they're not there already, and the government bail-out plan doesn't seem to be working very effectively yet. In times like this, we sympathize with the third slave, because burying our money or hiding it under the mattress for safekeeping doesn't seem like such a bad idea anymore. Like the 3rd servant, we may be trapped by our fear, constantly checking the stock market and our retirement accounts to see if our money is still there. We don't know what the future will bring, so we are really tempted to just hunker down and guard what we have, to hide it away for some future day.

But this is not the joyful life God has called us to live! The first two slaves in the story got that. Seeing the amazing gifts the master had given them, they rejoiced in the trust that the master had shown in them. They knew that the money wasn't theirs to spend or use how they pleased; it had been given to them to do the work of the master while he was away. Knowing how much they had been entrusted with, they went to work, freely & joyfully, wanting to accomplish something good with those gifts for the sake of the master. Instead of being held captive by what the man had given them, they were set free to do great things in the world! When the master returns, they're like little kids - “Look what I did!” They are proud and happy to show what they have done, sure that their boss will be pleased with them. When the master invites them to enter into his joy, it's really just an extension of the joy that is already theirs. Even while he was gone, they were living in that joy, because they were free to use his gifts, freed from fear.

That is good news for us today – God has given each of us an amazing amount of resources. It's almost like we won the lottery! We may not have the checking account to prove it, but think of all you have. Think of the many ways God has already blessed you! We have all been given different amounts – but none of us has been left out! God has given each of us abundant gifts - right from the very start, at the beginning of the story! And God gives them to us with a purpose. God doesn't mean for us to hold on to them in fear; God gives us gifts to use with joy! God gives us all that we have so that we might be at work in the world, doing God's will, helping to bring about God's dream for the world. This story is a call to trust the master who has given us so much, and to live out that trust boldly, to share generously out of what we have been given.

When we do that, when we let go of our iron-fisted grip on what we think belongs to us, we are set free – free from our worries, free from our fears, free from the slavery to our stuff that imprisons so many of us. It doesn't happen all at once, no, but using God's gifts generously is a step in the right direction, a step on the path to freedom.

During the past month, we have been emphasizing financial stewardship and what that means for our walk with Jesus. You have heard stories from members of our congregation, stories about the times when they have struggled, stories about how they decided to trust God anyway – and to act on that trust through their giving. They have shared how God has been faithful, how there has always somehow been enough, how God has blessed them abundantly – not necessarily financially, but in so many other ways. And underneath it all, I hope you have heard what I have heard, the truth about how God has set them free! Free to see God working through them and through us and the gifts we offer. Free to go dig that money back up out of the ground and set it loose in the world where it can do some good. Free to trust God even more. As they shared their stories, we have seen people who have been set free, and have already entered into God's joy, the joy that comes from sharing abundantly!

That is the opportunity we all have this morning, and the invitation to us: to remember the amazing trust God has placed in our hands and to respond boldly, not fearfully. It is a call to trust God, despite the circumstances, a call to step out in faith, trusting that God will take care of us, and choosing to live that trust as we share generously out of what God has already given us. Don't bury God's gifts in a hole! Let God set you free, and enter into the joy of the master!
Amen.