Another Parable of the Talents - Yellowknife United Church

Another Parable of the Talents
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost - Year A
October 19, 2008

Let us pray: O God, we are blessed and gifted by you to be people who express your love, your creativity, your blessing to the world. Help us to discern the gifts we have from you. May these words be a step along that path. Amen.

   You may recall the original parable of the talents. It’s the one where Jesus tells a story about a master and three servants - each of whom are given a sum of money. The master asks each of the servants to look after the talents (ie the money). Two of the servants take a risk and are able to double the investment the owner made with them. The third servant, a cautious one, saved the money and showed the master that he had not lost a cent. The owner is not at all pleased and he asks the third servant to give his money to the first servant and is sent packing because he was not willing to take a risk.

   Well, I’m glad that wasn’t the reading from Matthew this morning. Recent economic times certainly would cast a shadow on any interpretation of that particular story of Jesus.

   I chose to mention that parable, however, because I thought of it in context of the readings we just heard and a message for us as a congregation of God’s people in this time and place. I had in mind a different parable of the talents - one which is conjured up in my own mind as a response to the reading we had from first Thessalonians this morning.

   Before I tell that story, let me make two other connections to our readings this morning. While it is a bit of a stretch to find a common theme among the three of them, each of them in turn has something to say to events that occurred this week.

   First let me refer to the gospel passage we heard from the gospel of Matthew. I remember writing a paper on this passage during my seminary years, but the things I wrote about and discovered in reading various scholarly articles and books have long since faded. I mentioned last week that “context is everything”, and so I could not help thinking about this story in the context of the aforementioned economic crisis which we have all been witness to over the past month. The more we live with the dire predictions about the economic system and the accompanying warnings about a recession, the more I realise the theological implications of the time we are facing. Of course, it is ever true that there are theological conclusions to be drawn out of whatever is happening, but sometimes the situation is so different, so altered, so beyond the normal, that it draws us into deeper reflection on the place of God in the midst of all that is happening. And that’s the message that was speaking to me as I read the story about the Pharisees and Jesus that occurs in Matthew’s gospel. Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s. That’s the poignant, enigmatic clinching phrase of the passage - a phrase that is full of mystery and cunning and wisdom and insight. What did Jesus mean? Well, I may forget the conclusion of those scholars I consulted those many years ago, but I do recall the wide variety of opinion. So, here’s one more. How much of the current economic system that is in so much trouble is the work of God? As you know, I am a person who believes in connections - in fact it is a major part of my theological understanding. I believe that everything is connected and it is in those connections that we can see the hand of God at work - binding us together and calling us forward. But I am mystified by the current economic crisis. In many ways the trouble the system is facing is a confirmation of my worst concerns and suspicions - that the whole system is like a house of cards - and it only takes a wobble on the bottom row to bring the whole thing crashing down. I’m having trouble seeing how the house of cards connection is related to the God connection. They are both representations of connection for sure, but I see them very differently. Is the economic system the work of Caesar? If it is, and I think a case can be made for that understanding, then is Jesus saying that God is not interested in the economic system as we know it? I’ve often said that God’s economy is much different than our economy, and perhaps this is a rather fateful, frightful example of how true that statement is. Now just before you start to worry that I am saying that God does not care for those who are being hurt by the current woes in the economy, I do not believe that for an instance. In fact, the current crisis calls us to care even more deeply for the pain that is being very really felt in the midst of all the market turmoil and high level bail-out meetings. Yesterday, I heard a report from the Roman Catholic church that echoed the same message that was issued by The United Church of Canada asking people not to forget about giving for and to others in the midst of our concerns for our own financial health.

   Well, that’s reflection number one. I don’t have much more to say as there are more questions than answers. I do believe that there is a message in Jesus message that speaks to us very clearly in the context of what is happening in the world right now.

   Here’s reflection number two. It connects with the reading from Exodus that we heard. Poor Moses is suffering from leadership fatigue and an accompanying lapse in his spiritual foundations. The trip to the promised land has not been quite what he expected and he needs some proof that God is really behind all of this. Well, you heard the story. In the midst of thinking about that, I read this little piece of wisdom. It’s part of a larger article on mission design in modern times. There’s a lot more in the article than I can cover this morning, but have no doubt that bits and pieces will get dropped in to other reflections in the weeks to come, for it is a wise and insightful piece of writing. One of the things the article does is to outline differences in the church in the present day as compared to a few decades ago. Here’s what it has to say about spirituality:

   From Reasonable Spirituality to Mysterious Spirituality
   Where we’ve been: The church has sought to guide the spiritual lives of its members in very practical, reasonable ways. That sounds like a compliment. It is not. Contrary to Western thought, spirituality is anything but reasonable and practical. This historic tradition dates back as far as Aristotle, who suggested that humans receive knowledge from God only through their senses.
   Where we’re going: People are accepting a more mysterious view of spirituality because they have discovered that the world in which they live is more mysterious and unexplainable than once thought. It is ironic that for many years theologians tried to emulate scientists with their precise methodologies built upon the factual and logical portions of scripture, only to discover that in the height of such scientific emulation, science was turning back toward mystery.¹

Now, think about that comparison and think about the encounter between Moses and God that we heard about this morning. Any connections? I think there are, and that’s all I am going to say.

   Now finally, the other parable of the talents. I unashamedly admit that this is going to be a commercial for the talent auction next Saturday, although I would prefer it to be known as a Public Service Announcement. If you want to know who is responsible for the fact that we are having the talent auction this fall, you can put it squarely on my shoulders. Yes, the stewardship committee decided, but it was at my prompting. Here’s why:
I’ve heard of these talent auctions in the past - not just at Yellowknife United Church, but in many other congregations. In visits to other church buildings I’ve seen either the remnants or the precursors to them, and every time I’ve been excited by the possibility they hold. I’ve spoken with people who excitedly told the story of their own talent auction. So, I’ve been party to lots of second and third hand stories about such events, but I’ve never been part of one myself. When I learned that such talent auctions were part of the history of Yellowknife United Church, I was excited. Finally, I was going to get a chance to see how they work and to experience for myself the excitement that I witnessed among others. I shared that interest with the Stewardship Committee quite a while ago, and thus that at least is one reason why it’s happening next Saturday. I can’t just leave it there, I need to tell you why I am so interested in a talent auction. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians is a great example. As we heard, he writes encouraging and uplifting words to the Christians in Thessalonica, telling them what a blessing they are and inviting them to continue being a blessing. That’s kind of what I want to say to you.

   A talent auction is not about the money we raise - although it is an important side-benefit. It’s all about my understanding of being blessed. I know from my own experience that I am most excited when I am able to use the talents that I believe God has given me to do God’s work. As only one example, I can still remember my excitement when I learned a few years ago that the United Church of Canada had formed a small computer committee to look at the ways that personal computers would impact faith and ministry within the church. That was in the mid 80's. Did we ever imagine how much impact they would have. But that’s not why I was excited. I was excited because here was a way I could put my God given abilities to use in a way that connected my aptitudes and interests with my faith life. I can’t remember when I first connected the fact that I had particular abilities and interests with the fact that they were given to me by God, but it has been a revelation to me ever since I made that connection. When I use those abilities to the best of my ability, when I spend time learning new skills and procedures, when I pore away over user guides and instruction manuals, I am honouring the gift that God has given me, and when I can use those learnings and gifts to make someone else’s life better, then I am multiplying the investment that God has made in me. It’s not about glory for myself, it’s about glorifying the creator who made each of us with our own unique skills and abilities. I believe that everyone has them. There are things we do that excite us, that drive us toward accomplishment and learning. They are blessings given to us by God. But we are blessed to be a blessing - and so God is calling us to use those talents in ways that bring some measure of happiness, well being, joy and satisfaction to others. And that’s why I am so excited about a talent auction. Because it gives me a chance to see the way that God has blessed people in this congregation - to be surprised at some of the talent that for me is so far undiscovered, and to witness the surprise in others who realise that they can be a blessing to someone else doing something they love to do! What could be better than that? It’s not about us. It’s about the creator and the creativity that the creator has invested in us. Let me paraphrase Paul just a bit. Imagine this is part of his letter to the Yellowknifers: Do you know that all over the territories of Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories and the provinces of Canada believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore—you're the message!
               How’s that for a challenge?      Amen.

1 Excerpted from Congregational Megatrends, Copyright Jeff Woods, The Alban Institute. 1998