Twenty Fourth Sunday after Pentecost 15th November 2020

Judges 4: 1-10 Debra and Berak

Matthew 25: 14–30

‘For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents.  In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents.  But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, “Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.” His master said to him, “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.” And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, “Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.” His master said to him, “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.” Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But his master replied, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 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. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Reflection: 

I’m torn today- I don’t know if you sometimes find a Word of God especially speaks to your heart and invigorates your spirit- well, I not only find today’s gospel thought-provoking, I also find the reading from Judges, the story of Debra, inspiring. Debra- who is one of the most influential women in the Bible. She is the fourth judge of Israel and is known for her wisdom, her courage and her faith and action. Her story is told in Judges chapter 4 and the Song of Debra is in Judges 5. As a prophet/judge Debra is said to hear God’s voice and share God’s word with others. 

Debra and her story can teach us so much but three points stand out especially for today:

Be obedient: If God is telling you to do something or go somewhere, despite your fears, listen to His call. He has plans that we cannot begin to understand, and hearts and lives may be changed by our obedience.

Be courageous: There’s a saying “God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called”. Doing something out of your comfort zone to glorify him may be scary but ‘Faith in Action’ was never promised to be easy.

Be true: Stand firm, don’t waver in your faith. We don’t usually know what the road ahead will look like, but we should remember that God will faithfully lead and guide us as we seek to honour him.

Now what has Debra’s story in common with the theme and teaching the parable of the talents? 

The traditional interpretation of this parable often seems fairly obvious: 

take what you’ve been given by God and do something with it…God is incredibly generous to us- how generous are we in return? Often this story is used as part of a stewardship campaign- suggesting that we have all be given material gifts as well as skills and abilities to use for ourselves and for the kingdom of God. Do we hide these in the field- or do we use them generously for the building and growing of the kingdom of God in the lives of others? 

But there is another possible interpretation of this parable of the talents that leaves me to wonder. In a way it comes from left field. You see I find that God’s word is sometimes ambiguous- it has many facets- all of which can speak to our hearts and our situation. So, the question for me is why can we be sure the landlord is as awful as the third servant makes out?

I mean, we have no precise description of him as good or bad prior to what the third servant says. More than that, the first two servants do not seem afraid. They take the money they have been given and go out and trade – they go out and risk their wealth in the marketplace. Perhaps that was driven by desperation, we don’t know. But they seem to return their profit to their master with delight and he, in turn, praises them lavishly, rewards them with even greater responsibility, and invites them to enter into his joy.

The master gives the servants talents to invest. We often gloss over that word, but a talent represented a lot, I read somewhere a talent was about 15 years of income for servants such as these. That is, whether you had received five, two, or a single talent, you would have just been entrusted with a huge amount of wealth. And while the first two servants seem to take that as a sign of their master’s confidence and affirmation and thus risk that wealth seeking to do well by his trust, it’s only the third servant who seems paralysed by fear of the master. So, the question I want to ask is why his description of the master, which is the only description offered in the parable, why is this recorded and taken as accurate.

Perhaps the reason might be because the master seems to confirm the servant’s judgment with his response. Notice, the master replies to the servant’s claim in the form of a question, “You knew, did you…?” He may have been challenging the servant’s assessment. He might also, for that matter, have decided to play the role the third servant had given him: “If you thought I was so awful, why didn’t you at least invest the money in a bank. Therefore, I will be the person you’ve described: take his talent and throw him out.”

Is this a warning suggesting a formidable nature of God and even a caution that we can pre judge the master’s motives and so act according to that judgement?  And so, we are limited by the premature judgments we render about the character of others? And that this can be true even in our relationship with God? (What a challenging thought!)

When we imagine God primarily as an enforcer of rules, we risk getting hung up by the legalism of religion in that we feel the need to behave and comply to a certain standard and performance to earn favour with God? I think not. When we visualize God as stern and prone to punishment, the danger is that we come to believe that everything bad in our lives is punishment from God. When we see God as arbitrary and imprudent, that’s what we experience, a hard and unsympathetic God who is in line with our expectations. 

In contrast, when we see God as loving and generous we find it easier to be generous and love God, ourselves and others. When we see God as gracious, we lead more grace-filled lives. When we recognize God as forgiving, we live in the joy of receiving and giving forgiveness. What you see in life is often just what you get.

So, I wonder, what kind of God do you see?

What is the character and qualities of God that you see?...

Mostly when this parable is interpreted the master represents God. And we are those given talents which are to be used for the purpose of building God’s kingdom. In relation to this parable, I read somewhere that we are to use our money wisely so that we can make more (and therefore have more to give for God’s work in the world.) 

But (and again this is the left field thought) what if the master doesn’t represent God and instead is a worldly master who is not honourable but greedy, who wants his servants to make more money for his own wicked purpose. 

We are also told that the master is one who is involved in aggressive and unjust business dealings and praises the making of money mo matter how that may be. So, I wonder, could this really be God? 

What if the master, rather than a stand in for God, is a member of the unjust elite? The servant who buries the talent, rather than being a fearful and lazy slave, is one who refuses to be complicit in the corruption carried out by his master.  He is cast into the outer darkness, and excluded for not accepting an economy in which the poor will only get poorer while the rich get richer. But is he really cast into darkness because if all this is so, and he is following in the way of goodness, his action is reflective of goodness and integrity, and ‘Christ like’? Subsequently, his reward is found not in the things of the world but in the richness and blessings of God. 

Following on from this- and back to the story of Debra- like Debra we can be encouraged to be obedient, courageous, to stand up for what is true, for this is how we will transform lives and build the kingdom. So be generous with your talents but use them in a God honouring way. And may we also encourage others likewise to put the things of the kingdom before all else and trust and not be afraid.

Prayer: Dear God, let us recognize you as the one who comes bearing forgiveness, love, mercy, and grace and allow this true vision of you to transform who we are and how we live. In Jesus’ name, Amen.