A sermon by Associate Minister Elsa A. Peters, November 16, 2008
Matthew 25:14-30
Don’t be shy. Dig in. Dig into a story about a man who calls 3 of his slaves together and gives them some talents; 5, 2 and 1 respectively. The slave with 5 talents traded to get another 5. The master calls him “good and trustworthy” – but the same is said for the slave with 2 talents who also doubles his master’s offering. And then, there is the slave with 1 talent who takes his lone talent, digs a hole in the ground and hides it. Of course, he gets in trouble for this. He’s not good and trustworthy but “wicked and lazy.” He’s told that he should have invested with the bankers and given his master the interest of his earnings. It’s all about money. “To all those who have, more will be given” doesn’t refer to our individual gifts and talents, but the cash in our wallets. It’s all about money. Jesus tells this parable simply to say: “the rich will get richer, and the destitute will lose everything.”
Dig in even though this hardly seems like good news. In fact, it seems like anything but good news, but dig in because Jesus tells this story to a first century audience that believed that “seeking ‘more’ was morally wrong.” The rich aren’t supposed to get richer. That’s not God’s way. Call him wicked and lazy if you like, but that third slave got it right when he insulted his master for reaping where he did not sow and gathering where he did not scatter seed. So, actually, it’s the master that is wicked and lazy. He’s the one that is morally bankrupt because he dared to get richer. Oh yeah, it’s all about money – where the rich get everything and the poor get nothing. However, even in our current economic crisis, I’m not convinced that Jesus’ parable instructs us about wise investments, or even good stock tips (if there are any). No. Jesus’ parables are about the Kingdom of God – something so beyond our imaginations that we relegate it to something after this life, but this isn’t a story about life after death. It’s about money. Cold hard cash. Here is a story that attempts to describe in earthly terms what God’s realm could be for us.
And how does Jesus describe it? It will be like this: when our earthly reality becomes God’s reality. Jesus says it will be like a slave that the world would call wicked and lazy insults his master for being corrupt and unjust. This is what the Kingdom of God will be like. Don’t be shy, Jesus says. Dig in. Dig in because this is exciting. Really, really, really exciting because it’s not just one moment or one guy, it’s everything everywhere.
Don’t be shy, Jesus assures us. Dig in. Dig in like the first century Christians before us because we are in between. We’re in between our reality and God’s reality. We’re in between economic destruction and financial security. We’re in between the first 275 years of our church’s history and what will come next. Don’t be shy. Dig in because like George Santayana said, “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
So dig in. Dig into that history. Dig holes in the ground to discover what makes us who we are. That’s the threat about not repeating it, right? We have to know who we are. We’re a pilgrim people still, but we’re not Pilgrims. Let’s be clear. The Pilgrims (with a capital P) were “a small band of English people who came here in 1620 on a vessel called the Mayflower and settled in Plymouth.” But, it’s not 1620 anymore. We didn’t flee from the Church of England. We have better navigational skills than they did (or at least, I assume that most of us could tell the difference between Massachusetts and India). And forgive the assumption, but I’m guessing that none of us would be so boorish as to refer to our new neighbors as “savages.”
And yet, we are pilgrims. In our 275th anniversary here on Meetinghouse Hill, we’re digging into the idea of being pilgrims (with a small p), which the newly updated history book of our church defines:
a person on a long journey to a sacred place. Today’s church members continue, with Spirit-led discernment, to follow in God’s ways. Although members of the church are now physically rooted in this one historic place, symbolically and spiritually they are pilgrims on a faith journey that never ends.
So pilgrims (with a small p), don’t be shy. It’s time to dig in because we are in the between. We don’t know what’s coming, but we can always learn more about who we are. Learning about those first 275 years won’t bring about the realm of God on the other side of this anniversary celebration, but if we work together, we can help to bring God’s realm a little bit closer to our reality. It’s time to dig in because our work is not yet done.
That’s the thing about the third slave. The world might call him wicked or lazy – but he’s not shy. He digs in. He digs a hole in the ground to hide what was entrusted to him. He digs in to keep it safe so that he can return the talent to his master when it’s time.
And now, it’s our time not to be shy about our history, but to dig in. Dig into discover what it will say about us now, 275 years later. Last week, I dug into our church archives and read a stack of old newsletters from the 1950s. And then, I pulled the Annual Reports off the shelf from the 1960s and read some of those. I had hoped to find some brilliant insight to share with you today, but these very serious articles only reported that membership was down and the church had another building project. This is all part of our ministry and our history, but it just didn’t sound that exciting. I was really searching for some bit about how we became part of the United Church of Christ. This is really what I wanted to know. The United Church of Christ formed in 1957. Individual churches were invited to join after this union of four denominations, in what has been called an experiment. Now, as an ordained leader, I know that experiments make most church people nervous so I wondered how this conversation went – but I found nothing. Not in the newsletters or the archives. Nothing.
So, I called Jean and Adam Siulinski who haven’t quite been members for 275 years, but were here in 1961 when our congregation voted to become part of the UCC. Jean graciously poured me a cup of coffee and we dug in. We dug into those important stories about this church community that excited both Jean and Adam when they first joined. And then, we dug into the question of this vote. Adam pulled back in his chair. I think Jean rolled her eyes. They both sighed. And then, these two pilgrims (with a small p) told me that when there are big decisions in the church, you lose people. It’s just a fact, they told me. Adam mentioned several other votes, including the 2000 vote to become Open & Affirming. And then, with profound wisdom, Jean told me: “we have to adapt to the changing world or else we’ll get stuck in a hole.” This is who we are on Meetinghouse Hill. Together, we won’t get stuck in a hole, but we will discover that we are pilgrims (with a small p) who are
physically rooted in this one historic place, symbolically and spiritually they are pilgrims on a faith journey that never ends.
Don’t be shy. Dig in pilgrims. Dig in.