Proper 28A 2014.11.16 Matt 25:14-30 "Well done, good and faithful servant." 1 It's so good to be back with you. I had an awesome time away. And spiritually it was very fruitful. The main event was a conference called CREDO 2. I was part of a group of 28 Episcopal priests of similar age and years of ordained service. We came from all over the country: Seattle to Miami, New York to Los Angeles, and Atlanta, Milwaukee, Chicago, Houston, Albuquerque, and many other places in between. We gathered at a retreat center at the foot of Cold Mountain in western North Carolina. And we prayed together, and we discerned together, and we took a close look at being priests, together. It was intense and a lot of work. But it was very fruitful. I hadn't realized how exhausted I was spiritually and professionally. CREDO was a great boost. And the Credo happened to have a special number: 289. The 289 th Credo. And I couldn't help make the connection. What I learned and discerned at Credo 289 will be of great benefit to my ministry back home, within the friendly confines of Loop 289. It's great to be back, and great to be home, and great to be at St. Paul's again. After 6 years at St. Paul's I was eligible to take a 90 day full Sabbatical. But I'm glad I chose just a 30 day mini- sabbatical instead. It was just right. Plus I missed you all, and missed this place. Thanks to Dcn. Becky and Dcn. Nancy, and Mtr. Kara, Canon Veal, and Canon Ehmer who covered Sunday services and pastoral calls and funerals, and to Mtr. Jennifer as well. Thanks to Kathi and John, and Dib and James for keeping the place going while I was having this awesome experience. They worked hard to allow me to have this important time of spiritual and vocational discernment and refreshment. In North Carolina, as I was talking with other clergy about their congregations, it reminded me of how lucky we are, how blessed we are at St. Paul's. We have got so much going for us, and we don't always see it. We often have a tendency to see the glass as half empty, rather than half full. We often operate out of fearfulness, rather than faithfulness. And when I say "we" I mean "we." This is a tendency we have as a congregation. And this is a tendency I have as a priest. I often operate out of a sense of fear. Yes, I am a servant of the Living God and I have been sent to proclaim his word and administer his sacraments. But I'm also the chief bread- winner for my family. And I know that a portion of your contributions to St. Paul's pay my salary. And I also know that St. Paul's has not always had the easiest of relationships with some of my predecessors. Such knowledge can hamstring a priest. Plus I tend to want to please people as well as please God. And those two things are not always the same. All of these factors can tempt me to play it safe, to live out of a sense of fear.
Proper 28A 2014.11.16 Matt 25:14-30 "Well done, good and faithful servant." 2 One of the most important things that happened at CREDO was naming and claiming that fear. You can't do anything about it until you admit to having it. Fear has been an issue for me. And I know that there is often fearfulness in the pews as well. We are not as large as we once were. We're not as influential as we once were. And we're not able to do all the things that we used to be able to do. That goes for St. Paul's, and the Episcopal Church, and American Christianity in general. Fearfulness. Seeing the glass as half empty. And trust me, if you're worried about such losses, I've been even more worried about them. Because we have so much going for us. And we have the potential to be so much more. But we can't do what we're supposed to do if we're operating out of a sense of fear. Which makes today's Gospel a perfect Sunday reading to come home to. We just heard Jesus' so called Parable of the Talents. At this point in Matthew, we're almost to the end. After this chapter, Jesus will sit down for one last meal with his disciples. Then he will be betrayed, arrested, and crucified. That gives his words in today's Gospel a special emphasis and urgency. Upcoming arrest, abandonment, torture and death. There are plenty of reasons for Jesus to be afraid. Yet Jesus tells this story. The parable of the Talents. Jesus says that God's kingdom is like a man who went off on a business trip. He summoned three of his servants. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one. Then he went away. Now a talent in this context is not something you're good at. Instead, a talent is a large monetary unit. You're talking about roughly three- quarters of a million dollars, about $750,000 in today's terms. And this man has a total of 8 talents, about 6 million dollars, that he splits between his 3 employees. After being gone for a while, the master returns. The servant given 5 talents comes back with 10. The servant given 2 comes back with 4. They both doubled their investment. They both receive the same praise from their master: "Well done, good and faithful servant (good and trustworthy slave); you have been faithful in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." However, the servant who had been given one talent had buried it in the ground. This may sound strange to us. But in Jesus' culture that was the safest place to store money. It would be like us putting the money in a safe deposit box. He's keeping the money safe. Then he digs it up, and gives it back to his master. But his master is displeased. The key is in the 3 rd servant's initial response:
Proper 28A 2014.11.16 Matt 25:14-30 "Well done, good and faithful servant." 3 He says, "Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours." Don't miss what the third servant is saying to his master. He is fearful. I think you're harsh, and I'm afraid. The servant is afraid of his master. He's afraid to risk. The other servants take risks. How do you go about doubling your money? How do you turn 5 into 10? The answer is very simple. To turn 5 into 10, you risk losing the 5. To engage in investments that double your money in a year or two means that you've put your money at great risk. And yet it is to these two servants who risk his money that the master says, "Well done." "Well done, my good and trustworthy slave. You have been faithful in handling this small amount." Notice he is praising the servant's faithfulness. He doesn't say, "Well done, you've made me a lot of money." In fact, he downplays the money. "You have been faithful in handling this small amount." To the master, the millions of dollars he's left to the first two servants are of little consequence. They're small amounts. It's chicken feed to him. What he praises them for is their faithfulness. They've used what he's given them. Yet to the third servant he says, "You wicked and lazy slave!" You've not been faithful. You've let your fear paralyze you. You haven't used what I've given you. You just buried it in the ground. You haven't done anything with it. In other words, you haven't been a good steward of what I've given you. You have not been faithful. You've been fearful. If you're spiritually afraid, then you won't be willing step out there and take risks. You'll be afraid to use the gifts God has given you. You'll be afraid to live out God's purposes for you, the purposes you're created for. And you'll be unable to live into your mission. In life, we know that if you want to do big things, you have to take risks. A batter can't hit a home run without the very real risk of striking out. A quarterback can't throw a 50 yard pass without staying in the pocket and risking getting sacked by the defense. God calls us to attempt big things, not out of fear, but out of loving trust, out of a deep faith. Love the Lord your God. Love your neighbor as yourself. Feed the hungry. Preach the Gospel to all nations. These are big tasks. And we can't do these things unless we are willing to take risks. We're called to live in mission mode, not maintenance mode. We're called to live in faithfulness, not fearfulness.
Proper 28A 2014.11.16 Matt 25:14-30 "Well done, good and faithful servant." 4 As members of the church, we live in difficult times. There have been times in history when it was very easy to be a member of the church. This is not one of those times. And if we respond in fearfulness it'll hamstring us. We'll be shooting ourselves in the foot. We'll far short of what God has called us to be. We won't use the gifts we've been given now, to do God's work, now. It's not about the past. It's about what we have now, and how we're going to use it. This is not Little League. This is the Major Leagues. God created us to live in these times. It is God's will that we are all here at this time and in this place to do his work. God has called me here. God has called you here. Now. The task before us is not easy. That means that God has called us to be his first string team in the big league game. Much is expected of us. God doesn't want our leftovers. God doesn't want our second- rate efforts. God doesn't ask us to bury the gifts he's given us. We cannot succumb to fear. Instead, God asks us to use what we've been given to the fullest. God calls us to live faithfully. God asks us to take risks. God wants our very best efforts. Not out of fear, but out of trust, and out of love. Besides, that's what God gives us- - his very best. Jesus modeled that kind of faithfulness. Within days of the Parable of the Talents, Jesus would risk everything. He had much to be afraid of. Arrest. Flogging. Death. And yet, he didn't let his fears paralyze him. He trusted, he responded with faith. He walked the way of the Cross, trusting that resurrection awaited him. He not only risked his life but gave his life for us. That's his purpose, that's why he was sent. That's why one of the last things he says on the cross is "it is finished," or more precisely, "it is accomplished." In other words, he says, 'I have done what I'm supposed to do with what God has given me.' And he does it out of love, and he does so out of faithfulness, out of trust. potential. My prayer is that we may all use the gifts we have been given to our fullest I want all of us at St. Paul's to overcome our fearfulness. I want us to step out in faith together. God has given us so much. We've got wonderful resources. Are we going to sit on our hands? Are we going to bury our talents in the ground out of fear? I hope not. I want us to do what God has called us to do:
Proper 28A 2014.11.16 Matt 25:14-30 "Well done, good and faithful servant." 5 Worshipping God in the beauty of holiness. Welcoming and growing in faith and fellowship. Serving our neighbors in Jesus' name. We must forsake fear. We must boldly choose to do these things as a loving response to our loving God. Because when it's all said and done, I want every one of us to hear the voice of our Master: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; come, enter into my joy." My joy.