Here’s
one of these parables that we have heard a hundred times,
one
that we usually skim the surface of
and
come to a quick moral for the story: “Don’t bury your talents.”
And
as usual this keeps us from noticing spiritual truth hidden in plain sight.
Part
of the reason why we do this is because our image of Jesus,
the
one telling the parable,
is
that he is a nice guy, loving and good,
and
therefore must be telling us spiritually nice stories, holy stories,
for
illustrating some good action that we should do.
But
as we look at these parables,
we
see that they always contain some twist that is unexpected,
something
not quite right, and often downright outrageous,
which
is meant to get our attention and jar our moral sensibilities.
Today’s
parable gives us an instance
in
which the usual cultural and religious orientation
gets
flipped over,
and
Jesus, the spiritual Teacher
who
consorted with tax collectors and sinners,
uses
a morally corrupt story to deliver a vital spiritual message.
The
story is morally corrupt because first the master,
while
praising and rewarding risky business,
certainly
comes across as greedy and avaricious,
and
second he even wants the slave to whom he gave the one talent
to
practice usury, which is forbidden by Torah.
You
weren’t supposed to charge interest with your own people,
although
it was permitted with foreigners,
those
outside the exclusive covenant community
of
the Hebrew people.
So
this story would have shocked those listening to Jesus,
and
so caught their attention and got them engaged in listening.
Well, the shock value of the story today might
not be the moral corruption
but
rather high risk taking.
The one who had received the one talent said,
“Master,
I knew that you were a harsh man,
reaping
where you did not sow,
and
gathering where you did not scatter seed.”
The master’s business, we can then see,
was
buying and selling agricultural products, crops.
He was the middle man advancing money to farmers,
giving
them promissory notes based on daily wages,
so
they could buy seed and plant their crops,
betting
on a good harvest,
which
he would then sell to the Romans or whoever at a higher price.
This guy must have been pretty successful in this
business
because
what he left to the management of his slaves
was
a hefty amount.
1
talent = 6,000 denarii, 1 denarius was a day’s wage for the average worker
So
1 talent = about 20 years’ worth of income
and
each talent as a coin would be large and heavy – 75 pounds of silver.
There was a
big risk taken with the 5 talents and the 2 talents
that
was worth millions and millions of dollars in today’s currency.
Each of
those two slaves could be seen as both reckless
and,
fortunately for them, very lucky with their master’s property
not to have
lost it on crops failing or drought or some other natural disaster.
The third slave was the most realistic and
prudent, you could say.
He
knew the risks.
Having
lived in Minnesota among farmers, I know first hand
how
each year they gamble on what they put in the ground,
and
hope and pray it won’t be a loss.
Our
model slave also didn’t want to exploit others through usury.
So
he didn’t make an investment with the money lenders,
and
instead kept this extremely expensive coin safe from theft
by
burying it in a hidden place.
In
the story the outrageous and greedy master
rewards the two slaves that have the Midas
touch,
and
the morally conscious slave is the one who gets tossed outside,
into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.
This
is an outrageous story,
but the
parable is not about moral scruples or successful financial investments.
It’s
about the risk.
If
one is to be a follower of Jesus, to be in a discipleship relationship with
him,
you
have to be willing to risk.
Playing
it safe won’t work. Think
about that.
Faith,
one might say, is after all taking risk,
taking
risk in the face of conventional wisdom,
conventional
wisdom, which, of course, is not the wisdom of God,
because
faith is not in trusting the perspective of the world culture,
but having a
new way of looking at life,
a
perspective that comes through the Spirit, a new wisdom.
The
ones who risked the most got rewarded.
But,
notice this, get rewarded with what?
Do
you think they got to keep all that money they made?
Remember,
they were slaves; that money belonged to their master.
No,
they were rewarded with more responsibility,
more
challenge for greater risk, that is, greater faith.
That’s
the way it is living in the Kingdom of God.
So
many of the Kingdom of God parables that Jesus told
were
about growth and expansion
from
something relatively small
like
a mustard seed or a handful of leaven
to
something bigger than expected
like
the seed sown on good soil that produced a hundredfold.
Jesus
personifies the Kingdom of God.
We
look at him and see what the Kingdom of God is like.
And
if anyone took risks, it was Jesus.
He
took risks with the disciples he chose and called to follow him.
He
took risks with those in power,
political
power or institutional religious power.
He
took risks with his own life, with what giving up his life could bring.
Look
at the cross – this cross here.
What
do we notice about it?
It’s
big.
It’s
where everyone can see it.
It’s
right in front towering above the altar,
so
that we look small in comparison.
What’s
missing from this cross?
The
body –
the
body of a man who was being executed,
being
purposely put to death.
We
don’t want to look at that – that’s too unsettling, disturbing.
But
so important.
Because
Jesus is the One,
who
in the tradition of the great Spiritual Masters
was
taking on suffering for the sake of others.
Only
in this case Jesus went beyond his usual healing of individuals,
releasing
them from suffering, liberating them.
Now
he did what no spiritual master had done before
or
needed to do since.
He
took it all, all the suffering, of everyone, for all time.
He
took it all and took it to the zero point
until
there was nothing left of it, nothing left of death.
And
then he broke through to Life that comes from the Source of all being,
what
we call Resurrection Life,
so
that no one else need go through death.
What
incredible faith and love this expresses!
Can
you trust that? Can you hope in
that? Can you place your faith in that?
This
parable today is a challenge for us about risking the increase of faith,
about
doubling it at the least.
But
is that for our own sake alone?
No.
The
great Archbishop of Canterbury of the last century, William Temple,
said
that we exist as a church for the sake of those outside the church,
to
share the Gospel of reconciling, healing and transforming love.
Our
purpose, according to this parable,
is
to become useful, productive disciples
whose
lives produce the fruit of such qualities of life
that
we most desire: love, joy, peace;
qualities
that attract others to faith.
Jesus
offered the world all of himself, so outrageous and so risky was his love.
Jesus
continues to offer us this love, the devotion of his heart.
He
says to you: All of creation is in
my heart;
you are surrounded by my loving heart,
and this heart is a place of refuge for your
own heart,
and all that
you hold in your heart.
Jesus
offers us encouragement
that in this refuge of his loving devotion to
us,
we are
released, set free in such a way
that we can then respond in our own opening
to offering ourselves
as living
sacrifices of love and service for others
in greater
sense of freedom
in which we can take the risks of faith,
and thus make possible “doubling the
talents.”
