Investing Our Talents
Matthew 25: 14-30
Beaumont Presbyterian Church
November 13, 2011
The Rev. Susan Warren
I suspect some of you took a look at the title of this sermon and figured it’s another
Stewardship Sermon. And maybe it is, I’ll let you decide. The text itself isn’t really about
money, but it uses money as a metaphor to teach us something about the kingdom of God, and
about what kind of God we worship and about what God expects of us.
I wonder if Jesus uses this money metaphor because then, as now, it grabs the listener’s
attention. It’s something we all pay attention to and understand. Well, some of us understand
more than others. I confess there’s a lot about investing money that I don’t understand –
probably because I don’t have a great deal of interest in it. Either kind of interest.
For example, I was very proud of myself recently when I convinced Jim that we needed
to readjust our 401-K investments – meager though they are -- after months of reading the little
notice that, at our age, many people switch to lower-risk investments. We made the changes
according to the profile recommended. I eagerly opened the next statement only to learn we had
– you guessed it – lost money! What a perfect real-life metaphor for what this story teaches us
about playing it safe. It’s a recipe for suffering!
Now again, Jesus isn’t talking about money. This is the final parable in a series that Jesus
teaches as his ministry and his life on earth are about to end. For Jesus it is, literally, near the end
of time, and the stories reflect that fact.
This week we have a wealthy landowner – let’s just call him God. And we have three
workers – let’s call them members of Beaumont Presbyterian Church. Because that’s what this is
all about. Church. Being disciples of Christ.
In the same way that God gives us great creation, God in this story gives the members of
Beaumont Presbyterian Church great riches. A talent in those days was equal to the amount of
money a day laborer would earn in 15 years. To one, God gives the equivalent of 75 years worth
of earnings, to another 30 and to another 15. In our story this translates into a heck of a lot –
great building, lots of land, friendly neighborhood, opportunities for ministry and, best of all,
nearly 200 good Christians with a vast array of gifts.
Then, God goes on vacation. “I’m not going to be micro-managing you,” God says. “Use
wisely what you have been given, according to my will.”
After a period of time God returns to Beaumont and checks in on what’s been going on
with the gifts that our members have received. In the first instance God discovers a member who
has actually gone door-to-door telling the Good News of the gospel. This person has risked angry
homeowners and aggressive dogs. He has risked getting fired from his day job. He has risked
being called a fool. He has risked colds and flu and who knows what other catastrophes because
he is passionate – passionate – for Christ, and for this great church called Beaumont
Presbyterian.
The next member has a similar story to tell. She has given untold hours teaching children
and grown-ups about Jesus, and about the love of God who has given so freely; and she also
organizes mission work, hosts meals and other fellowship activities, sings in the choir, plays
bells, greets people when they arrive, makes coffee, knits and crochets, changes diapers in the
nursery, calls members who are sick – whew! She and others like her risk the investment of time
and probably sanity because of their love.
God looks around at the happy, smiling faces at Beaumont Presbyterian Church, working
together, welcoming new members, sharing the many tasks required of a thriving congregation
and says “Well done, good and faithful people! You have invested wisely what I’ve given you
and because of the risks you’ve been willing to take you continue to thrive. You will not tire and
grow weary for you carry each other’s burdens and share in this high-risk venture called church.
And all is well and the people of Beaumont Presbyterian Church are even more greatly
blessed.
But wait. There is another scenario led by that third member, who responds to God in a
different way. “I have,” says he, “attended church almost every Sunday since you’ve been gone
on your journey.”
“And?” says God.
“And, um, I have attended Sunday School a couple of times.”
“And?”
“Okay, you, God, can be a little scary, and I just wasn’t sure exactly what I should do,
and I didn’t want to risk spending a lot of my time – which I don’t have much of by the way
because I’m a very BUSY person – I didn’t want to risk too much at Beaumont because it seems
to me that attendance has been a little down, and I hear money is tight, and I hear volunteers are
spread pretty thin and they’re tired and I just don’t know where this is headed, so I didn’t think it
would be a particularly prudent investment of my time and talents to spend them on such an iffy
proposition. Besides that, I can’t really do anything very well; I can’t sing and I don’t like to
teach and I’m too old to garden and the mission people meet on the wrong night. I thought you
would want me to play it safe, so I just come to hear the preaching and the singing.”
A recipe for failure. In Matthew’s words, a recipe for darkness and weeping and gnashing
of teeth.
Which scenario do you choose for Beaumont? It is my observation that churches most of
the time are “on the brink.” Sure, they have times when they sail, and times when they tank, but
most of the time they’re somewhere in-between, poised to make some risky new investments or
poised to play it safe. Cause for great debate in many churches. Which way will we go? How
much should we risk?
Friends, what are you willing to invest to generate a healthy church? What are you
willing to do – because it’s not going to happen without you.
Presbyterian pastor and author John Buchanan notes that Jesus could have told the story
of the talents a different way. What if the two had made high-risk investments and lost all of
their master’s money? The third one would have looked pretty smart.
But Jesus didn’t tell it that way. He told it so it turns out that the greatest risk of all is to
not risk anything, to be slothful. “Sloth means not caring, not loving, not rejoicing, not living up
to the full potential of our humanity, playing it safe, investing nothing, being cautious and
prudent, digging a hole and burying the money in the ground.” (Feasting on the Word, Year A,
Volume 4, Page 310.)
We have good, strong ministries here at Beaumont. They need the help of all of us to
remain viable and flourish. I can’t think of a better investment. Amen.