26th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 28
Matthew 25:14-30
"Hope, Risk"
14 ¶ "For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property;
15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more.
17 So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more.
18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ’Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’
21 His master said to him, ’Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’
22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ’Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’
23 His master said to him, ’Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’
24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ’Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow;
25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’
26 But his master answered him, ’You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed?
27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.
28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents.
29 For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’RSV
Grace and Peace to you from Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
I would like to tell you two stories this morning which, I think deal very well with out gospel lesson.
The first:
Once a chief left his village for a long journey and put his three children in charge of the people. His oldest son was the best hunter: "Little Elk," said the chief, "you must take command of the hunters; keep them keen and accurate for the winter will be harsh and the people will need much food to survive. Every hunter must be at his very best at all times." To his daughter, the chief said: "Running Deer, you must watch over the women of the tribe. They must gather food and weave many warm clothes to protect our people from the cold."
His youngest son, and his favorite, was Falling Leaf, the tribe’s best dancer "My son, your responsibility is to free the people’s hearts with your dancing and ease their minds in difficult times. The spirit of our tribe is in your hands; do not fail them."
"I will do my best," replied Falling Leaf.
When the chief returned, he found many of his people dead and many more hungry, cold and dispirited. Little Elk said: "The winter was harsh, Father, as you predicted. The hunters went out every day, but game was scarce; they returned each night empty-handed and soon gave up hope." He was ashamed, but the chief touched his head and said,"No need for shame, my Son; you have done your best."
Then came Running Deer; "Forgive me, Father, but the women were so saddened by the lack of food and their dying children that they stopped trying to gather food in the snow. We have woven what we could, but it was not enough for everyone."
The chief dried her tears and hugged her: "No shame, my daughter; you have done your best."
When Falling Leaf entered, the chief said: "My son, when the cold winter oppressed the people and lack of food broke their spirit, did you not dance to give them hope and memories of better days?"
"I did not," said Falling Leaf. "It seemed too frivolous and foolish to dance in the face of such despair. I sat in my tepee and wept for our fate."
Then the chief was sad and stern. "In the face of such tragedy, your gift was the only hope for our tribe! But you would not give. You have not done well, my son; you have failed your people. Leave now and let me never see your face again."
A second story:
A pastor wrote:
"I was approached by a foreign student whose relatives, with whom she was living, had become unemployed. At that time, she was called by her family saying her parents were ill and needed her help, could she return? The request came to me, could the church help? Facing a $1,000 ticket which was more than the discretionary fund in the church budget would allow, I decided to ask some individuals. Of the selected 7 individuals, 5 didn’t even want to hear all the details and said, "pastor, if you need the check, it’s yours." Of the two who had some reasons for the put-off in a couched refusal, both represented the wealthiest persons with the most means!"
Both of these stories illustrate points in our gospel lesson. The first point being that we should not loose hope and the second is that we must risk, use what God has given us to build up his kingdom.
At first glance to this parable, it might seem like it is capitalism gone amuck. It would seem Jesus is saying that the rich should get richer. For Jesus said a man was going on a journey and gave five talents to one servant, two talents to another and one talent to yet another each according to his ability.
Then the man returns and wants to know what happened to that which he gave each man. The first two servants used what the master had given them and made more, but the third servant did not do anything with what was given him. Notice, the master did not ask for his talents back, but was pleased because the first tow did something with that which was given them.
The first two servants had hope for the future and were willing to risk that which was given them. And that is the point, isn’t it?
Jesus is telling us that we have been given talents, gifts, abilities and we should use those for the kingdom of heaven. He was saying to the third that he really did not care how much he had gotten back from the investment, but he was angry that the servant did nothing with what was given him.
The point Jesus is making is that we are to risk.
"We are like the child who did not want his flower seeds to get wet and rot and die. So he placed them in a jar, screwed the lid on tightly, buried the jar in the flower bed, and waited in vain for something to grow. A year later, he still had dry flower seeds, but he had no flowers."
Martin Luther’s statement that we are to sin boldly comes to mind. He is not saying we should sin, but he is saying we need to risk, to try, to be bold in our relationship with God and our neighbor.
We have been given just so much time on earth whether we live to be 90 years old or 70 or what, our time is limited. And I think what Jesus is saying in this parable is that we should use that time wisely.
We need to use that time for our faith live, for our families, for our neighbors, etc.
Maybe this story about a 1000 marbles is what Jesus means.
May your Saturday mornings be special.
The author is unknown.
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whoever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles".
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital."
He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities."
And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."
"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I’m getting to the important part."
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday, then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 73 Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids.
Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles."
Time, talents, gifts from God are supposed to be used to honor Him and our neighbor in Christ.
Got a 1000 marbles?
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale November 11, 2002
