Scripture:
Last week, we began our exploration of themes which come at the conclusion of the church year -- the end times, Judgement day, and so forth. In his writing to the Christians living in Thessalonica, Paul encourages the community to continue to remain fully engaged in the ups and downs of everyday living. God has prepared us for whatever lies ahead. Hear now Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 1-11:

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. [2] For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. [3] 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! [4] But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; [5] for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. [6] So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; [7] for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. [8] 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. [9] For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, [10] who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. [11] Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

We have all seen roadside signs -- sometimes in flashing neon -- which read: JESUS SAVES. In the parable which follows, we are pressed to adjust this view to something like: JESUS INVESTS . . . . Listen attentively, as I read from the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, verses 14-30:

"For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; [15] to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. [16] The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. [17] In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. [18] But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. [19] After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. [20] 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.' [21] 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.' [22] 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.' [23] 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.' [24] 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; [25] so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' [26] 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? [27] 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. [28] So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. [29] 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. [30] As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

SERMON:

Even with the record snow fall which has preoccupied us all for over a week, I would guess that there are few who came to this sanctuary this morning unaware that the stock market hit a record high every day last week. Whether or not we have a personal stake in stocks, those kinds of numbers capture everyone's attention.

Similarly, if we are to appreciate the full context and receive the full impact of Jesus' parable of the talents, we need to appreciate what everyone who first heard this parable understood. The numbers which Matthew refers to are staggering:

• to the first servant, the master gives about 6 million dollars;
  
  
• to the second he gives about 2.5 million dollars
  
  
• and to the third he gives over a million dollars.
  
  
  

When these sums are spelled out, the parable takes on new meaning. These were not micro loans to a struggling servant living in poverty to enable the purchase of an apple cart to enhance the servant's livelihood. These extravagant gifts made it possible for these three slaves instantly to become venture capitalists. And like all great opportunities, these gifts carried with them numerous risks.

The last time I spoke with an investment manager, the term "risk aversion" was used with some frequency. (Perhaps it was an indication of my fiscal conservatism!) When a person has the power to do what she will with a significant amount of resources, she has to understand -- going into her decision making process: "How averse am I toward risk?" Not everyone can invest substantially in the stock market and sleep well at night. There are even some who find any investment beyond stuffing their mattress to be unacceptably upsetting.

Using financial investment as a metaphor for our faith gets our attention because most of us relate to the risks associated with financial investment more readily than we understand the risks associated with faith. We know what behavior corresponds to risk-taking in the world of finance, and we know what behavior corresponds to capital preservation. We also know that in the end, in the arena of finance, there will be a reckoning.

Today's lessons tell us that in the arena of faith, it is no different. As far back as the ancient Israelites, our forebears anticipated a time of reckoning -- variously referred to as Judgement Day, the day of the Lord, the day of God, the day of the Son of Man, and so forth. Originally, it was believed that this would be the day on which God, acting as the Divine Warrior, would descend from heaven to crush Israel's opponents. Later, prophets like Amos and Zephaniah reinterpreted the concept. They introduced the idea that when God comes, God will turn on all enemies, including Israel herself, because Israel had been unfaithful. No longer could people assume that because of their birthright, God would be on their side. For the first time, people were willing to point the finger at themselves.

The Gospels contain about two dozen references to the coming day of Judgement. The early church, in general, expected an imminent, dramatic, visible return of Christ to usher in the New Age. Most Christians living in the first generation after Jesus' death believed that within their lifetime, Christ would return to complete the ministry he began. Gradually, as the years went on, an adjustment had to be made. Although Jesus had said that the day of the Lord would come before any of them died, he must have meant something else. Many had died already. Indeed, many had been persecuted -- and the Messiah had not yet returned. Thus, the early church was forced by the facts to reinterpret what they believed. Paul's ministry embodied this reinterpretation.

Paul's letter to the Thessalonians is the oldest book of the New Testament, having been written less than twenty years after Jesus' death. In today's passage, Paul is trying to respond to the community's questions about the day of the Lord. The Thessalonians want to know when the current era will end. Paul assumes, with certainty, that the day is coming, and adds that it will come with shocking and unheralded suddenness: "like a thief in the night." What will signal its coming? When people claim that "'there is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them...." Complacency, lack of self-criticism, an inability to recognize values that are drifting far from their births -- these, and other ways in which we fool ourselves into thinking "all is well," are noted by Paul to signal the coming judgement. Self-satisfaction is just another way of relegating God to the sidelines.

What does God want? We are told to be alert and "sober." It's as if Paul realized that, given the chance, people naturally gravitate to drunken avoidance of the truth. So Paul told them "be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." There's a battle to be fought, and we need protection. But not the protection of armament; not the security of riches. As we face the coming judgement, we must be clothed in faith and love. We must be full of hope, not in our power to protect or justify ourselves, but in God's power to save us. Paul assures us that from God's point of view, we are not destined "for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." If we are to live-out that promise, we must be faithful.

And what does faithful behavior look like? However upsetting -- however shocking -- faithful behavior looks like Matthew's parable of the talents. Here's what I mean.

First of all, let's be clear about who is really at risk in the parable. It's the master who is at risk. He entrusts his whole life, everything he has to his servants. His future becomes totally dependent upon the fruitfulness of his servants. And then he goes away for a long, long time.
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Our trusting, loving God has done no less toward us. In Jesus Christ, God came to us as a defenseless babe, completely vulnerable and subject to human authority. In the end, our forebears used their authority to kill God. But by God's grace, this was not the last word. Beyond the death of Jesus is the resurrection of the Christ. And through his life, death and resurrection, we have been given freedom. We have been given abilities and talents. And as the crown of creation, as the most powerful and influencial of the world's 30 million species, we have been given authority to use this world, and all that has been entrusted to us, for the glory of God.

Now it's easy to forget this last part -- to use creation "for the glory of God" -- because so often it seems that God is no where to be found; that God is nothing more than a distant echo; that God has abandoned us and has taken a rather extended holiday. But we cannot shirk the responsibility which comes with freedom. The master will return. The accounts will be settled.

So having received this magnificent trust by the generosity of God's grace, what is expected of us? What directives did the master leave before departing?

The answer is none. What we do with all that has been entrusted to us, is our decision. This wonderful, glorious magnificently wrapped package called life comes with no specific operating instructions. That is what is meant by freedom.

What we do with what has been entrusted to us is determined by the lessons we have learned as we have attended to God's presence in our lives since our birth. All three servants in the parable would have been cognizant of the teaching which caused the third servant to take his course. The Rabbinic Law states that whomever immediately buries property entrusted to him is no longer liable because he has taken the safest course. Those hearing Jesus tell this parable would have whispered to each other, "the third fellow, he'll be all right. The Law says he did the right thing."

But a new law is being declared here. The master in the parable makes it clear that faithfulness involves taking risks on behalf of the master who is willing to risk everything on our behalf. This is what the third servant fails to grasp. Confronted with a huge responsibility in the context of complete freedom and no directives, the third servant is driven by fear that out of this open-ended situation, judgement will result. So to save his own skin, he adopts a strategy of absolute security. To avoid judgement and defeat, he digs a hole that becomes his own grave.(1) In preserving himself from risk, he seals himself from the exhilaration of joy, the challenge of failure, and the promise of grace. In burying the great sum which is been entrusted to him, he buries his own future.

Faithfulness demands risk-taking because the one to whom we are faithful was the greatest risk-taker of all. Although he left no investment guide before he was crucified, his life and death made it clear that he thought our salvation was worth the risk of his life. From this, we can conclude that faithfulness to his name demands of us some risk as well.

And what happens to a church member who begins to walk down the road of risk? What happens is that we bump into others who are coming back down that road the other way. . . . Others who have risked a comment, a suggestion, or an innovation, and have met with such resistance that retreat seemed to be the only option. In such an atmosphere, creativity withers. And faithfulness, with its essential quality of risk taking, gives way to its great enemy: fear.

When we are controlled by fear, we bury God's gifts, uncertain of what to do, and fearful that we might make a mistake. When we are controlled by faith, we actively initiate those strategies and plans to which we experience God's call. God can work through us, so long as we are willing to work, and take risks, for God. We must not allow ourselves to be dominated by fear and bury the treasure we have been given. We must not excuse ourselves like the third servant, saying "I am timid," or "I'm not sure what the wisest path would be and I have no instructions." If we do, we too will be judged.

Whatever your understanding of God, I ask you to plumb the depths of your soul concerning the issues we have examined. If you do, I think you will agree that faithfulness demands taking risks on behalf of others, not only in our private lives, but in our communal life as well. Not only in our families, but in our church and community. May God grant us the courage in the months and years ahead to harness our collective imagination and move forward together as we take risks in the name of God, and on behalf of all of God's children. Amen.

Footnote:
1. From William Willimon, Pulpit Resource v. 24, no. 4, p. 30.