So many have read and heard this story over the years, but they have not had the political scene of today in the background. That has made the difference for me. Or maybe I am just learning something in my old age.
What is clearer to me this year, more than ever before, is that each of the Gospel writers has a particular, historical context and a particular audience each is addressing. In its own way, each Gospel is highly political, deeply spiritual, and broadly concerned with the welfare of all of God’s people living in relationship with God and one another.
It is very likely that the Gospel of Matthew was written during or just after a time of persecution of Christians. This means that people suspected as being Christian were called before the court of Rome to renounce or denounce their faith. We know that some people were not able to do this and became the early martyrs of the Church.
Those who wanted to save their lives publicly declared that the Emperor, who was most likely Domitian, was Lord of all and then made a sacrifice of incense on the altar to the Emperor. If they completed this, the judge then welcomed them saying, “Enter into the joy of Rome.”
If we overlay today’s parable on this time of persecution, then the words Jesus gives to the master, “Enter into the joy of your master”, of course, would have had meaning for the people of Jesus’ time that we might otherwise miss today. These words would have had a poignancy particularly powerful for the people of Matthew’s time.
To understand what this means for us today, as we read this Gospel lesson, we have to discern, “Is the master God or the Emperor?” A favorable judgment in the parable resulted in the invitation to enter into the joy, that is, to continue living, in the master’s kingdom. Those who identify the master as God hear this differently from those who identify the master as the emperor. So, is the kingdom of the master the political world, or is it the kingdom of God’s promised eternal life?
Then we have to determine, “What is faithful living? Making money? Or is faithfulness the willingness to risk everything?” We do not have all of the details of this time that we would like, but there are some things we know. From records of Roman court cases we have indications that a fee for the court costs, a tax, a bribe or gift, a mordida, would most probably have been part of the process. Whatever these amounts might have been, they would have been far short of the talent mentioned in this story, but the issue of money in this story would have been clear and the object of the parable remains. Those who please the master live in joy; those who don’t, live in fear, torment, and death.
I know that you have heard this parable preached as a stewardship sermon. I know because I have heard those sermons. I may have actually preached one of those sermons, but today I believe that this parable has to do more with fear and the consequences of it. So, let us look at these three slaves in the context of a fear response. What is this fear? Is it the fear of terror, of punishment that must be avoided at any cost kind of fear, or is it the fear of reverence, the “You shall fear and love God” kind of fear?
The first slave receives the talents and immediately trades them away. It is as if he fears that the amount of money he has been given is bound to cause him trouble and ultimately be the cause of his death. He might as well get it over with, and so he immediately dumps all of it into trades. By luck or shrewdness, he discovers that instead of losing money, he has multiplied his fortune. He now has ten talents. He is like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice who, the more he tried to chop up the brooms, the more brooms got up to carry the buckets of water.
The slave who has been given two talents also trades, but in this case, it appears that he is more judicious. He does not act immediately without considering alternatives. Nevertheless, he too responds to his fear and gains two more talents.
Notice that neither the first nor the second does anything with the talents they have received once they have doubled their money. They seem to stop handling the money until the master reappears.
And the last slave seems paralyzed. In fear he buries the talent in the ground. In terms of this parable, he is a worthless, lazy slave.
It is easy to say that the slave that got five talents did what was expected of him, but I am not so sure he was the good guy in this story. Likewise, we appreciate the work of the slave with two talents, but even then, I am not sure that his actions are praiseworthy. Why do we agree that the third slave is worthless and lazy?
So, let us go back and look at this parable from the context of the early Christian persecution. Each of the slaves have been given talents, and they are called to the court to renounce their faith and denounce Jesus as the Christ.
The first person is brought in, and he effusively renounces his faith. He pays the court costs and then lavishes gifts on everyone in the court. The second, though less lavishly, is able to do the same. But the third person, in effect, says, “I refuse to play these games. I will give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but no more. I will continue to give to God what is God’s. I will not renounce my faith. I will not denounce Jesus as the Christ. I will most certainly not make a sacrifice to Caesar on any altar. You can put me in prison. You can send me to the Coliseum to be devoured by animals. It will make no difference.”
While the first two are welcomed with the words, “Well done! Enter the joy of the master”, is this something that we are pleased with? When the third person is thrown into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, are we ashamed of him?
Today as we think about this parable in our world we must ask ourselves: Are we living in fear? Is fear controlling our lives? When we risk everything for the Gospel, are we doing that out of fear or are we acting in faith? What is the treasure that we have? How are we going to use that treasure? I bring these questions to you for your consideration because you are the ones who must answer them.
Yet, before you jump to one answer or another, let me share these last thoughts. The type of literature or writing we are reading is called apocalyptic literature. The premise of this writing is, “When you read this account, the battle has already been won.” Therefore, I am confident in understanding the meaning of this parable in our world today.
We know that Jesus has already been crucified. He has died. The tomb has been opened. He is risen! He has promised that he will come again. In the midst of this story, in the midst of the persecution, stands this amazing promise that Jesus will come again.
In our world, as in the time of Matthew’s gospel, there is more than enough fear to go around. There is the fear of terror when we consider how screwed up our world is today. Have we done enough? Is it possible to do enough to make a difference? Will Jesus find faithful people when he comes again?
We need to also remember the fear of reverence. We know that that fear is both enough and never enough, but we do have this assurance: Christ has already won the battle for us. God’s love for God’s people is shown to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus; and for his sake God forgives us all of our sin.
The fact of the matter is that we are all of these slaves. We are both willing at times to risk everything for the Gospel and at other times just trying to save our lives. We are sometimes more judicious in how we do these things, but still are willing. We are sometimes unable to do anything for the sake of the Gospel, and then there are those times when for the sake of the Gospel we are willing to confront the powers of the world and say, “Enough is enough.” At those times, fear may be much more like the reverence or honoring of God that the Old Testament writers and Luther speak of. In those times, we are much more able to say we fear and love God. There is but one God who is above all others. We have come to know God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; co-equal and co-eternal, God in three persons, the blessed Trinity.
And so, we wait in that time between Christ’s ascension into heaven and his coming again to judge the living and the dead, doing what we can in faith, depending on God’s grace. We continue to keep the faith knowing that God has already won the battle over sin, death and the devil. We wait, hearing these sometimes confusing and challenging texts with the sure and certain hope of God’s love for the world, in the context of the telling of the story of faith recorded for us in the Gospels, knowing that each of the Gospel writers has a particular historical context and a particular audience he is addressing. Each Gospel is highly political, deeply spiritual, and broadly concerned with the welfare of all of God’s people living in relationship with God and one another.
The question that lingers for us today with the telling of this parable is, “Will we wait in fear and trepidation or will we be able to depend on the mercy and the love shown to us in Christ, celebrating each day that we have?”. When we hear those words, “Enter into the joy of the master,” will we be cringing, or will we be dancing? These are the questions we have as we come to the end of our liturgical year, as we begin to think about how we are going to faithfully tell the story of Jesus in the coming year, as we prepare for the Christmas event of vulnerable coming and the walk to the cross and the Easter proclamation of joyful hope.
May you know Christ’s presence in these days. May you be strengthened for the journey. May you find your faithful response in this time of waiting for Christ’s coming again, walking in the ways of Christ, loving our neighbor and one another.
I urge you. Keep the faith. The battle is already won.
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