November 19: "Risky Business"

THE WORD IN THE GOSPEL  READING   Matthew 25:14-29

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was leaving on a trip. He called his servants and handed his possessions over to them. To one he gave five valuable coins, and to another he gave two, and to another he gave one. He gave to each servant according to that servant’s ability. Then he left on his journey.

“After the man left, the servant who had five valuable coins took them and went to work doing business with them. He gained five more.  In the same way, the one who had two valuable coins gained two more. But the servant who had received the one valuable coin dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.

“Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five valuable coins came forward with five additional coins. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five valuable coins. Look, I’ve gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Excellent! You are a good and faithful servant! You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’

“The second servant also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two valuable coins. Look, I’ve gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done! You are a good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’

“Now the one who had received one valuable coin came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest grain where you haven’t sown. You gather crops where you haven’t spread seed. So I was afraid. And I hid my valuable coin in the ground. Here, you have what’s yours.’

“His master replied, ‘You evil and lazy servant! You knew that I harvest grain where I haven’t sown and that I gather crops where I haven’t spread seed? In that case, you should have turned my money over to the bankers so that when I returned, you could give me what belonged to me with interest. Therefore, take from him the valuable coin and give it to the one who has ten coins. 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 from them.

MESSAGE

Evidently, there are two things we’re not supposed to discuss in polite company. For instance, when we’re at a party, making small talk with people we don’t know well, or around the table with our family at Thanksgiving – we’re supposed to refrain from talking about politics and religion, because either topic has the potential to start trouble. A lot of people are passionate about their political or religious beliefs and if those beliefs are challenged or criticized in some way, they’re willing defend those beliefs even to the point of being abusive.

So . . . it’s best to steer away from those subjects, unless, of course, you WANT to stir up trouble.

There’s a similar kind of feeling in many churches, that there’s certain topics we shouldn’t discuss at church. And at the top of the list of taboo topics is money.

Of course, each fall, churches send out their annual letter asking for pledges for the coming year. In fact, today, we will dedicate and bless all the pledges we receive for 2018.

But other than a nice letter and a pledge card, and maybe an occasional update from the Finance Committee on the state of our church’s budget and finances, we don’t talk a lot about money.

In my 19 years of ministry, I can only recall one sermon I’ve given that had to do with money. And that’s a shame.

Because, of course, Jesus had quite a bit to say about money – about how we should think about it and use it.

Now, part of my job as your pastor is to help you think about how you can follow Jesus in your daily life, and to help you reflect on how your faith influences your choices and your actions. So, then, if I NEVER talk about Jesus’ message about money, if I NEVER encourage you to think about how your faith influences the ways you understand and use your money, then I’m not really doing my job, right?

So, today, I’m going to preach about money. Sort of.

The reading from the gospel of Matthew is one of Jesus’ parables that is about money. Sort of.

Let’s look at it more closely:

Jesus tells the story of a very wealthy man who had three servants and who was going away on a trip. Before leaving, he gives one servant five coins. He gives another servant two coins, and another servant one coin.

Now, these weren’t just any old coins. Jesus describes them as valuable coins. Some biblical scholars believe that each of those coins was worth about 20 years’ worth of wages for the average worker in Jesus’ day.

Quick – figure out how much that would be for you in our modern financial system. That’s a lot of money.

Anyway, these servants were entrusted with a lot of money.

Then the man left on his trip.

You’ll notice that the man didn’t give his servants any specific instructions on what they were supposed to do with the money he gave them.

But it turns out that the first two servants knew what their master expected them to do: they took part in some shrewd business deals, and each of them doubled the money.

When the man came back, of course he was thrilled that these two servants had been “trustworthy,” and had wisely used the money that was given to them to make more money.

But then there’s that third servant. Although he only had a fraction of the amount of money as the other two servants, he did not use it in any way. He didn’t go out and find any attractive investments. He didn’t do some fancy trading or dealing. He simply took that one coin and buried it in the ground.

Needless to say, when the wealthy man came back, he was not pleased when this servant handed him that one coin and said, “Master, I was afraid, so I hid it in the ground for safekeeping.”

Now this parable has been used to support a gospel of economic prosperity. Some pastors point to these two faithful servants as examples of how we should wisely invest our money so that we can get more.

But utilizing a wise investing strategy is not the point of the parable. The point of the parable can be found in the contrast between the first two servants and the third servant, who buried the money.

The first two servants were faithful in carrying out the expectations of their master. They took the risk of doing what they’d probably seen their master do many times – investing, trading, using his money to get more. Of course, in these kind of business deals, there’s always a chance that you can lose your initial investment.

But the third servant was afraid to take any risks. He made an easy and safe choice. He didn’t make any more money, but then, he didn’t stand much chance of losing it, either.

In other words, the first two servants had faith in their master’s ways. Servant number three did not.

Like many of the stories that Jesus tells, this story is metaphorical – it’s full of symbols and images that Jesus never intended to be taken literally.

So you could say that those first two servants represent those who see in Jesus a way of life that’s risky, yes, but also worthwhile, and faithful to God’s purposes and intentions for our world.

That third servant represents those who want to play it safe – like the religious leaders of Jesus’ time, who wanted to play by their interpretations of the rules, and who weren’t willing or able to step out and take the kind of risks that Jesus took.

So the parable isn’t about investing our money. It’s about something much more significant.

It’s about the willingness to take risks in doing what our master expects of us.

And there’s no doubt about it – what God asks us to do is risky. God wants us to take the faith that we’ve been given and use it and multiply it not by playing it safe, but by taking risks, by stepping out in faith in everything we do. God wants us to step out in faith in the choices we make, in the things we do, in the ways we relate to other people, and yes, in the ways we use our money.

I told you I was going to preach about money!

So even though this parable isn’t specifically about money, it does teach us that the risks we take in faith need to extend to every part of our lives. Including the way we think about and use our not just our money, but all the resources we have available to us.

So this is a very relevant message for us today. First, because we are considering our pledges and our support for this congregation for the coming year. I know that for many of us, making a pledge to support the work of this congregation is somewhat risky. Who knows what the coming year will bring for any of us? This is a personal risk that each of us needs to consider thoughtfully and with much prayer.

But this message is also important today because, as a congregation, we are also about to embark on some changes in leadership here in the Schoharie Region that will require us to be willing to take some risks and to step out in faith.

As many of you know, we shared the news this past week of two appointment changes: As of December 1, Pastor Anna will be appointed ¼-time to Richmondville UMC, where she will work with Pastor Jeff Smith to create a new faith community designed to reach people who are not already associated with a church.

At the same time, Pastor Jongdeok Park, who currently serves the Esperance-Sloansville and Gallupville UMCs will also be coming to us as our new ¼-time associate pastor.

But this change in leadership will be unlike anything this congregation or any congregation in the region has experienced. Anna and Jongdeok will work together as partners in ministry to serve Cobleskill UMC, the other UMCs, and the region as a whole. Anna will maintain an office here in our building, but it will become the Schoharie Regional office. She will also continue to work with our youth and our confirmation class, and she will work with Jongdeok as he gets to know us, our youth, and our ministry.

This is exciting and full of possibilities! And yes, it’s risky. We’ve never tried something like this before, where there will be fluid boundaries between Anna’s ministry and Jongdeok’s ministry. No one knows exactly what this partnership will look like in practice. There will be a lot of learning and growing going on for all of us. It will require a lot of patience, understanding, support, and prayer.

But most of all, it requires us to be willing to follow where God is leading us – into something new and unknown and risky.

Jesus ends his parable by saying, “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance.”

We at Cobleskill UMC have a lot to be thankful for. We have strong, able, and willing church leaders, we have a very faithful and loving congregation, and we have a proven willingness to take risks and embrace change. We have been faithful with all that God has given us so far – and like the first two servants in the parable, God is saying to us now, “Well done! You are good and faithful servants. You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.”

If we choose the risky path of following God’s ways in Jesus, and if we joyfully and generously share all our resources with this congregation and with our brothers and sisters in the region, we will surely have an abundance to celebrate: new ministries, new ways of reaching new people, and, most importantly, the potential for making many more disciples for Jesus Christ. Which is, really, what it’s all about. Amen.