Risky Faith - Matthew 25:14-30 (11-16-08)

Matthew 25:14 – “A man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them.” This man in the story of Matthew 25:14 entrusted everything to these three slaves. There is great risk in giving everything to others with the hope that they will do what the master wants and for the purpose of the master. There is such risk in life; in driving a car, in getting on a plane, on entering a hospital or entering into relationship with others.

There was a risk when I signed the release agreement with the cardiologist on Tuesday. I had a nuclear stress test with an echo cardiogram. The other two gentlemen were older than I was who sat there waiting. The form would release the doctor if something were to happen. My paper work said that 1-10,000 die from the test. About a month ago I found out that my 54 year old sister was going to have an aortic valve replacement and bi-pass. My test turned out just fine but I wanted to know my situation. When I thought about the fact that 1 out of 10,000 people die doing this stress test, I realized that 3 of 100 people die in aortic valve surgery. We all face risks everyday.

These three slaves were called to use their talents and risk losing everything for the sake of building up the kingdom of God. They each were given talent, which had a financial value to them. One talent was 6000 denari or 20 years of day wages. Today that would be about $30K for the average working person (our county average household income is about $90K – so triple that amount) x 20 year = $600,000 was a talent. Basically it was a lifetime of income. All three slaves were given so much money each that they hadn’t earned. The giving of the talent is a sign of generosity from God. Two of them immediately responded with risk. They perhaps invested in the futures of olive oil since the first story in Matthew 25 is about the maidens who needed to oil at midnight. Perhaps there was a chain of stores that sold olive oil for lamps but jacked the prices way up at midnight. Or perhaps they invested into Jerusalem real estate knowing that the land would be cheaper after the destruction of the city in 70AD. It ended up that the two slaves doubled their funds. When they see the master they hear that they will enter the “joy”. It is better to give than to receive. The word for joy in Greek is “chara” and the word for spiritual gifts is “charismata” and the Greek word for grace is “charis” and today here at this altar we will celebrate the “eucharast”. Grace and joy and so connected.

What’s interesting about the reunion of these two slaves is that they said to their Master when he returned, “Master, you handed over to me”. They both viewed the master as the one who gave them what they had. Their life time of working income was a gift from God. They viewed God as generous. The last slaves view of the Master? His response the return of the Master, “‘Master, I knew that you were harsh…” This slave viewed the Master as harsh. He view of God was not one of generous but of harshness. God was mean. God was not fair and was going to punish.

The worthless slave didn’t see that God was willing to risk everything between now and eternity upon our understanding that everything is a gift. The point of giving it to them was that others would benefit, the lost, the least and the last from the last story in Matthew 25 about the sheep and goats. God gave these three slaves a lifetime of wages for the sake of putting it to good use to the benefit of others. Perhaps we think that God is hard on us. There is a purpose we have been given much that we might be good stewards of all that we have been given so that others might benefit.

There is great risk that God has taken to place gifts into our hands until that day when he returns, Matthew 24 and Matthew 25 are about what we do until Jesus returns. We don’t know when he will return, but he will. We wait for the fullness of the Kingdom of God to break into our lives. That time will come someday. God’s kingdom time is more like a future that we are being pulled into and we wait with eager longing until that day. Until that day, God is risking so much by giving us gifts and grace to use for the benefit of others. The purpose of the olive oil and the money is picked up in the last part of Matthew 25 with the sheep and the goats – those who used their oil and their money to care for the hungry, the homeless, the prisoners, or the alien. The judgment will be about how we treated the least, the lost and the last. We serve Jesus to the extent that we do these things, and we neglect Jesus himself to the extent that we don't. God is willing to risk looking foolish by handing over to us such gifts with the hope that we will use them for God’s glory.

Christianity is at risk of going by the way side my friends not because of any major external threats or great evil that lies outside of us. At the risk of sounding like a mad man up here, we must see that the greatest risk Christianity is facing today in the middle class suburban world is that of consumerism. I risk sounding like an alarmist when I say that we have so much stuff that does not sustain. We risk just becoming some sort of social club instead of the body of Christ.

As we approach Christmas, we forget what the season is all about. Okay, here are a few simple questions. Whose birthday do we celebrate on Christmas? Christ! Yes! Great job! So who should get the presents? Christ! Yes. Tell that to your kids. We’ve kept track of our Christmas spending the past two years and we are changing things this year. We are not sending out cards. We send out about 200 cards plus postage we spend about $140. We’ll email one out with my poem and a cute photo. We’ll use that money for some hunger program.

So as we approach the advent season, we can trust in the promises of God. I want to encourage you to look for the signs that Jesus was right, the signs that show right now that the Spirit Jesus sent is living and moving and active in the world to accomplish Jesus' work among us to care for those least, last and lost. They're out there: large and small signs. Here's a large one. Living Waters gave away in mission support and social ministry programs locally and globally over $40,000 in 2007. This is a great sign for our congregation. It is a value that we have that we are called to give it away. I’m not sending out Christmas cards this year to save money and use it to participate in the ELCA food programs. These new members need to know that we are a very risky faith congregation that trusts in the promises of God.

On Wednesday, I had one risky experience. I had needed a new wiper blade on the driver side and went to AutoZone to replace it. I’ve replaced the rubber blade before where you slide it in but now they say just replace the entire blade since my blade was functioning at about 80%. Well I bought the $5 item and went outside to replace it. I took the old one off pretty easily. I was following the instructions with the new one but couldn’t figure it out. There was this little plastic piece and I just couldn’t figure it out. I’m sure the guys insider were just laughing. Then I heard a voice crying in the wilderness. “Need help” one of the guys from inside asked. Sure. He told me it was upside down; clicked it in and it was done. I said, “What’s this little piece for?” He said, “I don’t know, some blades need that I guess.” I risked looking foolish asking for help but help came. For God has promised that one day, God will wipe away all forms of suffering: no more hunger, foreclosure, disease, no pain. We see through a windshield wiper dimly but then we shall see clearly. We can trust in the promises of God enough to risk living as Jesus taught us with grace and joy to use the talents and treasures to bring a sign of God’s great gifts. Let us pray: Gracious God, until that day when you wipe away every tear form our eye, we pray that you will use our gifts for your glory. Bring healing and strength to us in the journey, in Jesus name. Amen.