November 19, 2023 – Pentecost +24A

[Jesus said to the disciples:] “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 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? 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. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 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.’ ” Matthew 25:14-30

I once read where a scholar by the name of Clarence Jordan compared the parables of Jesus with a Trojan Horse. It looks harmless on the outside, but once you let it into your life, into your mind and look closer at it, then BAM, it’s got you. For example, let’s look at the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is a seemingly easy, and understandable parable – a man is left for dead after being attacked; two travelers pass by and walk on the other side of the road rendering no assistance. But a Samaritan comes along and binds his wounds, drops him off at a local Inn, and pays for additional care. Jesus asks the lawyer listening to the story who acted like a neighbor, to which the lawyer answers “The one who showed him mercy.”  Well, that sounds easy enough, until you dig a little deeper – until you understand that the two men who walked on the other side of the road were men of the Temple, and they did not render assistance because of their religion. Isn’t that backwards – shouldn’t our faith, our love of G-d and neighbor compel us to help anyone in need. And then, we learn that the Samaritan is actually an enemy of the Israelites – actually hated because they were believed to be of the wrong religion. So the two who didn’t help were, for a more contemporary analogy, two Lutheran Pastor’s late for church, while the one who acted like a neighbor was a Mormon elder. You see, like a Trojan Horse, it sneaks into your life, your thoughts and then BAM, it gets you.

So what about our text this morning? Let’s take a look. A man, a rich man with many slaves is going on a journey. He asks his slaves to watch the fort while he is gone. And, by the way, he wants them to watch his money as well. To one slave he gives five talents, to another two talents, and the last one talent.  hile he is gone, the slaves get busy. One trades up with the talent and makes five more talents. The second also trades up and doubles the money, while the last slave buries the money in the ground and that is that. When the owner comes back, he asks for an accounting of his money.  The first reports that he has doubled his money, to which the owner says, “well done, good and trustworthy slave.” The second does the same and gets the same affirmation. Finally, the last slave has a tendency to be really honest, and so says: “I knew you were a harsh man, so I was afraid and buried your money. Here is what you gave me.” and he gives back the one Talent. With that the last slave loses his only talent, is called wicked and lazy, and is thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Well, this Trojan Horse seems simple enough. If we are not using our G-d given talents we are cheating G-d of the gifts that we are given. Yes, that is a reasonable accounting of what is happening here, but that might be too simple. That just doesn’t hit us like a true Trojan Horse should – so what is going on? Maybe this text is about the fact that we are all lost, confused, even dumfounded, or at least a little afraid when asked to share with others, to evangelize to our friends and neighbors and relatives, or to do anything within the church, or to do anything to stretch our faith beyond what we already know. I know that many of us hesitate, maybe even want to sink our heads in the ground when asked to do something new or even something at all in responding to this priceless treasure that we all have – the gift that goes beyond measure – salvation that comes through the incredible gift that is the Gospel – the Good News of Jesus Christ. Maybe, brothers and sisters, maybe we need to consider that when we admit to each other that we are clueless about a lot of things that relate to what we call “church” – what to do, how to do it, when to do it – even if WE ARE the one’s to do it, then the true meaning of this text hits us. Maybe when we take the time to consider it, pray for guidance, take seriously the immeasurable price of the reality of what Jesus has done for us all, it is precisely at that moment of consideration that the Holy Spirit hits us – BAM — it is then, when we truly and honestly open ourselves to the working of the Spirit that the master, Jesus Christ looks at us and says “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  Think about that for a while…

Pastor Dave