Matthew 25:14-30

“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. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

There is a common thread running through Jesus’ parables about the Kingdom of Heaven; we are called to pay attention to the presence and gracious activity of God in every minute and all the minutiae of our lives.

The parables of the leaven, the mustard seed, the lost coin, and so on...they all invite us to bring our attention to the presence and gracious activity of God in every minute and all the minutiae of our lives.

And last week’s Kingdom of Heaven parable about the 10 bridesmaids concluded with the admonition to “stay awake”–or, in other words, “pay attention!”

The parable of the talents begins right after the call to pay attention. This parable paints a picture of the blessing inherent in paying attention and having faith in God’s character and promises. It also presents an image of the dismay and disorder of failing to pay attention and consequently getting God’s character and promises wrong.

Jesus has already informed his disciples about his imminent death and resurrection, so there’s an obvious parallel to consider as Jesus tells a story about a master who is preparing to go away for a time and then return. In his absence, the master leaves talents with his workers. A talent is an incredibly-large sum of money–equal to 15-20 years of wages for labor. Not every worker receives the same amount of talents. One receives five talents, another receives two, and the other receives one. The test tells us the difference in amounts is related to their ability, though that’s still pretty ambiguous. What is clear, however, is that this is just how life works. In life, some receive more than others. The point of this parable is to illustrate what to do with what we receive.

The two who are entrusted with the most go and invest the talents in such a way that they double. This incredible increase hearkens back to Jesus’ insight from earlier in the gospel when he says, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29). Jesus continually teaches and demonstrates that abundance is a foundational characteristic of the divine. Our Kingdom inheritance multiplies exponentially when we freely give the divine gifts of love and resources to others.

The two workers who received such incredibly valuable sums from their master had paid attention. They knew the master. They knew that he was joyful and generous. These workers were motivated by gratitude and love for their master. Their actions were rooted in a belief of the master’s promises and as a result were invited to share in the joy of the master.

The other worker, the one who received one talent, was not as confident about his master’s joy and generosity, likely because he had not been paying attention. This worker failed to pay attention to his master’s joy and generosity and drew inaccurate conclusions about his master. He took him to be a harsh man, reaping where he did not sow, and gathering where he did not scatter seed. In light of the allegorical understanding of the master as Christ, the worker’s insights are clearly shortsighted. After all, it is impossible for Christ to reap where he did not sow because every corner of creation and every seed that is sown belongs to God.

The parable’s conclusion is harsh and might be triggering for anyone who grew up thinking of God as punitive and angry; but try to hear its warning: there are real consequences for those who fail to pay attention and understand God’s character as good, loving, and generous. When we fail to notice these abundant attributes of God, we think they are scarce and are unwilling to share them with the world. If we do not share them with the world we will certainly not receive them double or a hundredfold in return. Instead we will end up in a darkness of our own making–a state of life in which there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

If we hide what God has given us, we are living out of a sense of fear and scarcity. God’s gifts of love and grace are not able to be minimized or stolen. They are only gifts if they are shared with the rest of the world. Love and grace only truly exist if they are given away. Share the good stuff with the world and watch it grow, expand, multiply, and return to you double or even a hundredfold!

Again, the call is to pay attention. Pay attention to the character of God. Meditate on God’s goodness day and night and watch as your eyes are opened to the presence of goodness all around you. Pay attention to people who are suffering or in need so that you can share God’s blessing with them. And watch as everything you give away multiplies and becomes more and more valuable.

I’ll conclude by offering a sneak peak of what is coming because it has to do with paying attention. Throughout the season of Advent I will invite you to a daily ancient prayer practice called The Examen. There’s an adage that if you do something for 30 consecutive days it becomes habitualized. I would like everyone in this church to spend 30 days developing the habit of pausing each day to pay attention to God’s presence and activity in your life. It simply involves looking back at your life experiences and underlying emotions from the past 24 hours. I will explain more later; but just know that it is a prayer of uncovering and savoring the presence and gracious activity of God in every minute and all the minutiae of our lives. As today’s parable makes clear, there is profound joy and blessing available to those who develop the ability to pay attention to the true character of our master.

Amen.

Matthew 25:1-13

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.

Later, the other bridesmaids came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

What a strange parable for the strange time we’ve been living through this past week – and for whatever lies ahead for us in the days to come. Yes, I’m talking about our country’s presidential election that has caused most – if not all of us – some measure of stress, anxiety, frustration, and even fear, it’s fair to say, in too many cases.

It might seem like a stretch – and I’ll be curious to see what other preachers do with it this weekend – but I couldn’t help but think about those bridesmaids in Jesus’ story because of it all. There were 10 of them, remember. And five of them were foolish. Five of them were wise. Half of them got into the party. Half of them got shut out. Half of them won and half of them lost, you might say. (Sound familiar?)

And, of course, there was all of that waiting – for the bridegroom, as far as the parable goes. While so many of us were waiting – on pins and needles it seemed – for the announcement… for SOME announcement… for ANY announcement, about who the president would be, come January. And the announcement came, yesterday afternoon – whether we love it, or hate it, or believe it, or buy it; whether we were ready for it, or not.

Now, I’m not going to get into who might be foolish and who might be wise in all of this. The hard but holy truth about that for those of us at Cross of Grace – and all around this country, really – is that we find ourselves lined up all along the political spectrum. And the other truth is – no matter who you were waiting on or hoping would be announced as the winner, this week – neither of them measures up to the bridegroom who is the Messiah, in Jesus’ parable.

And the other truth is, too much of the time, for too many people, parables like this one are used to determine what it means to be – and who is – not just wise or foolish; but right or wrong; in or out; winners or losers, welcome or locked out – when it comes to the Kingdom of God. We love to make winners and losers out of each other, don’t we?

There’s something about human nature that makes us want to choose sides. And, that’s one way to look at this parable – for sure. I imagine there are plenty of pastors today preaching about being wise and not foolish – about being prepared rather than not – all in an effort to be on the right side of God’s banquet hall door before it closes.

But, we are a people who claim – and who have been claimed by – God’s grace for the sake of the world. So let’s not be so short-sighted or small or scared by this today, or by some of the things that are going on the world around us.

Because I started wondering something else this week and yesterday afternoon about Jesus’ parable of the bridesmaids. In light of what we’re up to and all we’re up against in our country these days, I wondered, would Jesus really close the door to the party on half of us, just because some of us might be more foolish than the others? Am I going to be locked out of the kingdom because I’m not always as ready, or as right, as the guy next to me? Are we going to miss our shot at the invite list because there have been times when we’ve fallen asleep at the wheel of our faith; made bad choices; lost or gotten lost every once in a while along the way?

And do any of us want to give that impression to anyone else in our lives or in this world? Because if any of that is true, we can bet there are going to be plenty of empty seats at God’s proverbial wedding banquet. Maybe nothing but empty seats based on the criteria of some people I know.

So, I don’t think any of that is what Jesus’ story holds for us today.

And remember the nuts and bolts of Jesus’ story… As far as the bridesmaids go (and we are represented by the bridesmaids in this one) some are prepared with lamps and plenty of oil. Others aren’t expecting to wait all that long, so they didn’t pack as many supplies. But the groom is late and they all fall asleep while they wait. And when they hear he’s on the way, they wake up and start preparing for the party. The five foolish ones, who didn’t bring extra oil, are out of luck and out of light and the five wise ones who came prepared don’t have enough to share. So the foolish bridesmaids are sent off looking to buy oil and in the meantime, the groom starts the party without them. When the slackers finally show up, it’s too late. The doors are shut and they miss the party.

But, instead of a “who’s in” and “who’s out” sort of morality tale, what if Jesus wants us to imagine why the ‘wise’ bridesmaids refused to share with their friends and neighbors when they had the chance?

Or, what if Jesus wants us to wonder about the variety of privileges and circumstances that allowed some of them (some of us) to be more prepared, more informed, more rich with oil than others?

What if, Jesus is reminding us that we’ve all had opportunity to be wise and foolish, to be awake and to fall asleep, to be ready and to be unprepared on any given day? And we have been.

What if Jesus wants us to wonder if those “wise” bridesmaids even worried about the others, once the party started? Did the ones who got in – the winners – have any concern for the ones who didn’t make it, I mean? Or did they just electric-slide their way into eternity, glad to know they weren’t left out in the cold?

So, I’d like us to get something from this parable other than more reason for self-righteous judgment or unfounded fear this time around. There’s too much of that in our world these days. I’d like us to get something out of this story besides a laundry list of what makes some of us better than or more ready than our neighbor to get into heaven. I’d like us to get something more out of this parable than the fire and brimstone and division that are so much easier to preach about and to practice, frankly, than the grace and the forgiveness and the salvation God promises, ultimately, in Jesus.

The problem with the fire and brimstone, winner and loser stuff – whether it comes from a pastor, a preacher or a political pundit – is the attention it pays to the end result, instead of what’s going on right here and right now among us, in our daily lives, on this side of God’s heaven.

See, I like to remember – and we just had a full-on discussion of this in our Bethel Bible Series class on Thursday night – that as often as not, when Jesus talked about the Kingdom of Heaven – which is what that wedding banquet represents, remember – he was talking about life on this side of the grave, not always or only about life on the other side of it all.

So what if, as bridesmaids waiting for Jesus, we looked for new, better ways to stay awake and keep alert – right here and right now, wherever we find ourselves. And what if the lamps we light – what if the light we shine for the sake of the world – doesn’t really have anything at all to do with oil? What if the light we shine comes from whatever grace, mercy, and peace we can extend? From whatever humility, forgiveness, and hope we can share? From whatever generosity, love, and kindness we have to offer?

And what if we were wise enough to share those blessings with each other more openly these days? What if we could muster a holy, sincere sort of curiosity, about all those who are feeling lost… or, like they lost… or, that they’ve been locked out of the party for whatever reason? Because they voted differently than us... because they’ve been told their whole lives the banquet isn’t for them… because the system is so stacked against them that they can never seem to get their fair share of oil… (This is about more than “RED” and “BLUE,” “LEFT” and “RIGHT,” after all.)

What if we worked harder to make sure all would come to experience something of God’s kingdom of justice and joy – here and now – knowing and believing and living differently because we’re each going to end up at the same heavenly banquet, in the end, thanks be to God.

Amen