11/16/08

"Talents May Lie in Unlikely Places"

Judges 4:1-7 & Matthew 25:14-30

Did you hear a familiar name in that jumble of Semitic names in our Hebrew scripture today? I didn't choose this passage for that reason, by the way. It is one of the lectionary texts for this particular Sunday, chosen by a committee many years ago. Yet, somehow it seems fitting to find the name Barak in there less than 2 weeks after someone by that very name became our next President of the United States! God works in mysterious ways.

And that's the lesson today in a nutshell. Leadership talents, artistic talents, nurturing talents, marketplace talents, educational talents – all kinds of talents may lie in unlikely places.

Who would have thought that the Israelites, who had witnessed against themselves if they strayed from God's commands, would already, in the time of the judges, before there was any king over Israel, be doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD? Again! It says, "Again." So this isn't the first time, since they covenanted with Joshua upon entering the promised land.

In fact, they were so human, that they had already, in these early years, set up the pattern that continued for centuries – perhaps even unto this post-modern age.

Do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, and when things begin to go sour in your lives, appeal to the LORD to save you! Are we just as guilty as the Israelites? Think about it.

But God was there and God is still here, and God's mercy will prevail. In the days of the judges, God put forth a plan to save Israel from the overwhelming forces gathered against them under Sisera, who had 900 chariots of iron and had been attacking the Israelites for 20 years!

Who did God use as leaders in Israel in order to accomplish God's purpose? Well, let's see, there was a woman, a married woman, who had a reputation as a prophetess and had been given the authority to judge between the people. This was the closest thing to a ruler that Israel had at the time. A woman! Deborah by name.

God spoke to her. Not to a Levite priest or to a descendant of Joshua (although I suppose she might have actually been one – but you would think the author of Judges would have mentioned it, if it had been the case) – no one we might have thought of for a relationship with God like this at the time, but God works in mysterious ways. How soon we forget that!

So God spoke to Deborah and she summoned Barak to lead the troops against Sisera. Barak was from one of the little tribes of Israel: Naphtali, descended from the second son of Bilhah (one of Rachel's handmaids) and Jacob. He was able to gather an army from his own tribe and that of Zebulun to take a stand against Sisera. God told him that the enemy would be delivered into his hand. And so it happened. Deborah and Barak, together provided the leadership needed in order to fulfill God's purpose for Israel in their day. An unlikely pair in that time or any time. But God always knows where the talents lie.

Many years later Jesus was continuing to speak about the kingdom of heaven. Last week we heard the parable of the ten bridesmaids. This week we heard the parable of the talents. And next week we'll hear the parable of the sheep and the goats. Together they make up chapter 25 in Matthew, and it all begins with Jesus saying, "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this."

The first parable focused on the need for those who want to be with Jesus for eternity not to put limits on their devotion or discipleship.

This second parable focuses on the need of disciples to put their talents to use for their master. We'll consider the third parable next week.

The first slave got 5 talents. The second got 2. The third only got 1. Some people do have more talents than others. Again, we need to have faith that God knows what is best. Perhaps it is a matter of whether or not we can make use of the ones we are given.

It isn't that important, whether you have one talent or many. The slave with 5 who returns 10 isn't treated any better than the slave with 2 who returns 4. The master commends them both and welcomes them into his joy. It is only the slave who did nothing with his talent that is kicked out into the darkness to wail and gnash his teeth.

The first two slaves took the talents they were entrusted with and put them to use. They knew the talents themselves were not their own, but only something entrusted to them by their master. They didn't run off with them. They treated them with respect and with skill. They traded with them.

What exactly did that entail? Well, we can suppose that they bought something with the talents. That meant that they took a risk. They either bought something at a low price and resold it at a higher price, or they bought raw materials of some kind and turned them into something more valuable to sell.

I can imagine one of the slaves using his talents to buy some gold, then taking it to his workshop to make jewelry out of it, and selling it in the marketplace for a 100% return on his investment.

Or perhaps buying wheat and yeast, then going to the kitchen and baking loaves of bread to sell in the marketplace. This could have gone on for many weeks, while the master was away, and could have brought in a 100% return as well.

But the slave who buried the talent – the only work he did was dig a small hole and cover it up again. For the rest of the time he just sat around and was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if he forgot where he buried it. Afraid of what would happen if the talent got stolen. Afraid of his master.

I do not think that God wants us to be afraid in that way. The master chastised this slave, saying he should at least have invested the talent with the bankers, so it would have gained interest. A safer risk I suppose than the one he actually took. But he didn't think of that. He was so afraid of failure that it brought him to a complete stop. Unable to move, he spent his time in fear and worry.

The talent wasn't his. His master had entrusted it to him. He might have sought out the other 2 slaves to see what they were doing and learned from them. But he was so enervated by his own fears and worries that he did nothing!

Imagine how God feels when we do nothing with the talents we have been given.

I have had the occasion to talk with many people over the years who were out of work, out of money, desperate for help. Sometimes the church had some way to help them concretely. Sometimes we didn't. But I always encouraged them not to give up, no matter what.

When circumstances are grim, it can sap one's creative energies. Talents may lie unused for long periods of time. It can be a slow form of dying. And it isn't helpful spiritually either. Most people who move into such a state feel that they have no place in church. They are hopeless, dejected, downcast, and anxious.

They don't feel like they deserve anything good, even God's help. It is a self-defeating downward spiral, unless they or someone else helps them break out.

God's call to us is this: "Use the talents you have been given."

You don't have to be successful in the eyes of the world to be successful in God's eyes. If you can't find work for pay using your talents, try using them by volunteering. If you must find work, get up every day and work at finding it. Don't look down on any job, no matter how small, no matter how little it pays.

So often, a foot in the door, and the use of one's talents, leads to bigger and better things.

But there is always a way to use your talents. People in times like this have to be encouraged to think outside the box, to be creative and look at all the options, not disregarding any of them until something happens that is positive, and a choice can be made.

Sometimes people in times like this feel they are trapped in a job where they can't use their talents but are afraid to leave it for fear there will not be another one available. People live for decades doing jobs that don't begin to utilize their talents. What a waste!

I hear God saying, "Use it. Use it. Use it. I didn't give you this talent so you could sit around and worry and be afraid about it."

Do you want to be entrusted with many things by God? Then you need to be faithful with what you already have.

Talents may lie in unlikely places too, so when you are looking for someone to accomplish a great (or small) task, don't discount those who don't immediately spring to mind. Seek out the ones who you don't know as well and ask what talents they have. You might find some real gems!

Amen.

FOR MORE SERMONS, SCROLL ON!

11/9/08

"Demands of the Covenant"

Josh. 24:1-3a, 14-25 & Mt. 25:1-13

While it's unclear from today's Hebrew text whether Joshua was addressing all the people of Israel, or only the leaders, I think we can rightly assume that God is addressing all of us through this text today, whether we have been or will be what we call "leaders" in the church.

Joshua's speech like many others in the Hebrew scriptures, begins with the sharing of memories about God's relationship Israel's ancestors, in this case remembering especially Abraham (if the women were listening, I'm sure they thought about Sarah & Hagar too) and the covenant God made with him, promising him the land and many descendants to populate it.

Though the Israelites had a harrowing journey through famine, slavery, and the exodus since the time of Abraham, they were finally arrived in the promised land and their numbers were not meager. Thus God had remained true to the covenant with Abraham.

After reminding them of their history, Joshua commanded them to serve the Lord. He also pointed out that they had freewill to choose who they would serve. If they chose to serve other gods, Joshua wouldn't stop them, but he made a bold witness, "As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

So they knew where Joshua stood. And the people responded, "We would never forsake the LORD, because it is God who brought us up out of Egypt, out of slavery, who did great signs and wonders in our midst, and protected us along the way. It is God who drove out the people of this land before us, therefore we will also serve the LORD."

You may have thought that Joshua would have been satisfied. But such was not the case. Joshua came back with the following astonishing statement, "You cannot serve the LORD, for God is a holy God. God is a jealous God; God will not forgive your sins." If he had stopped there, we might have wondered about Joshua's sanity.

But he continued, "If you forsake the LORD (at some future time, after saying you were going to serve God alone), then God will hurt you and consume you, even though God has done great things for you."

But the people responded, "No, we will serve the LORD!"

According to Joshua, this made the people witnesses against themselves, if they ever abandoned the LORD again. And the people agreed.

Now we come to the verse that puts it all into perspective. Joshua was so hard on the people, because they were carrying around images of other gods. They had not cast them aside. Joshua commanded them to do so, and to "incline their hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." Remember this instruction, for it is a key one.

"Incline your hearts to the LORD."

The people said, "The LORD our God we will serve and obey." So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.

Statutes – not statues! - & ordinances are part of the law. Perhaps Joshua in this covenant merely reminded the Israelites of the Ten Commandments. Or maybe there were some new laws that needed to be put in place now that the Israelites were in the promised land, and would no longer need to roam through the wilderness.

I can imagine that the first commandment: "You shall have no other gods before me," might now include the destruction of images of foreign gods brought out from Egypt or picked up from the Amorites. Thus Joshua might have begun expanding the law from its previous brevity.

The law came to have a peculiar place in the time of Jesus and the Apostles. Jesus said he came to do away with it but also to fulfill it. Paul argued that Gentile Christians did not have to keep all the statutes and ordinances that the Jews did. Most Christians recognized that human beings had no possibility of keeping the law perfectly and were therefore in constant need of forgiveness.

And when questioned, Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is like it: to love neighbor as oneself.

"Incline your heart to God." The law had been renewed as the law of love. The covenant was restored once more.

To live by rules is not the way of freedom. It's not the way of freedom for those who are oppressed by rules, nor is it the way of freedom for those who use it to oppress others.

Frederick Douglass, that great abolitionist, learned this lesson when he was still a slave living in a home in Baltimore, Maryland. He was still a boy, having been sold to the family in the city from the slave master on the farm where he had been born.

At first he perceived his mistress as kind and tender-hearted, and said, "When I first went to live with her (she would) . . . treat me as she supposed one human being ought to treat another." But after her husband chastised her for teaching Frederick to read, she began to adopt the attitude of a slaveholder. Douglass went on, "Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me. When I went there, she was a pious, warm, and tenderhearted woman. There was no sorrow or suffering for which she had not a tear. She had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach. Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness." (World Views: Multicultural Literature for Critical Writers, Readers, and Thinkers, Patricia A. Richard-Amato, p. 281)

Thus is the power of the law to bring down all human beings within its grasp. Depending on the law is not, and was never intended to be, God's plan for us. Even the Ten Commandments had a humane purpose, and were not intended to empower human beings to dominate others.

"The Shack," a book by William P. Young, is very popular right now. Some of you may have already read it. I just finished it. It seemed to slow down in the middle, but it was worth it in the end. There were many things I had concluded on my own that the author brought out in a modern allegory. I'm donating my copy to the church library, so more of you can read it, if you like.

I don't want to ruin it for you, so I'm not going to give away the story line, but there is one part where the main character, Mackenzie (or Mack) is having a conversation with God about the law. I'm going to paraphrase it as a straightforward conversation between Mack and God, which is just slightly different from the original.

"Are you saying I don't have to follow the rules?" Mack asked.

"Yes. In Jesus you are not under any law. All things are lawful."

"You can't be serious! You're messing with me again," moaned Mack.

"Child, you ain't heard nuthin' yet," said God.

"Mackenzie," God continued, "those who are afraid of freedom are those who cannot trust (God) to live in them. Trying to keep the law is actually a declaration of independence, a way of keeping control."

"Is that why we like the law so much – to give us some control?" asked Mack.

"It is much worse than that," resumed God. "It grants you the power to judge others and feel superior to them. You believe you are living to a higher standard than those you judge. Enforcing rules, especially in its more subtle expressions like responsibility and expectation, is a vain attempt to create certainty out of uncertainty. And contrary to what you might think, I have a great fondness for uncertainty. Rules cannot bring freedom; they only have the power to accuse."

"Whoa! . . . Are you telling me that responsibility and expectation are just another form of rules we are no longer under?"

. . . "Yup . . . I will take a verb over a noun anytime."

. . . "Huh?"

"I . . . am a verb. I am that I am. I will be who I will be. I am a verb! I am alive, dynamic, ever active, and moving. I am a verb," said God.

"And as my essence is a verb, . . . I am more attuned to verbs than nouns. Verbs such as confessing, repenting, living, loving, responding, growing, reaping, changing, sowing, running, dancing, singing, and on and on." (pp. 203-4)

God goes on to compare the word expectation with the word expectancy, saying that in relationship there is expectancy until someone changes it to expectation, in which case the law enters into the relationship. Mack agrees that living life with expectancy is much better than having expectations and responsibilities. But he still worries that without the law everything will just fall apart.

That's when God says, "I have . . . a constant and living expectancy in our relationship, and I give you an ability to respond to any situation and circumstance in which you find yourself. To the degree that you resort to expectations and responsibilities, to that degree you neither know me nor trust me. . . You see . . . I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life. Even if you were able, which you are not, to give me the biggest piece, that is not what I want. I want all of you and all of every part of you and your day." (pp. 206-7)

One is reminded of John's gospel when Jesus said, "Abide in me as I abide in you." (John 15:4) When we abide in love, when our hearts are inclined towards God, then we do not need rules, expectations, or responsibilities. Then we will live in love, with expectancy, and responsibly.

There were ten bridesmaids who waited all night for the bridegroom's appearance. The wise ones brought extra oil for their lamps. The foolish ones did not.

Do not take the words of this parable literally. It is not about having your affairs in order or enough supplies stockpiled in case of a catastrophe. It is about having hearts inclined towards God and abiding in God, who is love.

Those who say they have fulfilled the law, and have done what was expected of them will be disappointed when they meet the Lord of love face to face. Those who know that love never ends and have hearts overflowing with love will be welcomed into the relationship of perfect love forever.

We cannot afford to turn off our love, even if it hurts sometimes. It hurt Jesus! We are called to suffer with him so we can live with him. Foolish ones look to the law for hope. Wise ones look to the Lord.

Amen.

FOR ANOTHER SERMON, KEEP SCROLLING!

11/2/08

"Disciples of Moses"

Josh. 3:7-17 & Mt. 23:1-12

Do you remember the name of that Israelite who remained at the tent of God's presence when all the others left?

Why do you think that detail was included in the story? It didn't seem to have much meaning at the time.

But now we can see that it was a marker that pointed us to the devotion and dedication of the man named Joshua. He was the one who would be called to take up the mantle of Moses, to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land.

His closeness to Moses all those years in the wilderness, and his closeness to God probably caused others to think of him as a rather odd duck. But now all of that was changed as he became the leader they needed.

Yahweh promised to exalt him, so that the people would know that he was the proper one to follow Moses. In many ways he was Moses' disciple, who now would do the same works as Moses, and even greater, just as Jesus promised for his disciples when he ascended into heaven.

The first sign of Joshua's legitimacy was a repetition of the miracle of the parting of the waters, which Moses did at the Red Sea when the people were pursued by the Egyptians. Now Joshua would part the Jordan River, so that the ark of the covenant could be safely carried across, and the people as well. The ark containing the sacred tablets of the Ten Commandments, symbolizing the covenant between Yahweh and the Israelites, would stay in the middle of the river until all the people had crossed over.

Note that the city of Jericho is mentioned, about to become Joshua's first big conquest in the Promised Land.

The people were looking for the marks of discipleship in their new leader. It was a test to make sure Joshua was the right one.

People do that with new leaders. They look for some sign that they have the "right stuff." When you elect new elders, deacons, a trustee, and others next Sunday, hopefully you too will be checking to see if the people nominated have some sign that they are capable of following in the footsteps of those going off the various boards and committees. Some of those nominated will be going back for another term.

When you go to the polls on Tuesday, if you haven't already voted, as I did last Thursday (waited 1-1/2 hours in line to get an absentee ballot, because they evidently lost my mailed-in request), you are probably still watching the presidential candidates, and maybe some of the others, to see if they evidence the marks of leadership that you believe would put them in the ranks of good leaders who have gone before them.

Jesus looked around him and noted to his disciples that while the scribes and Pharisees sat on Moses' seat, i.e. studied the law that Moses had brought to Israel, they didn't practice the things they taught. Unlike Moses, they put heavy burdens on the people, and sought to exalt themselves, rather than waiting for God to do so. They were far from being disciples of Moses, or even Joshua, for that matter.

The difference seems to lie in their distance from God. They took the law and teachings of Moses, and forgot to listen to God's voice in the present, even rejecting it when it came to them in the person of Jesus.

If spiritual leaders only seek to emulate one another, they might be called disciples of Moses, or of Osteen, or of Graham, or maybe even of Acton or Barconey, but that's not the same as being disciples of Jesus Christ.

First, we have to follow Jesus. Then we can learn from the saints. One teacher – the Messiah, who humbled himself to the point of death on a cross, who had no place to lay his head, no home, only a community of disciples and friends for support, and in the end, a handful of faithful women and a few men at the foot of the cross.

Jesus came to serve, not to be served. Jesus came to heal, not to wound. Jesus came to save, not to condemn. Jesus is the one we need to follow, every one of us, even those who have great gifts for leadership. If our priority is not to be disciples of Jesus, then we will not measure up to the saints of God – we will only become like the scribes and Pharisees, bound by the law and the rules, unable to think outside the box, with hardened hearts towards those most in need, and an unwillingness to learn the rule of love.

Anyone who tries to exalt themselves will be humbled. It happens so often in politics. People may begin with the intention of being humble servants of the people, but once they begin rubbing elbows with the rich and powerful, they can lose their grip on the "humble" stuff, and begin to exercise egos that just love being exalted. It takes hard work to avoid being sucked into the trap of "entitlement" and "privilege" that comes with positions of power today.

I don't have to give you examples. You can think of them yourselves – from presidents to senators to mayors to law enforcement officials to treasurers, at all levels of community involvement – there are examples of people who have become full of themselves, because they began to believe all the hype and couldn't resist all the temptations.

But Jesus said, "All who humble themselves will be exalted." It isn't too late for anyone. Mother Teresa is often used as an example of this. I heard a story about her once, that after she won the Nobel Peace Prize, she came to Washington, DC to speak to a gathering of powerful people. When she entered the room, old and stooped, dressed in her simple habit, the people in the room rose as one to give her a standing ovation. This, for a woman whose work was with the poor and dying in the slums of Calcutta!

I can also give you another example, also a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who could easily have become a proud man, but who continued to walk in humble discipleship following Jesus, and that person is Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. I had the privilege of hearing him speak in person one time, and it was glorious. He was addressing an Ohio Council of Churches gathering. All the clergy were present in their best clerical attire. We processed at the beginning of the gathering and sat in the front. It was very colorful. Archbishop Tutu was introduced and he spoke, not as someone who was exalting himself, but as someone who had served, and would continue to serve, those who had the greatest needs around him.

When we determine to be humble around one another, then we will listen to one another with respect, accept ideas from one another without judgment, work together to forge a community of faith, and reach out to those in need around us, including those with spiritual needs.

That hour and a half I spent in line could have been very long indeed. I am a person who is not terribly outgoing. But I could see that it was a long line, and so I introduced myself to the person in front of me and the person behind me. One was a young black woman with a toddler at home and a business to run. The other was a retired black woman who had recently lost a son to cancer. We spent the whole time talking to one another and to other people around us, and while my feet and legs were in pain by the time I finished voting, my heart was full, and the time seemed to go quickly once we began talking to one another. I noticed that when I came in very few people were talking. When I left I had two new friends!

All who humble themselves will be exalted.

This is the kind of exaltation that matters. It leads us to accept others as leaders. The LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses."

May God exalt you in the eyes of others, not so you can experience fame and fortune, but so they may know that God is with you as God was with Jesus.

Amen.