"Talents" A Sermon From Sunday, November 22nd 2015

Matthew 25:14-46

“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; ¹⁵ to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶ The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. ¹⁷ In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. ¹⁸ But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹ After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘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.’ ²² And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘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.’ ²⁴ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. ²⁹ For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ³⁰ As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Judgment of the Nations

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³ and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴ Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸ And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹ And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Introduction:

          As many of you know by now, I’ve been trying to loosely address topics associated with stewardship this month. To a large extent this come from very practical concerns about how we manage our lives, how we manage our money, and even how we use the gifts we are given to help those around us – particularly those in need. Sometimes it’s important to be reminded of this. It’s important to be refreshed on how we can better allocate ourselves to all of life’s demands – how we need to prioritize time and space for our family and church community.

          As I was choosing scriptures for this month, with this theme of stewardship in mind. The parable of the talents came to mind. In my mind I thought, “Oh hey, there’s a great story that tells us that God wants us to invest ourselves wisely.” Unfortunately, it didn’t take me too long to realize that I had made a bit of an error. You see, I made a fundamental mistake. My responsibility to layout a nice administrative framework for the upcoming month led me to make assumptions about the texts I was going to preach on.

          In fact, I made a number of assumptions about today’s scripture. I had grown up thinking about this passage in the way I described it a second ago. For years I’ve heard this “Parable of the Talents” passage preached as a conviction for each of us to use our talents and gifts, well. Many Christians have approached this scripture allegorically for a very long time, but as I studied and dug deeper it seemed as though the message that praises the first two slaves has been used because it’s easier, not because it’s more accurate or theologically sound.

Sometimes preaching gets in the way of Interpretation:

          To put it simply, sometimes preaching gets in the way of interpretation. As a preacher, my job is to teach the Gospel in a way that is both faithful and relevant. And it seems as though Western Christians have struggled with this passage for a long time. We’ve interpreted “talents” symbolically because it’s easy. It’s a way of making the story easily applicable to our lives. But it’s also an approach that may sweep the real message under the rug.

The Problem:

          And it is with that in mind that I want to bring your attention back to this parable. If you have your Bibles close at hand, I’d like you to look at this passage again. I think there are serious problems with taking the Parable of the Talents to be allegorical. And there are reasons for this. If we’re going to say that the “talents” or money in this case can be generalized to be the thing we think of when we hear “talents,” then we’re doing so for a particular end goal. That end goal is an interpretation that say that God will judge those who don’t use their talents – so we better do a good job. And this is just where the problems begin for me.

List:

1.    I don’t think the descriptions of this Master align either with Christ or God. Just listen to it. Do you think Matthew wants to portray God as a, “harsh man, reaping where [he] does not sow, and gathering where [He] did not scatter seed?” This doesn’t sound like God. Isn’t this the opposite of the God of Israel who brought God’s people into a land flowing with milk and honey, drinking from cisterns they did not dig and reaping harvests that they did not sow. This investor doesn’t sound like the God who tells harvesters to harvest badly, leaving the edges of the wheat and dropped sheaves behind; not stripping the vines or shaking the olive trees, so that those who have nothing to sow can reap anyway. It is equally unlike Jesus’ parable of the sower who goes out and throws seed wastefully all over the place, knowing that whatever lands on the good soil will produce beyond one’s wildest dream.

2.     And this is exactly why I have included the second passage you heard this morning. Most of the time we separate the Parable of the Talents away from its context. A context in which you hear Jesus saying that those who are welcome in the Kingdom of Heaven are those who gave him food, refuge, clothing, healthcare, or visitation in prison. Does that really sound like the Master who said “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for the worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth?” How did we ever just think, “Oh yeah, that sounds like Jesus!”

3.     The moral of this parable is not a happy one, which is exactly why I think it needs to be read in the context of the passage that follows. When we hear the master say, "For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away" one cannot help but hear Ayn Rand more than Jesus Christ. This message directly contradicts what we find elsewhere in scripture. In Amos, we hear the prophet condemn the landowners for harvesting the edges of their fields, thus failing to leave some for the poor. Or, to go even further, the message the Master gives contradicts the warnings we hear Jesus give to the wealthy, while simultaneously proclaiming “good news to the poor.” Not to mention the fact that it would be contradicted by the living witness of the early church, who sold what they had and pooled their resources so that everyone would have enough.

4.     Finally, I think that the absence we hear about in this parable is problematic when compared to the rest of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew is a Gospel that portrays God as ever-present, even if He is seemingly absent. To imagine God, as the slave-owner, as absent within this larger context is strange. We even see God's concern and presence in verses that immediately follow this parable!

Alternative:

          By now you know that I don’t think that this parable can be interpreted in the way that I had always thought it could be – in the way I had always heard. I think at some point preachers may have just decided that it was easier to turn this passage into something uncontroversial and relatively harmless, rather than explain the historical context. But in doing so, they ripped the soul out of this passage.

          As most of you probably realized, a “talent” in this passage is a monetary denomination. It’s a particular amount of money, and I believe that we need to take that seriously. You see, this is a story about monetary investment. In 1^st century Palestine most commercial trading or “investing” was done by wealthy people, royalty, and the priesthood. In a strange twist, to our ears at least, it was the priests who acted like bankers. They took in and spent investments held in the temple, and then traded with them for foreign goods and currency.

          There were two common ways that someone could make a profit from investing. The first was by lending to those involved in the currency exchange business in the Temple. When Jews or others came to Jerusalem from other parts of the world, they needed to change their international currency into the local Jewish currency, and the exchange tables served this purpose. International Jews in particular (and there were many) needed to make a sacrifice in the Temple, but typically only carried Roman currency, with the Emperor's picture on it, so they exchanged it for local currency, which did. A wealthy person's investment in this, from fees and exchange rates, could be very high.

          The second form of investment was in mortgage loans or bridge loans to small farmer families struggling to stay afloat in the declining 1^st century Palestinian economy. Most loans made huge returns on their investment because interest rates were so astronomically high by today's standards – anywhere between twenty-five to fifty percent. The purpose for these loans, was primarily for the purpose of getting borrowers in over their heads so they could be

foreclosed on. These farmers would then either become tenants on what had been their own property, homeless, or join the ranks of the growing number of bandits or revolutionary militias.

          In a familiar twist, a lot of the income from these loans was deposited in the Temple so that the rich wouldn’t have to pay particular taxes on it. But also, if not more, importantly to keep the owners from being officially known as the holders of the debts they held. This anonymity was critical because Jewish law called for all debts to be cancelled in the year of Jubilee.

          A law called the "Prosbul" allowed them put their money in the Temple just before the seventh year, when debts were to be canceled, so that they could claim that they no longer had the money and were not able to cancel the debt. And then that money, held in the Temple, was often invested elsewhere by the priests who were the financial overseers of the "bank's" holdings. There are a number of ancient inscriptions that show priests investing in trades and commodities using this "tax-sheltered" money; much of which was drawn from the mortgages taken out by the poor families of rural Palestine. That's probably one of the reasons why Jesus decided to occupy the Temple and set up a temporary boycott of currency trading there as his first official act in Jerusalem. And it is clearly the reason why – when the revolution finally came – the angry masses stormed the temple and burned the mortgage papers that had been held there.

          It was also common, as this parable indicates, for wealthy lenders to pass the dirty tasks of originating the loans, and collecting on them, and then repossessing the properties, down to their servants. It was considered dishonorable for nobility to expand their wealth, and since servants were a class without honor, they were given the job. That gave the lenders the ability to deny any knowledge of wrong-doing if an evicted family's misery became too public.

          It's also important to add here that the servants who were entrusted with inflicting this pain on people didn't do it necessarily for monetary gain, but instead they did it for the power and prestige they received for successfully managing the company. As today’s parable says, if they were successful in little, they would be given power and responsibility over much. The fact that two of the slaves doubled, or tripled, the initial investment references the returns that these kinds ‘shady’ investments brought.

          In this story, slaves one and two clearly went along with this insidious system and were rewarded handsomely for their efforts. The first put his money into trading (ergázomai, probably commodities because they were the most frequently traded at the time), and the second used interest-bearing investments (kerdainō, like the loans and currency-trading mentioned above), but both made a healthy profit.

          But the third person (often the hero in three-part tales), followed the Torah which forbade the lending of money at interest (Exodus 22.20-30). Apparently, he believed that the system was corrupt, that the leader was evil, that money should not be used as a weapon against homes and farms and families, and he refused to participate. He accused the wealthy owner of being a "sklēros," someone who is violent, rough, offensive, and thoroughly intolerable. He accuses him of not actually doing anything to get his wealth: he doesn't plant, and he doesn't distribute (diaskorpízō) his wealth. He just collects interest from the misery of people who were sucked into a downwardly spiraling system.

          So rather than participating he denounces the crime, buries the money, and in the end gets punished for his actions. It is telling that he put the money in the ground, which is ultimately owned by God (Leviticus 25:23-28). It could even seem as though Jesus is saying that he gave the money back to God, the ultimate owner. That in the midst of everything that he saw as evil, the third slave just put his hands in the only place he thought was safe – the very earth that God created.

Conclusion:

          So here’s my point, I think there’s a serious problem with equating God to the Slave-owner of the story or praising the first two slaves. I think we need to take this story literally. Jesus is telling us that sometimes when we stand up and denounce an immoral, evil, system, you may have to pay for it. This story is about stewardship, but it’s a kind of stewardship that has a lot more teeth than the one we might be more familiar with.

          I think that this parable has more in common with the story of ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace’ than we may realize at first. Sometimes the right thing to do is to offer up your life as a bulwark against injustice, even if that means losing that life. If we’re going to talk about stewardship, then it makes sense to talk about it in the most ultimate of ways. Where do you fall when the chips fall in the most dramatic and meaningful of ways? Will you place your hands in the only thing you know is safe? Christ tells us exactly where we need to be after this parable. Christ says, “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”

          There is a place for stewardship in the Kingdom of God, but it’s not the kind of stewardship the slave-owner had. All he cared about was personal gain at the expense of other people. No! Disciples of Jesus Christ are called to not just be crafty stewards, but ethical ones. If we’re going to devote our gifts to something, then it should be something meaningful – and that’s a message to be thankful for!

         

          This story about injustice and system that forces slaves to become complicit in the expropriation of small farms is followed by a vision of messianic judgment. Our injustice is always followed by God’s justice. Jesus, the parable teller, is telling us that salvation is at hand for all peoples, despite the corruption of political-economies and empires. He’s offering hope and bringing them back to the most important thing of all – love; love of God and love of neighbor. Jesus says that those who act like the slave-owner of the parable will be punished, but those who helped the least of all will be given eternal life.

Benediction:

As we go into the world,

and leave this place behind,

may we remember that God is still speaking.

May the message of Christ

be in our hearts and our minds,

because God is still speaking within us.

May we all be attentive

to that still small-voice.

Amen.

Stewardship: Going beyond the Good Times

A Sermon from November 15th, 2015
 Mark 12:41-44

Scripture:

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³ Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴ For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Introduction to Scripture:

          This morning’s scripture is part of a larger theme that we’ve been addressing this month. As some of you know, November is the month in which we talk about stewardship. Many of my sermons have addressed this in varying ways.

          Stewardship is really a simple concept. How many of you remember your home-economics course? Or perhaps even your micro or macroeconomics course? Perhaps you remember the lectures you got on the first day of class. In all those courses the first day was almost always the same this class will teach you how to manage something – a household, a small market, or even national markets. They’re topics that study how we should make decisions about where we invest our assets and to some extent ourselves. 

          This morning’s scripture is kind of like that. Today’s passage from scripture brings a word about where we need to be investing ourselves. It’s not too hard to imagine ourselves in a similar situation. As I occasionally do, I’d like to tell you a story.

Story:

          One day a boy who everyone called Timmy was riding the subway in Manhattan. Timmy had gone into the city that day to meet up with his friends in the park. It was always an exciting thing. His parents had only started letting him go out alone recently, even though several of his friends parents had been letting their sons ride the subway alone a year earlier.

          Timmy was on his way home to Queens. His father worked hard and managed to keep the family afloat, but his mother was pretty sick. Some days she could go out and get stuff done and other days she could hardly move. It’d been that ways for years and Timmy had gotten used to helping out around the house.

          And so it was that Timmy was sitting the on the subway when an elderly man began singing an old blues tune. It was obvious the man was homeless, but there was something strange about the whole thing. Most everyone tried to ignore the old man, afraid that he was going to ask them for money. Their eyes would shift down or away. Some people even pulled out their phones to find some meaningless thing to distract them.

          But Timmy noticed that there were exceptions. There was an elderly lady in the corner in very dark colors. Her brow furrowed, but her eyes attentive. It was as though some sort of shadow was cast before her gaze. And as Timmy watched he noticed the ladies hands begin to trimmer. A tear came to her eye. All Timmy could do was think to himself, “Well I guess she must know the song.”

          Suddenly the subway came to a stop. They had arrived at the next station. As quickly as she could, the elderly woman got off the train to go wherever it was she needed to go. As everyone shuffled and made room, Timmy noticed that the elderly man had stopped singing. Soon enough the train started again.

          And as you might expect, the old man started up again. This time with a tune that sounded newer, slow, but upbeat. Of course, most of the people who had gotten on quickly fell into the habit of ignoring this Old Man. But Timmy looked around again and saw a pregnant woman who looked startled. It was obvious she couldn’t see the Old Man and the Old man couldn’t see her. But she was obviously aware. Her eyes looked about and she looked confused.

          By looking at her Timmy was able to make a couple guesses. She didn’t look like she lived in Manhattan, somewhere else for sure. The shoes just didn’t look right. She was pretty too and looked nice, but there was a glimmer of something lost in her eyes. Then Timmy figured he should see if he could spot her hand. Sure enough, she wasn’t married. Timmy had known a girl in the neighborhood who had gotten pregnant young and had to move back home right before the baby came. The whole thing seemed kind of confusing, but he figured it must be similar.

          And as he watched her face he saw her expressions change. She still looked a bit worn-out, but her eyes started to widen. Her lips began to move up a little. Even the subtle lines in her face began to disappear. Something had happened. It was like something familiar, yet all too easily forgotten had suddenly come to her. As the train slowed for its next stop it was like she was a different person. Her step was a little lighter. It was like she had been given a little boost of hope.

          Suddenly a swarm of people boarded and the Old Man was pushed much closer to Timmy. It quickly became apparent that the Old Man needed to sit to make room. But he looked down at Timmy and asked, “Do you mind?” Timmy didn’t really know what to say so he just shook his head no.

          The Old Man sat down in the seat next to his and seemed content to stay silent. Suddenly, Timmy filled with a bit of curiosity turned to the Old Man and said, “Why do you sing?” Startled, the Old Man turned back and fumbled a bit over an answer. Then, after a couple seconds, smiled and said, “Because I must. It’s what I do.” Suddenly filled with even more curiosity Timmy said, “Why is it that you can sing well and nobody notices?”

          The crowd’s effort to ignore everything around them was suddenly interrupted by the Old Man’s laugh. Finally after a good chuckle he responded, “Well, I used to teach music to boys and girls like you, but one day they told me I was too old to teach. So I had to find something new to do with my life.” Timmy quickly responded with the question, “But why does everyone look away and why are you homeless?”

          Chuckling again the Old Man responded, “Most people don’t need to hear me. Those who do will. And I’m not homeless. I play a bit of a game you see. I sing because I like singing. I’m not great, but I’m not bad and it makes me happy. You see I do this whenever I feel well enough.” Timmy thought on this for a moment and then realized the next stop was his.

          As he got off at the next stop, he exited and walked a little ways until he saw a crowd. There was beautiful music playing too. Curious, Timmy walked up a few of the steps nearby to see what was going on. There in front of a crowd was a violinist in a tuxedo playing for all the people to hear. Nearby were cameramen and people who looked like reporters. As he stood and watched, Timmy saw people clap and cheer. Apparently, this violinist was world famous! Everyone seemed really excited to see someone so important play for free.

          As he stood there, Timmy thought, “I wonder if people would notice the Old Man more if he wore a tuxedo?”

The Story and the Text:

          As I wrote the story I just recited, I tried to bring out some themes from this morning’s scripture. Particularly themes relating to the things we need and the things we overlook. If we’re going to talk about stewardship, we need to think more broadly than money or time. We need to think bigger! We need to look to the roots of why we do things. Are we doing them because there’s some tangible reward that boosts our ego or opiates our insecurities? Or, are we doing things because they flow out of a genuine sense of purpose and mission?

          When I was in seminary I heard a lot about the “mission shaped church” model. It’s an idea that focuses on how churches need to get active in their communities – to get people involved in tangible activities. I think this can be a really refreshing message sometimes. But I also think that we should focus on the deepest issue of all – The Gospel. How our lives are formed and shaped by the character, message, and Spirit of this person we call Jesus.

          If we’re going to talk about stewardship, we need to talk about how we can follow in the example of the widow who gave everything she had willingly, even though she was impoverished. This woman whom Christ observed, realized the most important thing of all. Everything she had belonged to God. She could, and did, place all of her faith in God. Her hope and her faith were not rooted in the feelings the wealthy people likely had when they gave much larger sums, but there was something much deeper in what she did. She understood that her hope and her salvation was somewhere outside of herself, outside of her context, and centered in the God whom she knew loved her.

          Each of us has a purpose and a place in the Kingdom of God. Our spirits thrive in their capacity to participate in the things God calls us to, not because they give us superficial benefits like acclaim or numbers, but because we’ve found the thing we should have been searching for all along – a spirit of peace in the God who centers us in who we are truly meant to be. We find hope and purpose when we focus our energies on discipleship – one being all we can be in the callings God has for us.

          This isn’t just an issue of money, or time, or labels. This is a heart issue. Good stewardship is really about making sure everything is in order on the inside, in our hearts and our minds first. Because if we focus on that, everything else will fall into place. We will be better able to follow God’s will for us in terms of love, and justice, and peace. Even when things may not being going so well!

Paris and Beirut:

          Like many of you, I was grieved when I learned about this past week’s terrorist attacks. Hundreds lost their lives both in Paris and in Beirut. One of my colleagues in the Philosophy Department at Temple is an exchange student over here for a term from the Sorbonne in Paris. So many of us were immediately aware of the pain and grief facing the people of France and Lebanon. My friend and colleague, like many others, Juliette lost a childhood friend in the attack.

          So it is with a heavy heart that our nation must now come alongside our brothers and sisters, friends and allies, particularly in prayer. As I have prayed over this issue since I’ve learned of it, I’ve come to center myself on one particular psalm – Psalm 46.

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
³ though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
    God will help it when the morning dawns.
⁶ The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord;
    see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God!
    I am exalted among the nations,
    I am exalted in the earth.”
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

The words of the psalmist often capture the spirits of our dispositions, and minds, in ways that are starting and needed. If we let them speak to our hearts, and take lesson from them, we can find ourselves in a place of peace and assurance because we’ve come to God in a way that we should more often than we do.

          By now, you know that the title of my sermon is stewardship. But I don’t want you to think that it’s just stewardship. I want you to write-in a subtitle. I want you to walk away today thinking, “Stewardship: Going beyond the Good Times.”

          The widow in the story Jesus gave us wasn’t in a privileged place. She gave up all that she had because she had faith that God would provide for her. Her heart was in the right place, even though her financial circumstances were not great. We don’t know this, but it’s even likely that her other circumstances were poor too. So it’s important to recognize that where we keep our priorities is important. What we focus on now will be with us when times get hard.

          Being a good steward of ourselves – our souls, our minds, and our bodies – means centering ourselves in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the work of the Kingdom of God. This is where we can find hope, and assurance, and meaning. To quote the Christian writer G.K. Chesterton:

          “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all... As    long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength”

This type of hope is a virtue and a reward we find in a life with Christ. Our God is our refuge and strength. Though the nations may quiver, He remains steadfast and His love endures forever. Our hope rests in the God we find in Christ. Our assurance rests in the God we find peace in when we hold fast to what he calls us to. Faith is something built through careful attention to the work that God has for our souls.

"The Call of God," A Sermon from November 1st 2015

“The Call of God”

1 Samuel 3

Introduction:

          I don’t know what many of your childhoods were like, but I grew up hearing today’s passage a lot. Maybe it was because the story was featured prominently in the children’s books I had. Maybe it was because it was an easy lesson for my Sabbath School teachers to draw on. Yes, that’s right I didn’t go to Sunday School when I was little. As a Seventh Day Adventist, I went to Sabbath School on Saturdays. Fortunately, I found my faith in a little Baptist church in Arcata, California not too long after I left Adventism.

          In any case, this story may seem familiar at first. It certainly did to me. But isn’t it strange how the Bible has a weird ability to come at you in entirely new ways every time you go back to it. The passages you remember as presenting simple lessons from childhood still do that, but it’s as though flakes have fallen away from your eyes when you read them again later in life. You realize that there’s depth, complexity, and ever abundant messages hidden within – all meant to help you grow.

          So when I approached this passage again this week in preparation I was startled by one of the first phrases in the whole passage. It states, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” Doesn’t that sound like our world? Isn’t it strange how something so seemingly far removed from our time, culture, and context breaks through and startles us? It startles us because of its relevance. I think this passage is as relevant to us today as any passage in the New Testament.

Sunday School Lessons:

          If you remember this story from your childhood, as I do, I’m sure you may remember some of the lessons that accompanied it. Lessons like:

·        Go to church (after all Samuel was in the Temple)!

·        Obey your elders (Samuel did exactly as Eli instructed).

·        Open your heart to God (Samuel invited God to speak to him).

These are accurate and meaningful lessons. The make the gospel real to the hearts and minds of children. That’s not only valuable, it’s invaluable. Many of us have probably been imprinted with those types of lesson and grown because of them.

Dream – Not ready for that Visitor

          Now I have a question for you. If you’re like me, you probably fret over the thought of having company over. I get excited and actually enjoy entertaining, but I have to make sure everything is just right. When I was married I didn’t do the cooking, but I did manage setup, cleaning, and organization. I was even responsible for polishing the silver. To summarize, I got stuck with all the odd jobs associated with entertaining. To be honest, my cooking isn’t all that great.

          But if you’re like me you may worry about the details that go into things like entertaining, your yard, or even what you may have said – or not said – in that business meeting. You may have had dreams where you felt unprepared for whatever it was on your mind. You may have even woken up and been unable to go back to sleep until you revised those last few lines on that report.

          I met a pastor once who had been having the same dream over and over. Her spare bedroom was a mess and she kept on dreaming that she had company over that needed to sleep in it. Then one day she had a revelation. Maybe, just maybe, her subconscious was telling her that she needed to work on herself spiritually because that spare bedroom deep inside of her was where Jesus was staying.

Insider’s Knowledge

          I don’t think it’s a coincidence to draw a connection between Samuel and pastor’s kids. Like pastor’s kids, Samuel literally grew up in the church. He slept near the Holy of Holies. So he knew a lot about religion, about church life. He probably even knew some of the gritty details.

          But as the text says, Samuel “did not yet know the Lord.” He had an intellectual understanding of the rituals associated with church life, but he didn’t have a life encompassing relationship with God yet. He had an insider’s knowledge of religion, but not of God.

True Relationship

          But here’s the thing. God didn’t give up on calling him. God kept at it and waited for Samuel to figure out what was up. God does the same for us. He gives us time to figure out what new thing we’re being called to. Like a patient parent, God nudges us along even if the signs and message are all too clear.

Keeping God at a Distance

          If we’re really interested in growing spiritually, we have to practice at it and make it a priority. Religion has, all too often, played a role in keeping God at a distance by designating only certain spaces as “sacred” – as though God is only present there. But these types of separations tend to interject separations into all of life: we separate bodies from our souls, individuals from communities, and humanity from the natural world. It seems to me that all these forms of segregation isolate us from creation, from one another, and from God. We experience God in the world we inhabit, in other people, in creation, and through the presence of the Holy Spirit who unites us all in love.

True Spirituality has to be Cultivated

          We all have the opportunity to integrate our lives more fully into the freedom and joy and exuberance of God’s Spirit, but it takes effort. True spirituality is something that has to be cultivated. It’s not just something we default back to when religion gets weird or difficult. Genuine spirituality is something you practice, which of course makes it religious. For some, the traditional ways of doing things are enough – Bible Study, prayer, and tithing are what feeds their soul. For other people, innovation might be necessary. Different practices aren’t bad, they’re just different. What matters is finding a time and a space for God in our lives.

Creating a Place for Focus

          I know that many of you have found places in your lives for cultivation. You may have a garden, a prayer life, or a hobby that enriches your soul already. But I also fear that as a society we don’t spend enough time cultivating anymore. Rather than acting like Tevye, the poor Jewish milkman from Fiddler on the Roof who constantly talks to God, we sometimes have a tendency to treat our spiritual lives like a drive through window. We check-in and out without always taking the time to digest or schedule out as much time as we should.

          But if we want to live in God’s presence and God’s life and love, we need to be intentional about seeking to integrate our lives into our faith. I sometimes find it helpful to just turn off all the distracting noises and devices we use to escape reality and instead focus more on what’s going on inside of me. But I also know that I can’t make my spiritual practice all about that. I have to make sure there’s a communal element to it too. Practicing faith alongside other people is incredibly important.

          Do we ever achieve much of anything if we strike out on our own? Not really. We all know how hard it is to lose weight, quit an addiction, or make exercise a regular part of our lives without community support and accountability. Churches exist to provide that communal element to our spiritual lives. When we practice our faith, God energizes us for everything we could face. We find ourselves embedded in God’s peace and presence because we realize that God’s sacred space isn’t confined to any one room, but to the whole of creation – including us.

God Calls Until We Learn to Listen

          When we answer God’s call we submit ourselves to God’s unyielding work of renewal and restoration. We find forgiveness for our sins and peace in the knowledge that all things will eventually be bound up in love. God’s voice may at times seem like a distant breeze rustling through the forest, but it is incessant and always ready to be heard if we will only listen. God doesn’t give up, despite our lack of attention. God is calling and he wants you to listen for the word he has for your life.