A God who entrusts us with things of enormous worth

Here's the sermon that I preached at St Paul's Wickford on Saturday evening and Sunday morning:

Many of Jesus’ parables are set in the world of work. They concern masters, servants and slaves, as those were the primary work roles at the time and, because Israel was an agrarian culture, they often relate to farming. Ours is a very different context but, despite the many differences between the working life of Jesus’ day and time, the universal nature of the stories that he told, means that they still have much to say to the work practices of our own day and time.

When I had the opportunity to minister in central London for seven years before coming to Wickford in Essex, I was for a time priest at a church in the financial district of London, the City of London. One of the key missional things we were able to do in that context was to make connections for those working in the City between faith and work. One colleague who was able to assist in that endeavour, as he had specifically explored the implications of Jesus’ parables for the workplace, was Will Morris, who is now both PwC’s Global Tax Policy Leader US and a priest in the Episcopal Church at St John’s Lafayette Square Washington DC. In his book ‘Where is God at Work?’ Will devotes five chapters to exploring the Parable of the Talents or Pounds (Matthew 25:14-30).

He notes firstly that this is story about workers and work. In the story people at work are ‘entrusted with vast sums of money and expected to use them in commercial ways’: ‘People are given assignments, they have responsibilities, and they have to report back to the boss, who then assesses them and rewards them with further work responsibility – or punishes them with demotion (or the sack). The relationships are business relationships. There is one worker who obviously has real commercial smarts, another who is not quite as high-powered but still does pretty well, and then there is the one who has no commercial savvy at all, and who lets his employer’s money sit in the ground doing nothing. So we have the successful risk-taker and the conservative, risk-adverse colleague who’d much rather do nothing than try anything. And there’s a hierarchy. It really is just like a workplace.’

He makes three key points. The first is that this is not directly a story about God-given abilities (a pound or talent was a measure of money, not a skill or gift). It is ‘rather a story about the entrustment of something of great price to various individuals.’

‘Second, the sums of money – the pounds or talents – are something given, entrusted by the master when he leaves and required to be turned back over when he returns.’ It is about ‘something entrusted to us which we are expected to work with – fruitfully – and then return to the person who gave it to us.’

Third, there is the size of the gifts. One talent is sixteen years’ wages, five is eighty years’ worth. ‘That’s a lot to entrust to a slave ... Slaves, those way down the pecking order, were here entrusted with huge wealth. The master didn’t entrust the talents to his fellow owners or to his friends, but to his slaves.’ In that sense, ‘this parable is more about equality, at least of opportunity, than it is about inequality. Slaves, if they can handle it, are as worthy of being trusted as the leaders of society.’

This parable ‘upholds commercial activity – even ... banking’ and, more specifically, ‘Jesus does indicate that – in the right settings – using money to make money is completely acceptable.’ ‘For Christians in the workplace that is welcome and affirming.’ Despite this, ‘the parable doesn’t tell us that money is good, or that we will be doing God’s work if we earn more talents for Him by any means we wish as long as we end up increasing the amount.’

However, ‘done well, done properly, these activities will validly contribute to the building up of the kingdom. As a result, we must be open to the possibility that God has placed them there for us to use in this way. If we approach the workplace with the idea, the preconception, that good cannot possibly be achieved there, then the chances are that it won’t be. But if, in part thanks to this parable, we are open to the possibility that God can work through instruments such as money and in the workplace, then who know what might happen? ... God can turn up and do amazing things in the most unlikely places.’

Jesus told this and other parables where the boss is absent, in order to prepare his disciples for his death, resurrection and ascension. He was the one who was going to leave and when he left them, at the point of his Ascension, he was entrusting them with the responsibility of continuing his mission and ministry in his physical absence. It has to be said that this was and is an awesome responsibility and we can readily understand why the third worker was paralysed by fear at the prospect. However, it also shows the value that Jesus saw in his disciples and sees in us. It is amazing but true that God believes in us enough to entrust us with working towards the coming of his kingdom, on earth as in heaven.

So, how will we respond to the challenge of Jesus’ parable? In the story, the faithful workers are those that accept responsibility and act on it. The unfaithful worker is the one who does nothing, who does not act. Are we faithful or unfaithful workers? Are our lives dedicated to working for the benefit of others and our world? It is important to also note that in the parable we have been given the resources needed for this responsibility. In the parable the master gave out resources (the ‘talents’) alongside responsibilities. In the same way, the Holy Spirit has come to empower all of Jesus’ disciples.

The ‘parable of the talents is not about the unequal handing out of skills and about the punishment of the weak. It is about whether we try to be the best we can be, working with God to build His kingdom, heal His creation, including the workplace – which, like everything else, will be perfected at the end of time. It’s about being ourselves, not trying to be people we’re not. It’s about doing only what we are capable of doing, but doing it very well. It’s about a God who entrusts us with things of enormous worth – the possibilities of being His co-workers – and who will love us for what we have done unless (and only unless) we hide the gift, don’t ask Him for help using it, and then turn around and tell Him it was all His own fault anyway. Our God loves us. He really does. And all we have to do is love him back.’ That’s what Stewardship is all about.

So, do we recognise that each of us has much that we can give; that we are all people with talents and possessions however lacking in confidence and means we may sometimes be? We all have something we can offer, so how can we, through our lives and work, benefit and develop the world for which God has given humanity responsibility? What resources - in terms of abilities, job, income and possessions - has God given to us in order to fulfil our responsibility to benefit and develop the world? These are questions that this parable encourages us to ask.

Jesus challenges us as to whether we will be faithful or unfaithful servants? How will we respond? If we accept the responsibility we have been given, we should then pray for quiet courage to match this hour. We did not choose to be born or to live in such an age; but we ask that its problems challenge us, its discoveries exhilarate us, its injustices anger us, its possibilities inspire us and its vigour renew us for the sake of Christ’s kingdom come, on earth as in his heaven. Amen.

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Maggi Dawn - The Earth Is The Lord's.