Choosing the right word to describe the three slaves in this story is difficult. “Slave” is probably the most accurate word, but our idea of slavery is certainly influenced by slavery in American history, which isn’t quite the same. “Servant” is a word that is easier on our ears, but it implies that they were free to come and go—which they weren’t. Most likely these were people who had sold themselves into the service of a master in order to pay off their debts. Until their debts were paid off, they were not free to go.
Nevertheless, I think that for today’s sermon, I will use the word servant. In today’s scripture story, the master’s servants were also his stewards. They were put in charge of some very valuable property. One was given five talents, another two talents, and a third, one talent.
A talent, just so you know, is quite valuable. One talent is worth 3,000 shekels. If that doesn’t mean much to you, then consider that it would take an average person at least fifteen years in order to earn one talent. In that sense, then, one talent can be said to be worth about a million dollars.
To get an idea of how much is being entrusted to these three servants, we could say that to one was given five million dollars, to another two million, and to a third, one million.
Something else you should know: the story of the talents is a parable. I know that many of you know this already, but for some, an explanation is in order. A parable is a specific type of story that shows what it is like for those who choose to live in what Jesus called the “kingdom of heaven”—a life that is possible not only in the future, but right now, in the present, for those who believe and follow the “Way.” Life in the “kingdom of heaven” is life in the beloved community described by Martin Luther King, Jr.
The first thing this parable teaches us about living in the kingdom of heaven is that the master of that kingdom is generous. He doesn’t just give out pennies and shekels; he gives out talents. He gives out millions.
But he doesn’t just give it out “for keeps.” The riches God—excuse me—the “master” gives out aren’t for the recipients to do with as they please. These gifts, these talents, are entrusted to them, to take care of, to invest. With the gift comes a responsibility. The gifts are to be put to work in ways that benefit the master.
In this parable there are three servants—three slaves—three stewards—who are given responsibility over varying amounts of God’s treasure. Thinking about these three stewards and how they took care of what was entrusted to them has led me to think of three treasures that God has entrusted to me to care for, three treasures that God has entrusted to you—treasures that have been entrusted to all God’s children on earth, and especially to those who seek and choose to live in the kingdom of heaven.
The first “treasure” on my list is this earth that we call home. In Genesis it says that God gave humanity “dominion” over the earth. What does that mean? It means that God has entrusted the earth and all that is in it to us, to care for, to nurture—just as the master entrusted to his servant the care of his five talents, to care for and nurture.
After God made humankind in God’s own image, God said to humankind, “Here: this is my creation. I am entrusting it to you. You will have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the ground. In addition, I have given you every plant and tree. Care for them all. Use them, and care for them. Care for my creation. I place it in your hands for safekeeping.”
A gift like this is truly a wonderful gift! There are several things that can be done with a gift like this. One could destroy it, ruin it, smash it to pieces, but oh! What a terrible thing that would be! One could do nothing—just let it sit there, like a talent hidden in a hole in the ground. Or, one could care for it, nurture it, help it to grow, help make it beautiful.
Which of these three options, do you think, will earn the praise of our master? And which will lead the master to accuse us of being wicked, lazy and worthless servants?
In the parable, the one servant who did not properly care for the money which was entrusted to him had that money taken away. He did not care for it properly, and so, he lost it.
Today, we are losing creation. It is disappearing, as if it were being taken away from us. Clean water and blue skies are disappearing. Species of plants and animals are becoming extinct at a rate that far surpasses anything that’s ever happened since earth began. Vast dead zones have appeared in the earth’s oceans.
The use of non-renewable resources like oil and gas continues to accelerate, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. And in using these resources, we are polluting the earth, destroying the air, land, and water of God’s creation. Even our children are becoming sick from all the pollution and contamination; increasing numbers are diagnosed with cancer, autism, diabetes, attention deficit, and a whole host of other disorders. And as researchers at Cal State Fullerton noted this week, 3,800 Californians die each year due to air pollution.
For many years, the church has all but ignored the task of caring for creation, but that’s now starting to change. At the Disciples General Assembly next summer, there is a big push to make this the greenest assembly possible. Surprising to some, many evangelical churches and leaders have begun stressing the need to care for the earth. Leaders like Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo, and Brian McLaren have brought this issue into the forefront; two years ago, 86 evangelical leaders—including Rick Warren, Charles Colson and even James Dobson signed a statement that said, among other things, that “millions of people could die in this century because of climate change.”
This is an issue on which Christians of all types are coming together. We know what must be done. We must speak out for the earth. We must speak out for clean water that we can drink and swim in. We must speak out for all the fish of the sea that are disappearing, and all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals and yes, even for all the creepy crawly things that creep along the ground.
And we must continue doing all those things that we already know we should be doing, like not buying low mileage cars or energy wasting incandescent light bulbs, or cheap products that constantly need replacing; by recycling; by disposing of batteries and other hazardous waste properly, and not just throwing them in the trash.
If we can do all that—if we can care for the earth—then perhaps we will enter into the joy of our master, and hear the words, “Well done, good and trustworthy servant.”
The second “treasure” on my list is our neighbors; our neighbors near and far—the people with whom we share this earth—and especially the poor. Jesus and the prophets say that it is our responsibility to care for the poor. This responsibility has been given to us. But have we invested in the poor?
It is very clear from scripture that we have been entrusted with the care of our neighbors. We are our brother’s keeper; we are our sister’s keeper.
The 4,000 people in Long Beach who woke up this morning without a roof over their heads—we have a responsibility to do something about that. The 30,000 children around the world who will die today from preventable causes—we have a responsibility to do something about that. The tens of millions of refugees who have had to flee their homes due to war and violence—we have a responsibility to do something about that.
The people of the earth—and the beautiful diversity that exists among them—are a gift to us. We abuse that gift when we fail to honor our diversity. We abuse that gift when we fail to recognize the value of every human being. We abuse that gift when we reveal, through our words or actions, that some people are of more value to us than others, that the rich are better than the poor, or that one race is better than another, or that Americans are better than non-Americans.
We are all children of one God, created in God’s image. If we can truly care for one another and love one another as we have been called to, then I suspect that we will live in the joy of the master, and that our ears will hear those words, “Well done, good and trustworthy servant.”
The third “treasure” on my list is our church—our congregation, and the wider church to which we are connected. What a blessing, what a gift, the church is. How wonderful it is to have a place where we can find wholeness in a fragmented world. We have been given this gift, and it, too, is ours to take care of.
Although I must say that the way in which we are called to take care of the church sounds a bit unusual. We are called to take care of the church by giving the church away. We don’t take all of our resources, and bury them in a hole for safekeeping. We don’t take care of the church by “preserving” the church. We’re not called to protect the church by keeping it in a jar like some peaches.
We are called to care for the church by giving it away. We give away to the community. We give away to our neighbors. We give away to agencies and organizations that work on our behalf, in places all over the world, providing relief and hope to millions of people.
This does, of course, require a tremendous investment on our part; an investment of the gifts God has given. And it requires a tremendous amount of faith. Both were present last week as we presented our pledges for the coming year, and this week too as I know some of you weren’t here last week.
In contemplating what I myself could pledge to the church, I thought of what my family could manage to give, and I started to write that down. But then I realized that there was no faith in the number that I had come up with.
So then I—Ginger and I—came up with a second number. This second number included the first number, what I knew we could give, but it also included some more that resulted in a pledge based on faith. The first number was a number that I knew I could provide. The second amount included an amount that I wasn’t completely sure we could provide, but it was an amount that I was depending upon God to provide. The second amount was based on faith.
I know that many of you have done the same. In fact, many of you have a faith that far surpasses my own. I mean that sincerely. I know that I still rely on myself for way too much. Many of you have learned better than I how to more fully rely on God. Many of you have been abundant in your generosity when it comes to caring for God’s church. Many of you are already living in the kingdom of heaven, already living in the joy of the master, who says to you this day: “Well done, good and trustworthy servant.”
You have invested in the church. Like a wise steward, you have taken care of what was entrusted to you in a way that has allowed it to yield interest. And what is the interest that this investment yields?
Here is the return I see on your investment: baptisms; youth groups; mission trips; lives taken from fragmentation to wholeness.
This return belongs to God. But the joy God receives from it is shared with us. We do get to live in the joy of the master. How awesome it is to be a servant of God!
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