Sermon by the Rev.
Andrew S. Rollins
November 16, 2008
(Proper 27A)
Text: Matthew 25:14 –
15, 19 – 29
Title: “Five Talent
Stewardship”
I have to begin with a disclaimer. Because we are in the middle of our stewardship drive, I plan to set the issue of our stewardship next to this parable about stewardship. But I want to point out that the prayer book assigns this parable to this day, the 27th Sunday after Pentecost. In other words, I didn’t pick it! It’s no great coincidence that we come upon a text dealing with money during our stewardship drive. Jesus often spoke on the subject of money and stewardship. It was one of his favorite subjects. With Jesus, it was a given that issues of money and stewardship were inseparable from issues of faith and God.
This morning we hear “The Parable of the Talents” from Matthew’s gospel. In the story, a man entrusts three of his slaves with differing numbers of talents.
“What’s a talent?” A ‘talent’ was a measure of weight used for measuring gold or silver. But more generally, we could say that a “talent” represents the resources that the God entrusts to a particular human being. Your “talent” certainly includes money. But it could also include time . . . that body you walk around in . . . the gifts people tell you that you have . . . this earth we inhabit . . . the home where you live . . . the education that prepared you for your vocation . . . the children who call you ‘mom’ or ‘dad’. Whatever amount of faith you exercise could be called a talent. A talent is whatever God has entrusted to you . . . for a time. You did nothing to earn it. You received it as a gift. And one day, according to the parable, you will return it . . . with an explanation.
The First Slave
The first slave is given five talents. In the world of the parable, the first slave receives more than twice what anyone else receives. The master places a great deal of trust in this first slave, “according to his abilities.” When the master leaves, this first slave takes those five talents to the marketplace – trades with them, wheels and deals – and makes five more talents.
It’s not hard for me to see our
The plans for the coming year and the budget those plans will require are laid out in our new stewardship brochure, which I hope you will study. We want to make ten talents out of five talents. We’ve done so well with one student intern; next academic year, we plan to hire two. Our music program attracts the people from all over of this LSU community. We’re going to keep that program top-notch. And we’re going to make certain that we maintain these buildings that we use every day.
Back to the parable . . . when the master returned, this
first slave is commended: 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. This first
slave is commended because he is adventurous, based on his master’s generosity.
The Second Slave
The second slave is very much like the first . . . but not exactly. There is one very important difference. The first slave is given five talents; the second slave is given two.
Jesus knew a thing or two about life. Some of us are that second slave, except that we immediately compare ourselves to anyone else who has more. How much of your life have you wasted saying to yourself, “If only I had been given some raw talent like Susan, then I’d really do something to make God proud.” Or “If only I had a more supportive wife, then I’d really accomplish something for the Kingdom.” Or, “If only I had more inheritance, then I’d really give generously.” If only . . . .
But, in the parable, this second slave is not distracted by what he doesn’t have. I find this second slave easy to like because he wastes no time comparing himself to the slave who is given five talents. And he isn’t held back by fear of failure. He marches right off into the marketplace with his two talents and starts doing business. He doubles his master’s two talents.
This second slave is our own Olivia Duvall (age seven). If you haven’t heard the story, Olivia heard about our Divine Mercy Project where we’re collecting money for goats and school uniforms and supplies for Ugandan families. And she decided that she wanted to raise funds for this. So she created a flier which she distributed in her neighborhood invited people to come by her house to learn more about the project and to make a donation, if they wished. She had cookies and chocolate milk out on the porch. And people did drop by. They talked about the project and, Olivia tells me, some dropped $20 bills in the cigar box. And Olivia and her mom came by St. Alban’s later that week to present me with a cigar box with $260 cash for the Divine Mercy Project. (If that doesn’t inspire us, then nothing will!)
Olivia faithfully went to work with what she had available. She wasn’t influenced by the church telling her “Stewardship is for adults” or “Olivia, why don’t you draw a picture of a goat. That would be nice.” Olivia just said, “Money is needed. I’ll go raise money?”
As a result (just like the first slave), this second slave in the parable is rewarded with a promotion to greater responsibility. We featured Olivia in this year’s stewardship flier. And who would argue if she were made the chair of next year’s stewardship drive!
The Third Slave
Then there is the third slave. (This would be a pretty
upbeat parable were it not for this third slave.) This slave is given one
talent. He takes that one talent, digs a
hole, and buries it in the ground. When the master returns, he says, Master, I knew that you were a harsh man,
reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so
I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what
is yours.
From the start, the third slave’s one priority is to keep his talent, his money, his entrusted resource, safe and secure. But we learn, from the mouth of this third slave, that this master reaps where he doesn’t sow and gathers where doesn’t scatter. In other words, this master has abilities beyond and above his slave’s to make treasure appear. This master is not bound by the ups and downs of the stock market. And neither are his slaves. So they have no business burying talents.
This third slave is in this parable as a warning against excessive prudence when it comes to the resources that God entrusts to us. According to the parable, it is a punishable crime against God to live a safe and cautious life with what has been entrusted to us: As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There’s an insurance company called Prudential. Jesus is saying that the church is not the Prudential Insurance Company.
The third slave would be St. Alban’s Chapel if we ever decided that we just wanted to fortify this building against intrusion and hold our ground until reinforcements arrive. You don’t have to look far to find dying Episcopal churches who’ve chosen that strategy. You do not have to look far to find churches who, when the master returns, the senior warden will proudly say, “Lord, we want you to know that we have held this acre for over 100 years. We’re returning it to you just as you left it – same pews, same stained glass window . . . same people even.”
How We Will Respond
Many churches have chosen that road. But we are taking the road less traveled.
The parable calls us to shrewd, even risky action based on the generosity of God. The parable – like your life – is a story about the grace of God. In the parable – as in your life -- the grace comes at the front end. The rest of the story – like the rest of your life -- is about your response to that grace.
The story asks us all, “Given the generosity of God, how will you respond?”