well colour me pleased!

So, the sermon went really well today. I got a lot of positive feedback and support from my classmates. I was totally worried that because there were two other preachers speaking about the same passage that we would end up with three of the same sermons. But those fears were unfounded. Three very very different sermons. Each reflecting their theological traditions. I am so glad that I was well-recieved and that it is all over. Well, besides the part where I have to evaluate my own sermon (they were taped, so I can re-visit this experience, over and over again... woo...)
So as promised, I am posting my sermon. A) Because I am proud of it and B) I said if it went well I would. Hope anyone who reads this enjoys it.

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I will admit that I thought I had really lucked out when I picked this week to preach. The Parable of the Talents, yes! Don’t waste your God-given talents by hiding them in the dirt. The sermon would practically write itself. First, I would need to make sure that the tiny dog now is mine and is not forgotten. Then all I needed to do was add a little flair, a solid exegesis, perhaps a little filler. Mention a doctrine and don’t forget to connect it to the Gospel and badda-boom-badda-bing sermon done. Four short pages away from a stellar sermon. All too soon I would be hearing “Well done good and faithful servant.” Right?
No, not at all. I found it very troubling when I looked at the text more deeply. This familiar parable packs a wallop when attempting to unpack it all. As I began pulling at the text, the simple story of God-given talents came unravelled. I found myself gnashing my teeth as I thought about how to tackle this.
My trouble began as I started to look at the image of the Master. And I am not sure about you, but I wouldn’t want to work under that Master. When charged with being harsh and cruel, the Master does not refute this at all. In fact, his actions only confirm those fears. He takes away the talents and orders the third, “worthless” slave cast into the outer darkness. As if the darkness outside of the joy of the master, wasn’t bad enough, weeping and gnashing the teeth are thrown in for good measure. This master sounds like a nasty guy! Is this supposed to be God? Much like the Parable of the ten maidens from last week, or the parable of the wedding guest, there is no happy ending here. The third servant was only trying to be safe and not disappoint the Master. Was this such a bad idea? Was this punishment deserved? Should he be condemned for being safe?
Likewise, this parable confirms the worrying idea of God as the judge who will condemn for anything less than perfection. If there was ever an example of vertical, top-down judgement, this would be it. This is not the God that Jesus had talked about elsewhere. Where is the loving Father or masterful Creator, or even the Companion Spirit on the way? This is the judge, jury and executioner image of God. The God who keeps a proverbial score board of the right and wrongs of your life. How can anyone live up to that? Ultimately I had to ask where the good news of this parable is.
I remember very distinctly the first time that I heard this parable, at summer camp. I was nine years old and I remember sitting in the Christian Education session, wishing we were still playing soccer-baseball. I can still hear their smooth voice as it re-told the parable. Well I didn’t know what gnashing of teeth was, but I was pretty sure that it was something that I wanted to avoid at all costs. To nine year old Melanie, two things seemed obvious. One: while talent might have meant money back in Jesus time, it clearly could be understood to mean our God-given gifts. And because of this, point two: I did not understand adults. Why would anyone hide their talents, whether they were money or gifts? It seemed all a little ridiculous to me. I was thoroughly convinced that I would never become a silly servant who would hide their talents away.
Although in light of our recent economic plight, maybe the third servant was actually quite wise. By burying his talent, he didn’t have to tell his master that the market bottomed out and that the retirement fund is gone. No need to worry about the plunging dollar, because the talent was safe in the backyard, having lost nothing. Maybe the third servant should become an economic advisor during our troubling times! I kid!
I wish I could say that nine year old Melanie was right, that I never became like the third servant. But alas, we can all think of the ways that we have done that. As we grow, and experience the world, we become separated from the best part of us. We learn about mistakes, and their consequences. We learn to fear failure. To fear messing up, to be found less than adequate. At some point we start to doubt the source and doubt the gifts. We become separated from the child-like heart that can accept the gifts from God and isn’t afraid to share them. We get hurt and bear the marks of these fears; we become broken. And we do it to ourselves. Thus the darkness and gnashing of teeth that the third servant experiences is not a result of a judging master, rather the logical consequence of his own actions. If you don’t use a limb, what happens? Atrophy sets in. Use it or you lose it as the saying goes. The servant created a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby he designed the hell that he was cast into. Much like the wedding guest who showed up with the wrong clothes, or the unprepared maidens, when we choose not to receive the provisions given to us, we remove ourselves from the celebration. We do it to ourselves.
This is not the end of the story however. There is good news here. Let’s go back once more. Instead of focusing on the ending, let’s turn our attention to the beginning. What is it that separates the other servants from the unwise one? All three receive the talents. The Master is gracious in the giving. But their response to the gracious giving of the talents is what sets them apart. They understood that the talents were given to be used, not buried. The third servant let his fear control him and prevent him from using the gift that was given to him. Just as we create our own places of darkness, we too create the kingdom of God when we act without fear and live into the promise of transformation. A transformation from our broken fear into wholeness. God gives graciously to all, inviting us to respond and live into the promise of resurrection, a promise of communal renewal and transformation.
Preacher Leonard Sweet describes this parable as one that is not about the extravagance of the gift of the talents, rather a tale about the empowerment of the servants to respond and risk using their gifts. Sweet says “The parable of the talents is less about using your talents wisely than it is about risking all for the master. The hundredfold increase of talents for those servants who risked everything isn't a lesson in wise money management. Instead it's a call to step out beyond the safe avenues, the accepted lifestyles, with the trust that putting everything in the hands of God is the best investment we can make. Only by giving everything over, only by putting ultimate control beyond our short reach do we find the joy that Jesus' parable promises.” The first two servants responded to the grace of giving by knowing that they needed to risk using it and thus were blessed and transformed. And is that not the hope of resurrection? A process of transformation in the name of God through the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps the childlike view that thought it was silly to hide our talents had it right all along. When we embrace the grace by which God gives us our gifts, we are called to respond in grace. If the first two servants hadn’t doubled their talents, would they have been rejected? I believe that they still would have been welcomed and praised by the Master for their efforts. God does not demand perfection, but God does desire our whole selves. And our whole selves are not ones that hoard, bury or hide. Rather we are whole when we live into an attitude of risk and trust. It is in trying that the promise begins to be fulfilled. Like the tiny mustard seed, it takes only our choice to try rather than shutting down for amazing things to happen.
We will find abundance when we respond without fear. Just like the unwise servant, if we bury our gifts, we gain nothing. But when we risk it, we become active agents in the creation of the kingdom of God here on earth. Our talents are not our possession, but are gifts that are given to us. They only become real when we share them with others. And as we take the risk to use them even a little, we will be empowered to us them more. Because there is a joy in using our gifts for the common good. That’s what they were given for. It is in using our gifts we life our life’s calling, our life-meaning. Think about how a child receives a gift: they rip it open with joy and delight, take it out and use it and share it. We can return to that child-like joy, getting in touch with our childlike heart that chooses to risk because of the knowledge of grace.
After all, who did it that Jesus said would enter into the kingdom? In Mark 10:15 he says “For I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom as a little child will never enter it.” God has blessed us with gifts and God gives us the grace we need to use them and enter into the realm of the joy of the master, the living kingdom of God. When we respond with the attitude of risk and daring, perhaps we too will hear the words we long hear “Well done, good and faithful servant”. Well Done.