Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Psalm 90:1-4, 12
Matthew 25:14-29

The other night I received a phone call at home from one of those organizations that bring a truck around to your neighborhood to pick up items at your front steps. (These organizations have clued in to how difficult it is for us to get rid of the stuff that collects in our homes and have made it easier on us. They not only come by to pick things up, but often they even give us bags to put things in. So how difficult could it be to take advantage of this?) In response to this phone call, however, I heard myself say, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I am going to be able to get myself organized enough by the time your truck is coming by." Then as I hung up the phone, I began a conversation in my head with myself. It went something like this:

"What did you mean by that?"

"Was it really a time thing or were you just unwilling to let go of some of your stuff?"

"But I might need that pasta maker that I have never used."

"Yeah. And I am sure that black felt western hat might come in handy real soon, too....."

My mind raced through all the reasons to keep and hold on to all the things that I have piling up in my closets. 

And I know I am not alone in this need to hold on to stuff. On a larger scale, this all too common condition is illustrated by the booming self-storage industry. I have heard and read several authors recently who speak about the phenomenon of this industry. One statistic I heard said it is a $12 billion industry and growing (John Ortberg, It All Goes Back in the Box). Another author comments on how this industry is a symbol of how "more being better" has gone out of control saying that we have all of these little houses in America to house our stuff because we have so much stuff. (Lynne Twist, The Soul of Money)

Jesus tells a parable that speaks to this storage mentality. In the parable we heard today, there was a man given 5 talents, a man given 2 talents and a man given one talent. The first two invest and trade and double their gifts. The man with only one talent hid it away for safe keeping. When the master returns, he rejoices at the results of the first two, but is quite harsh with the third man who put the gift under his mattress. The third man says, I didn't invest because I was scared of you, master."

Now I must admit, I have wrestled a lot with this parable this week. And while that is the point of parables, it was hard to hear this word in the midst of the news we keep hearing over and over again. Many people whose jobs were dependent on making sales have been let go. Other jobs where positions were funded by grants, did not have those grants renewed this year. Still others may be close to experiencing the downsizing effects in their job settings. For others, pensions that had been sufficient for retirement have been reduced so significantly that many people are now asking "now what?" and many others are finding it difficult to dream and recreate themselves in a new way because there is so much grief about what might have been.

So we have been listening to what's going on and now we have gotten the message. We have been hit with the reality that we might need to save for a bit more, we will need to reduce our expenses until we can find a new job, and we might need to think about some significant lifestyle changes in the mean time. We can do this though. We are adaptive and creative individuals we tell ourselves.

But then we come to church and hear the parable for today. We start to relate with the third guy who decides to put his things into storage-yes, that is the safe thing to do during these times. But when we hear the master's harsh response to the third guy in the parable......well, I don't know about you, but it is pretty hard to swallow. It almost feels like salt being rubbed in a wound. What do you mean Jesus? Why is the master so hard on the third guy? He only had one talent. He was being smart, frugal, and wise. He was being responsible with what he was given. What's up with this parable, Jesus?!

Then two things changed the way I looked at the parable:

The first thing began with me trying to call my brother the night of the election returns. I really wanted to talk to him that night, but with no luck. At some point my mother must have mentioned to me that he had lost his phone, but it didn't completely register. For some reason, it did not strike me that he was in need. Since he does not have a home phone, and he only has email at work, he was basically out of touch with anyone for a couple of days. The next day my mother copied me and my husband on an email to my youngest brother saying, "Why don't you ask your sister if she has some old phones you can use until you get a new one?" Believe it or not, it did not hit me until that moment that my brother had a need and I had plenty with which I could help him in this need. I think between Mark and me we gathered up four old phones that we passed on to him to see if they would work. I marveled with disbelief at how blatant someone had to be to point out I had an abundance I could share.

The second thing that changed my thinking about our parable for today was reading about what a talent actually is. One commentary said that "While we often use "talents" to refer to one's abilities, the word in this text refers to a very large sum of money -- between 75-96 pounds of silver. It would take nearly 20 years of work at the basic wage of 1 denarius a day to equal 1 talent. The master was very, very generous to all the slaves -- even the one who received only one talent: One talent = wages for 20 years; two talents = wages for 40 years; five talents = wages for 100 years." (Brian Stoffregren's Exegetical Notes) So while the third slave had received less than the others, it was still a very generous amount.

These two things got me to thinking that God has given all of us gifts, talents and treasures. Sometimes, however, we discount the abundance that we have. Maybe the guy with the one talent didn't think he had much to share because he had his eye on all the talents the others had received. If he had focused on what he did have, he might not have been so fearful. The same goes for us. We often don't think our gifts are enough because we have our eyes on the Jones'...you know who they are: the people next door, or down the street, or even our relatives. If we could take our eyes off of the Jones', however, we might be less anxious as well.

Ultimately though, the real thing that made a difference to me about this parable was seeing the different ways the three slaves viewed their master. The first two viewed their master as being generous-even the second one who did not have as much as the first. The third slave, however, viewed the master as someone to be feared. And this is what can make all the difference in the world.

So I have two sets of questions for you: Do you believe in a God who is waiting and watching and evaluating you in order to hand out limited portions of a very small pie? Or do you believe in a God who can continue to feed 5000 plus from five loaves and two fish? Do you believe in a God who makes a list and determines who is naughty and nice?

Or do you believe in a God who died for sinners who betrayed him in his hour of most desperate need?

Let's recount the love story that began with God's first promises to Abraham. God said I will bless you in order that you might be a blessing to the world. This is stated over and over in the stories from the Hebrew Scriptures: I have blessed you in order that you might be a blessing to the world. Over and over though, God's people look to other gods that will satisfy their immediate cravings. They hoard and try to store up food given to them while wandering in the wilderness, they are given land on which to live and they follow other gods, and they cheat the poorest among them to gain profits for themselves.

Then what does God do in response to God's people who have not been the blessing they were intended to be? God gives up God's own power, God pours out all that God is/ all that God has, and God gives it to us in the person of Jesus. The letter to the Philippians describes this by saying that Jesus, "who though he was in the form of God did not regard equality with God something to be exploited, but emptied himself......And being found in human form, ......he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-

even death on a cross."

This is the kind of God we know through Jesus: the kind of God that so loved the world that he gave, and loved and gave and loved and continues to give and love you and me even when we don't live up to being the blessing we were intended to be for this world. It is the nature of God to give and to continue to bless. And because we are created in the image of God, it is our nature as well.

When you focus on the generosity of God and the good news that you do not need to live in constant fear, it does something to you. When we take our eyes off of the Jones' and focus on the gift of Jesus, we can see that we have been given more than enough to be a blessing to this world. But sometimes we need to be reminded of this. We have to be reminded that we all have an abundance of something to share: for some it might be a special passion, for some it may be time, and for some it may be resources. The gifts and blessings given to us, no matter how big or how small, are not simply for our own benefit. Those gifts, whatever they are, are to be shared with the world.  Especially during this time when we are hearing messages of scarcity all around us, it is important to hear the good news of God's abundant love and open our eyes to the gifts we have been given.

I, for one, have already called back the charity that called me the other night and told them that I would have something to put outside my door when their truck comes around next week. (Maybe not that black, felt western hat, but I will have something.) More importantly though, I encourage you to bring bags of food to donate with your pledges next week. You may have heard that food pantry usage has skyrocketed recently. Then on top of this increase, food donations are down 20% and in some parts of the country, pantries are completely bare. This is a real need right now in the Twin Cities. So if you have an abundance in this area, please consider filling this need.

In the midst of these news stories let us witness to the hope, the abundance, and the generosity we know we have received in Christ. And to put this generosity into practice immediately, you will each be given a bag of M&M's to share today. To explain why we are handing out this candy in particular, there is a video being played on the monitors in the gallery that shows what happens when we share. It can also be seen on the front page of the Bethlehem website. On each bag is a question for you to ponder throughout the week: "How will you surprise someone with your generosity?" Or in other words: "How will you take your eyes off of the Jones' and help someone else to see Jesus?"

We all have something to give and invest in God's world. Let us seize our calling to bless the world through the many ways that we have been blessed: whether that means sharing cell phones, giving away clothing we don't use anymore, donating to a food shelf, using gifts and talents to develop leadership in youth, or pledging to keep the mission of Christ alive in this place. As followers of Christ, let us live generous lives transformed by the God who has given so generously to us. From this, we receive more than we could ever imagine. For this we give thanks to God. Amen.