November 6, 2006

Leap of Faith

by Julianne Stokstad

The Parable of the Talents in one of the longest and most complicated of the parables in Matthew. On first glance it seems to be saying something folk wisdom has said forever: the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In Jesus' words: "For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." But its meaning isn't really so clear. There's more here than a biblical lesson in economics.

Certainly, this parable could be used for stewardship---you've got to invest, don't hoard your money. Well, that's true, and we do need the money. We are just starting our stewardship campaign, but that's not where I want to go. I find much about this parable quite disturbing: for example the master's harsh judgment of the poor careful one talent guy, throwing him out in outer darkness. Good grief! It seems like blaming the victim to me.

A talent was a huge amount of money in Jesus' time. It was equivalent to winning the big lottery-- an amount equal to about fifteen years wages of a laborer. My own father spent a lot of time trying to win the lottery. He always thought that if he won the lottery, all his troubles would be over. I don't think so. This parable seems to say that more is involved than just getting the money, it is what we do with it.

At first the master seemed generous, trusting and even pretty shrewd---he knew his servants abilities and gave accordingly. The first two who received the most invested and doubled the money. Of course the master was happy with them even though usury was a sin for Jews. But it is the one talent fellow I want to look at. He was careful and did what was required by the Jewish law at that time. Everyone listening to this parable knew that whoever immediately buries property entrusted to him is no longer liable because he has taken the safest possible action. Not only that, he was following the religious laws of the time. So what was so wrong with what this fellow did?

He differed from the others in several ways besides being cautious and fiscally conservative. We are told he knew the master was a harsh man, he was afraid. But our careful one also judged his master harshly, saying he took what he had not sown. And our friend got a response worse than even he feared! He tried hard to take care of his talent, he didn't lose it, he just buried it in a safe place. He tried to do the right thing, but he didn't realize that when he dug that hole, he was digging his own grave. When he decided, out of his fear, to play it safe rather than risk anything, he buried not only the money but his own potential as well.

Matthew has a consistent theme about the negative effects of fear. Fear blocks us and limits our actions and our potential in untold ways. I'd like to propose that Jesus using the common sense observation from everyday life was to make his basic point about discipleship. It's not so much about money as about growth. Growth requires change. Change involves risk and risk requires trust and faith.

We most often think of risk as a negative thing. When we think of risky behavior we usually think of behavior that gets one in to trouble. We try to avoid risky behavior: lying, cheating, stealing, promiscuous sex, drinking, drugs. But what about other kinds of risks: risking to love more fully, forgiving someone or taking a leap of faith, trusting God? These are the kind of risks that I believe Jesus is holding up to us.

The one talent fellow didn't do anything with what the master gave him, except bury it and keep it safe. He was so afraid and surprisingly the master treated him just as he expected. Why didn't the first two servants fear the master's anger? They were much more likely to lose money. I believe that they knew the master's trust and love of them and that no matter what they did, their master would love them.

I'd like you now to think of someone you've known who so completely loved you that you knew there was nothing, nothing at all, you could possibly do to change that love. Many of us had parents who, perhaps trying to keep us safe, taught us we had to be good to be loved. Our parents could only love us the way they were loved themselves.

When I think this kind of love, all I can do is throw back my head and laugh with great joy. I do not need to be afraid.

God's love is so generous and so wonderful. The image of God we have is vitally important to our spiritual life. It is the lens through which we see and know God. The god we imagine is the god we are able to receive.

The spiritual life, Jesus teaches us, is about abundance. It is about increase. It's not about being afraid. In this parable, Jesus says not trying, being afraid to make mistakes, being afraid to lose is the very way we lose something. Think about spiritual gifts you have received-----love for example. The nature of love is that it needs to be shared, to be given away and someone in the giving, one is refilled with more love than one gave away. Think of the talent given to the servants as spiritual gifts. What a terrible thing it is to bury the gifts that God has given to us.

I'd like to end with a reading by Marianne Williamson, made famous by Nelson Mandela in his Inaugural address, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

The question I want to end with is how can we, as a community of faith, give strength and support to each other and especially our youth so we let our light shine, growing in trust and faith and love while continuing to learn about the mystery of our loving God? Amen