God Entrusts Us with Great Resources
Pentecost + 22, November 16, 2011
Commitment Sunday, St. Peter's, Baldwin
Good morning. I'm glad to be here with you in worship this morning as you bring your annual stewardship program to completion. It's kind of funny that the theme of this year was “Enter into the Joy!” Joy isn't usually the thing most of us think about when we think about our financial giving at church, whether when we're in the middle of the yearly commitment or any other time.
I think that's because money is a source of great anxiety. Whether it's how we'll make it, or how we should spend it, or whether we'll have enough to keep if we give some of it away, money causes us stress. That's always been true, at least for most people I know, but especially in the past few years, with the financial crisis and the recession and the stalled economy, we tend to worry about money. Can I pay the mortgage and the heat and still have money left for food? What am I gonna do now that my retirement fund has dropped? How will I find a way to get the car fixed? Even if we're relatively secure in our jobs and financial situations, there's always that little voice in the back of our heads, the one that pipes up late at night when we're trying to sleep - “What if...?” With all the uncertainty about our finances that haunts us, it seems a bit ironic, not to mention bold! – for us to talk about financial stewardship and entitle it “Enter into the Joy!”
It's hard to be joyful when we're afraid. We see that in the life and actions of the 3rd slave Matthew's gospel tells us about. We have 4 main characters in this parable Jesus shares: the master and three slaves. The master is getting ready to go away on a journey, and he comes to these three servants and “entrusts his property to them”. One gets 5 talents, one gets 2, one gets 1 talent, each according to his ability. Then he goes away. He never tells them what to do with the money he gives them. I mean, we can assume that he wants them to handle it well and get him a return on his investment, but he doesn't give them specific instructions. He trusts them to take care of it. And so off go slaves 1 and 2 - “at once” they go and trade with the talents and come back having doubled it. But then we come to the third man. He goes and buries his 1 talent in the ground, and when the master finally comes back to settle accounts, he digs it up, brushes it off, and brings it back with these words: “Master... I was afraid, so I went and hid your talent in the ground.”
That's all the gospel tells us, but can't you imagine this poor man worrying about this money, constantly going back to check on the spot to make sure it was still there. It makes me think of that insurance commercial with the dog who couldn't sleep for fear that his bone would disappear, so he kept going and getting it from its hiding spot and putting it someplace new, only to go out again in a little while and move it to a new place. The bone & his fear of losing it took over his imagination until he could not rest for worrying about it. Of course, in the commercial, that all comes to an end when he gets it properly insured... but that's not the case here. So not only does he face this harsh critique and punishment at the end of the parable, but the whole time the money was in his care, you can almost guess that he was worried about it, fretting over it, obsessing, losing sleep. All for fear of what would happen if he lost it.
Compare that to the other 2 slaves. We don't get the sense that they were worried or nervous or anxious. They just went out boldly and got to work, using what had been entrusted to their care to be about the master's business. Now when the Master returns, they get praise and congratulations, and the invitation to enter into the joy of their master – but I'm betting the joy didn't start there – The joy starts when the master gives them these tremendous amounts of money and trusts them with it. And these were tremendous, immense, unimaginable amounts of money. One talent was worth 15 years of wages. So the guy who got 5 talents – 75 years worth of wages. The one who got 2 talents? - 30 years of wages! Even the slave who only got 1 talent had 15 years worth of paychecks at his disposal. Wow! That's trust! That's confidence in these men! What an honor, a joy, to realize how much faith the master has in you!
Even more amazing is when we start to realize the great resources God has entrusted into our care, in order for us to be carrying out God's work in the world. Not so we can double God's money – but so that the work of God's kingdom is multiplied and increased! Certainly we are blessed as individuals – but also as churches. The average Lutheran gives slightly less than 2% of their income to the church – yet look what we do with that tiny amount. We use it for God's work, through our congregations and the national church, to change lives, to make a difference, to open places where God's kingdom can break through – God's kingdom showing up wherever God's will is done – where, as we'll hear in next week's Gospel, the hungry are fed, and the thirsty are given a drink, and the stranger is welcomed, and the naked are clothed, and the sick are cared for, and the imprisoned are visited. We do all of these things – from food pantries to after school programs to disaster response and relief – and it starts with that meager 2% of giving from our members.
But imagine that instead of being afraid of losing what we have (as individuals or congregations), we took a leap of faith. Imagine if, instead of describing ourselves as prudent and cautious when it comes to money in the church, we decided to take a page from the 1st two slaves and became bold, willing to take a risk for the sake of God's work. Imagine if we began to see that we have been given what we have, not so hide it away in some hole in the ground to ensure its mere survival, but as a chance to partner with God in God's dream for the world!
And then imagine if we were all bold and brave enough to grow into tithing – that instead of 2% we each gave 10% of our resources. Imagine St. Peter's budget multiplied by 5 times what it currently is. Think about what that would mean for the mission and ministries for this congregation. Not only would you not be worried about money, and meeting the budget and making ends meet – but money would become a source of joy because of the ways you could bless God's creation through it, the difference you could make in the lives of your members, and your neighbors, and your community, and even the world!
There's one council meeting every year that I always look forward to. The rest kind of have their ups and downs, but every October, I am glad to go to council, because that's the month when we have our annual Harvest Festival. And when all the money has been tallied, and expenses paid, that's the meeting where we get to sit around the table and talk about where we get to give that money away. We do keep about 1/3 of it, but the rest of it, usually a couple thousand dollars, we use to bless other people and organizations. And how awesome it is to sit down and talk about money in a way that focuses on what we have to give, rather than what we are afraid we won't receive. That is when I rejoice, knowing we are doing what the Master longs for, that we are multiplying what God has given us for the sake of the other, for the sake of the world.
That joy can be ours. Jesus invites us to enter into this joy – the joy that is found in working with God, trusting deeply enough to take a risk. May the Spirit make us bold enough to put aside our fear and enter into God's joy! Amen.
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