Buried Treasure
Psalm 123; Matthew 25:14-30
Rev. Laura J. Collins
November 17, 2002
.The parable of the talents from Matthew's gospel would have been an easier sell a few years ago, during the height of the bull market. When our own retirement funds were racking up ridiculously high rates of return, we might have read this parable and said to ourselves, "Well, yes, indeed! Of course we should all be like those first two servants who invested the master's money well and doubled it in only a few short years. How foolish of the third servant to hide the treasure.
But now that we've been living in a bear market for a while we may react to this parable differently: "Wow, the master was really harsh on the cautious investor! Doesn't he realize that at least he got all his money back? The wrong investment - Enron, let's say -- and that money could have gone right down the tube. You think he'd give the guy some credit for keeping his money safe!
I think it is into a bear market, however, that Jesus intended to tell this parable. And the message is: investment is risky. But playing it safe isn't the way to go - maybe you'll lose everything, but at least you were in the game. Refusing to play at all is the real sin.
Now, clearly, we're not talking primarily about money and definitely not the stock market, since Wall Street was not part of the Jerusalem economy at the time. So what are we really talking about?
We're talking about God's investments. And God's investments are us. God has endowed us. The U.S. constitution notes that we are endowed with certain inalienable rights, but Jesus notes that we are endowed with certain inevitable responsibilities. God has endowed us and it's up to us to either sit on the endowment or make it grow. Either bury it or put it to use to improve the overall economy of life.
In God's economy, a resource that is not used depreciates. God expects returns on God's investments! God is a tough economist.
On the other hand, God is a generous banker in that there are no penalties for starting out poor -- the original size of the endowment is not the question. The question is what is done with it? Does two become four or does one remain one?
The question is: How faithful are we to the One who has entrusted us with gifts?
Let's take note of the third servant in the parable for a moment, since the story is really about him, more than about the first two. This servant was not a bad guy. He didn't squander the talent in frivolity or waste it in wantonness as, for instance, the prodigal son did in that parable. He was simply a cautious man. A conservative one.
He believes that the master is harsh and not wanting to risk the master's wrath, he chooses the route of scrupulous care. However, by the very tactics he engaged to avoid wrath, he brings it on himself. By being too cautious, too scrupulous, too conservative, he finds that he has failed to risk enough and has to face the consequences of his safe living.
Churches can fall so easily into this trap: we don't want to offend anyone, we don't want to go out too far on a limb - the community might lose respect for us if we do. In a conservative church it might sound like this: we can't start accepting gay people. We have to hold the line on morality and that blurs the clear definitions we have set in place. In this church it might sound more like this: we don't want to invite our neighbors to church - they may think we're trying to be too evangelical. Oooh. The e-word.
But when has cautious living ever brought new life into a church?
The third servant was sure he knew what to expect from the owner. But he was wrong. So, we might learn from this example that we shouldn't be too sure that we know the mind of God. In being too sure we know what God has in mind, we may fail to stretch our imaginations to see the world in a new light. Maybe we'll fail to imagine the return we might get on our investments. This third servant clearly lacked imagination in what might be done with the endowment he received.
And he also lacked courage. He knew that a bull market couldn't last forever. He knew that putting capitol on the line might result in failure. So rather than risk loss and failure, he stayed put. But it was the courage and imagination of the first two servants that brought the praise from the owner.
Let's look at some local examples: our elevator. Now let's face it, folks. We can't afford this elevator. We can't even afford to plaster the walls in the Sunday School rooms where our children learn or the balcony behind you, how in the world can we afford this??? We can squeeze the numbers and try to make it look good, but if we're honest, we'll admit: we can't. We're just a couple of hundred people of all ranges of economic ability and with what is costs to pay a pastor and a couple of part-time staff and to heat and light this old building, we're pretty stretched. But the imagination and courage of a group of people ignited the passion of this congregation to make an investment anyway. Will we get a tangible return on our investment? Perhaps a wealthy person in a wheelchair will come to church and start tithing?
I suppose that's possible. But I'm not holding my breath. The return on the investment we're hoping for is that we will become more of whom we desire to be: an open and accessible congregation for all people, including people with disabilities; and an open and accessible neighborhood center for all our scouts and 12-steppers and children and immigrants who come here seven days a week.
A similar situation, though less expensive, is our children's music program: a few years ago we said, "We can't afford it!" But everyone can see the return we get on that small investment -- engaged children, livelier worship, more joy! Well done, good and faithful servants!
In our own lives and in our larger community we make decisions day in and day out about how our resources will be used. Will we play it safe or take a risk? Will we invest in the community or hoard our resources to take care of ourselves? Will we invest in the environment or squander it? Will we work in a way that ensures just that we keep our job or will we work in a way that challenges the status quo.
The question for us is not whether we've gotten one talent or two or five to start with. The question is what we do with what we've been given. We've seen in recent elections that one vote can change a race. We know that movements for justice often start with just one voice.
God's endowment is not a treasure to be kept safe, but an adventure to be lived. God has gambled on us. Now God is counting on us to gamble on the world.
Let's take some time this week to reflect on this parable and to ask ourselves these questions:
With what has God endowed me?
What kind of return is God getting on the investment?
Buttrick, George. The Parables of Jesus. (New York: Harper & Brothers, Inc., 1928).
Dodd, C. H. The Parables of the Kingdom. (London: Nisbet & Co. Ltd, 1948).
Peterson, Eugene. The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary Language. (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1993).
Purdy, John C. Parables at Work. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1985).
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