Proper 28 A + Risk it all for love! + 11.15.26

 

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Judges 4, Ps. 123, 1 Thess 5, Matthew 25)

Good morning!
The kingdom of heaven is so much bigger than you can imagine! But if you were to try to imagine it, imagine a crazy rich guy who has to go away for a long, long time. He has a bunch of resources and he can’t take them with him, and he wants them to be used. So, he piles a bunch of them on one of his trusted people, and then keeps piling. This guy couldn’t amass what he is given, if he had to work over 75 years! Then the next guy gets the equivalent of sixty years’ worth of goods to reinvest and make grow, and so on, until he gets to the humble floor sweeper. See, this gal was bullied as a kid. She had a harsh stepdad. Her friends were only partly friends growing up, always trying to get something from her. So when she is given over fifteen years’ worth of wealth, she says, “nah, this has to be a trick.” I can’t do anything with that! I better bury it. Because then at least I will know it is safe.

After a long, long time the crazy rich guy comes back. And he says, people, I never asked you to be safe! I need to shake you up so much that you truly think about this. I mean, look at all these other people. They took the gift I gave them, and they took a risk. Were they foolish? Maybe if we were talking about real investments, yes, but if we are talking about the metaphorical gifts of the kingdom, the gifts that God has given you and with which God has entrusted you, they were wise!
The kingdom, as you have heard, is a topsy turvy place. The common wisdom in our world is safe investments. But God says, go wild! Your gifts are given in order to share. Be profligate! Be abundant.
Scripture should always be understood in context. Remember that the Matthean community has suffered. They have seen the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and they are traumatized. You might say they have PTSD. So, they are remembering Jesus’ words, truths he shared with the community while he was with us, but through a prism of pain. They remember that he was pretty harsh when calling us to account. They remember that he was like a really strict teacher at the beginning of school, or that tough coach that gets the best out of you by really expecting you to go the extra mile. So, Jesus here is not our vision of the unconditionally loving God that we also know through the scriptures, but is in a different mode. He is using hyperbole to make a point. You have this one earthly existence, and you also have all eternity. But while we are here, we can’t waste our time burying the gifts that God has entrusted to us. That is not how the gospel is spread. We can’t put our light under a basket. Yes, it is human nature to be like the last person here, to say that it is not worth the risk. But if you don’t take the risk, you have already lost.

This person at the end is many of us. I know she is me at times. Filled with fear that God’s grace really isn’t big enough for me. But that just isn’t the case. That is why I loved a quote I heard this week from Robert Farrar Capon, “we… [create] God in the image of our own fears, while God hits us over the head with the balloon of grace and the Styrofoam baseball bat of vindicating judgment (From Kingdom, Grace and Judgment, 2002).”
What if… we weren’t so afraid of failing? What if we refused to play it safe with our spiritual gifts, but instead decided to share them?
For Jesus and the disciples here, the true dark place is the place of fear and isolation. Of dread of not being enough.
That fear will haunt you.
But don’t give into that fear.
God is bigger!
Remember that Jesus is calling us to Go big or go home! Or rather, he really wants us to Go big and go home. Go big in our lives here and now, sharing generously with others, so that when we are all together again, we will have something to show for ourselves. Some way we have improved the world. Because that is what the multiplication of the talents means here.
We are not actually talking about crazy trillionaire style wealth. We are talking about the crazy wealth of the kingdom of God. Of God’s grace that is so much bigger than we can ask for or imagine.

But that wealth can only really be experienced, when we act as if we are spiritually rich ourselves. When we act as if we have it to share. We may not always feel like that. Blessed are the poor in Spirit, remember. But also, blessed are those who look like paupers to others but know that God has blessed them all the same!
If the crazy rich guy gives one of his people here more than he can possibly earn in a lifetime, this reminds us that God is so much better. God will give us what we need. If we trust. If we listen. If we open up our hearts to generosity. And if we are bold to follow where we are led.
That is what Jesus is saying here. Don’t play it safe with your spiritual life. Go crazy. Because at some point we will all go away for a long time until we are all reunited again. And when we are reunited together, we want to be sure. Sure that we have played all the cards we could. Lavishly spread the love that was given us. Shared the gifts- not just financial, although that is a part of it, but all the other gifts. So that we have added our talent, our extra bit, to the world. Because God loves this world. So much that shortly we will hear how God sent his only son to it. And we have a responsibility to make it a better, more loving and just place!

Amen.