PROPER 28A - Judges 4:1-7; Psalm 123; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30 -

16 November 2008 - A sermon preached by The Rev. Peter A Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

Taking 100% Responsibility

INTRODUCTION - How do you hear “responsibility”?

When you hear the word “responsibility”, how does that make you feel? What other words do you associate with responsibility? (Wait for answers)

For some, the associated words would be words like burden, obligation, duty. I must say that you do find these kinds of words listed when you look up “responsible” or “responsibility” in the dictionary, but there is a certain seriousness, a certain heaviness to these words, which can make us start to squirm. Today, I hope to help you think of responsibility in a new way - in a way that inspires you and gets you excited.

THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS

Jesus tells this parable about the master and his three slaves. He entrusts his money to them, each according to their ability. To one he gave five talents (over 75 years’ worth of wages for a laborer), to a second he gave two talents (over 30 years’ worth of wages), and to the third he gave one talent (over 15 years’s worth of wages). It was expected that they would do something with it. Remember, each of them had ability. Each of them was accountable - responsible to the master. Each of them was expected to do something with the money, and hopefully - make it grow.

Pretend you are slave #3 for a moment. Someone entrusts you with 15 years’ worth of their wages. Clearly, you are not a slouch. You have some real ability, for someone to give you that amount of money and trust in your judgment - your wisdom - to do something with it.

The first lesson from the parable for all of us, it seems to me, is this: We all have abilities. We all have money. And though the word “talent” in this parable had to do with a specific amount of money, it is also true that we all have talents. Some of us are gifted in music. Some of us are gifted when it comes to computers and technology. Some of us are gifted managers. Some of us are gifted teachers or healers. Some of us are gifted writers. Some of us have the gift when it comes to building or fixing things. Some of us are gifted listeners. Some of us are gifted artists. Some of us are gifted visionaries. Some of us are gifted gardeners. Some of us are gifted at being able to cut right through to the core of a problem and then do the thing that most needs to be done. We all - every single one of us - have abilities and talents, just as the three slaves did.

SHYING AWAY FROM TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

The second lesson has to do with the reaction of slave #3, who promptly went off, dug a hole in the ground, and buried 15 years’ worth of wages. This should lead us to the question - why?

Why did slave #3 act in this way? Well, we get some hints in his response to the master, when, after a long time, the master came back to settle the accounts with his slaves. “‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’” (Matthew 25:24-25)

He viewed the master as a harsh man, for one thing. He was evidently afraid that he might mess up, and lose some of the master’s money, so to avoid doing that, he just buried it, so that he could at least give back the amount he had been given.

This is what you might call the risk-aversion strategy, and it is one that probably most of us can relate to. We get scared, and then we get paralyzed, and we fail to act. It feels easier to not do anything than to risk failing. You and I can be afraid of failure. For that matter, we can be afraid of success. We can be afraid of being judged by others and being labeled as a failure.

Slave #3 retreated to what you can also call the victim place. Victims tend to rationalize their decisions, or their lack of action - their avoidance of life - by whining or by complaining or by blaming someone else. (In a whining/complaining sort of voice:) “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man! You’re not fair! You reap where you didn’t sow! I was scared! I didn’t know what to do! Here... see? I didn’t lose any of your stupid money!”

The other interesting thing to me is the response of the master to this whining slave who tries to justify his lack of initiative. He puts it quite directly. “You wicked and lazy slave! You don’t think I’m a fair man, reaping where I haven’t sown? You could have at least put the money in the bank, and made 1% interest for me!”

Lazy - let’s look at that charge for a moment. Sometimes you and I are just lazy. We don’t want to put the time in, and work on something over a longer period of time. We don’t want to develop our talent. We get overwhelmed with the idea of setting out to make some really big goal or dream happen, so we do nothing.

We don’t really want to commit to working on the relationship so that it can become an awesome relationship, so we just coast, and the relationship gets stale.

We don’t really want to read all the books that would help us become more of an expert on a certain subject. So we turn on the TV, instead.

We don’t want to submit to the discipline of writing every day, so that we can come up with a manuscript for that book we’ve wanted to write. And we pick up a book at the store and start to read it and say, “This isn’t very good! I could do better than this!”

We don’t want to develop a discipline of prayer, because it seems like too much work, so we toil along in spiritual limbo, and wonder why we aren’t experiencing God in more exciting ways.

We stop before we start. We are given something, and we quickly bury it in the ground.

The wicked charge... wow, that’s a tougher one to look at, isn’t it? Jesus seems to be saying that when we waste our talent, our abilities, our time, that we’re also being wicked. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that our talents and abilities are given to us by God not just for our own enjoyment, but for the benefit of others. God gives us talents and abilities so that we can have a positive impact on the world, so that we can make a positive difference, and help to build the kingdom of God - right here. To walk away from that high calling is to cast your lot with the Enemy, with those who are opposed to the goodness of God. In that sense, our laziness - our lack of taking full responsibility - is wickedness.

GOOD NEWS

As always in Jesus’ parables, there is good news to be found. The two slaves who take initiative are rewarded. They are rewarded with praise. They both hear, “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.”

The first thing they hear is “well done!” They are appreciated. They also hear words we probably all long to hear. “You are a good person. I can trust you. Thank you.”

And isn’t it interesting that their reward involves getting more responsibility?

And finally, and this may be the most intriguing thing of all, they are invited to enter into the joy of their master.

What a contrast! Slave #3 sees the master as a harsh, unfair man. What the first two slaves hear is “enter into the joy of your master.” One thing we can say about the master is that he is about joy. He can’t wait to rejoice in the success of his servants. And, in this case, success is defined as being faithful, as being responsible.

Success is not defined as getting the result you hoped for when you took a risk. When we talked about this parable on Wednesday night, Julie Overland said, “I think there was another option. There could have been a slave in this story who risked the master’s money, and even lost it. That slave could have walked up to the master and said, “I took a risk with your money, and lost it all.” I don’t think that slave would have heard any harsh words from the master.”

Exactly. I think Julie has it exactly right.

You see, taking 100% responsibility for your life really is a freeing thing.

I’ll give you an example. I could look at preaching every week, or almost every week, as a real burden. I’ve even had people say to me, “I don’t see how you do that every week. How do you stand up there and believe that you really have something to say? I couldn’t do that.”

But it’s not a burden, and I’ll tell you why. I get to meditate on the holy scriptures ever week, and wrestle with them, and pray with them, and carry them around with me all week, and pray some more, and shake my fist at God now and then. It’s a very dynamic, creative process. Some weeks, as I did this past week, I have the opportunity to put the same scriptures in front of some of you, and hear your interpretations, hear what God says to you and through you. And it’s alive! It’s alive because the written word leads us to the living Word of God. It’s alive because the Spirit of God - the Holy Spirit - moves in and out throughout the entire process. Through my preparation and meditation, but not only through that. Through the things that I hear during the week, through the delivery of the sermon, through what you all hear - which, in some cases, doesn’t always have a whole lot to do with what I thought I was saying.

It’s a creative, dynamic, exciting process - so exciting that I can come to it almost every single week with anticipation, thinking to myself, “What will you reveal to me and to us this week, Lord? What truth do you want us to get a glimpse of? How will you give us spiritual food that helps us live, and grow, and move into more of your abundance this week?”

When you and I step into 100% responsibility - when we really embrace what God has given us and say, “Let me take this and run with it. Let me be responsive and act. Let me step out in faith, not knowing what will happen, but risking that God will be for me, and therefore, God will be alongside of me, and help me with whatever risk I am taking on...” When we say that, we are empowered by God. The Holy Spirit is activated in us, and we become more creative than we ever thought we could be. And you know what else happens? We enter into the joy of our Master!

Being responsible is not intended by God to be some burdensome, heavy, serious thing. Sure, we might mess up. We might blow all our savings. All the better, I say! Because that will just lead to us trusting in God all the more, and God will not disappoint us.

NEW BEHAVIOR

I have a few questions for you. What would it look like if each and every one of us took 100% responsibility for the success of St. Ambrose? What if each of us stepped up and said, “This is my talent, and I’m going to offer it for the good of this community, and for the good of all the people that I come in contact with in the world. I will not hide. I will not avoid potential conflicts. I will be honest and will reveal my thoughts, my feelings, my dreams, my fears. I will offer my money generously for the good of this community and for the building up of God’s kingdom. I will take risks, because that is what God calls me to do, and that is what the life of faith is all about. I will risk failure, because I am willing to put all my faith in God and God’s goodness.”

What would this community look like if none of us ever played the victim? What if we never hid from our responsibility? What if we never complained or blamed others for our shortcomings? What if we never whined or accused someone else of making our lives more difficult? What if we all said, “I am 100% responsible for my spiritual growth. I am 100% responsibility for this community being what I want it to be?”

I don’t know what would happen exactly. But I have a pretty good idea that it would be something really awesome, and something attractively contagious. I think I know this, too. We all would feel more empowered, more creative, more alive, and more joyful. And we would probably all hear God say, in one way or another, “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.”