Two Sides to Every Story
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.'
********************************************************************
Have you ever been in a fun house? Have you ever walked past the mirrors and watched as your reflection gets all distorted? Depending on where you stand, you look shorter or taller, fatter or bone thin? It’s an optical illusion or sorts.
Take a look at the picture on the top of this page; it's another familiar optical illusion. Do you see the musician or the girl's face in the picture?
The way you are wired determined what you saw in the picture. Your perception of the drawings affected how you were able to interpret what you saw. Our perceptions also affect the way we interpret life- what we were taught/learned/experienced early on, determines how we see the world. (Social Construction of reality- Burger/Luckmann)
This morning I want to give you two ways of seeing/interpreting this parable. I think that both of them make total sense, just like the picture that hold both the image of the musician and the girl's face. Both images are there, but it takes work to see both sides.
In the first interpretation, Jesus is giving his listeners an illustration about the Kingdom of God. He says, "It’s like a man who is going away on a journey, and he leaves his servants with a certain amount of money- each according to his ability. To the first he gave 5 talents, to the second, 2 talents and to the third servant, 1 talent." The servants are entrusted with something special- and they each need to decide what to do with what they have been given.
The first servant takes his talent, his portion, or his gift, and invests it; and through smart management, sees the talent start to grow. In fact, he is able to double the master’s original amount. The second servant, does the same thing. He takes his two talents, and is able to double what he has been given. Now the interesting thing about both of these servants, is that they were able to take what the master had given them, and they were able to recognize that what they had been given by the master was meant to be used. Only in that conscious decision to risk using what they had been entrusted with, were they able to multiply that gift for use in the Kingdom of God. For both of these servants, it was a leap of faith, to risk perhaps losing the money, or if we are talking about a real talent, or spiritual gift, to risk making some mistakes. But they did it, and because of that ability to take real chances, to step out in faith, they were able to do mighty things and to give a wonderful report to the master when he returned.
The third servant, however, wasn’t able to take the same risk, for some reason. He took his portion of the money, and he buried it in the ground. On some level, one could say that maybe he was protecting the master’s money. Maybe he was keeping it safe. But this servant, for whatever his reason, wasn’t able to take that leap of faith to try to use what he had been given.
Sometimes we find ourselves in similar situations- where we are given opportunities to use our talents, our time, our energy, our spiritual gifts- we see an opportunity, but are afraid that we might mess up, or we might use them in the wrong way. We might see a chance to do something special, something that we know we have the ability to do, and we have the resources, but we lack the courage to step out in faith and use what God has given us.
In my own life- it took me such a long time to answer the call to ministry- to take the leap of faith and go to seminary. I knew I had gifts for ministry- everyone around me would tell me, why don’t you be a counselor, why don’t you go to school, you’re so good with people... (blah blah blah) And I had a million excuses- 'I have four kids,' 'I’m too busy,' or the classic one- ‘I’m already doing ministry… look how involved I am at church’ But when it came right down to it, I didn’t want to risk looking stupid, I didn’t want to risk messing up, I didn’t want to be the one in the class who was asking dumb questions…And it wasn’t until I was willing to really step out in faith and risk all those things, that I was able to see that, (remarkably) I actually could be used by God to do more ministry than I had first thought. I actually multiplied and used my gift more fully for the Kingdom of God.
So- in this first interpretation, we learn that each of us are entrusted with talents- resources, if you will, and the master gives them to us to use- not to bury.
But I want to move now to a second interpretation of this passage. This one is not traditional,but makes as much sense if we are willing to look.
This second interpretation asks us to imagine that this story is not about God being the master- in fact, to imagine that it’s not an illustration about the Kingdom of God at all… but instead, that the master is a very wealthy landowner, just like the story says. He is wealthy beyond measure, and he leaves his three top employees a certain amount of his property to take care of while he goes on a trip- very literal- and he gives to them each a portion according to their power or status in his business.
Now, if we read this story in context, the people who Jesus would have been talking to while he was telling this story would have been peasants in Palestine. When he mentioned a wealthy landowner, and the talent, an amount worth about 6 million dollars by today’s standards, it would have been very clear to the peasants who the wealthy person represented. The people would have known right away that Jesus was speaking of the people who owned their homes, the ones who would raise taxes, the ones with the power to alter the laws, put constraints on their freedoms, and to keep them in a state of poverty.
When Jesus said that he put his 3 top guys in charge, the people would have also known what that meant; that the three men would have orders to get the money multiplied in any way they saw fit- including putting even more pressure on the peasants. The system was corrupt, and the rich continued to get richer and the poor poorer.
So when the wealthy man comes back, the first two servants get rewarded for doing what they were charged to do… make money. The third servant, because he hid his talent, gets punished- he is cast out. But it is this third servant, in this version of the story, who might be called the hero. Because it is the third servant who saw the master for who he really was. He saw what he was supposed to do, and realized that in order to do it, he would have to buy in to and perpetuate a corrupt system. He refused. And he tells his boss- "I know you are a harsh man- I don't want any more of this... here’s your money back. "
There’s a key line in this parable, in verse 26, when the master asks the third servant- ‘so… you thought I was wicked, did you? That I reap where I don’t sow?’ The master was calling him on his perception…And the boss, in turn, casts him out of his service- he gets fired! "You go be a peasant yourself now- you can’t have this lap of luxury life any more. "
The interesting thing is, that the third servant knew that risk going in. He was willing to risk being poor himself, to have to live among the oppressed, in order to not participate in the corruption. It was his ultimate sacrifice for the people.
So, in this interpretation, Jesus is giving the people an illustration of how the world is- and that sometimes we must be willing to risk and sacrifice our own comfort for the greater good- sometimes we have to take even one step against the system- not buy in- not condone the oppression around us. It’s a social justice issue…
There are two ways (at least) to interpret this story- but a common thread that runs through both of these interpretations. And that is, the perceptions of each of the servants; what they thought about the master, determined his course of action.
The question I have for us today both as individuals and as a church is, how do we perceive our heavenly master? How do we view this creator of all things who has entrusted us with gifts and talents? What is our relationship with the God who has given us life?
If we are like the third servant, and we see God as an angry harsh God, waiting to hit us over the head with a lightning bolt when we mess up, then there is no way we can risk anything- there’s no way we will ever be able to step out in faith to use what God has given us… if we are afraid of consequences- if we are motivated by fear, then we’ll never be able to do great things and our gifts will never grow. And you say, ‘but Pastor, the third servant DID get punished, the master DID turn out to be harsh…. He got thrown in to the street with the gnashing of teeth stuff!’ And I would say to you that it was his own interpretation, his own perception of who God is that put him there- because that the only place that is open to you if your view of God is a wrathful angry God, you put yourself forever in a place of torment.
How can you be free to enjoy the wonders of salvation through Christ if your image of him is one of fear and condemnation? Don’t we profess to believe that 'there IS no condemnation for those who are in Christ? That nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ?' (Romans 8)
In the first two servants held an understanding of who the master was- and knew that when it came right down to it, there was really no risk at all. They understood that they (we) serve a wealthy beyond measure benevolent generous God, who has doled out (for us) more than we can ever think or see or imagine. We serve a God who has blessed us with gifts beyond our wildest imagination- and that the only risk involved is in not using those gifts at all. There is no fear of messing up, because when you’ve experienced Gods love, you realize that that love is perfect, and perfect love casts out all fear. And maybe some of you are saying, I know… I know… I have to do it, I know I have gifts, I know I’m supposed to be doing something, and I’ll do it…. I’ll do it…. But not yet… the timing isn’t right… I have to be more prepared first, I have to get more money first, I have to have more time first… I‘ll do it… tomorrow… well you know what folks? Tomorrow isn’t promised!
We only have today to work with, and we can’t afford to let one more day pass without accepting the opportunities that God has put before us. We can’t let one more hour pass before we use our gifts, our talents, our money, our resources, for the things that God intends for us. We can’t let one more minute pass before we accept the graciousness and the abundance- the abbondanzza- that God has poured out on each of us, to allow us to be all we are destined to be in Christ. My God… the opportunity is there for each of us to be more than we ever dreamed of, and for our gifts to be used in ways we never thought possible.
It’s the ‘what would you do if you could do anything’ moment- the ‘what would you do if you weren’t afraid’ moment, the 'dare to dream the big dream Shunamite woman' moment, the 'Peter getting out of the boat moment,' even the ‘I’m getting out of bed on my only day off Sunday to go to church' moment. It doesn’t have to be big, folks, but it’s the moment that you realized that there was more out there that God was calling you to then you already were. That there was excellence within your grasp- because you felt just a hint of it inside you and you allowed yourself, maybe for the first time, to dream of tapping into it.
And God continually pours it out- saying "here- you’re a teacher- teach my children-" "Here- you’re a musician- play for me," "Here… here’s money… do something special with it"… "Here…here’s JOY! I’ve given it to you… use it! be joyful… here’s hope… share it with everyone! Here’s peace… spread it around…"
IS there an end to the blessings we’ve been given? My prayer for you today is that you can Feel what God has given to you, BE the unique person God has made you…LIVE the dreams God has shown you about all that God has planned for you to be. For God knows the plans God has for you… to prosper and not harm.. to give you hope and a future… and you know what? You can’t mess up God’s plan… when it comes right down to it… there’s no risk at all… just take the step..
God bless all of you today…
"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.'
********************************************************************
Have you ever been in a fun house? Have you ever walked past the mirrors and watched as your reflection gets all distorted? Depending on where you stand, you look shorter or taller, fatter or bone thin? It’s an optical illusion or sorts.
Take a look at the picture on the top of this page; it's another familiar optical illusion. Do you see the musician or the girl's face in the picture?
The way you are wired determined what you saw in the picture. Your perception of the drawings affected how you were able to interpret what you saw. Our perceptions also affect the way we interpret life- what we were taught/learned/experienced early on, determines how we see the world. (Social Construction of reality- Burger/Luckmann)
This morning I want to give you two ways of seeing/interpreting this parable. I think that both of them make total sense, just like the picture that hold both the image of the musician and the girl's face. Both images are there, but it takes work to see both sides.
In the first interpretation, Jesus is giving his listeners an illustration about the Kingdom of God. He says, "It’s like a man who is going away on a journey, and he leaves his servants with a certain amount of money- each according to his ability. To the first he gave 5 talents, to the second, 2 talents and to the third servant, 1 talent." The servants are entrusted with something special- and they each need to decide what to do with what they have been given.
The first servant takes his talent, his portion, or his gift, and invests it; and through smart management, sees the talent start to grow. In fact, he is able to double the master’s original amount. The second servant, does the same thing. He takes his two talents, and is able to double what he has been given. Now the interesting thing about both of these servants, is that they were able to take what the master had given them, and they were able to recognize that what they had been given by the master was meant to be used. Only in that conscious decision to risk using what they had been entrusted with, were they able to multiply that gift for use in the Kingdom of God. For both of these servants, it was a leap of faith, to risk perhaps losing the money, or if we are talking about a real talent, or spiritual gift, to risk making some mistakes. But they did it, and because of that ability to take real chances, to step out in faith, they were able to do mighty things and to give a wonderful report to the master when he returned.
The third servant, however, wasn’t able to take the same risk, for some reason. He took his portion of the money, and he buried it in the ground. On some level, one could say that maybe he was protecting the master’s money. Maybe he was keeping it safe. But this servant, for whatever his reason, wasn’t able to take that leap of faith to try to use what he had been given.
Sometimes we find ourselves in similar situations- where we are given opportunities to use our talents, our time, our energy, our spiritual gifts- we see an opportunity, but are afraid that we might mess up, or we might use them in the wrong way. We might see a chance to do something special, something that we know we have the ability to do, and we have the resources, but we lack the courage to step out in faith and use what God has given us.
In my own life- it took me such a long time to answer the call to ministry- to take the leap of faith and go to seminary. I knew I had gifts for ministry- everyone around me would tell me, why don’t you be a counselor, why don’t you go to school, you’re so good with people... (blah blah blah) And I had a million excuses- 'I have four kids,' 'I’m too busy,' or the classic one- ‘I’m already doing ministry… look how involved I am at church’ But when it came right down to it, I didn’t want to risk looking stupid, I didn’t want to risk messing up, I didn’t want to be the one in the class who was asking dumb questions…And it wasn’t until I was willing to really step out in faith and risk all those things, that I was able to see that, (remarkably) I actually could be used by God to do more ministry than I had first thought. I actually multiplied and used my gift more fully for the Kingdom of God.
So- in this first interpretation, we learn that each of us are entrusted with talents- resources, if you will, and the master gives them to us to use- not to bury.
But I want to move now to a second interpretation of this passage. This one is not traditional,but makes as much sense if we are willing to look.
This second interpretation asks us to imagine that this story is not about God being the master- in fact, to imagine that it’s not an illustration about the Kingdom of God at all… but instead, that the master is a very wealthy landowner, just like the story says. He is wealthy beyond measure, and he leaves his three top employees a certain amount of his property to take care of while he goes on a trip- very literal- and he gives to them each a portion according to their power or status in his business.
Now, if we read this story in context, the people who Jesus would have been talking to while he was telling this story would have been peasants in Palestine. When he mentioned a wealthy landowner, and the talent, an amount worth about 6 million dollars by today’s standards, it would have been very clear to the peasants who the wealthy person represented. The people would have known right away that Jesus was speaking of the people who owned their homes, the ones who would raise taxes, the ones with the power to alter the laws, put constraints on their freedoms, and to keep them in a state of poverty.
When Jesus said that he put his 3 top guys in charge, the people would have also known what that meant; that the three men would have orders to get the money multiplied in any way they saw fit- including putting even more pressure on the peasants. The system was corrupt, and the rich continued to get richer and the poor poorer.
So when the wealthy man comes back, the first two servants get rewarded for doing what they were charged to do… make money. The third servant, because he hid his talent, gets punished- he is cast out. But it is this third servant, in this version of the story, who might be called the hero. Because it is the third servant who saw the master for who he really was. He saw what he was supposed to do, and realized that in order to do it, he would have to buy in to and perpetuate a corrupt system. He refused. And he tells his boss- "I know you are a harsh man- I don't want any more of this... here’s your money back. "
There’s a key line in this parable, in verse 26, when the master asks the third servant- ‘so… you thought I was wicked, did you? That I reap where I don’t sow?’ The master was calling him on his perception…And the boss, in turn, casts him out of his service- he gets fired! "You go be a peasant yourself now- you can’t have this lap of luxury life any more. "
The interesting thing is, that the third servant knew that risk going in. He was willing to risk being poor himself, to have to live among the oppressed, in order to not participate in the corruption. It was his ultimate sacrifice for the people.
So, in this interpretation, Jesus is giving the people an illustration of how the world is- and that sometimes we must be willing to risk and sacrifice our own comfort for the greater good- sometimes we have to take even one step against the system- not buy in- not condone the oppression around us. It’s a social justice issue…
There are two ways (at least) to interpret this story- but a common thread that runs through both of these interpretations. And that is, the perceptions of each of the servants; what they thought about the master, determined his course of action.
The question I have for us today both as individuals and as a church is, how do we perceive our heavenly master? How do we view this creator of all things who has entrusted us with gifts and talents? What is our relationship with the God who has given us life?
If we are like the third servant, and we see God as an angry harsh God, waiting to hit us over the head with a lightning bolt when we mess up, then there is no way we can risk anything- there’s no way we will ever be able to step out in faith to use what God has given us… if we are afraid of consequences- if we are motivated by fear, then we’ll never be able to do great things and our gifts will never grow. And you say, ‘but Pastor, the third servant DID get punished, the master DID turn out to be harsh…. He got thrown in to the street with the gnashing of teeth stuff!’ And I would say to you that it was his own interpretation, his own perception of who God is that put him there- because that the only place that is open to you if your view of God is a wrathful angry God, you put yourself forever in a place of torment.
How can you be free to enjoy the wonders of salvation through Christ if your image of him is one of fear and condemnation? Don’t we profess to believe that 'there IS no condemnation for those who are in Christ? That nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ?' (Romans 8)
In the first two servants held an understanding of who the master was- and knew that when it came right down to it, there was really no risk at all. They understood that they (we) serve a wealthy beyond measure benevolent generous God, who has doled out (for us) more than we can ever think or see or imagine. We serve a God who has blessed us with gifts beyond our wildest imagination- and that the only risk involved is in not using those gifts at all. There is no fear of messing up, because when you’ve experienced Gods love, you realize that that love is perfect, and perfect love casts out all fear. And maybe some of you are saying, I know… I know… I have to do it, I know I have gifts, I know I’m supposed to be doing something, and I’ll do it…. I’ll do it…. But not yet… the timing isn’t right… I have to be more prepared first, I have to get more money first, I have to have more time first… I‘ll do it… tomorrow… well you know what folks? Tomorrow isn’t promised!
We only have today to work with, and we can’t afford to let one more day pass without accepting the opportunities that God has put before us. We can’t let one more hour pass before we use our gifts, our talents, our money, our resources, for the things that God intends for us. We can’t let one more minute pass before we accept the graciousness and the abundance- the abbondanzza- that God has poured out on each of us, to allow us to be all we are destined to be in Christ. My God… the opportunity is there for each of us to be more than we ever dreamed of, and for our gifts to be used in ways we never thought possible.
It’s the ‘what would you do if you could do anything’ moment- the ‘what would you do if you weren’t afraid’ moment, the 'dare to dream the big dream Shunamite woman' moment, the 'Peter getting out of the boat moment,' even the ‘I’m getting out of bed on my only day off Sunday to go to church' moment. It doesn’t have to be big, folks, but it’s the moment that you realized that there was more out there that God was calling you to then you already were. That there was excellence within your grasp- because you felt just a hint of it inside you and you allowed yourself, maybe for the first time, to dream of tapping into it.
And God continually pours it out- saying "here- you’re a teacher- teach my children-" "Here- you’re a musician- play for me," "Here… here’s money… do something special with it"… "Here…here’s JOY! I’ve given it to you… use it! be joyful… here’s hope… share it with everyone! Here’s peace… spread it around…"
IS there an end to the blessings we’ve been given? My prayer for you today is that you can Feel what God has given to you, BE the unique person God has made you…LIVE the dreams God has shown you about all that God has planned for you to be. For God knows the plans God has for you… to prosper and not harm.. to give you hope and a future… and you know what? You can’t mess up God’s plan… when it comes right down to it… there’s no risk at all… just take the step..
God bless all of you today…
