What Do We Do with Our Talents? Matthew 25:14-15, 19-29 November 17, 2002, Proper 28 The Rev. William V. Livingston, Rector Church of the Resurrection, Starkville, Mississippi And I thought last week's lectionary was difficult. Let's see, there's Zephaniah: "Their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung." Now that's a positive preaching image. How about the Psalm - they're usually pretty gentle - "You sweep us away like a dream; we fade away suddenly like grass." Now that's comforting. How about 1 Thessalonians: "then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!" Not real assuring is it? Alas, Matthew doesn't offer a much better subject for an upbeat sermon: "For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those wh have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." From now on, when Elizabeth tells me she will be gone two weeks in a row, I'm going to check the lectionary readings first. Once again, the scriptures remind us we live in now of the already and the not yet - the already of God creating out of love and calling us to live now as if the kingdom of heaven has come and the not yet of the time when we truly do live in the now of the kingdom of heaven when all that Jesus came to accomplish comes to be. To briefly put Jesus' parable in perspective, we are talking about no small sum of money. One talent was equal to 6,000 denarii." Since one denarius was an average subsistence wage for a day's labor, one talent was worth more than fifteen years wages. In the modern era, we might roughly translate the assets made available for investment at about 3 million dollars. Second, note that it says the master gave them the talents. He did not loan them. He did not instruct what they were to do with them. He simply gave them to use as they saw fit. The first two saw this as theirs and invested it accordingly. The last one saw it as the master's and simply returned it to him on his return. If you have lived in both your own home and in rental property, which one did you seek to improve, and which did you simply hope not to have to forfeit your deposit? Hearing this parable, the hearer must consider what it means to be given something of great wealth but which one must be diligent to put to its best use. This proved true as Jesus prepared his followers for his imminent death. This proved true as Matthew's community dealt with conflicts with those who rejected Jesus as the one for whom they had waited so long. This proves true today as we understand our calling as Christ's re-presentation to the world, a world changing incredibly fast. In this world what worked in building our faith communities 20 years ago, 10 years ago, and even only last year may not work today. The landscapes of this country and the greater world are in rapid transition, and as a church both locally and nationally, we cannot remain as we were and expect the Good News to be heard. In a world of change, God may well be in the business of reaping where we least expect the Spirit to have sown, gathering where Christianity's seed was apparently not scattered. Today's Gospel is an invitation for us to look outside of our stayed, historical boundaries at a world where God, at times like an opportunist, harvests spiritual abundance in the most unlikely places. For way too many of us, we either don't see this as the mission with which we have been entrusted, or we consider the task way beyond our capability. To understand today's parable, we must accept that we have been given the talents we need and that living in the world means being a family. To help us to understand both of these, I offer a story about some friends. These 5 friends were gentleman who, due to their developmental disabilities, moved into a group home for men needing a sheltered environment. For confidentiality reasons I'll give them fictitious names. First came Jack, 45, the only African American in the group. He had lived in Hudspeth State School since he was five, when his mother dropped him off and disappeared. Next came Ricky, 25, who came from what colloquially would be known as a racist, red neck heritage. His parents referred him because of his violent outbursts in which he beat up his aging father. Next came Tony, whose family secret was that he was conceived in an incestuous relation between his father and sister and whose aging grandparents feared what would become of him after their deaths. Finally came Lane and Ron, brothers who had been placed in Ellisville State School when they were 1 and 3 only to be removed while in their twenties by a younger sister who wanted to take care of them but quickly realized they were far more than she could handle. When the home first opened, arguments, threats of violence and chaos were the order for the day. However, a gifted staff person said to them, "Each of you has a talent unique to you. This is your home; you have a chance to make this place the best it can be." Six months after the home opened, Ricky and James did the grocery shopping. Ricky, who could read but had no grasp for money or math, took the grocery list and gathered the needed items from the shelf. Jack, who could not read but was very conscientious about money and could add and subtract, figured whether each had sent enough money for his favorite treat and would pay the cashier for the home groceries and verify whether the clerk returned the correct change. Tony served as the house chef - his specialty being fried pork chops. Ron, intellectually the lowest functioning of the five, loved to clean and always assumed the duties of rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher. Finally, Lane, the most gregarious of the group, answered the telephone taking messages as needed, welcomed guests, and organized the evening entertainment. Amazed by the transformation, I commented on how well they operated the house. Lane, looking at me with a wisdom I seldom encounter, replied, "Mr. Bill, this is our home, and we are family." Through the tears welling up in my eyes, I looked on the smiles of 5 proud and transformed men. As we live in the now of the already and the not yet, as we live in a land that is increasingly unchurched, our greatest temptation is to be afraid of being bold enough to try something new; to be scared of investing our talents given to us not simply for ourselves, but for a world in need. We can no longer expect to harvest where Christianity once sowed. Our newest members, and our most abundant resources to grow as the Body of Christ, may be found amongst those who have never before darkened the door of the church, amongst those who have never even considered the Christian faith viable. Investing our talents means far from burying them, but carrying our gifts for ministry into the most unlikely fields of mission - sinking our resources into endeavors that we might not have imagined yesterday; of getting "outside the box" of our normal way of being and doing as a community in Christ and of really throwing our doors open wide; but not only so that people can walk in, but so that we can walk out into a changed world with the message of the Gospel. What must await us there is the promise of the parable, that some of us will double, and perhaps even more than double, our investment as we participate with God in the practice of reaping where we did not sow, and gathering where we did not ever scatter. The Gospel with which we are entrusted is the Good News of a God who willingly suffered for the world. God now expects us to respond by boldly proclaiming the Gospel, even in the face of danger. And what also awaits us is precisely what we seek in the deepest places of our hearts, the one thing we know that will conquer our fears of change, our fears of trying something new. For if God is anything at all like the master in today's parable, when we walk out into the world, we are going to meet God's Spirit there, waiting for us; and not just to settle our accounts, but to invite us into the joy of an abundant life that Christ is preparing for all Creation. We are family. What happens to you affects me. The choices you make with your life affect much more than your particular corner of the world. How we live in this country is manifest in the lives of people worlds away, whom we will never meet. What the servants do with the master's resources matters. When the task seems greater than our talents can accomplish, consider the words of Mother Teresa. Someone once said to her, "Do you think you're going to eliminate poverty by what you're doing? You are almost ninety years old, with pneumonia, traveling across the world. You're going to kill yourself, wear yourself out trying to save the homeless poor." To this she responded, "I wasn't called to be successful, but faithful." Each of you has a talent unique to you. Resurrection, Starkville, the world, this is your home; you have a chance to make this place the best it can be. And the Nike Jesus still says, "Just do it!"