This is your stewardship sermon 202. The Church.

Construction Tools via flickr

Sheri and I had decided that we would tithe. We would give 10% of our earned income to God. The problem was that on a regular basis I was asked for money or assistance. So we decided that we would have cash on hand to help people in need, and that the amount we would have was $100. So the next day a guy said he needed help buying tools. He was learning carpentry at a union school. We went to home depot with his list and when we checked out the total is $101.30. I opened up my wallet and pulled out five $20 bills. I had a hundred dollars even. 

So are we saved by works or not? The parable of the talents from Matthew 25 seems to suggest that work makes all the difference in the world. Two servants do a good job in doubling their master’s money. The master tells them, “Well done good and faithful servants.” They are rewarded for their labor. The third servant fails. He hides his master’s money and gives it back to him basically untouched. He is called wicked and lazy and punished severely. What’s the difference? On the surface the difference seems to be works. The two good servants work well and are saved. The third seems to not work, and is not saved. This is challenging for us, because the core of our confession of faith is that our own works don’t save us, but only God’s grace. So how are we to make sense of this parable? 

Could we suffer the same fate as the wicked and lazy servant? Could God chastise us and condemn us to eternal suffering? That all depends on you, doesn’t it. Remember that in this parable the owner of the talents leaves the servants alone for a long time. If God is the owner of everything, then has God left us alone for a long time? When was the last time you had a close encounter with God? When was the last time God walked the face of the earth directly in contact with human beings and the beasts of the created order? It has been two thousand years since Jesus resurrected and ascended into heaven. I don’t know about you, but for me, two thousand years is a long time! Jesus promised that he would come back!

Today we read the last of the five consecutive readings from First Thessalonians. Paul again is encouraging the church in Thessaloniki to not lose faith that Jesus is coming back. It is inevitable, says Paul. It is like a woman who is going to give birth. She cannot escape the reality. We cannot escape the reality of Jesus coming back to earth. It will happen. Just as you cannot control the birth of new life you cannot control the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s going to happen. The question is, how will you measure up when the Lord of Heaven and Earth stands before you asking you to give account for the talents he has given you. Have you accomplished the task that Jesus gave you? Have you followed the 10 commandments? Did you love your neighbor as yourself? What will God say to you? Well done good and trustworthy slave? Or will God call you a wicked and lazy slave? 

In order to answer that question, it is necessary to clarify what exactly does God expect from you? And what exactly are the talents? Historically speaking a talent was a lifetime worth of wages. It is a quantity of money that only kings and queens dealt with. It represents the accumulation of hundreds and thousands of subjects paying tribute to the king. It is unequicicolly the most precious and valuable form of currency that exists. But you are no fool are you? You know that God does not value money above all else. You know that there are things that God values more than money. Quite simply: you and I. When you gather together not just money, but the people who earn and give mone