The Three R's of Discipleship

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When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming? These are the questions that provoke what scholars call “The Olivet Discourse,” found in Mark 13, Luke 21, and the passage that we jumped into last week, Matthew 24-25. The questions are occasioned by the disciples’ awe at the grandeur of Herod’s Temple, and of Jesus’s warning that a time was coming when they would be utterly and irreparably destroyed.

Imagine sitting in front of the Parliament buildings with Jesus, having a sandwich on the grounds in late June. You’ve just watched the changing of the guard and now you’ve moved over to the eternal flame and from there, you are admiring the Center Block and the Peace Tower. And you say to Jesus, “Look at these magnificent buildings! And consider all the good they represent!” And he catches your gaze and replies gravely, “I tell you the truth, the time is soon coming when not one stone will be left upon another.” Of course, you’d want to know “When?” And the disciples do, too. When will these things happen?

And Jesus’s answer is a twofold answer to a twofold question. On the one hand, no one knows the day or the hour of the Temple’s destruction or of the coming of the Son of Man. It hasn’t been revealed. But, there will be signs. When you see the signs, be ready!

Now, the Temple was the center of the disciples’ religious, social, and national life. We could even say it was the center of their universe. For them, the destruction of the temple was the end of the world. When we come to the parables, however, Jesus seems to put a wedge between the two events. A wedge between the Temple’s destruction—for which the signs were already beginning to manifest—and his coming, which the parables imply, will be delayed.

In the parable we did not read, a master goes on a long journey, placing two slaves over all his property. When the master’s return is delayed, one slave becomes wicked and lazy; the other remains faithful in the doing of his duty. In the parable we read last week, the bridegroom was delayed and the foolish virgins who had not prepared ended up being excluded from the wedding party while the wise ones, who had brought extra oil, we welcomed. In the parable we read today, we are told that the master was gone for a “long time.”

So, part of Jesus’s response to the disciples’ question in these parables is this: “No one knows the time of my coming. It has not been revealed. BUT, it will be longer than you think! Be a wise and faithful slave—do the job; be a prepared bridesmaid—wait with preparation and perseverance.” And now we come to the parable for today.

So, a master is about to go on a long journey. And, having neither cell phone nor tablet, having no access to wifi, he will not be able to oversee his various business affairs to keep his household going. He calls his slaves to him, and charges them with maintaining his affairs while he’s gone.

The Bible does not speak of hired servants here, but slaves. People who were property. They belonged to the master as much as his prized ox or his favorite drinking cup. But we would be wrong to think of them as abject or imprisoned. On the contrary, these three slaves are charged with running the family business. They are given tremendous responsibility.

That responsibility is wrapped up in the “talents” they are given. The word means a weight, and it has to do with a measurement of coinage. So, each was given an amount. Mind you, no instructions about what to do with it, though that is implied. Rather each is given an amount and the master goes on his way.

The amounts are not equal. One slave is given five talents; another two, still another only one. Is the master playing favorites? No. Exactly the opposite. He knows his slaves’ skills and abilities very well and apportions his wealth accordingly. Were he to give one talent to the slave with the ability to handle more, that would be a waste of the slave’s skills and abilities. Were he to give five to the slave who could only handle two or one, that would be not only a waste of money, but more importantly a burden to the slave. It would be setting that slave up for failure. It is in the best interests of the master’s wealth and the slaves’ welfare that each is given according to his or her ability.

Here, I believe, is one place where the parable invites us to reflect on our status as disciples. The Kingdom of God, the kingdom inaugurated by Christ and over which he reigns even now, is, as Augustine famously put it, a mixed bag. In the parables, the kingdom is a mixture of wheat and tares. It is a dragnet that dredges up refuse and catches fish. Sinners and saints together until the great sorting at the end. I’ll come back to that in moment. Notice though, that there are also varying gifts and skills and opportunities for faithfulness among the disciples. This is a diverse group of people.

Ours is a diverse group of people, too. In that, we are like the slaves to whom the master gives various weights of coins. I’ll give you an example. My wife has a tremendous capacity for empathy, a capacity to enter into the experience, and especially the suffering, of others that makes her a tremendous pastor and spiritual director. God has not given me that skill or gifting. It is not for me to rail against the Giver, wondering why my gifts are different. It is for me to make the most of what I have been given even as Rachel makes the most of those gifts that are uniquely hers. And that is true for all of us here. Our master has gone on a long journey. His return has been delayed. He has given us the task of administering this part of his household—the community of Shawville and the Pontiac. In that administration, I have gifts. And you have gifts. And we have together been tasked with the responsibility to make the most of those gifts until the master’s return.

Next, notice the reaction of the slaves: two of the slaves immediately get out and put the talents they have been given, the coins, to work. They buy and sell and invest and make money. And while it is true that in percentage terms, they profit equally, in absolute terms, they don’t. The standard seems not to be tied to an equal objective, but uniquely to the skills of the slaves and to the talents they have accordingly been given. The point seems to be, though the ability levels were diverse, each of the first two slaves made the most of what they had been given and profited accordingly. And then the last slave—the slave with the one talent. That slaves buries the bag of coins in the ground. You can think of this as an ancient savings account. Do you remember the parable of the treasure? A man found a treasure in a field, and when he did, he sold all he had and bought the field. The same idea is going on here. If in the ancient world you had a bag of coins you wanted to keep from being stolen, you hid them. And that’s what this slave does. But here’s the point: that slave does nothing else. Where the first two get busy, the third remains idle. And it is that slave’s idleness that gives the lie to the excuse that he is about to give to his master.

Before we get to that excuse, we can again reflect on how this parable speaks across the ages to our own lives of discipleship. Discipleship is, in the absence of the Lord, about activity. It is about being busy. What does such business look like? In the final parable which we’ll look at next week, it looks like feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the prisoners. In Jesus’ commission at the conclusion to the Gospel, it looks like making disciples of the nations, baptizing and teaching them. And it is all of that together. Does Jesus expect us all to be Billy Graham in our evangelism or Mother Theresa in our works of mercy? No. Jesus expects Billy Graham to be Billy Graham. He expects Mother Theresa to be Mother Theresa. He expects Tim to be Tim, Gayle to be Gayle, Clarence to be Clarence and so on. But the point, the master expects each to be busy with the talents given, each to deploy the skills and gifts given, so that a profit for the master might be made—so that the poor may be alleviated, the prisoners visited, and new believers baptized and taught. Pope John XXIII was reportedly once asked by a journalist what he would tell his staff if he discovered that Jesus was going to return on the following day. His answer was just two words long: “Look busy.” Discipleship is described in this parable as being busy.

Now, finally, the master returns. And he has a reckoning with his servants. He settles his accounts. The first slave comes forward and says, “Look! You gave me five talents of coins and I have made five more!” To which the master replies, “Well done good and faithful slave. You have been faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things! Enter into my joy.” The second slave comes forward and says, “You gave me two talents of coins. Look! I’ve made two more!” And that slave receives the SAME reward. His reward is not prorated based on profit margin. He who has been found trustworthy in the small things, whether those small things amount to five talents or only two, will be rewarded with “authority over many things” and, more importantly, the master’s favour and joy.

Then comes the one-talent slave. And he tries the excuse: “I know you’re a hard man! You want to see your investments grow! I was afraid of losing your investment so I buried it.” It’s an attempt to curry favour with the master. It’s a way of saying, “Here’s you’re opportunity to show that you’re not the master I feared, you’re opportunity to show that you are kind and merciful! Here’s your one small bag of coins back.” And the master sees right through it. The problem with the slave is not his fear of the master. His lack of activity proves just the opposite attitude was the real problem. His idleness suggests that he did not, in fact, respect his master enough even to lend the money to gain some interest. He doesn’t fear his master at all. He presumes upon the master’s mercy. And so he is judged in exactly the same language as the failed slave of the first parable. He is judged “wicked and lazy,” he is thrown out of the master’s household and now must fend for himself among the bandits at night, where all one hears is weeping. Why? Because he did nothing with what he had been given. He had been idle.

We are not comfortable with the notion of a reckoning, are we? We are not comfortable with a great sorting out at the end of time. And yet, this is a theme is that crucial to the Gospel of Matthew, and indeed to all the evangelists. It’s not a one off. From the preaching of John the Baptist at the beginning to the Olivet Discourse near the end, the coming judgment is a common and recurring theme. The wheat will be sorted from the tares; the good fish will be sorted from the bad; the wicked and lazy servant will be thrown out of the household; the foolish bridesmaids will not be admitted to the party. Notice that in all these parables, the distinction is not drawn between the world and the kingdom, but among the disciples in the kingdom, in the community of faith. It is drawn among those who identify outwardly with the kingdom.

And for two of the slaves, the day of judgement is greeted with joy. Listen to a rather wooden translation of the words of the five-talent slave: “Five talents you delivered to me!” All that I have comes from you. You’re the source. You’re the giver. It’s all yours! “And Behold!” It’s an exclamation of wonder. It’s an exclamation of surprise. “Would you lookee here!” He says. “I have gained you five more.” Here’s what I’ve done with what you’ve given! That slave is boasting in his works done on his master’s behalf.

 Oh. Uh oh. Doesn’t Paul say he boasts in nothing except Christ? Listen to this, from Philippians, “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.” Paul seems to say here that he will not boast of anything or anyone, but only in what Christ has done for him! On the one hand, the slave in our parable sounds very Pauline: “You gave to me five talents!” You’re the source. It’s all yours. But then he goes says what seems to be contrary and not very Pauline at all: “I made you five more!” Look at what I did! Can we square that circle?

Well, let’s listen to Paul again, this time from 2 Timothy: “I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” Here he does boast in what he has done in his master’s service and he is looking forward to his standing before Christ as a day of joy. He will not boast in his Jewish identifiers; it is in Christ that the true people of God are found. And because he is Christ’s, he will boast in what has been done for Christ. And the servant in our parable here is the same. He greets judgment with joy! Why? Because while the master was away, he was busy. He prepared. He made ready.

I’m 48. If the usual statistics hold, I have more days behind me than ahead. You know, there are still no more wonderful words for me to hear than when my dad says, “I’m proud of you, son.” Those are the words which, by our lives, by our readiness, we hope to hear at the coming of the Lord. “Well done good and faithful slave.” Can you hear the pride in the commendation? I can. “You have been trustworthy over a few things; I will put you in charge over many things! Enter into your master’s joy.”

I know full well that I cannot and can never earn my place as a disciple of Jesus. I know there is no identifier—academic, genetic, or whatever—that makes me worthy of incorporation into God’s covenant people. With Paul, I hope for a righteousness that is not of my own, that does not come from the law, but that comes through faith in Christ. But like the faithful servant, I hope—hope—to appear before the Christ who has saved me with joy, being able to say “You gave me five talents—you gave me a Christian home. You gave me faithful pastors and Sunday School teachers and youth leaders. You gave me a great and faithful extended family. You gave me access to the Word and to the sacraments from the moment I entered the world. And would you look here! Here’s what I did with it.”

Some of us have been given sacs heavy with coins. I have. Others lighter bags. That’s fine. It is not up to us to judge the amount of responsibility each has been given. It is up to each of us, while the master’s coming is delayed, to make the most of what we have been given, that we might hear “Well done.”