Sermon:  "Risking Trust"
Date:   November 13, 2011
Minister:  The Rev. Susan Bjork

Lesson: Matthew 25:14-30

God of abundant possibilities, nourish us with your life-giving love so we might trust you in every step, deepen our discipleship, and seek to serve you in all we do.  May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight.  Amen.

Sometimes the parables of Jesus can be made a little more accessible to us modern listeners if we retell them in our own way.  So here goes…

Jesus told his followers that God’s Kingdom is like this:

There once was a very successful business owner.  He had three employees who each earned a salary of $40,000/year.  The business owner decided after many years of hard work to take a break and travel the world.  He was nearing retirement and wanted to see how his business would fare without him, so before he left on his trip, he divided up his company assets among his three employees. 

To his most loyal employee, he gave $3 Million, an amount that employee could have earned only if he worked for 75 years.  To another, he gave $1.2 Million (or 30 years’ wages).  And to the third employee, he gave 15 years’ wages (or $600,000).

The first employee took his $3 Million to Las Vegas and gambled with it.  To everyone’s astonishment he doubled it and went home with $6 Million.  The second employee invested her $1.2 Million in a volatile stock market.  To everyone’s astonishment, she doubled it and now had $2.4 Million.  The third employee took his $600,000 and placed it in a safe deposit box at the local bank.  To no one’s astonishment, his balance stayed the same.

After a year of travel, the business owner came back to see how his employees had fared.  He called them together for a meeting and they each shared what they had done with his money.  To the one who doubled his money in Vegas, he said, “well done, it’s time for me to retire and you’re the new CEO.”  To the one who doubled her money in the stock market, he said, “great job, you’re the new CFO.” 

And then he turned to his third employee and said, “What happened?”

“What do you mean, what happened?  You all are crazy to play with money like this!  You gave me $600,000.  That’s a lot of money!  And I kept it safe for you.  So here it is; take what’s yours.  I mean, I was afraid!  I didn’t know what you’d do to me if I lost it.”

“You were afraid of me, were you?  You put my money in a safe deposit box… you didn’t even think to put it in a savings account where it could at least earn a little interest?  Well, I guess you were right to be afraid.  I’m sorry, you’re fired.” 

The end.

Now, if you are shocked and somewhat appalled by this story, good!  So was Jesus’ original audience!  It’s horrifying to us (as it was to them) that such risky behavior which could have easily resulted in total loss of that money would be so enthusiastically applauded while doing the safest thing with that money would be so strongly condemned.  We cringe at that idea.

And perhaps we might ponder what we’d do in that situation and wonder, what would the business owner’s response be to me, if I were an employee?  I probably wouldn’t have put that money in a safe deposit box, but I certainly wouldn’t have taken it to Vegas either!  Perhaps I would have invested in a sensible diversified portfolio that wouldn’t risk losing the principal, but would hopefully grow over time.  Would that have been enough to earn this business owner’s approval and a role in the company?  Maybe or maybe not.

You see, this story goes against every fiber of our being that tells us to play it safe, to manage risk, to conserve and preserve, and to save ourselves from loss.  This parable intentionally makes us kind of uncomfortable.

But, of course, we need to remember that this parable isn’t really about money and Jesus isn’t sanctioning unchecked capitalism, glorifying gambling, and promoting greed.  That would go against everything Jesus lived and taught. 

But money was something Jesus’ audience was familiar with, whether they had any or not (some of them did and some of them didn’t).  And so money is the illustration Jesus uses to shake up his audience and wake up the hearers of the parable to a deeper message.  And this parable of Jesus, like many, is about the Reign of God.

And this story asks some big questions:  What are we willing to risk for God’s Kingdom?  What are we willing to give up so God’s will may “be done on earth as it is in heaven” (something we pray for every Sunday)?  Do we trust that God will see us through when we take that risk, even when we fail, even when we lose?  Are we willing to invest all that we have and all that we are in God’s business of bringing Good News to a world in need?

Or, do we (like the third employee) fear failure so much that it paralyzes us and prevents us from doing anything? 

These are big questions. 

And once again, as he often did, Jesus was challenging the worldview of the Pharisees who wanted to preserve God’s people, land, and law, blend in, and maintain stability in the face of Roman occupation.

And truthfully, I think we can understand and sympathize with the Pharisees’ desire for stability and their fear of what might happen if they ruffled too many Roman feathers.

But Jesus sought more risky discipleship than that.  And for Jesus and his original audience, these were truly life or death questions.  Jesus knew at this point where the road was headed for himself and he challenged his disciples to take the risk, to trust his call, and to follow in his footsteps, even to the cross, all for the Kingdom of God. 

As one scholar notes, Jesus was talking about "the risk of the public expression of the gospel, whether they would keep it safely tucked away in a secure context or let it loose in the broader world among the nations.  Anticipating Jesus' return meant rejecting the lure of security, with its logic of fear and intimidation, and taking the risk of discipleship, with its dangers and perils."  [Charles Cousar]

This was a real risk that the disciples took and some lost their lives for it. 

And the truth is, since then, others have lost their lives in hopes that God’s will would “be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., and others risked it all.  And by the world’s standards, it might seem like they lost.  But the truth is they made a difference.  They put their trust in God and took that risk, knowing that God would be with them no matter what came to pass.

You see, the third employee made a critical mistake in assuming that this business owner was like all the others and would dish out punishment if he failed.  When, in fact, it was his fear of risk-taking that would end up isolating him in the end.

And I wonder if sometimes we do that in our own lives and even in church. 

Do we sometimes fear losing what we have, so we don’t risk trying something new that could end up being great? 

Do we avoid standing up for something we believe in because we fear others’ differing opinions when, in fact, we might grow from the dialogue? 

Do we sometimes forget that God’s grace is bigger than all our mistakes and imperfections, always leading us to practice even greater graciousness towards one another? 

Do we sometimes forget that our God is a God of abundant possibilities who each day invites us on a journey of faith that might lead us into places of deep need as well as new and exciting adventures?

The parable concludes with the somewhat alarming statement that “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.” 

At first pass, this doesn’t sound much like Jesus.  But, remember we’re not really talking about money, or property, or anything material.  We’re talking about spiritual gifts. 

To all those who have faith and trust, more will be given.  To all those who have love and compassion, more will be given.  To all those who have hope and boldness, more will be given.  To all those who have imagination and creativity, more will be given.  And they all will experience an abundance in sharing these gifts. 

But those who fear the risk of sharing these good gifts of God will miss out on something powerful, priceless, and precious and end up even more isolated.

In many ways, this is a challenging parable for we who are quite comfortable with the way things are in our individual lives, in our churches, in our world.  What are we willing to risk in our lives so that all God’s beloved creation might know a little more of the Good News, a little more love, a little more compassion, a little more justice, a little more peace, a little more faith, a little more joy, and a little more hope? 

That is a question each of us needs to ask of ourselves, and even of our faith community.  And, who knows, as a result, God may lead us in new and unexpected directions. 

And if, along the way, we’ve found that we’ve hidden away or buried some of the good gifts and capabilities God has given each of us, then perhaps we ought to get into the business of unearthing buried treasure.  Amen.