November 13, 2005

Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 + 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 + Matthew 25:14-30

With the second of three final parables

we move closer to Advent and the end of the Matthew year.

Last week and today, the parables speak to insiders; people who already have faith.

They warn against being too comfortable in that faith and too confident.

No one, even those with minimal gifts are excused from a responsibility

for making the community prosper and grow.

Again, the three levels of this parable’s development are important to grasp.

At the time and in the telling of this story by Jesus,

the third servant is the one everyone would have understood and admired.

He was prudent. He played it safe. He took no risks with what was not his own.

Making profit from some one else’s money

was not approved behavior in the culture and at the time of Jesus.

Those who heard this parable from Jesus

would not have approved of the behavior of those first two servants.

So, when the ending comes, it is a surprise.

Those who heard it would have walked away shaking their heads.

But Matthew directs this parable to disciples,

to those who are believers waiting for the master to return.

Now the point shifts slightly, and the playing field, (so to speak) is more level.

The issue that they all receive gifts is more important.

The response of the returning master is sharper but less unexpected when we realize that the story is now being told from within the faithful waiting community.

Now it is our story to tell.

With different values and a different experience in the waiting,

it takes on new meaning since this is the Living Word of God.

We must realize that this “talent” spoken of is a monetary value.

In fact, in terms of their economy, it is about equal to a life time’s income.

With that understanding, what is being suggested here is that God freely bestows on each of us gifts of more worth and consequence than we can begin to envision.

Contrasting the behavior of the three servants takes on a different look as well.

This is now about fear and a kind of caution that is not acceptable.

The third servant excuses his behavior and blames the master with his lame excuse which should have motivated him to do something.

But no, in his fearful caution and timid approach to his life, he does nothing.

In this, we discover the problem the parable now addresses.

Maintenance is not enough.

Continuation of the status quo is not only unacceptable,

it labels us useless and unworthy, and secures a place outside in the darkness.

There will be no acceptable blame or excuse for doing nothing.

That third servant did not trust his master. He feared him.

That wonderful invitation;

those thrilling words we long to hear: “Come and share your master’s joy.”

are spoken only to those who have trusted the master.

If the risks they took with the gifts they received went wrong,

it seems from this parable that it would have been alright with the master.

At least they would have done something.

Action, whether with few talents or many, is named good and faithful.

Action is rewarded by the presence of the master forever.

This parable is now a wake-up call to the church and to people of the church.

The status quo, maintenance of what is

for whatever reason is not in the master’s plan.

Sometimes, the choice to do nothing is the biggest mistake of all.

This is Gospel wisdom, and it is Gospel behavior for disciples, believers,

and all those prepared for the master’s return.

November 6, 2005

Wisdom 6: 12-16 + 1 Thessalonians 4 13-18 + Matthew 25: 1-13

Because there are some parish matters to present this weekend, I will speak very briefly from this Gospel in order to reserve some of your time for other matters at the end of Mass. As always, this place is for the Word of God. This moment in our worship is also for God’s Word, and I prefer not confuse the Word of God with matters of parish business. For that reason, I ask you not to leave early and think you’re saving time because the homily is brief.

We have three Sundays to go with Matthew, and from the 25^th chapter there are three important and unique stories bringing this year to a close. Each of them will focus upon the presence of and the coming of the Kingdom of God. The story today is found only in Matthew, and some of us think it is one of his best. The three levels of development are here:

the historical level of Jesus providing a parable about the Kingdom of God,

the Matthew level of the early church providing a parable about how to survive the long wait for Christ’s return,

and finally, our use of the parable at another entirely different age.

At the Jesus level, it’s about acceptance or refusal

with a warning that some will be refused entry.

At the Matthew level, it’s about being prepared or readiness

for the coming of Christ in glory.

At our level, because we can we see the other two, it is about even more.

Hidden because of all the visual imagery of this parable

is a sentence that should not escape our attention: “I do not know you.”

It comes with devastating consequences.

Scholars tell us that it is an ancient rabbinical saying that Jews would have recognized immediately for its expression of separation.

It was the ritual word for throwing someone out of synagogue.

This bridegroom does not know who they are!

They have missed becoming part of the celebrating community.

The problem is not that they fell asleep, because both groups slept.

The problem is that one group was not recognizable.

This is the consequence of darkness: no oil = no light = no recognition.

Those will enter who are known by the bridegroom.

Those will enter who are recognizable.

It is about relationship, being known.

Too many people know a lot about Jesus, but they have no relationship with Christ.

Studying the Bible, and knowing its verses without knowing and living with and in the one it reveals is not the way to enter the celebration.

We all know this, but we have not all done something about it.

In the end, this is about procrastination which is the enabler of all our sins.

We love our habits more than we love Christ.

We protect ourselves with pious prayers that comfort us in a life of holy compromise

instead of embracing a message of reform, conversion, and radical change.

Doing the things we have to do when they ought to be done whether we like it or not

is a most valuable lesson in the discipline of a holy life.

It simply means that those who get into the banquet will live prepared for the door to open, not tomorrow or the next day, but today, in this moment, now.

Our permissive society and a generation of children who never understand the meaning of the word: NO may not get it, but the truth and the heart of this parable is that there will be a sudden moment of meeting that arrives and then passes irretrievably.

November 1, 2005

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 + 1 John 3:13 + Matthew 5: 1-12

The longer I live, the more I am beginning to realize that this day is not about dead saints. Hardly a week goes by that I do not recognize that my life is filled with truly holy people who have taken this Gospel seriously and embraced its spirit as a blue-print for a holy life. It is not exactly that they set out to become saints, got up every morning and said to themselves, “I think I’ll be a saint.” On the contrary, I suspect it was the farthest thing from their mind. I think they got up this morning and said: “Another day” if they said anything at all!  What they did and what they do is simply live each day of their lives facing disappointment, discouragement tragedy, pain, or great sorrow without becoming bitter or withdrawing from life and love. In short, they lived much as Jesus did, not doing anything great or memorable, just meeting what comes along with the gifts at hand, and never withdrawing from suffering, misunderstanding, conflict, betrayal, abuse, and suffering. In short, saints are people who have experienced the life, death, and resurrection of Christ themselves. They have come through it in victory.

They have no hidden from the needs of others. They have not refused anyone their time or their attention. They have not pushed for the “best seat in the house” or the first place in line. They have waited. They have watched. They have won even when in the eyes of this world they may have looked like losers or the least.

They are simply the people who work at Walmart to support their children.

They are the people who care for aging parents while raising their own children.

They are the people who bus tables without tips, who take in our dry cleaning, stand at the counter in 7-11 Stores while we are impatient in line.

They teach our children, clean our church, and pick up our garbage.

The point is, no one recognizes them – they do not look like the saints on our cards and in our books. There is no specific day in the honor, no one is named after, and there are no memorial buildings, hospitals, or schools.

There is just one day in the year when the church says:

Stop. Look around. There are holy people everywhere who are faithful, loving, and kind; who serve, who suffer, and who rise again just “because.”

It is All Saints. Let them be honored, respected, revered, and treasured.