Y’all, I am not a fan of tests or exams. I’ve been out of school for years and I still have
nightmares about not being prepared to take a test. You know the dream, you’re wondering around the halls, late for class, stumbling into the room knowing you’re not prepared, and then everyone breaks out laughing at you because you realize you’re naked. No, that’s another dream! You realize you haven’t studied the night before; you are not prepared and you are going to fail!
I kind of feel that, along with the disciples, Jesus is testing us through these final passages in Matthew known at the Olivet Discourse or The Little Apocalypse. These are the stories and teachings that take place immediately before his betrayal, arrest, and ultimate Passion. It is in these chapters Jesus is speaking directly about the Kingdom of God, the tribulation and suffering his followers will experience, the rejection of the religious elite, and the very real need for his followers to be prepared for his return.
It also feels a bit like a test to me because here we are, at the end of our liturgical church
calendar, weaving our way through some very difficult passages of scripture that include an ill-dressed wedding guest cast into utter darkness, the public condemning of the fraudulent religious guides known as the Pharisees, the seven woes, the monster of desecration, a darkened sun, moon, and falling stars, and five unprepared virgins locked out of a wedding feast. With all of this biblical drama taking place in the midst of our current global pandemic, I too feel like the student at the end of the year, completely unprepared to pass the final exam Jesus has placed before me!
And today’s Gospel lesson is no exception, for we are introduced to three slaves given
instructions from their master to increase his wealth while he’s gone away on a long journey. The first two slaves invest their master’s talents wisely, increasing his wealth. The third slave, afraid to take any action, is stripped of his talent, and thrown into utter darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Unfortunately, I can relate all too well to this poor servant’s fear of making any sudden and risky moves in the midst of our shifting and turbulent present. I want to play it safe and hide my talent in the earth as well. Maybe you at times feel this same way.
Does this mean that we run the risk of being cast our of our Lord’s presence into this terrible outer darkness he describes? Well that certainly is not good news!
But then I take a deep breath and remember the promise of God’s steadfast and unconditional love. I am reminded of another story Jesus told not too far back in the very same Gospel. The story of a son who squanders his father’s inheritance in the distant and far away country. The story of a son who comes to his senses and returns home covered in mud and crap and shame.
The story of the father who is constantly waiting for his son’s return, scanning the horizon, that when sees him, runs to him and embraces him with tender kisses, and lavishes upon him the gifts of sure sonship and unswerving inheritance.
And so I take another deep breath, and remember also the importance of context in biblical exegesis. I recall Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees and religious elite throughout all these last chapters of Matthew. The context our gospel lesson this morning is set against the backdrop of the Pharisees who have rejected Jesus’s message of light and burden free living for their own do it yourself religious fashions. I recognize that Jesus is using here the same language he used back just a few chapters ago in Matthew when telling the story or the parable of the Soil and Sower where he told his disciples:
“The knowledge of the the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. (Jesus is talking about those who cannot hear and understand the Good News of the Gospel, i.e. the religious elite). Whoever has will be given more, and he will have and abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him” (Mat.13:11-12).
Does this language sound familiar? Well it should because it is straight from our Gospel this morning, “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” (Mat. 25:29).
Most importantly, I realize that the talent the master gives to his slaves in the story is not the same word we use the English word talent for, although it is derived from this same story. A talent in the time of Jesus did not refer to a gift or ability one possesses. It referred instead to a unit of measurement used in calculating wealth. Jesus is not talking about the condemnation ahead for those afraid to use their gifts and abilities to advance the Kingdom of God. What he is doing is setting the stage for an outlandish scenario that illustrates the scandal of God’s grace.
A talent in today’s measure would be equal to a little over one million dollars. So to the first slave the servant gave five talents equal to five million dollars. To the second he gave two talents worth over two million dollars. And the third he gave a measly one talent to worth a little over one million dollars.
Does the phrase, have you lost your mind, ring a bell? What kind of a master entrusts his slaves with such an extravagant amount of wealth and then leaves town? I mean, I get nervous when my friend hands me the keys to his house just so I can feed his cat over the weekend! I’m not about to hand over and entrust my entire wealth into the hands of an employee before going on vacation!
But the emphasis of Jesus’ story is on the slave who took his master’s cool million and hid it in the earth. He saw his employer in a very different light from the other slaves, stating that his master was a harsh and unfair man, reaping where he did not sow, and gathering where he did not scatter. He buried his talent into the earth rather than invest it in the risky faith of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Because if you think of it, what real work did the other two slaves engage in besides making a risky investment with money that wasn’t even theirs in the first place! And just look at extravagant reward they received with a promotion and an invitation to enter into the joy of their master. Once could even say they have moved from the status of slave to adopted children who now share in the completeness of their master’s joy.
It seems to me that crime committed by the third slave was simply not responding appropriately to his master’s trust and generosity. And isn’t that what faith and belief really are, a trustful response to God’s extravagant and scandalous gift of grace?
The other two servants are the ones who respond appropriately to their master’s trust. They are like the seed that falls on good soil that multiplies into an abundance. They are like the folks who hear the call of Jesus to become something new. They are like the mustard seed that starts out small and then grows into something large. They are the signs that God’s Kingdom is starting to bud and blossom.
If there is some kind of final examination on hand for us, I believe Jesus has already passed it for us. In his death and resurrection, Jesus has embraced and lifted up the whole of humanity and the cosmos transforming us into something entirely new. We are the recipients of his extravagant gift of abundant life. In him, we have moved from darkness into light, from the status of slave into our new identity of adopted children.
I used to think it was enough to simply receive with open hands the extravagant gift of God’s favor, but having spent some time this week with today’s parable, I’ve realized there is another step. Knowing the sheer abundance of this good news should propel us to make risky investments, to take a leap of faith and to live fully into our baptismal covenant. Let me put it this way.
Last Christmas my father gave me an extravagant gift. He passed on to me his gold Rolex watch he has worn for many many years. And in doing so he has affirmed my identity as his son in the same way I will hand the watch to my own son when he comes of age. And when my father is gone from this world, the gold watch will remain a reminder of how he forever lives in my heart, and when the time is full, we will be laughing and drinking together in the Kingdom of God. Yet I was so overwhelmed by his lavish gift, I was ashamed to wear it out in public. I was afraid of what my parishioners and others might think of me displaying such an extravagant gold watch. After all, I am but a humble priest in God’s kingdom.
So instead of wearing the gold watch with joy, I, in a sense buried it in the earth. Well not
literally, but I deliberately have kept it hidden in my bedroom safely within the drawer of my bedside table. But I’ve realized that it wasn’t enough to just receive this extraordinary gonna or watch from my father, I must wear it as well. To wear it honors the name of my dad. To put it on every morning as a reminder to me that I am my father’s son. To tell others of its significance in my life.
I think this is something like what Jesus is teaching us this morning in the Parable of the Talents. As God’s people we are called to receive with open hands the extravagant gift of his grace. We are also called to put that grace on, to wear it so all can see where this extraordinary kindness, love, and mercy originates and radiates. The radiating power of God’s extravagant scandal of grace on display in our fragile and mortal bodies so the world can see that our God is Love!
So beloved, as we mover closer to experiencing Holy Eucharist this morning, may you go forth into the world in the full knowledge and understanding that in Christ, we have already passed the exam when we received the fullness of his grace into our lives. May you with open hands receive and put on, the grade of, not an easy A, but an A that was bought and brought fully into our hearts by the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
References:
Barclay, William. “William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible.” studylight.org.
Brown, Jeannine. “Commentary on Matthew.” The workingpreacher.org.
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