Matthew 25:14-30 14 For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15 to one he gave five talents to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master s money. 19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents. 21 His master said to him, Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master. 22 And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents. 23 His master said to him, Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master. 24 Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours. 26 But his master replied, You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29 For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an 1
abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 2
11.16.2014 With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility The ancient Greeks had their gods, but we today have our superheroes. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades have been replaced by Superman, Batman, and Spider-man. The Pantheon is now the Hall of Justice. Western culture no longer believes in the gods of Greek mythology, but through the characters of the Marvel and DC universes, our contemporary culture has its own modern mythology. These days Hollywood can t seem to make enough superhero movies. The public always wants more. There have been movies made of the big three--superman, Batman, and Spider-man but also of Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, the X- men, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Thor, and the Green Lantern, to name only a few. Those were the ones I could think of off the top of my head. I m sure there are many more I have forgotten. Many of these movies have become franchises, with one movie following another. Clearly the public can t get enough of these movies. Why is that? I think the appeal of superheroes is twofold. First, like the gods of Greek mythology, they are larger than life they are unlike us, possessing powers that are superhuman. But second, they are also like us in that they are subject to the same emotions, desires, and motivations that we are. Batman is still trying to get over the death of his parents, who were murdered when he was a child. Spider-man is still an awkward teenager struggling to find his place in high school and in society. Even as these superheroes soar through the sky or leap from a building, they still have one foot firmly planted on the ground with the rest of us. Because they are unlike us, superheroes can entertain us with their superhuman abilities of strength, speed, agility, and so forth. Because they are like us, they can teach us lessons about ourselves. Greek mythology is full of lessons regarding the dangers of very human flaws like vanity, greed, and reckless ambition. And as for 3
the comics, well they re not all action either; they teach lessons as well. One of the most famous lines in comic book history comes from the Spider-man comics: With great power comes great responsibility. The line is uttered by Uncle Ben, the kindly old uncle of Spider-man s alter ego Peter Parker. Uncle Ben has no idea that his nephew is in fact Spider-man. He gives this advice to his nephew as any father would to his son. It s good advice. In giving it, Uncle Ben is hoping that Peter will heed his words and not have to learn the lesson the hard way, i.e., through experience. Unfortunately for Peter, experience will provide him with a painful lesson. In fact, only with the death of his uncle will he come to understand that, as Spider-man, his great power carries with it the equally great responsibility to use it wisely. In telling the Parable of the Talents, Jesus is conveying a similar message to the disciples: the great power that they have been given as Christ s disciples as the ones entrusted with the message of the Gospel carries with it the great responsibility to be faithful witnesses to, and ambassadors of, the Gospel. As disciples of Christ ourselves, i.e., as modern-day ambassadors of the Gospel, that same power has been entrusted to us, and that same responsibility lies with us. The Parable of the Talents comes just after the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids that we read last week. Jesus is again speaking specifically to the disciples. No one else is there. With the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, he has just told the disciples of the importance of keeping awake, of being alert. For as the bridesmaids did not know when the bridegroom would come, so the disciples know neither the day nor the hour when Jesus will come and usher in the kingdom of heaven. With the Parable of the Talents, Jesus now takes the message one step further. The moral of the parable is not about being alert and waiting for the kingdom but about getting to work and actively producing fruit, or in this case talents, that bear witness to the kingdom. 4
Again, like the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, in which we are told upfront that five were wise and five were foolish, this parable is not difficult to interpret. Two of the servants clearly did the will of their master and are rewarded while one did not and was punished. Therefore, we should follow the example of the servants who are praised, i.e., those who doubled the money that their master gave them, and not be like the servant who merely buried his master s money and then returned it to him. Well, in a nutshell, yes, but what was Jesus trying to convey to the disciples with this parable? It s about producing something, but what exactly, and how? And what s wrong with returning to someone what was theirs in the first place? Let s again remember the context for this parable. Jesus is preparing the disciples for his death, although they still can t fully grasp what he s telling them. He is leaving them, but one day he will return. To help them understand, he says it s like a man going on a long journey who summons his servants and entrusts to each a sum of money, or talent, that reflects their ability [SLIDE]. Just so there s no confusion, the word talent here doesn t refer to a skill or ability, like a talent for writing or singing or playing the piano. In the world of the New Testament a talent was a unit of measurement for weight. A talent was the largest measurement there was, equal to about 30 kg. The common currency of the day was silver, so one talent was the equivalent of 30 kg. of silver. No matter how you measure it, that s a lot of silver. In fact, one talent was equal to about 20 years pay for an ordinary person 20 years! So, in giving his servants one talent, or two, or five, it is no small sum that the master is leaving in the care of his servants. The master is entrusting to each of the three of them a small fortune. What they do with it will be entirely up to them. The power is theirs. They will be responsible for how they use it. They can take a risk and seek to trade with it, giving up some in order to gain more and increasing their master s fortune. Or they can play it safe and keep it to themselves, burying it in the ground so as not to risk losing any of it. 5
Clearly, then, in one sense this is a parable about money. Two of the servants double their master s money. A 100% return on investment would be the envy of every Wall Street investment banker. But of course, this parable is about much more than money, and Jesus was not an investment banker. Rather than acquiring riches, he preached about giving away one s riches to the poor and finding treasure in heaven. So there is more at work in this parable than simply getting a good return on investment [SLIDE]. So rather than money, I think this parable is actually about power, because in Jesus day, as in our own, money was a vehicle for the expression of power. In English we even speak of purchasing power, i.e., what you can get with the money you spend. In that regard, money is like potential energy. Do you remember potential and kinetic energy from physics class? An object at rest has potential energy while an object in motion has kinetic energy. Money needs to be spent for its power to be felt. Until money is put to use, i.e., until it is spent, its power is only potential. It needs to be set in motion. The largest fortune, if it s buried in the ground, is just a hole in the ground. It s value lies in being put to use. And so I think we can begin to see the effectiveness of the imagery of the talent. Whoever possesses a talent, or two, or five, has at his disposal some considerable power. But Jesus wasn t interested in the disciples purchasing power. None of them had much money. But still they possessed a great deal of power, not in terms of money but in terms of the Gospel. The Gospel is more powerful than money than even the largest sum of money. While money gives us the power to buy things, the Gospel has the power to give life. The Gospel is the most powerful thing there is. There is nothing more powerful. Nothing. It is the very power of God [SLIDE]. As Paul writes, I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Rom. 1:16). 6
Here I think it s important that we define our terms. Just what is the Gospel [SLIDE]? Let me first state what it is not, or what it is not exclusively. The Gospel is not just a collection of words or writings about a man, Jesus of Nazareth, who was also fully God and who lived, died, and was resurrected by God on behalf of the world. That is the message of the Gospel. Those are words, and words, though they can be powerful, do not have the power to save. That power belongs solely to Jesus Christ, who himself is the Gospel. This might seem like I m splitting hairs, but I think it s an important distinction to make. Sometimes the Church confuses the message about Jesus with Jesus himself. Jesus Christ is the Gospel. He himself is the Good News. He is not confined to the Church, a Church that he himself created. His Spirit can roam freely throughout creation because all of creation is his. He was there at the creation of the world, and he will be there at its end [SLIDE]. On the other hand, the message about Jesus, i.e., all that I just mentioned that he was fully human and fully God and that he lived, died, and was resurrected by God on behalf of the world all that is the message that God has entrusted to the Church to share with the world. How we share that message is entirely up to us. We can do it well, i.e., with conviction, with our words and with our actions, boldly but gracefully proclaiming it to the world as the good news that it is. Or we can do it poorly, by wielding it like a weapon that we use to control people, by speaking of it as a threat rather than as good news, or by ignoring it altogether and, in effect, burying it in the ground [SLIDE]. We have all been given an amazing gift. God has entrusted to us the message of salvation salvation from death, which was conquered through Christ s resurrection; salvation from forces of oppression, both demonic and worldly; salvation from judgment the judgment of others and the judgment of ourselves, for we are often our own worst enemies, especially when we forget that God has 7
already judged us and has shown us grace; and salvation from a life spent searching in vain for some sort of meaning outside of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Good lord, that is a powerful message! What we do with that message, i.e., how it shapes our lives, is our responsibility. Like the servants who took their master s money and traded with it, taking on risk and proving themselves trustworthy in the process, Christ invites us to risk something of ourselves for the sake of the message of the Gospel. We can risk our comfort, our power, our reputations, our relationships, and we can risk criticism from people who don t understand or don t agree with our devotion to the Gospel. So be it. In this instance, to take on risk is to be deemed trustworthy. This is no time to play it safe. It is a great power that God has entrusted us with, giving us the message of the Gospel, and with that great power comes great responsibility. What will we do with this power we ve been given? 8