Proper 28 :: Zephaniah 1: 7, 12–18 / Psalm 123 / I Thessalonians 5: 1–11 / Matthew 25: 14–30
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker
on Sunday, November 15, 2020.
“THE CHOICE:
RISK-TAKING OR NOT”
(Homily text: Matthew 25: 14-30)
We admire
risk-takers. We cheer when the wide receiver leaps up, hand outstretched, and
catches the “Hail Mary” pass. We watch with baited breath as the high-wire
walker walks across the wire in the circus. And if the wide receiver fails to
catch the ball, or if the high-wire walker falls into the net, we still admire
the attempt and the risk they’ve taken to succeed.
Our Lord’s
Parable of the Talents is cut from the same cloth: In the parable, three
servants are entrusted with their master with talents. No, in this case – and
in the original meaning of the word “talent”, we aren’t talking about an
ability or gift a person possesses – we’re talking about a measure of money, a
large sum of money.[1] The three servants are faced with the
prospect of success or failure. Though they’re given a large sum, they aren’t
given any instructions about what to do with it. The choice is theirs to make,
to succeed, or to fail.
Two of the
servants go out and take a risk. They double the amount they’ve been given.
The servant
who’s been given one talent plays it safe, burying the talent in the ground.
(In biblical times, that’s what the usual and prudent method of protecting
something of value dictated….after all, there were no safe deposit boxes or
bank vaults.)
Being a
disciple of Jesus, a follower of Christ, involves risk. For the early
Christians in Matthew’s Church, theirs was a risky situation which demanded bold
and discernible action. They faced opposition from the Jews among whom they
lived and worked, and they faced increasing levels of hostility from the Roman
authorities. Moreover, they witnessed to Gentiles who had little or no
knowledge of the accounts of God’s mighty acts in the Old Testament.
If the
Gospel was to be heard, if the Gospel was to spread throughout the world (as
our Lord instructed His disciples in the final verses of Matthew’s account,
Matthew 28: 19-20), then playing it safe wasn’t to be an option for those early
believers. Risk-taking was the only option.
It’s been
said that “everything old is new again”. I believe that is certainly true for
us as twenty-first century believers, for we find ourselves in very similar
circumstances to those that pertained to those first century believers in
Matthew’s Church. This comment deserves some explanation: Culturally, our
modern situation has much in common with the Greco-Roman world of the first
century. For one thing, many people lived lives that didn’t seem to have much
meaning or much purpose. For another, life seemed unpredictable and capricious.
Hedonism – the idea that enjoying the various pleasures that life could offer –
seemed to be a reasonable response to the hardships and challenges of life, and
it was often the preferred option for many. Put another way, we could say that
hedonism is summed up in the phrase, “The one who dies with the most toys,
wins.” Then there was the religious
situation in the first century: Many Gentiles admired and worshiped various
pagan gods. (The choice was theirs to make, from a variety of various options.)
If all of
this sounds familiar, it ought to.
Consider
how many people live today. Since life seems to be unpredictable and
capricious, why not grab for all the enjoyment possible? That’s the choice for
many, isn’t it? Hedonism, coupled with an indulgence in possessions, becomes
the god for many. Moreover, we are living among and witnessing to a culture in
which many people have no knowledge whatsoever of the accounts that are to be
found in the Bible, or of God’s working in times past.
But we, as
Christian believers, are called to live by another set of standards. And that
involves taking risks.
Playing it
safe, either by quietly living out our faith life, or by withdrawing into our
church buildings where we hold services on Sunday, but without the expectation
that people will be drawn into our midst, isn’t an option. If we are to take
the lesson of today’s parable to heart, then we must engage those we encounter
in our daily lives, demonstrating by the things we do and the attitudes we
possess that we live another way, as followers of Jesus Christ.
Living as a
disciple of Jesus offers true meaning of life, a depth of meaning that God
alone provides. Risk-taking offers the possibility that those we encounter will
see the difference and will want to have that meaning and that depth
themselves. After all, it’s been said that “Christianity is caught, not
taught”.
AMEN.
[1] It’s been estimated that the value of a talent, in current terms, was worth about $600,000.00.
