LIVING OUR PROMISES - PART IV
USE IT OR LOSE IT

Matthew 25:14-30

St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church

Rev. Gary Paterson

Nov. 23, 2008

Here, we are, week number four in our Stewardship Programme, “Living Our Promises”; and here is yet another sermon on the topic. I can hear you muttering, “Who ever knew there was that much to say about stewardship; surely the man must be running out of steam soon. Please.” You will remember how we started off on November 2nd, celebrating the Communion of Saints, recognizing that we are a part of the “Jesus Story,” each of us a specific, unrepeatable page in the unfolding of that story; and, that this community of faith, St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church, is a particular embodiment of God’s deep and holy dream for all creation. The visits that are happening throughout the congregation are, at their best, an invitation to each of us, to all of us, to understand ourselves as being part of this story.

Then, the following Sunday, stewardship became a challenge, hearing the voice of God through the words of the prophet Micah, to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God. We are stewards in the world, called to be peace-makers, doers of the word.

Last week we started talking explicitly about money, about needing to develop a new relationship with money and all that it represents – our life’s energy in portable form, a seduction, an opportunity. Stewardship is once again an invitation, a vision of a new freedom that is rooted in gratitude and moves us into open-handed generosity.

Listen, I have to tell you a story… about someone who listened profoundly to last week’s sermon (who was to know?), then went home and called a family conference. They talked, with commitment and anticipation, and the result was the creation of a new bank account, the “10% account.” They phoned the bank, and asked that 10% be taken off every automatically deposited pay cheque and transferred into the new account – which they also named “the give-away account.” Money to be given away -- some to the church; some to other organizations working for justice, change and compassion. All of it being offered to God, the one who, ultimately, gave it all in the first place; an expression of gratitude, a new freedom, a new commitment to be co-creators with the Spirit that moves throughout the world, seeking transformation ... a change of heart, a change of practice. The 10%, give-away account….a family living out their promises.

So this week… what to say? Well, really, I simply want to take a look at a parable, the one we just heard Hugh read so eloquently, the “Parable of the Talents.” It feels almost impossible to go through a month of stewardship sermons without our hearing this story; this and the Widow’s Mite are probably the two classic Gospel passages that highlight every stewardship programme you’ve ever been part of. So let’s see if this long-ago “use it or lose it” story has something to say to us..

Now remember, although this is “Scripture” for us, it started off simply as a great story, the kind that people remembered. There was this guy, eh?... filthy rich, buddies with Bill Gates and crowd. We’re talking millions, oh, billions. But it was all becoming a bit too much; said rich guy wanted a break, wanted to take a trip, maybe … just for a while. So he called up some of his friends… well, more like his vice-presidents, key staff. And he said… here, a cheque for ten million bucks, for you Jim; go do something creative; hey, Joan, you get five million; and Dan, a million. See what you can do.”

Now pause for a moment… we’re talking money here. A lot of it – that’s what a “talent” is all about; money. But I invite you to think symbolically; remember what we said last week – money is your energy in portable form. It represents your potential to act in the world; your life, so to speak. So it probably isn’t too much of a distortion of the parable to work with the language confusions, whereby in English “talent” refers to our abilities, aptitudes, resources. And they differ, from person to person; we all know that – ten million, five, one. Just a way of pointing out the uniqueness of each person – never been anyone like you ever before, in all creation; and there never will be again. And we all have at least a million bucks worth of ability – more than enough; incredibly valuable. To be used well!

But let’s play a bit with the metaphor – maybe talents can also be thought of as your context… the place and time of your life. Yes, each of us has wonderful abilities; but the contingency of our birth determines how they can be used; the social context in which we live is also part of the gift. South of the border – a hundred and fifty years ago, a black man is a slave; three weeks ago, a black man is President. Born in Vancouver is a completely different reality from being born in, say, Darfur, Burma, Palestine.

Or maybe talents might be understood as the gift of time. We pray for that classic three score years and ten; hope for a gift of eighty, ninety years; but acknowledge that some of us receive only fifty years, some, twenty years. Gifts differing – all valuable, all with potential; ten million, five, one.

Probably we need to understand “talents” as all of this, and then some. It is the gift of our lives, the gift of being that each of us embodies with every breath, every day. It is the light of God within you, and you, and you… and me; the spark of holiness that can shine so brightly.

Each of us has been so lavishly and generously gifted by God, the Giver at the heart of life, who gives shape to the void, breath to the clay, names for the family, voices for our passions; who calls us to be co-creators. (words from Malcolm Sinclair, used in the opening prayer.) You have received your one wild and precious life (Mary Oliver) … and the question floats: what are you going to do about it?

When the Master leaves, he gives no specific instructions about what to do, how to use the gift. It’s our task to figure out what is called for. But make no mistake, there is a deep expectation – and that becomes clear in the parable’s conclusion; we are to increase the wealth; which is to say, use the talents to enrich life, to fan the spark within, and enable others to do the same. We are to add value to the universe, the contribution that only each one of us can make, in all our uniqueness and particularity -- if you do not work with your talents, then the universe will be less for it. Oh you may not think you are that important… but everyone gets at least a million bucks… and that is not small change!!

Think about how we often talk about the church as a body, and everyone single one of us is part of that body. Mouth and ears go together, speaking and listening; where would we be as a community without those hard-working hands; those complexes of nerves that ensure that communication is happening; the hidden adrenalin glands that get us up and moving? One body, many parts.

Another image… I remember once comparing the work of the church to the making of stone soup. You remember that old tale, the magic stone, maybe call it the Spirit, that inspires everyone to contribute what they can to the pot. Well, it was a small country church, and I had invited people to call out what they thought they could offer to the holy soup. Quite a few solid potatoes; some baby carrots… and then Peggy stood up. A fine woman, who had her hand in just about everything that went on in the church; sometimes to the chagrin of others; sharp tongue accompanied a roll-up-the-sleeves, let’s get this done attitude. Well, Peggy knew herself – and she smiled wryly as she said, “I guess I’m the pepper in the soup – sometimes a lot of pepper.” Exactly.

Or let me be even more playful. I am a “words” man; love ‘em, watching them lining up on the page, and suddenly there’s a poem, a story, a sermon. But talk about needing diversity – a lot of solid, everyday nouns; some leaping verbs; the colour of adjectives; and many humble prepositions and conjunctions that hold it all together. Well, let’s get even more detailed… and simply imagine ourselves as punctuation – a lot of commas and semi-colons; innumerable periods; a few question marks, like, say, the Dalai Lama; and occasional exclamation marks, like Barak Obama.

Listen to this poem by Davna Makova; you might remember it from last Thursday’s email, “Gleanings”… that teaser invitation to worship:

I will not die an unlived life;

I will not go in fear

of falling or catching fire.

I choose to inhabit my days,

to allow my living to open me,

to make me less afraid,

more accessible;

to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing,

a torch, a promise.

I choose to accept my significance:

to live;

so that which came to me as seed,

goes to the next as blossom;

and that which came to me as blossom,

goes on as fruit.

(from Seeds for the Morrow, collected by Dorothy Millar)

There is a story that says when your life ends, and you come knocking on the doors of heaven, you will not be asked why you were not more like Moses; you will not be asked why didn’t you live more like Mother Theresa; no, you will be simply be asked, why were you not you? Why did you not use your talents?”

Now, let’s be clear… there is risk involved. It has been said that there is no religion without adventure. Engagement, rather than playing it safe – that’s our calling. I sometimes imagine a fourth character in that Jesus parable – the three talent guy. Who, when the Master comes to check up on what’s been happening, says, “Oh Master, I took all you had given me, and I invested it as wisely as I knew how; truly I did my best – but I lost it all.” And the Master would reply, “Well done true and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Master.” Faithfulness, not success – that’s what God asks of us.

But it isn’t easy; taking risks can be dangerous. And we are often blocked by fear. So many fears. We are tempted to hide, avoid risks, play it safe. We are rready to bury our talent; save it for ourselves, perhaps; or just stay in the closet, eh? Not undertake the hard work of coming out, of being true to ourselves, letting who we are shine forth. But the end result is a wizening of the spirit; we, and the world, are lessened when fear rules. Surely that is the deepest meaning of what happens to that one talent person who hid the gift. The parable presents the end result as punishment, with much weeping and gnashing of teeth; but I think that what happens is better understood as consequence. It’s not God punishing us; no, we’re doing ourselves in, refusing to acknowledge how wonderful we actually are, how gifted and called we truly are. Surely no one really wants to finish his or her life, saying “Whooo… thank God I made it safely to the end.” No, we want to be able to say, “Wow!!! What a ride!!!”

Here’s a story I heard yesterday, over coffee with a new member of our congregation. This man had been in the hospitality industry for thirteen years; good career, doing well. But he was working long and hard hours; sixteen-hour days, seven days a week, and enjoying it less and less; not much time for anything but work. But it was a good job, paid well, with benefits. And thirteen years is thirteen years. Then came the day… almost out of the blue… a day was full of sunshine; a breeze drifting by; pay cheque in hand for the last two weeks work; tossing his keys up in the air, catching them, over and over. And that was it… strolled back into the hotel… “I quit; here are the keys.” “What – you’re not quitting! How can you? What for? Take the rest of the day off; take the next day if you need to. We’ll see you on Saturday.” “No, I quit; thank you; have a good day.” Risky? … you bet! Best decision he ever made? – you bet! Turned out that he was a ten talent kind of guy, at least when he let the Spirit blow the cover off his gifts. New line of work; new relationship; new church. Well done, true and faithful servant.

“Living Our Promises” – that’s what we’re calling this Stewardship Programme; another way of saying take those talents, and shine. Pour yourself out; invest in life. Yesterday I was walking along the seawall – after the Craft and Bake sale; beautiful day; perfect setting for pondering a sermon. And I saw a little girl, maybe four or five, peddling furiously on her bicycle, complete with training wheels. Her parents were watching with eyes full of pride and love. On her back she wore a pair of wings – butterfly wings maybe; more likely fairy wings, a left-over from Hallowe’en perhaps. No self-consciousness… she knew that she was born to fly. And if she could get that bike going fast enough, she would take off, no question… and it was worth the risk of crashing, up-ending. This was serious business; soaring was imminent. She would definitely get to the end saying “What a ride!”

Sure there will be hard times; struggle and suffering are a given;it comes with being human. But I have lately found myself wondering if even this is to be understood as part and parcel of the riches, of the talents. Frederick Beuchner once said that we are called by God to be stewards of pain. That’s a strange way to talk about our lives – and yet we know that some lives seem to carry ten talents of pain, while others seem to receive only one. Who knows the why and the wherefore; but each of us is called to live into our pain… not bury it, repress, suppress, pretend it isn’t there… no, we are to metabolize the inevitable suffering that is part of life, take it into our hearts so that slowly it is transformed into compassion, into healing, for ourselves, and for others. Stewards of our talents; our context; out times; our pain.

Indeed, stewardship calls us into offering ourselves as full participants in God’s vision for this earth. I look out this morning on this congregation … and I see people engaged in the holy work of parenting; I see teachers, urban planners, orthodontists, judges; I see people who sit on Boards… Fairhaven Homes, Raincity Housing, St. Andrew’s-Wesley; I see volunteers, who serve at the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre; with community Seniors’ groups; with Safe Passage in Guatemala. I see music makers, cooks, and quilters… oh… another story. Yesterday at the Craft Fair… a member of the congregation came up and said, “I’ve been thinking of making a quilt for the children. For them to sit on when they come up for story time, up on the steps; or at Baptism, when they sit on the floor. What do think?” “Yes,” said I, “yes!” … thinking, talents, gifts… well done, true and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Master. And another story… no, we’d end up being here all day. This is one ten talented congregation!

The shock that precipitated our Stewardship programme was the death of our biggest, long-time donor, Mary Wattum. It was a financial wake-up call, but far more importantly, there came a recognition that we needed to extend a powerful invitation to each person here to recognize their giftedness, with their ten, five and one talents; to affirm how important each person is in the unfolding vision of this congregation; an invitation to participate, to live out the promise. Mary lived to be ninety-four; in her final years there was some loss of mental acuity,; she had a couple of stories that would pop into just about every conversation. You never quite knew what words would trigger her, but I remember one meeting, a Worship Committee meeting I think, where we heard what probably was her all-time favourite story three times; once Mary got started there was no stopping her. But you know what, it was worth hearing. Mary would tell you about watching this church being built – she lived across the street, and was able to follow all that was happening. One day, Dr. Brewster, the first minister of St. Andrew’s-Wesley, approached a couple of the workmen, and asked them what they were doing. According to Mary, one man grunted, muttered something about measurements; the other, stood up, smiled, and said, “I’m building a cathedral for the glory of God.” That was always the punch-line, which often Mary would repeat with a great smile on her face – “I’m building a cathedral for the glory of God.” That workman knew… and Mary knew … that his talents, his life’s energy – it was part of something much bigger than just a daily pay cheque. I often wondered why this particular story was so lodged in Mary’s memory, but I suspect it was because that’s how she saw her own life; she too, for all of her ninety-four years, she was all about building a cathedral to the glory of God – cheques, committees, meeting, planning. Maybe she kept telling the story to convince everyone else that this was their calling as well.

Each one of us; so gifted; so necessary; so rich. Participants and members of a community that is rooted in the belief that we are all children of God, talented and loved; disciples of Christ, choosing to be lovers of neighbour, enemy, of the world; filled with a Spirit that fans our offerings into a holy fire that will be burn so brightly as to fill the world with light.

Let me finish with words of blessing, not my own, but from a ten talent guy, John O’Donohue, but whose gift of time was only five talent, having recently died at age 53:

I bless the night that nourished my heart

To set the ghosts of longing free

Into the flow and figure of dream

That went to harvest from the dark

Bread for the hunger no one sees.

All that is eternal in me

Welcomes the wonder of this day,

The field of brightness [God] creates

Offering time for each thing

To arise and illuminate.

I place on [God’s] altar of dawn:

The quiet loyalty of breath,

The tent of thought where I shelter,

Waves of desire I am shore to,

And all beauty drawn to the eye.

May my mind come alive today

To the invisible geography

That invites me to new frontiers,

To break the dead shell of yesterdays,

To risk being disturbed and changed.

May I have the courage today

To live the life that I would love,

To postpone my dream no longer,

But do at last what I came here for

And waste my heart on fear no more.

May I have the courage today

To live the life that I would love….

No… to live that life that God would love…

Well, in truth… to live the live that both God and I would love… they are one

and the same, are they not?

To postpone our dream no longer,

But do at last what I came here for… what I was sent to be and do…

spending all my talents in love…

And waste my heart on fear no more.