“From an Abundance or Not”

November 13, 2011

Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴“For (the kingdom of God) is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them;

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²⁹For 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.

In the parables of Jesus’, improperly dressed guests are thrown out of the king’s party. Unprepared bridesmaids turn up late to the wedding and find the doors closed to them. And the fearful servant, unwilling to take a risk, loses what has been given him.

Parables like these are intended to teach us about God’s kingdom life and God’s love. They are often described as “earthly stories with a heavenly meaning”. They point us up while bringing us down to earth.

Robert F. Capon's suggests today’s parable includes three common themes of Jesus’ teachings: 1) the great joy the Lord takes in spreading his abundance around, 2) the needlessness of ever having to dread God, and 3) judgment rendered on faith-in-action, not on the results of that faith. “God,” he says, “isn't trying to hurt anyone; he's not even mad at anyone.” In fact he says, “There are no lengths to which God won't go to prove there are no restrictions on the joy he wants to share with us.”

A kingdom life is one of abundance and choice instead of limitations and scarcity.

Ours can be a life of unlimited options. Unlimited choices. Abundance. Uniqueness. Creativity. That’s where Jesus wants us to live. That’s what Jesus wants us to experience.

In today’s Scripture lesson, Jesus tells the story of a man who goes on a journey, and before leaving on his trip he distributes his property among his servants. To one he gives — say—$1,000,000, to another, $400,000, and to a third, a mere $200,000. So, what happens? The first two invest the money given them and it doubles in value. The third however, the one given $200,000, digs a hole in the back yard, stashes the cash in a coffee can, and waits.

The third guy is so afraid he’ll lose the cash, and the consequences of losing it and what his master’s reaction will be if he does that he does nothing, except hang on to what he’s got. And by doing so, he has limited his options. He has limited the possibilities. He doesn’t see the abundance, the choices, and the creativity that are available to him.

On the other hand, the first two servants look around and see a world of abundance and opportunity and choices. They see they can multiply what they have if only there are willing to risk what they have.

As a church, where would you say we should be living? — Are we living in that world of abundant potential where we choose to invest our spiritual capital in opportunities for new ministry? Or is it a ‘coffee can’ world of limitations and scarcity? Might today’s parable be teaching us as a church to embrace God’s abundance, to see the possibilities for ministry out there, and to creatively invest and spend the capital God has given us?

Embracing God’s abundance and all the possibilities for us means trusting God enough to make use of the gifts and abilities we have been given, whether our particular passion is for teaching children or cooking meals or doing yard work or repairing homes or whatever. We don’t have to do what other churches do, because God wants us to be the unique individuals we’ve been created to be, and who we are helps us to understand what we should be as a church.

What are the things, because of our talent and ability, we take great pride in doing?  What lasting impact can we make on the world around us by our willingness to invest the talents we’ve been given?

In today’s parable Jesus teaches it’s important for the church, the body of Christ, to be like the servant who goes out and aggressively invests his resources. There is a great storehouse of talents within our community of faith, and God calls us all to live in a world, not of scarcity, but of abundance by taking risks and being generous.

This means our being willing to try new things. It means looking outside ourselves to a world in need, and do what we can to feed hungry children, house homeless adults, and welcome the strangers in our midst. God doesn’t want us to conserve what we have; instead, he wants us to invest it in ways that will multiply our effectiveness at making disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world.

Jesus couldn’t be any clearer than in today’s lesson. He says that when the master returns, those servants who have invested their talents are “good” and “faithful,” and are given more. But the servant who had buried his single talent is not only negligent - he is “lazy” and “worthless”. Jesus obviously wants us to embrace God’s world of abundance, and to live by investing our peculiar talents in the work of the kingdom.

The challenge for us is to live by faith, and to trust that God will give us what we need for an abundant life. The temptation is to be cautious, afraid of losing what we have. Every one of us has an opportunity to hear Christ’s message, and, as a church, respond faithfully by investing the gifts we have been given.

James Bryant Conant is credited as saying, “Behold the turtle. It moves forward only by sticking its neck out.” And this quote of Henry Drummond, “Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all he can do.”

Of course, some will respond, and some will not. Some will be like the servant with five talents, and some will be like the servant with one talent. Some will take risks and be generous, and some will remain cautious and close-fisted. Some will accept the idea of abundance, and some will hold to the myth of scarcity.

The only question that matters this morning is: What will we do?

“You Can Be Happy”

November 6, 2011

Matthew 5:1-12

Today’s scripture lesson comes from Matthew 5:1-12, teachings of Jesus known as the Beatitudes. You have heard them before. You know what they mean, many of you, right? For some they may even serve as sort of a model or guide for being a Christian. There are nine, and each begin Blessed are:

‘the poor …those who mourn, …the meek, …those seeking righteousness, … the merciful, … the pure in heart, …the peacemakers, …those who have sacrificed, and …those who have been victimized because they were Christians’.

You are blessed having been those things. It’s a good thing to have been poor, or to have mourned, or to have been meek, and all the others. Then Jesus will say to us: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come over here.” It is a blessing received because of what we have been – it’s a present/past sort of thing.

Now that’s all well and good. It may even be true, that we are blessed by our circumstances, but it doesn’t really seem like it at the time. What is the blessing of being poor; or losing a loved one; or being put down all the time; or failing; or being alone; or giving your life away to what may seem to be a ‘lost cause’; what good ever comes from that? It is hard finding ‘silver linings’ in every dark cloud. 

But maybe there is a different way of looking at the Beatitudes. So, today, let’s look at them from a different angle or from a different perspective. Let’s look at them from a present/future viewpoint, perhaps in the way they were originally taught. If you are ‘this’ (and because you are), then ‘that’ can happen (which is fortunate for you, as well as being a happy thing). You don’t have to be this, but if you are, then it opens up the possibility of a good thing happening – your being closer to God. In all cases, I think, what happens is the blessing of kingdom life – of living the life God would have us live, a life in which we find ourselves ever closer to God. Maybe the only way we can really ‘see’ the meaning behind these words is through the lens of the kingdom of God. Through such a lens we’re able to understand what it means when someone says “God works for good in all things.”

We are told the word ‘beatitudes’ comes from the Latin adjective beatus – meaning “fortunate” – a word appearing at the beginning of verses 3-11 in the early Vulgate. “Fortunate are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And so on. This was translated from the Greek word, makarioV – best translated “happy” – “Happy is the one who mourns, for they will be comforted.” These are not petitions that God bless us because of some deed or quality, but rather praising God for being present with us at such times.  

When biblical scholar Rabbi Steven Schwarzchild was asked, “How would you translate blessing?” he replied, “There is no one word that will do. It is something like ‘on the right path,’ ‘on the way the Creator wants us to go.’ It is the opposite of the word for sin, which means ‘losing your way.’”

When Jesus told his listeners they were “blessed,” he was not saying they should be “happy” being poor but they could be happy because in ‘poverty’ comes a holy thing, a complete reliance on God for life. That is the ‘more’ Jesus proclaims. We are blessed and fortunate by God’s action in our life. When we come to the realization we can rely on God, we can be happy, we are fortunate, we are blessed. And in that, comes a sense of peace and well-being – and a real sense of God’s kingdom.

Stated this way, it’s clear that the blessing of the Beatitudes is not about us, or about how we feel. Instead, it’s all about what God has done and will do for us. We are blessed and fortunate and happy when there is room for the kingdom of God in our lives.

And we are blessed when engaged in the process of discovering that their lives are being reshaped by this new reality. No longer will the meaning of life be defined by the culture around us, or people’s expectations of us, or what we accomplish – but rather, from now on, the dominant reality of our life, as individuals and as a church, will be the kingdom of God.

So, what does it mean for us to make a place for the kingdom in our lives today? What kind of blessing will we experience if we allow ourselves to be transformed by the radical new reality that Jesus offers us? What kind of renewal will come our way if we take seriously the invitation to open our hearts and minds to the arrival of God’s kingdom in which we are reliant upon God? God invites each of us to play a part by doing what we can to live by the values of Christ’s kingdom. If we do, we’ll be given a sense of comfort we never dreamed possible. We’ll find ourselves blessed, not cursed.

Our hope today, and the good news that is ours, is that God’s blessing comes to all who make a place for God’s kingdom in their lives and call out Gods name.

 [Blended from 'The Message' by Eugene Peterson and 'You've Got a Friend' by Carol King

Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his followers. This is what he said:

"You're blessed

When you're down

when you're at the end of your rope.

and troubled

With less of you
And you need some loving care

there is more of God and his rule.”

And nothin',

"You're blessed

nothin' is goin' right

when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you.
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there

Only then can you be embraced by the One

To brighten up

most dear to you.

even your darkest night.

"You're blessed

You just call

when you're content

out my name

with just who you are—no more, no less.
And you know

That's the moment

wherever I am

you find yourselves
I'll come runnin'

proud owners

to see you again

of everything that can't be bought.

Winter, spring, summer or fall
"You're blessed when you've worked up

All you have to do is call
a good appetite for God.

And I'll be there
He's food and drink

You've got a friend
in the best meal you'll ever eat.

If the sky

"You're blessed when you care.

above you

At the moment of being 'care-full,'
Grows dark and full of clouds

you find yourselves cared for.

And that old

"You're blessed

north wind

when you get your inside world

begins to blow

—your mind and heart—put right.

Keep your head together

Then you can see God in the outside world.

And call

"You're blessed

my name out loud

when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight.

Soon

That's when you discover

you'll hear me knockin'

who you really are,

at your door

and your place in God's family.

You just call

"You're blessed

out my name

when your commitment
And you know

to God

wherever I am

provokes persecution.

I'll come runnin', runnin, yeah, yeah,
The persecution drives

to see you again
you even deeper into God's kingdom.

Winter, spring, summer or fall
"Not only that— count yourselves blessed

All you have to do is call
every time people put you down or throw you out

And I'll be there,

or speak lies

yes I will

about you to discredit me.

Now ain't it good to know
What it means is that the truth

that you've got a friend

is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable.

When people can be so cold

You can be glad

They'll hurt you,

when that happens

yes, and desert you

—give a cheer, even!

And take your soul if you let them

—for though they don't like it, I do!

Oh, but don't you let them.

And all heaven applauds.

You just call out my name

And know that you are in good company.

And you know wherever I am
My prophets and witnesses

I'll come runnin, runnin', yeah, yeah, yeah

to see you again

have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call

And I'll be there, yes I will
You've got a friend,
you've got a friend,
ain't it good to know,
you've got a friend,
ain't it good to know,
ain't it good to know,
ain't it good to know,
you've got a friend,
oh yeah now, you've got a friend,
yeah baby, you've got a friend,
oh yeah, you've got a friend.

This is a blessed thing; a fortunate thing; a happy thing.

Ain’t it good to know – winter, spring, summer, or fall – you’ve got a friend. We are fortunate, because all we’ve got to do is call!