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Monday, November 17, 2014

Sermon for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost



Therefore encourage one another and build up each other.

Jesus tells us this parable about the three slaves and their master.
He uses the things of the world around him to express a greater truth.
He uses the present to express the eternal.

He uses these images to express something about the Kingdom:
The master is God, we are the slaves.

The master is going away
and before he leaves he gives his slaves money according to their ability.
Some are given more than others.
They are to do their best with this money.
Invest, build, whatever.
It is a gift to them and they are to use it according to their abilities.

Two of them do well with this.

They use their gifts to increase the amount.

The master returns, and they present their results.

Here’s the thing.

They are given this according to their ability.
They are given this to use their gifts.
Not someone’s else idea of what their gift is, but their own abilities, strengths.

It is their true being,
their heart and soul that is being given the opportunity,
not their ability to follow instructions,
or their ability to please someone else,
but it is their very being that is asked to do this.

God asks the true self to use its gifts for the growth of the kingdom.

“Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things,
I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”

Now I hope that when I die and I am called to give an account of what I did with the gifts that God gave me,
that I am able to answer honestly from my true self.
I hope that I can say I used the gifts I was given for the good of the kingdom.
I hope that I don’t have to make excuses.

I hope I don’t hear:
“Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things,
You have done exactly what the parishes demanded of you.
You have done everything that everyone has asked of you,
even when they were the opposite of each other.
Well done, good and trustworthy slave,
you completely lost your true self to the will of a few.
I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”

That is not what will be said.

The point is that God has given us all gifts,
and we are to use them for the good of the kingdom, not to keep others happy.
We aren’t to lose our true selves.
If we lose our very being at the altar of criticism, we have lost everything.

Think of the last slave.

This is a man who is acting out of fear, or rather inacting out of fear.
He hides the gifts given to him.

Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.

The problem is he has misread his master.
He views him as a figure to fear.
And in doing so, he hides the gifts that were entrusted to him.

He is more afraid of getting it wrong and getting in trouble than using the gifts that God has given him.

How many of us view God like that?
How many of us think it is better not to do something in the risk of getting it wrong?
How many of us have hidden our gifts because we are afraid that we will get it in the neck?

How many in the church are afraid of doing ministry
because they think they will be told they aren’t good enough?

How many in this congregation hide their gifts from the parish
 because they are afraid they will only end up in the middle of some stupid historical battle that no one really understands anymore?

How many within this parish bury their gifts
because they know if they actually revealed them they would only receive grief and whinging?

Is that how it is?

Have we all become like the third slave,
acting out of fear and hiding our true God given selves in the hope that we just don’t cop a serve if we get it slightly wrong?

From my own experience, I can say that is exactly how it feels some days.

I am not surprised many have hidden their gifts.
The culture of blame, criticism, us and them,
all tangled up in a survival mentality has taken a strong root in this parish.

It fractures relationships between parishoners and clergy,
it limits relationships with the greater community,
and nullifies any evangelism and ministry that might take place.

More importantly, all this can have a very negative effect on our spirituality.
If the church negates our gifts, we start to think of God as being the same way:

Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, so I was afraid,
and I went and hid your talent in the ground. 

In his letter to the Thessalonians,
Paul tells them that the God is not about wrath, but about eternal life in Jesus Christ.

If the church acts towards those within with wrath, what are we saying about God?
What might that look like to those who are not yet with us?
It can only reinforce the image of a vengeful God.

Paul writes:
God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other.

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other.
Not criticize and tear down.

Everyone has been given gifts by God.
Jesus calls us to use them for his kingdom and the building up his body, the church.

To bury your gifts in fear is to deny yourself who you really are, and to deny yourself what God has given you.

To chastise, criticize, wear down, and complain about someone’s ministry or work is only to deny that person the chance to be who God has called them to be.

Paul tells us:

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other.

It is in doing that that we will be able to be who God has called us to be, so we will hear:

Well done, good and trustworthy slave; enter into the joy of your master

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