All We Have to Decide. . .

The Rev. Robert P. Travis

22nd Sunday After Pentecost Sermon – 8:00 and 10:30am

Church of the Ascension, Knoxville TN

RCL Proper 28 Year A 11/13/201

Text: Zephaniah 1:7,12-18, Psalm 90:1-8,12, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon Text:

I’m starting today with the assumption,

that since we’re going to come up and present

our pledges for the support of this community in 2012,

in just a few minutes,

you’ve already done your praying

and have already carefully prepared your pledge,

and filled out your pledge card.

So while this gospel passage lends itself very well

to financial stewardship,

given that it’s all about money,

you might be pleased to know

that I am not going to talk about money today.

But just in case one of you is sitting out there thinking

“You know, I wish Fr. Rob would just tell me

what to do with this card,”

here’s a little help,

for every hundred thousand dollars you earn in a year,

put $10,000 on the card.

For example, Let’s say you think you might earn $200,000 next year,

take your card,

write $20,000 for next year’s pledge,

and you’re done.

It’s that easy to tithe.

Now I’m not going to talk about money any more,

relieved?

well, I’d really like to say it’s all easy now

but really it’s not.

This gospel passage does not let me say it’s easy

Talents in this passage are units of money,

but they have come to mean abilities and gifts

in our language, because of this passage,

and that’s what I want to talk about.

But while pleasing God with our talents is not easy,

it is not something to be afraid of,

and that is what is at the heart of this Gospel.

One of the things that stood out to me first here,

that I think I missed before,

was that the master entrusted his property,

to his slaves, “to each according to his ability.”

He was not expecting that the one he gave the

one Talent would give him back 10.

But while the expectations were proportionate to ability,

the attitude of the servant was expected to be the same.

Notice that the master does not deny

what the last servant accuses him of,

except for the judgment that he is a “harsh man.”

perhaps the other servants knew as well,

that their master was a shrewd business man,

and got unexpected gains from his wealth,

taking profit that was above what others expected.

SO the main difference between the three servants,

was not the amount they were entrusted with,

but the attitude they had about their task.

The first two servants tried to be like their master,

and were successful in following his lead,

the final one, on the other hand, was afraid

of his master’s example,

and gave up before he started.

He did not trust himself, his own ability,

and he did not trust his master’s example.

Let me tell you another story to bring this up to date.

There is a woman in our congregation

who lives in a nursing home.

She is very frail,

and often suffers from a physically debilitating condition.

One might say that she does not have much ability,

to do something for God.

And most would say God doesn’t require

anything of her.

But she doesn’t see it that way.

She feels she has something to offer,

even within her limited community.

She knows the Lord, knows He loves her,

and knows that He has given her love for others,

and a passion for knowledge and study.

So this woman, from her wheel chair,

between serious bouts of illness,

went about organizing a lending library

for her nursing home,

setting up a women’s bible study,

and a poetry group,

and not least of all,

arranged for us to bring the Eucharist to the home,

and constantly invites people

to join her when we share the sacrament there.

People are blessed by her presence,

and she is returning to God,

through the praises of others,

an increased measure of the love she feels from God.

When I asked her how she did it all,

for she has faced some stiff opposition,

from people who don’t want change,

and especially from people

who believe we’re theologically wrong,

she responded that she just loves her fellow residents,

and everything she does with them,

helps her see Christ in each of them.

That love keeps her going in spite of the opposition.

One might say, she doesn’t have a lot to work with,

but she has taken the talent she has been given,

seen what Christ does in people,

and out of that love,

made her talent reap much greater benefit for the master

than one might expect.

She trusts her own limited time and ability,

and she trusts her God to accomplish the rest.

In the readings today we’re presented

with a stark contrast, what is displeasing to God,

versus what is pleasing.

Now don’t get me wrong,

this is not about earning our salvation,

it’s about what we do,

once we know we’re servants of the King,

with the talents we’ve been given so freely,

how we return praise to him,

in the hopes of “entering into the joy” of our master.

But the rather dark and scary passage from Zephaniah,

tells us clearly what is not pleasing to God.

God is not pleased with people “who rest complacently

on their dregs,

those who say in their hearts,

‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm.’”

It is a grave misunderstanding of God,

to believe as so many do in our society,

that God is not active in the world,

and that God just wants us to be happy and pursue our own happiness.

They do not trust God, or themselves, and become complacent,

That complacency about God leads us,

as the Psalm says, to

“consume away in (God’s) displeasure.”

These passages are about the request at the end of the psalms,

“So teach us to number our days,

that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”

That we may apply ourselves to pleasing God with what we’ve been given.

If we know God, we know that he wants everyone

to know him, to know his love, and love him in return.

That is the overwhelming testimony of scripture.

And if we’re really reinvesting the gifts

we have been given,

the best way to follow his example,

the best way to trust God,

rather than burying our gifts in the ground,

is to seek to make more disciples.

That is what Jesus commanded us,

as the core of our mission.

But how we each go about that mission varies

according to our ability, and according to the situation

we find ourselves in.

That reminds me of the story of Albert McMakin,

you all know him right?

Well, maybe a few of you do,

because we hear about him in Alpha,

but he’s not that well known.

Yet he did something,

that brought much more reward to God,

in terms of disciples, than he could possibly have thought.

See, as a young man Albert knew Jesus,

and wanted to please God by sharing Jesus

with his friends,

by inviting them to come with him to a church meeting.

He had gathered a group to go and hear an evangelist

speak, and one of his friends resisted.

This friend was good looking,

and was much more interested in girls than in church.

He said no, he wasn’t interested,

But Albert McMakin persisted,

he said to his friend.

you don’t have to come into the event,

but could you just drive the van?

His friend agreed to drive the van,

and after all his friends were in the meeting,

Albert’s friend sat in the van,

eventually his curiosity got the best of him,

and he left the van and snuck in the back

to see what was going on.

He listened to the evangelist,

and was very moved,

he decided to give his life to Christ,

and went on to become an evangelist himself.

He eventually spoke directly about Jesus

to hundreds of thousands,

through television reached millions with the gospel,

and served as a spiritual advisor

to generations of American Presidents.

His name was Billy Graham.

Now, when we’re faced with that kind of legacy,

we can easily say,

we can’t all be Billy Grahams.

But we can all be Albert McMakins.

You never know what God will do through the people

you reach with the talents you have been given,

If you only make one other disciple in your life,

That person may go on to make ten,

or a million!

You just have to be faithful with what you’ve been given,

and not bury your talents,

or your friends and acquaintances in the ground.

I love that time in the Lord of the Rings:

when Gandalf says to Frodo,

“All we have to decide

is what to do with the time given to us.”

It is so much like the psalm.

“So teach us to number our days,

that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”

The heart of the gospel to day,

is a slight modification,

all we have to decide,

is what to do with the talents given to us.

Don’t be afraid to invest your talents for God’s pleasure.

God will take care of the rest.