Like this volunteer worker in New Orleans attending the 2009 Youth Gathering, we are freed in Christ to help others.
Text study for Matthew 25:14-30
Lectionary texts for November 13, 2011
This Sunday’s text is a popular parable for use during stewardship campaigns in congregations. There are several core messages that come from this story:
You reap what you sow.
God rewards those who give back or use their talents.
You get more if you give more.
This text is preceded by stories about readiness, watchfulness and the consequences of being foolish and unprepared. Now, we are presented with a story about judgment on those who were entrusted with gifts.
The master clearly wanted the servants to use and grow the talents he had given them. From this perspective, the story gives us the inspiration to work hard for the sake of our obedience to the one who entrusted us with great gifts and calls us to live trusting in the abundance of God.
But there is another way to think about this parable.
I wonder if the first two slaves understood God as a generous giver who does not punish. Or are they also afraid of the master, just as the third slave was?
The third slave did not take any risk because of his fear of punishment, which paralyzed him. Those fears were realized when the master punished him for not obtaining any gain.
Rather than using this parable to encourage trust and hard work, we can use this text as a description of an unjust society not so different from the one that we live in. What if the master in this parable were not God but a banker or investor, motivated to maximize profit and with no tolerance for zero return?
The parable may then reveal a truth that is difficult to talk about in the current economic crisis where the poor become poorer and the rich gain even more. The poor are trapped in a cycle of fear of losing what little they have while the masters celebrate those who have more and make more.
From this perspective, the text becomes one of justice in community. We are urged not to make more money but to keep working for justice for those who are trapped in the cycle of poverty.
We are urged not to let human greed overcome the generosity of God.
Talkback:
The way we respond to God is shaped by who we imagine God is. What is your image of God when it comes to stewardship of life and resources? How does this way of knowing God impact how you make financial decisions?
How should we as Christians respond to greed, such as corporations and institutions taking from those who are already poor and needy? How are you called to speak out on behalf of those whose voices are silenced by fear?
What hinders you from living life to its fullest, using all the gifts and talents God entrusted to you for the sake of the world?
Teresita Valeriano is an ELCA pastor, currently working as director for Youth, Outreach and Community Development at Messiah Lutheran Church in Hayward, Calif.
You might also want to read:
Ministering to the poor we do not see
Butterflies and Wall Street
Well done, good and faithful steward
As Lutherans, don't we confess that there is only one way to see God, and that is through the Only Son crucified and risen for us?
I'm not sure I'm entirely with you on the 'master is intended to be someone evil and corrupt' idea, but it's worth exploring. If we identify the Master as someone other than God, such as the banking system, where is God in the parable? If God is not in the parable, why is Jesus telling it?
I'm also not really sure how it's a call to justice even if we understand it as Jesus saying 'the rich get richer and the poor get thrown into the outer darkness'. If he's just stating the obvious, what's the point? If anything, isn't the moral of the story then, 'better get money and get invested or else you'll end up in the outer darkness like those poor people'? If it's not about God as master, but some banker, doesn't this parable become part of the gospel of Progress? In other words, what and where's the Good News?
If we see the parable in light of the individualistic greed that has gripped our world over the last several decades, then indeed it is a tough one to twist into good news. No matter how it is preached it leaves one with an underlying notion of a God sanctioned version of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. If put in light of the communal responsibility of the body of Christ however, it is the use of ones abilities, ones talents, ones time that allows for the building up of, and betterment of society for all. Within this framework, it is the one who acts out of a mindset of narcissistic self-concern, scarcity and fear who chooses to protect what they have at all cost and to the detriment of the rest of the body of Christ. We are called to use our gifts and share what we have so that not only we, but others may also have opportunities to share and grow. It is that one percent of society who have decided that obscene incomes and bonuses are more important than the needs and growth of the rest of society who have buried their talents rather than using the gifts God has given them. It is not success that is rewarded by God but rather our joyfully becoming part of the Body of Christ. If we fall along the way, we find ourselves surrounded by the rest of the Body who help us up, dust off our knees and help us on our way.
Dan,
That's Law and mostly Law directed at "the one percent" and not directed at us. We are the ones who have buried the talent out of fear, and justify ourselves by saying that God reaps what He has not sown. What Good News is there for us?
Dan,
That's Law and mostly Law directed at "the one percent" and not directed at us. We are the ones who have buried the talent out of fear, and justify ourselves by saying that God reaps what He has not sown. What Good News is there for us?
This is a parable about the kingdom of heaven, not secular society. It's about eschatology, not economics. To push the parable in a way Jesus never intended it to go, and to make it say something in support of one's political perspective, is to abuse the biblical text. We cannot just twist what Chirst says to make it say what we want it to say, no matter how laudable the end.
so are you saying the text has no connection to what follows in the sheep and goats 31-46?
What is my image of God when it comes to stewardship of life and resources?
Help everbody you can, but
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. 13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.
14 Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15