Year A

Matthew 25:14-30

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

Risky Faith

As we come to the end of the Pentecost season with Thanksgiving this week and the last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King Sunday next Sunday, in this season of thankfulness, we would expect to find that the lessons would focus on God’s goodness to us and our response of thanksgiving, of which they do. It is clear that God wants us to do something with the talents God gives us and we should be thankful, but we also find today, that the texts over all can make us feel a bit uncomfortable. There are no warm fuzzies to be had here today, as they invite us to some rather unpleasant introspection and contemplation. The prophet Zephaniah himself today with his “hell-fire and brimstone,” words that announce the day of wrath-the fearful day at the end of human history, reminds us that we sin-we turn from God, from his commands, we sin and should call out for mercy. 

The reason for his stern words today and the non-fuzzy texts is because we cannot move into the season of Advent in two weeks without shifting our attention to the future day of our Lord’s return, and to the anticipation of a final judgment. Judgment day may or may not look like any disaster movie we have ever seen nevertheless, the warnings are important. Yet, the idea of God’s judgment leaves many of us uncomfortable because we feel it compromises our conviction that God is, after all, love and not wrath. Without a doubt, there is a tension in the way the scriptures portray God. God is pictured as compassionate and merciful, and also as sometimes wrathful and stern as God calls for accountability in our actions.

This call to responsibility or accountability for our actions can make some uncomfortable especially in our fear-prone society today. I don’t see these texts as wanting to make us fearful of God’s future, but to call us to faithfulness which comes from the promises of our life in Jesus Christ. The gospel invitation today and the promise of the parable of the talents to enter into the joy of the master, in my opinion, outweighs the word of judgment. Yet, still calls us to accountability. Parables are intended to evoke a response in us and this parable asks for accountability of our time, talent and treasure. 

The talents become a broader metaphor for the life of faith. To live this life of faith passively, as if waiting for eternity to arrive, is no different than burying the talent in the ground out of fear of the master. To invest in our faith with commitment, seeking to grow in our generosity, our love and knowledge of God, using our gifts and abilities generously, to the glory of God is to experience the joy of God’s grace which is a response to the parable in our lives. This is the third of four stories or teachings in Matthew chapter 25 that center on the return of the master, or bridegroom or king, the judgements that come with that return and how those who await his return spend their time.

It stands at the spot where Matthew turns the readers toward the Passion story as he has Jesus telling this parable during the last few days of his life to teach those listening what embodies proper conduct as they await the return of the Son of Man in glory. Matthew’s version, a bit different than Luke’s version is a story about a wealthy man who represents Jesus who goes away on a long journey, pointing to when Jesus ascends back to God after the resurrection and before he departs, he distributes his property to three slaves which represent us, until he returns. The return of the master brings about the fullness of the reign of God. What we do or fail to do in response to the master’s trust until he returns is not trivial.  

The point here is not about doubling our money and accumulating wealth. It is about what Jesus expects and hopes for after he is gone. It is about being a follower of Jesus and what it means to be faithful to him. Do we care deeply and profoundly enough about anything to invest our hearts and lives in and in the process risk everything? To play it safe, as it turns out is not to risk anything. To which conventional theology identifies as pride and egotism. It’s called sloth and sloth means not caring, not loving, not living up to the full potential of our humanity, playing it safe, investing in nothing, digging a hole and burying the money in the ground. Yet, God has entrusted us and given us everything in God’s kingdom, therefore, we have nothing to fear by investing in God.

We are, in our entirety a gift from God-our minds, hearts, resources, relationships, even the gift of every moment of every day. In thankfulness, we have an obligation, a privilege, of taking risks for God and pushing forward the values of the kingdom because as Paul reminds us today “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” As children of light, we are not to be groping in the dark, afraid to move, unsure of the next step. We are to be people who are alive, alert, awake and aware. Paul says it’s important we stay that way because the promise of the second coming of the Lord is not an invitation to laziness. It is the promise of his coming that makes us even more eager to share the good news and to encourage and support each other in faith.

Paul was convinced that the Second Coming of the Lord would happen before all the people in Thessalonica died. Paul expected it in his lifetime and so he assures the Thessalonians “of course you will be prepared. You already know. You live in the light, faith, and life of the resurrection.” Paul’s purpose was to put the new Christians at peace with the fact that they belong to a new day. They have received a great gift in the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; their awakening to faith and the privilege of living as Gods called-out people in the light. What we have received is enough light in God’s love of us to keep us awake, alert and ready.