Pastor Detweiler’s sermon for Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008:

“God’s gifts are given to us to be shared and given away, so other people can know him and his love and grace.”

Matthew 25:14-30

Among the studies about what leads to success in marriage was one a few years ago with surprising results; the key to a successful marriage was found not to be “communication,” or spending lots of time together, or common goals and interests. It was instead two little words, spoken by the husband: “yes, dear.” The study found (and my experience both growing up and as an adult confirms) that the key to success in marriage is the man’s ability at crucial hormonal times to shut his mouth and say only “Yes, dear.”

Now, not all the time, but at crucial times when the swords have been drawn and emotional blood is being spilled.

This study confirmed my own experience growing up, but it was experience I had not understood that way. Usually my parents were in the kitchen, and often my father was sitting down or just getting up from the table and my mother was at the sink. Mother was fairly cooperative, but about once or twice a year Dad would say something while they were arguing that would set her off. It was as if a switch had flipped and she would start yelling and often pounding on his shoulder and he would just - stand or sit there, and say nothing, as if he knew he had it coming. And then in a few minutes it would be over; he would go outside to work, and life would return to normal.

As a man, I have to say the study is not entirely good news. One the one hand it means I have more effect on the sustaining of the marriage relationship than I might have thought, but on the other hand it also means that I have much more responsibility than I expected to have. I mean, the study confirmed what I have experienced: Real men know when to back down for the sake of the future!

The key here, as to much of life, is humility - knowing that I am imperfect and that I need the help and partnership of others to be on the road toward what God intends for me. But it doesn’t exactly make me feel good.

But then, neither does this parable of Jesus’ about the talents. It is another of those parables after which we scratch our heads wondering if it is really good news?

How does it make you feel?

How we respond emotionally is part of the point that Jesus makes. He traps us by our reaction, that the treatment of the one talent guy was unfair.

This parable is not about our talents - our abilities. It isn’t exactly about money either, but rather about one’s response to the gift of the treasure of the gospel, the kingdom of God. A talanta was the largest denomination of money in the Roman world. It was more than 50 lbs. of gold and was worth more than 6000 denarii. If a denarius was a day’s wages, a talent was the earnings of a lifetime. It was like winning the lottery.

I always feel a little sorry for the guy who was afraid - he just didn't want to get in trouble. But his reaction to the gift ensured that he would. He acted as if what the master gave was his own possession - could do what he wanted, rather than what the master wanted. His fear separated him from the people who could have helped him use the gift. He lacked real humility, the sense of being incomplete without the other person and God. He thought he had to control the talent - guard it from everyone else - and had no idea that he needed to ask for help.

The other two were rewarded not for being profitable but for doing with the master's property what he would do - for seeing the gift in its larger context, beyond their individual fears and expectations. The one-talent guy had missed the point of this generosity connecting him to other people, just as we easily miss God's self-giving and how it draws us toward Christ and through him toward others.

Baptism provides an illustration. From time to time someone will request a “private baptism,” which I believe to be a contradiction in terms. Baptism is a public declaration of intention to follow Christ. It is not a private act. There are those who want God’s gifts and promises but are afraid to let anyone to know about it. God gives himself to be shared, in baptism and Holy Communion, and in the communion of saints, the church. It is a time to invite all your friends, relatives and neighbors to witness the beginning of a new relationship, of receiving Jesus, of living with him and through him connected to others.

It is the central Christian paradox that we lose by clinging to what God gives and we gain by risking - giving it away. God’s gifts are not our possession to do with whatever we want, but are given to be shared and given away so other people can know him and his love and grace. If the one-talent guy had called together his friends and neighbors to help him, the talent would have been better used, and it would have been recognized for the treasure and gift that it was.

What if Jesus was not willing to take the risk of proclaiming the good news of God in the face of opposition? What if he had been afraid of the consequences, of being ridiculed and even dying? We would not be here today.

We would not be a church or followers of Jesus. We would not have the promise of eternal life.

Baptism makes us part of a community - the church - that is founded on and sustained by the willingness of Jesus and his followers to risk everything for the sake of sharing God’s Word, to share what is in us, what is most important. The community of the church needs its members to be humble before each other to survive.

This parable is actually about the church. We are called together as the body of Christ in the world. We have been given the treasure of the gospel - of God’s coming kingdom in Christ - to share. We can do much more together than individually. All the things that we do here are reminders that together we can treasure and share the gospel of Christ more faithfully than we can alone: that the risks taken together in his name will bear fruit in the Fox Valley and in the world.

We can trust God to care for us, to strengthen and guide us as he promises in baptism. We can take risks for his sake with the abilities, resources, and gospel he gives. We can say “yes, dear” to each other at crucial times so God can be glorified and his word made known.

It is Jesus who is the word of God, the true treasure. Consequently, we have nothing to fear.

God took the risk of trusting the gospel of his Son to us - relying on us to work together to trade and invest his word in others so that they too can know him.

We can do this because we know God's love in Jesus Christ.