November 16 – Daring Disciples

Last Sunday I spoke about non drowsy disciples - being prepared, like the service men and women on that aircraft carrier, ready for your part of the mission. Because you never know when the Lord will call you to serve. And only then will it be revealed whether you are prepared to respond and serve - or not. In this Sunday’s gospel Jesus continues teaching on this theme with another parable and a question - what have you been doing with what He’s given you?

A man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Matthew 25:15

There is a certain ambiguity, for the word “talent’ has two meanings. In the parable, “talent” literally denotes a very large sum of money. So Jesus might be teaching us about our responsibility to God for the material blessings he has entrusted to us. You’ve heard that sermon before – about being good stewards, managers, of what has been given to us.

But of course “talent” also means a gift or ability given by God that we should use to God’s glory. For example, when we say that a person is musically talented, we recognize that is a gift which some have and I don’t. So Jesus is also talking about using our God given abilities, our gifts. “With great gifts come great responsibility”, says Spiderman’s uncle.

The Master is “going on a journey” perhaps echoing Jesus going away from his disciples. He has entrusted His disciples with a talent - a treasure - of great value. While he is away, they can use what is entrusted to them. The first two servants use their talents and thus multiply them. Their results are not the same, although in the end that doesn’t seem to matter.

But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 25:18

Yes he preserves what has been given him - but he didn’t do anything with it.

After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 25:19

The master came to settle accounts - a day of reckoning when the servants were held accountable. The first two servants – who used their talents – are praised and rewarded. But third servant, who simply preserved his talent, is sharply criticized – the master calls him evil and lazy.

What’s so wrong with being cautious - making sure you keep what you’ve got?

Discretion and deliberation are virtues, not vices.

But the third servant has transformed those virtues into vices.

Prudence has easily become self-protection and restraint. Inhibition turned into fear. Fear motivated him, and the servant ends up refusing the risk of doing something with what has been entrusted to him. He is criticized – condemned – for not using the talent he had. Not because he didn’t succeed, but because he didn’t try.

He’s too afraid of what might happen if he takes a risk and tries something

Are there risks to be taken? Might we have to take a chance, and trust God – instead of waiting until we are sure of the outcome?

What it means to be a disciple is to be called to something beyond our own little dreams and goals – to be fashioned into bearers of the mystery of God. The major themes of the Christian faith - loving, giving, witnessing, trusting, hoping - cannot be lived without risk.

Think of the risks you’ve taken in other areas of your life.

Love demands risks - marriage even bigger risks - and then there’s parenting. There is tenderness, but we also make ourselves vulnerable - and risk confrontation and even rejection. Those are all risky ventures, because you have no idea how it will turn out.

Today we’re having a shower for Jonica Jewel Craig. I’m sure that Monica and John can’t imagine the challenges that little girl will present them with over the next 20 years. But like so many other parents, they happily accept the risks that child presents.

Speaking of children, a little boy was fascinated by grandma’s old family bible. He fingered through the dusty pages, and suddenly something fell out of the bible. It was an old leaf that had been pressed between the pages.

“Grandma, look what I found.”

“What is it?”

With astonishment in his voice, the boy said, “I think it’s Adam’s underwear.”

Whether it’s marriage or a new child, a new school or a new job, in life we do take risks. If we didn’t, we’d miss out - not experience some of the greatest joys. And Jesus calls us, as His followers, to be daring disciples - to make leaps of faith.

That means rejecting the lure of security - the logic of fear - and becoming a daring disciple, with its risks. Christ calls daring disciples to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet un-trodden, through perils unknown.

We are to walk by faith, not knowing exactly where the Lord will lead, but trusting that His hand is leading and His love supporting us.

The standard, the criterion, Jesus said, is not whether we succeed at everything we try, but whether we try. One servant is condemned for not trying, while two are praised and rewarded simply because they tried – they used what they had been given.

Sometimes we should take a leap of faith, even though we recognize the chance of failure.

Do you learn more from your failures or your successes?

A mistake can be an opportunity for growth.

Does Jesus love you any more or less whether you succeed or fail?

In the parable he encourages us to more outside our comfort zone to be daring disciples.

So in that sense the parable is about faith. Doing the best we can and trusting that the Lord will see us through.

When the time for accounting came, the standard was not how much they produced – not the degree to which they succeeded – but rather did they use what was entrusted to them?

What did you do with what was given you?

Did you use it wisely?

The underlying message of the parable of the talents is stewardship: our resources are given to us under the watchful eye of the Lord who will someday ask us for an accounting.

God has entrusted us with resources - talents - both in the sense of material blessings and natural abilities, which show his love for us. Then we have the opportunity to demonstrate our trustworthiness and maturity by how we use them. We venture in faith, even take risks, to strengthen our trust in him and cultivate our self control.

In our stewardship campaign, we invite you to take a leap of faith. By saying I’ll give a certain amount to Christ’s church in 2009, I’m saying I trust God to continue to provide for me next year - and I’m demonstrating my faithfulness and maturity. So if you haven’t returned your commitment card, I hope you’ll fill one out and place it in the offering plate.

There was a hard winter in aan Appalachian area. The snow had piled up deeper and deeper, the mercury dropped, the roads closed, people suffered. The Red Cross used helicopters to fly in supplies. One crew had been working all day and were on their way home late in the afternoon when they saw a little cabin submerged in the snow. There was a thin whisper of smoke coming from the chimney. The rescue team figured the residents were probably about out of food, and perhaps medicine.

Because of the trees they had to put the helicopter down a little distance away. They put on heavy packs with emergency supplies, trudged through heavy snow, and reached the cabin exhausted. They pounded on the door. A thin, gaunt mountain woman opened the door and the lead man said, "We're from the Red Cross."

She was silent for a moment and then she said, "It’s been a hard winter, Sonny, I just don't think we can give anything this year."

You might think stewardship is about a plea for money, but it’s not. The Lord doesn’t want your money, he wants your whole life.

In the parable, a talent literally is a huge sum of money – a great treasure. And that’s what God has given us – a priceless treasure: His Son Jesus Christ.

But are we like the third servant, and have buried the great treasure – kept it safe and secure our hearts? Like that third servant, keeping it safe, but not risking or gaining?

When was the last time you talked about your faith or your church with a person who doesn’t have a church?

Are you praying for someone who needs to come closer to Jesus?

We who are in Christ have an enormous, uncountable treasure - Jesus Christ. The only catch with this treasure is that the only way to keep it is to give it away. Then it comes back multiplied, in the form of others who love Jesus with us.

Jesus called us in – and now he sends us out – give us love to tell and share, so as the next hymn says Let us talents and tongues employ.