Today’s readings fall harshly on my ears. It is hard to know what to make of some of it. Advent, the great season of waiting and preparation is coming and perhaps today’s readings are a reminder and even a warning that it is time to get our spiritual houses in order so that we might be ready for Jesus to come, both for the great celebration of Christmas and as our savior returned to earth to raise the dead and have the kingdom of God finally realized here on earth… but it is not yet for either of those things.
The Church has much that it needs to think about. Many parishes are hearing sermons on stewardship; I suppose you are as well. The financial pledge that each of us makes helps us to not only create a budget, but it helps us to create a statement of mission; it is a churchy way of saying that we put our money where our mouth is…
As I continued to look at the readings, it occurred to me that perhaps one way to look at them was to consider them a commentary on fear…
If I look at what the great sin of the servant who received the one talent is, it seems to me that his sin was to be afraid. He and the other servants were entrusted with huge amounts of wealth; more money than you or I will ever lay eyes on at one time… the servants who received the master’s favor were those who took risks by investing the wealth entrusted to them; their risk taking certainly paid off by doubling the wealth that they initially received. The last servant admits his fears… fear of the master, fear of what might happen if he lost the money, probably fear of the other servants who seem to be more powerful or have more status than he does, fear of responsibility,… who knows who or what else he is afraid of… and so, his fear paralyses him and he does nothing… he buries the money and waits for the master’s return so that he can give him back his money…and then we see that his inaction makes his worst fears come true; he incurs the master’s wrath and ends up being banished from all that he has come to know as home, no longer having whatever meager security he might have had working for the master…
It’s a terrible story; and perhaps it can help us to see how destructive our own fear is…
Being part of any relationship is fraught with risks; the deeper the relationship, the more types of risk are involved, although there are some pretty shallow relationships that we engage in that have some serious risks attached to them; five minutes on I-20 during a storm or just about any day during rush hour in Dallas really does seem like entrusting my life to people I don’t even know… but there are deeper relationships where the risks are much more personal. The church is one such place.
When we read or hear the stories about Jesus during his earthly ministry, the thing that probably strikes me most, is how human it all is… in some cases scarily so. He travels from place to place and despite what might go wrong, and in some cases what does go wrong, he shows us time again, that love can and does win out over fear. Jesus engages those who he meets and he does so with reckless abandon… he even tells his disciples to not be afraid; fear will keep them from doing what is right… he disregards the boundaries that have been erected in order to keep people separated; over and over again he acts in ways that seem to be against convention and he continually reinterprets the law so that healing and wholeness can be brought to others. He touches people… he dares to be in relationship with them, no matter who they are, even when they are labeled outsiders by those who are on the inside… over and over again he makes those around him confront their own fears as they watch him… over and over again, he tries to teach them that love will always win over fear.
It’s not so different for us really… we all have those people and situations that we are afraid to engage; churches and other communities fear not having enough money and so they don’t use their resources creatively; maybe we avoid eye contact with someone on the street because of how they are dressed, or the color of their skin; maybe we have all been watching too much television that tells us who and what to be afraid of; the media seems to excel in telling us who to be afraid of; and usually, the answer is pretty easy; it’s those who don’t look like us, or those who might believe differently than us; then of course we have the various health related scares that are making the news; heaven forbid someone should sneeze in a public place.
Fear is not a kingdom value; over and over again in scripture we hear the message “do not be afraid”… being afraid to engage another, to take the risk of being in relationship with another is denying the power and love of God. It puts us in charge rather than recognizing that it is God who is the creator of all… and we know how destructive fear is; all we have to do is watch people or turn on the news to see fear destroying communities and lives.
We are coming to that time in the church year where we talk about the end times… do not be afraid…. we do not know the hour or the day… and it doesn’t matter, it will come in God’s time… our vocation is to be like Jesus who we claim to follow; to be reckless in taking risks to be in relationship with those whom others fear; its to use our resources to continue his work in the kingdom. It is to know that no matter what happens, that love, not fear, will always win. Practically speaking, for us at this time, it means that all of us need to give of our time, our skills and talents, and certainly our money, in ways that are sacrificial, that is, in the names of Jesus whom we love and follow, so that we might continue his work in the world; work that isn’t very glamorous, but is kingdom work. The other is to figure out how our collected skills and talents match the needs in our community: thanks to our conversations with Canon Janet, we are forming a small missions committee to help us discover those very things that the Holy Spirit is calling us to in our greater community. May we be good and faithful servants who use what God has given to us to help bring the kingdom to earth as it is in heaven.