25 Pentecost A 2023
Judges 4:1-7
Psalm 123
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Matthew 25:14-30
Good morning, church.
I can’t even begin to preach this morning without acknowledging the losses in the Ward family. For many of us here, our hearts are sorely heavy. Our Savior will speak to us this morning of good news, of hope in the midst of despair, of redemption in the face of tragedy, though at first it may seem a strange way to do it.
Jesus tells us a parable about the kingdom of heaven being as if an unlovely man, a rich slaveowner, burdens his slaves with the task of making him richer while he departs on a journey, and then calls them to account upon his return. Two perform to his satisfaction, their reward being merely greater responsibility. The third confesses his hatred and fear of his owner, and his refusal do anything with the money, for which the slaveowner humiliates and condemns him.
Jesus’ audience would be all too familiar with the slave economy of the Roman Empire. Some of them were probably enslaved themselves. We know from Paul’s letters that many of the early Jewish Christian church were enslaved people.
And so Jesus’ people would clearly understand the dynamic he was describing. The astronomical amounts, in today’s money, 1.5 million to slave one, 6,000,000 to slave two, 300,000 to slave three, would have told them that the slaves were highly placed managers. They would turn and whip the backs of the slaves beneath them to get the profits the owner required. And why would they not want to be on the other side of the whip?
They would know too that the third terrified slave was absolutely right in his judgment of the slaveowner. He did reap where he did not sow. He was indeed a harsh man.
So Jesus’ listeners would have recognized this story, but they certainly would have understood that God was not a slaveowner who exploited enslaved humans to enrich himself.
But there are three major ways the slaveowner in Jesus’ parable is unlike a typical slaveowner. The first is the curious aside Jesus makes: that he gave to each according to their ability. Now, I suppose that a smart slaveowner would evaluate his slaves, and have a good sense of when a slave could be trusted and when not, but it’s interesting that Jesus would mention it.
The second remarkable thing is that the moral of the story comes out of the mouth of this terrible human being. And it fits his character doesn’t it?
“For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
Harsh words from a harsh man.
And the third odd thing? Jesus frequently uses this description of God’s judgment, that the offender will be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But again he puts these harsh words in the mouth of this harsh man.
These are clues to hidden gem hiding in this all-to-familiar story of the harsh world Jesus lived in.
Could it be the parable is telling us that God gives to each of us a mission, a purpose in life, and that he gives that mission to us according to our abilities? And that the only way we can fail is if we reject God, either because we simply don’t believe, or because we believe in a false God of hate and vengeance.
The kingdom of heaven is coming. This is the message of Jesus when he walked the earth, and it continues to be his message in the resurrection.
I believe that the kingdom is always coming, and always arriving, ever since Jesus rose from the dead. In each of our lives, his Spirit speaks in a still small voice of a hope and a trust and a faith your Father in heaven has in you, that you will indeed fulfill the purpose for which he gave you life, for which every blessing he showered upon you, and every gift he gave you, was meant.
He knows what fruit you will bear, and how much of it you can. He knows, better than you know yourself, what you can do, and will do, if you haven’t been doing it already.
And he knows there will come times of testing, the times when he comes closest, when his intimate presence grows you from the child you were to the beautiful saint you’re meant to be, when Christ who suffered, suffers with you, softening your heart and opening it further to God and to others.
The great good news is that God knows you, and loves you, and has given you a purpose that will give you joy, and will bless the harsh world you live in. This is how salvation happens, church, this is how the world is saved. This is how we do the saving.
Why would we not seek out his purpose for us and rise to it, knowing of his trust in us and assured that he has given us all we need to accomplish it?
The promise he’s making here is not just for when you leave this world. The promise, of the Father’s joy in you while you yet live, is a promise you can and will experience if you walk the way of Jesus, and yes, it’s likely you will find you are called to even more. The kingdom just keeps on coming. Hallelujah.
You can say it, church, if you want:
The kingdom just keeps on coming.
Alleluia.
Church, I want to testify that Christ is so close to Floyd and Jean right now. Christ is in the bodies of all of us, who love them. And we and many others, many of them also Christians, have carried our bodies into their living room over these past weeks.
And Christ is in their hearts, because they have always known their purpose, and they have risen to it. They have sought to do the will of God in all things. They both admit that they have sometimes not quite made it, but they know God’s grace too.
God knows them, and he cradles them as he promises he would, in their moment of truth, their great test. They had much, and even more is being given them.
And so it is for all of us who walk in this way, and so it will be, from time to time. Tragedies unfold. Happy endings are hard to find. Such is the harsh world we live in.
The good news is that God is here in its midst with us, redeeming the world one heart at a time.
As I’ve said before, I’ve done some time in the outer darkness. I have wept, I have gnashed my teeth. And the parable teaches me the truth of it. In my shame I hid from God, because I did not know him, because I thought he was either a foolish myth or a frivolous tyrant who claims to love, but lets children die.
The third slave was right about the slaveowner, but not about God. Jesus was likely criticizing the Pharisees, who made God sound like a harsh slaveowner micromanaging his slaves, while affecting to be perfect themselves. Such a God could only be feared and hated.
And it speaks to us of the many ways we fail to rise to our purpose either because we have never sought to know it, or because we do not trust our abilities to accomplish it, and both problems are caused by a failure to see God for who God is. So instead of finding the joy of our intended purpose, the light of God’s leading, we stumble about in the dark, frustrated and discontented.
If there’s anyone here today that knows what I’m talking about, if anyone here feels like they are in that outer darkness, where there seems to be no hope, where life is overwhelming you and you don’t know which way to turn, it might just be that you don’t know the God I know, your loving Parent in heaven that loves you and has given you a purpose, the purpose for which he made you. Everything you’ve ever experienced has prepared you to achieve it.
And if you look around right now you will see some people who have been living out their purpose with God’s nurturing support for years, people who have marched through times of peace and times of war, times of joy and times of sorrow, toward the light of God. And if you get to know them you will feel the warmth of God’s Spirit, and you will know that salvation has come into the world.
Alleluia!
Amen.
