A Reflection for XXIV Pentecost (proper 28) All Saints’ Church,
Southern Shores, NC November 19, 2017 Thomas
E. Wilson, Rector
Returning the
Favor Meeting
“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.” says Jesus twice in
the Gospel lesson from Matthew for today, sometimes called the Parable of the Talents.
As I have explained before,
Matthew doesn't usually remember Jesus' stories as parables but as allegories.
Remember that parables are stories that are about God's Kingdom on earth as it
is in heaven, and usually God’s reactions in the story are surprises that call
upon us to open our eyes. An allegory is a literary device used to teach the
lessons of the larger community and put it into religious terms. If this was an
allegory, then the point of the story would be that you have been given a gift
by God and you need to make it grow to make God happy enough to give you a
reward. In this fashion is teaching the outlines of what we will later call
entrepreneurial capitalism where we are called to risk. The first two servants,
or slaves (the Greek word “doulos” can be translated as either), risked
and are rewarded lavishly. For most of
the history of Christianity, “being rewarded” meant getting a free card to get
out of hell and into heaven or, in this last century with the “Prosperity
Gospel” routine, getting rich here on earth as an outward and visible sign of
God's favor. The poor slob who tried to bury the talent is sent to weep and
wail and gnash teeth in outer darkness.
For those who like this story
as an allegory of reward and punishment, it presents an understanding of the
nature of God as the tough parent who rewards and punishes extravagantly with
Heaven and Hell in the afterlife or in this life. Mark Twain said; "God created man in his own image and
man, being a gentleman, returned the favor"
What I want to do is to ask
you, “Are you returning the favor and creating God in your own image?”
As we take a look at next
year's budget, part of me starts to like the idea of preaching on a God who
shakes people down for their money, and I start wondering if I pushed up the
fear meter a bit could I get people to dedicate more talent, time, and treasure
compared to what they have already been given. In the money system of the Roman
Empire, a talent was equal to the accumulated wages of an ordinary laborer for
fifteen years. Just think about what I could do if I could get each of you to
devote your life savings to me! This part of me is what the third servant calls
“a harsh man” who looks at people and asks, “How can I use this person or
relationship for my advantage?” The third servant lives in fear of this harsh
man and the harsh man lives in fear of never having enough. This is his view of
God, the God who he creates in his own image.
God as the “Harsh Man”
creates fear in his wake. We seem to live in a lot of fear as people try to
take advantage of each other. Last week our President said that he would not
blame a nation that would take advantage of another nation in order to benefit its
own people. He was expressing the dominant view articulated by Thomas Hobbes
that the natural world is a place of conflict between violent, self-interested
brutes divided into two camps - the winners and the losers. Our fear therefore
means that we discipline ourselves not
to be losers and try with all of our might to be winners. Most of the preaching
on this Gospel that I heard growing up was the encouragement of listeners to
make a profit for God with the talents given to us and not to be the loser who
weeps, fails, and gnashes his teeth. It is not an accident that, in American
culture after spending Sunday morning at church where we say we are created in
the image of God, we spend Sunday afternoon cheering on winners, “the harsh
men” who we identify with ourselves, and displaying fearful anger when our team
loses and we search for someone to blame for our loss.
It is not a surprise that, in
our fear of being losers, we are reminded daily of little men in positions of
great power who exploit women sexually as a way of being in control - winners/losers,
taking advantage out of fear.
Paul in his letters to the
Thessalonian community urges them avoid falling into fear and says that the
purpose of the community is to “encourage one another and build up each other,
as indeed you are doing”. When Paul writes to the Corinthians he says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with
unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror,
are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another;
for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”
We become what we behold, we become the image of God.
Jesus has one commandment he
repeats over and over again - “Don't be afraid!” In the Gospel story, the first
two servants see their master as one without fear, and they live their lives as
if there need be no fear. In this view they see their master not as a harsh man
but as a joyful man who opens himself up in love. This is their God, the God
that they create in their own image.
In my saner moments, this is
the God in which I place my trust. This is the God that doesn't go away on long
journeys, waiting for a settling of accounts on the final hour of my life. This
is the God who is with each of us, walking on the path with us through this
broken world. This is the God that I look to for strength when I, in the words
of the Psalmist for today, “have had more than enough of contempt, too much of
the scorn of the indolent rich, and of the derision of the proud.” This is the
God that sees that part of me that is the harsh man doling out contempt, scorn,
and derision but laughs and says , “You can do better than that. Come enter
into the joy of your master.” This is the God that is much bigger than my
returned favor of creation of God.
To which God are you
returning the favor?
Returning The Favor
Meeting
The prodigal's father
lovingly wrapped his arms
around the ragged dirty neck
of his faithless son,
as a hard master's slave
hands back a dug up one
talent and he's slapped into
jail to do him harms.
It is rumored that father is
also same hard master,
but apparently we are never
sure who's on duty
any particular day; will it
be cutie or is it snooty
that will greet us upon our
failures as our pastor?
It all depends on how Twain's
“gentleman's favor”
is returned to a God we've
created in our image,
as we shop around for a
theological scrimmage,
to either taste sweet grace
or lick revenge's savor.
Today, aware of many failings
and outright sins
are my baggage in this
meeting; hope grace wins.
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