Reflections on "Giving as A Sign" Jeremiah 32: 1-15; Leviticus 25: 25-28

I have wanted to preach this text for a long time, but never had before today.  I really enjoyed working through this text, although there was a lot of background material for both the Leviticus passage and the Jeremiah passage that I did not get to in this sermon. The redemption of property and Year of the Jubilee themes in Leviticus offer rich material for future sermons.  because it was commitment Sunday here (the Sunday people turn in their pledge commitments for 2018), I geared the sermon toward giving as a sign. 

It was a fun sermon to preach, especially with the addition of the "hokey-pokey" to the sermon.  I actually was part of a worship service where a colleague was installed where the preacher used the "hokey-pokey" as a way to encourage the congregation make a commitment to ministry with the minister.  In her story, she did not realize that the wait staff were the only ones doing the "hokey-pokey," so she joined in with them.  My story did not include her experience, but since I've been at Babe's and observed the same thing she has, I could relate about the "hokey-pokey."  The organist played the melody with us, which added to the fun (we have a big pipe organ).  

Jeremiah 32: 1-15 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, 3 where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, “Why do you prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord: I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; 4 King Zedekiah of Judah shall not escape out of the hands of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; 5 and he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I attend to him, says the Lord; though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed?”

6 Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.” 8 Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

9 And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, 14 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.

“Giving As a Sign” SAPC;  October 15, 2017; Leviticus 25: 25-28; Jeremiah 32: 1-15; Commitment Sunday

Introduction: Final story on resources.  We have reflected on the stealing of resources and the power behind resources; 

we have heard some hard sayings from Jesus and been challenged to think about what is God’s and what is ours;

we have considered the importance of putting our resources to good use;

We have heard of the extravagant grace that God offers us;

This week, we read about Jeremiah buying some property.  Perhaps not as familiar a story as some of the others.

Move 1:  Let’s take a look at the situation in Jerusalem at the time of this story.

a.   God’s people are in trouble.

1.  Babylonian army besieging Jerusalem; 

2.  Rising power in the world which has been overrunning other countries is now at the doorsteps of Jerusalem.

3. Exile appears to be imminent.

b.  Jeremiah, God’s prophet, is having some personal trouble as well.

1.  Imprisoned for making King Zedekiah angry with his prophecies.

2.  Note to self:  if you tell the king he is going to be defeated; that he is going to taken into exile; and it is his fault, there’s a good chance you are going to end up in prison.

c.  There is Jeremiah, his world is a prison cell and Israel’s world is best defined as being surrounded by the Babylonians. 

1.  What should he do?

2.  God has an idea for him.  

3. Jeremiah, when you cousin comes and tells you to buy some family property, a field in Anathoth, buy the field.”

4.  Just what Jeremiah is looking for - a chance to invest in the future when the world seems to offer no future.

5.  what better deal than that?

5.  Should Jeremiah buy land?  

7. What would you do? 

8. I am reminded of a cartoon:  Minister marching carrying sing that says ‘The end is near.’  Woman, maybe his wife, is following him with sign: ‘last chance for shopping.’”

  d.  In this moment, when the world is crashing in, Jeremiah, the prophet who speaks God’s word, goes shopping.

1.  He buys the field.

2.  With seemingly no viable future except exile to Babylon, Jeremiah puts his money down to redeem the field in Anathoth.

3.  Well, not exactly Jeremiah.

4.  Five times Jeremiah notes that this is the “word of the Lord.”  

5.  The business deal going down is not Jeremiah acting on his own real estate acumen, but God acting through Jeremiah.

Move 2:  Not a good investment, but a great sign of God’s desire to redeem.

a.  not a simple land transaction, but a purchase that acts as a sign of God’s redemption.

1.  The Israelites know about buying resources as a way of redeeming.  

2.  built into their system.  

3.  Leviticus passage lays out the provision in the rule that govern the Israelites about redeeming property.

4. if a family member has financial difficulties and has to sell the family property, the next of kin can, indeed some might say has the responsibility, to buy the property and redeem it.

b. Jeremiah’s action on behalf of God acts as a sign of what God is going to do — redeem Israel in the future.

1. that’s why Jeremiah makes a big, public scene when he buys the field.

2.  not a side deal off where no one can see it.

3.  But a transaction that everyone can see or hear about later.

5.  The gossip lines light up after this purchase.

“Did you hear what Jeremiah did?  He bought property.  And you know it’s going to get taken over by the Babylonians.  Is he crazy?”

6. No, Jeremiah is not crazy.  He is acting at the command of God whose word in these dire circumstances is  “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” 

6. With God there is a future.

7.  Not only a word of hope in the moment, but a story the exiles can tell long into the future to remind themselves that God’s future includes them.

8. Defeat may be at hand in this moment, but God is not done.

9.  God not only will redeem a field, but redeem a people.

Move 3:  Fast forward to our pledge commitments. 

a.  We all have different reasons for making a pledges and our own formulae for determining what our pledge will be.

b.  Regardless of why or what, our giving is also a sign.

1. A sign of our belief God is still at work in the world and God’s future is still being played out in our world.

2. If finite time ended 12/31/17, there would be no need to make a pledge for next year.

3.  If God were to quit engaging our world, there would be no reason for the body of Christ to continue its ministries in the world.

3. But God is not done, so we are not done.  

4. In fact, as we look around our world we see so many needs for God’s presence.

d.  Our pledge is also a sign of our commitment beyond our financial resources.

1.  A concrete expression that says, “I’m in.”

2.  God desires not just a financial commitment, but a total commitment.

2. Visiting TX meant through the years going to eat as a family at Babe’s.

3. Family style serving; chicken fried steak you could not find in OH.

4.  Ever once in a while the wait staff quits serving, gather together and sing.

5.  If you’ve been there, you know they sing The Hokey pokey”  You know, “you put your right foot in, you take your right foot out”

6.  Do you remember what the last verse of the Hokey-pokey is?

7.  You put your whole self in

You take your whole self out

You put your whole self in

And you shake it all about

You do the hokey pokey

And you turn yourself around

That's what it's all about

(Everybody stand up and do it - okay, you don’t have to, but you probably want to so that one day you can say, I stood in sanctuary of St. Andrew and sang the hokey pokey…”

Conclusion:  Today you are invited to make a pledge to the God whose future is ever before us.

Put your whole self in.  Amen.

Reflections on "Put It to Use" 2 Kings 12: 1-16; Luke 6: 46-49

I have never preached the text from Exodus before, but I have preached similar texts from Chronicles.  As I worked with the text, I discovered this text could also be used to reflect on different kinds of givings, particularly since the different kinds of giving in the Israelite/Temple world are shared.  I only made brief mention of it, but it could be a good place to come back to in the future.

I'm not sure it was a particularly strong sermon, but we had a terrific worship service for Wold Communion.  Good worship makes the sermon seem better!

To tell the truth, I used the Luke passage, in part, because it was a short passage and we were having it read in both English and Arabic.  It turned out to be a pretty interesting passage, although I did not develop it much.  In my original notes, I had an illustration about a home that survived the hurricane in FL because it was built with Category 5 rules.  But, I thought it might send a mixed message, as if the houses that survived had a strong foundation with God and vice versa.  

another week looking at different stories in the Bible that deal with resources, although the story we just read is probably not as familiar as some of the stories we have read previously.

2 Kings 12: 1-16  In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign; he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. 2 Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all his days, because the priest Jehoiada instructed him. 3 Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places.

4 Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money offered as sacred donations that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each person is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and the money from the voluntary offerings brought into the house of the Lord, 5 let the priests receive from each of the donors; and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” 6 But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash the priests had made no repairs on the house. 7 Therefore King Jehoash summoned the priest Jehoiada with the other priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore do not accept any more money from your donors but hand it over for the repair of the house.” 8 So the priests agreed that they would neither accept more money from the people nor repair the house.

9 Then the priest Jehoiada took a chest, made a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord; the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. 10 Whenever they saw that there was a great deal of money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest went up, counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and tied it up in bags. 11 They would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workers who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; then they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord, 12 to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, as well as for any outlay for repairs of the house. 13 But for the house of the Lord no basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, were made from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, 14 for that was given to the workers who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. 15 They did not ask an accounting from those into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workers, for they dealt honestly. 16 The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; it belonged to the priests.

“Put It to Use” SAPC;  October 1, 2017; 2 Kings 12: 1-16

Introduction:  During stewardship season, I often get asked questions about giving.  I have learned there are basically three questions people want to ask the minister about stewardship.

Most often asked question:  “Do I tithe off of my gross income or my take-home?”

Second question:  Does all my tithe have to go to the church, or can some of it go to other groups?

Third most often asked question:  Do I have to give to the church if the church is not putting my money to use wisely?

After Joe’s Minute for Mission last week, I am referring the first two questions to him.

Third question, how the church is putting money to use, is addressed in our stories this morning.

Move 1:  Let’s first look at the story from 2 Kings.

a.  Background

1. I and 2 Kings are stories about the Israelite kings after King David.

2.  Some have lots of information told about them (King Solomon, for instance); some not so much.  Some have stories told about their evil deeds (look up King Ahab stories in I Kings); some have stories told about their good deeds.

3. All of the stories are told in the context of the question - was the king was faithful to God?

b. King Jehoash, whom we read about today, had a little bit told about his reign.

1.  As we hear his story, we realize that he was a mixed bag - some good; some not so good.

2.  On the good side, he led the Israelites to rebuild the Temple, which is a good thing.

3. But he also did not tear down the “high places,” the altars built on mountaintops where sacrifices were made to Canaanite gods.

c.  King Jehoash has a great idea.

1. the offering made the priests would be put to use repairing the Temple.

2.  there are three sources of donations made to the priests - sacred donations; assessments - sort of per capita tax; voluntary donations -  and all three are to be funneled to the repair of the Temple.

3.   A worthy goal.  the Temple is an important sign to God’s people of God’s presence in their midst; the Temple was also the actual place where God’s people go to worship.

d.  Twenty-three years into this project — not sure why it took Jehoash twenty-three years to check and see how the priests were doing - King Jehoash discovers the priests are not doing what they are supposed to be doing with the offering they are receiving from people.

1.  Jehoash responds by telling the priests they can no longer receive the contributions.

2.  and the priests are no longer in charge of the Temple repairs.

3. The priests have not been using the funds given to the Temple properly, so they are removed from their responsibilities.

4. The people are still expected to give their offerings; the work will happen because it is important work; but the priests will no longer responsible for it.  they are relieved of their duties.

e.  As we live into our call as the disciples of Christ, stewardship is not just a question of giving.

1.  We also have the responsibility as the church to put to use the resources we have been given to good use.

2.  the stewardship campaign committee has been asking us to point out the give thanks for what God has done in our lives and world through the work of St. Andrew.

3.  that question is not just about giving, but also about how our gifts are utilized.

4.  All year round, what we do and how we spend our money ought to reflect our commitment to serving God.

Move 2:  Jesus tells a story in Luke that speaks to this issue as well.

a.  this passage is at the end of series of stories in which Jesus is describing how his disciples ought to act.

1. “If you are going to call me Lord,” he tells them, “You need to be living lives that reflect my ways.” 

2. Jesus offers two examples:  one person builds their house on a rock-solid, literally rock, foundation; the other builds the house with no foundation.

3.  No surprise, when the flood comes, the house with the rock-solid foundation survives and the other house does not.

4. the rock-solid foundation is formed by hearing Jesus’ words and acting on them.

b.  Part of the rock-solid foundation for our stewardship is responding in thankfulness to God’s gifts; part of that rock-solid foundation is using those gifts in response to Jesus’ call to be his disciples.

1.  What we do with the resources given to God through the church matters.

2. We have the responsibility to use them for to be Christ’s hands and feet in our world today.

3. Anyone ought to be able to look at our annual budget and see that what we do serves God’s purposes in the world.

4. We do not have King Jehoash in our midst to look and see if we are using the money appropriately, but we have that responsibility

5.  A responsibility for our members and our leaders to make sure that we put the gifts given to St. Andrew to use in ways that show Jesus is our Lord.

conclusion:  World Communion Sunday.  I mentioned in this week’s newsletter the history behind World Communion Sunday.

In 1930, Dr. Hugh Thomson Kerr, the minister at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, served as the moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (northern branch).  As he ministered in the midst of the economic upheaval of the Great Depression, watched the instability and unrest in Europe grow, and traveled among Presbyterian churches and other places moderators go, he began to imagine a better way for our world that grew out of Christian unity.  The Stewardship committee at Shadyside decided to call for a World Communion Sunday, when all Christian churches in the world would lay claim to their unity in Christ as they gathered around our Lord’s Table.  The first World Communion Sunday was held in 1934; in 1936, the Presbyterian Church (northern branch) adopted World communion Sunday; in 1940, the Federal Council of Churches (now the National Council of Churches) endorsed World Communion Sunday and began to promote it worldwide. 

Neat story.  Feel good Presbyterian story.  Almost 90 years ago something Presbyterians started Christians around the world are still doing today.

But,  I guess I’ve been Presbyterian enough to notice the process.  I keep wondering, “Why would this go through the Stewardship committee?”

World communion takes place in worship so maybe the worship committee.  It seems like a mission goal to be united with other Christians, so may the mission committee.

But stewardship?  I don’t know why.  Probably the reason is not as ideal as I might imagine.

Maybe, it came through stewardship because the church said how we spend our money ought to reflect our call to be united in Christ with all Christians around the world.

Why not make World Communion Sunday part of Stewardship.

After all, how we put our resources to work matters.

it went through the Stewardship committee of the church.  Rather odd. 

Makes sense.  how they spend their resources ought to reflect their calling as the body of Christ.  their desire to be united in Christ.

Reflections on "Whose Money" Matthew 25: 14-30; Mark 12: 13-17

Another week with familiar stories from the Gospel of Mark and Matthew, maybe even more familiar to us than last week’s stories.

I am not sure I have ever preached the Mark passage.  I tried to convey the masterful way Jesus handled himself in both stories.  It is hard to preach familiar stories, particularly ones where we know the interpretation better than the text!  I found my historic assumptions were not always in keeping with what a study of the text suggested about interpreting the text.

when I preached in the church I served in OH, i would sometimes use stories from my time serving a congregation in KY.  Now, my sermons are informed by my seventeen years of serving in OH.  My thoughts have been shaped by my lived experience in other faith communities.  That being said, the danger in telling stories from other places is that the stories are remembered and told through my lens.  While I try to be truthful in my recollections, I realize they are my memories, which may not be the same as the memories of others who were witnesses to the same event.  The story I told in this sermon was actually played out over a time span that was longer than I can remember, and others may remember the conversations differently. But, some variation of the conversation about risking church money did take place.  I also note with sadness that several of the original endowment committee members with whom I met 18+ years ago are new dead. 

Matthew 25: 14-30: 14 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15 to one he gave five talents,[f] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 

16 The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 

19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘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.’ 

22 And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘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.’ 

24 Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29 

For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“Whose Money?” SAPC;  September 24, 2017; Matthew 25: 14-30; Mark 12: 13-17

Move 1:  Jesus can play word games and deal in subtle ways with the best of them.

a.  Questioners approach Jesus.

1. the questioners are learned folks, experts on the law, presumable leaders in their religious circles.

2. they greet Jesus with words of flattery - what a smart guy you are, setting the stage of course, that when they best Jesus in the argument, they prove themselves to be even smarter.

3.  “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor?”

4.  A carefully, crafted question.  no telling how long it took to come up with this question meant to trap Jesus, or as Eugene Peterson says, to “bait” Jesus.

5.  The question appears to have no good way for Jesus to answer.

3. If Jesus  says “No” to paying taxes because it is God’s money, he is in trouble with Pilate for insurrection against the state.

4.  If he says “Yes,” he loses the crowd, who despise Roman rule and the taxes they have to pay. 

b.  but Jesus knows how to handle those trying to trip him up.

1.  First, he asks them for a coin - “Show me the denarius.”

2.  A subtle move that we might miss, but those gathering probably did not.

3.  According to a strict obedience of the second  commandment not to have any graven images, no one should have roman coins, because they have the emperor’s image engraved on them.

4.  Mostly that was ignored.

5.  but now as these religious authorities try and challenge Jesus, those asking the question, have to reveal they are carrying coins with graven images, right there in the Temple, which points out that they might be better at demanding others follow rules than actually following them. (Douglas Hare, Westminster Bible Companion: Mark, 154) 

c.  Now Jesus answers their question:  render to the emperor what is the emperors and give to God what is God’s.

1.  a clever answer.

2.  Jesus avoids the trap and ends of giving an answer that seems to make room to pay taxes to the Roman authorities.

3.  But as the listeners sit with the answer, it becomes more than just a clever response..

4.Forget what it means to “give to Caesar what is his,” what about “give to God what is God’s.”

5. it strikes deep into the psyche of the those who ask the questions and of those who know what it means to be God’s people.

d.  God’s people know that everything is God’s.

1. The God whose very breath brings humanity into being and creates all that is in the world is sovereign over all creation.

2.  They have been taught for generations that all creation is God’s.

3. As they try and trick Jesus with a question about taxes, Jesus pushes them back to the language of their faith and the reminder that all they have is from God 

4.  As we listen in our context, we can connect with the issue of taxes; we can lose ourselves in the rules about giving; we can have elaborate discussions of what counts as giving back to God, and so on. 

5.  And there in the midst of those conversation is Jesus reminding us — all of creation, all we have is God’s. 

Move 2:  In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells those gathered a story about an owner who goes away and leaves three servants with some money.

a.  it is a ridiculous amount of money.

1.  A talent is equal to about 6,000 denarii. Since one denarius is a common laborer's daily wage, a talent would be roughly equivalent to 20 years wages for the average worker. Five talents, the largest amount entrusted to any of the servants, is comparable to one hundred years worth of labor, an astronomical amount of money.(http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1018 Carla Works Associate Professor in New Testament, Wesley Theological Seminary Washington, D.C.)

2. Each talent would weigh about 50-75 lbs (James Howell,CHRISTIAN CENTURY November 1, 2005, 19).

3.  By using this outlandish amount of money, Jesus Jesus gives a verbal wink to the listeners.  

3. this is not a true story, but a fun story that will tell a truth.

4.  keep that in mind as we dig deeper. 

b.  the owner gives gives each of three servants differing amounts of money.

1. One five talents; one two talents; the last one talent.

2. Interestingly, in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a similar story, but all of the servants are given the same amount of money when the owner leaves.

3.  then the owner goes away.

4. the servants do not know when the owner will return.

5.  The context of this story in Matthew suggests that Jesus tells this story in part to remind us that we do not know when Jesus will return, a comment on how we live our lives in this indeterminate amount of time before Jesus comes again.

c.  We see three different ways of living.

1. the one given five, puts the five to work. Presumably takes risks.

2. the one given two talents does the same. 

3. the third on buries the talent — again, this is a ridiculous image of the servant digging a huge hole to bury the talent.

4.  Also, it should be noted that the rules about keeping someone’s money hold that if a person guards the money in the right way, he is not liable.  Furthermore, burying money is considered a safe, prudent way to ensure the safekeeping of the money. 

5. In other words, the servant given one talent is doing what the status quo requires of him.  He plays it safe, and according to the rules. (Bernard Scott, Hear Then the Parable, 227)

d. The owner returns.

2.  the servant given five talents has a lot to show for himself, he has doubled the money, and he is commended.

3. so the second one.

4.  But the third one has buried his talent and has nothing to show for it.  Well, he still has this huge amount of money, but he has done nothing with it, except bury it.

6. The owner is not satisfied.

7. In fact, he takes the talent back and gives it to the first one who had made money.

8. Frankly, that does not sound like what we might expect from the owner who is a reflection of God.  We would expect God to be more understanding, particularly since the servant who buried the talent had done what was acceptable by the rules of the day.

9. In fact, if we were the religious authorities, we might expect God to commend the third slave for acting so prudently.

d.  So what’s going on 

1. We get a clue in the explanation the servant gives — “I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.”

2.  In other words, his image of the owner made him afraid to take risks, to try and do something; instead, he is going to stick with the old rules; clinging to the safety of patterns of the status quo.

3. Like the Pharisees who are found by their rules, who play it safe.

4. But here comes  Jesus, busting out the safety of their approach to God (Scott, 234).

5.  Jesus brings the new life to God’s people.  

6.  Jesus invites them to know the God of grace and extravagant generosity.

7. the ridiculous amount each servant is given in the story Jesus tells is a reminder of the ridiculous good news Jesus brings for us.

8.  But the servant cannot bring himself to accept the opportunity before him to shake off the old patterns and embrace the God Jesus is revealing to them.

c.  The last few weeks I have asked “how do we self-identify ourselves?”  

1.  This week, the question we might ask is “how do we identify God?”

2.  If we see God as an enforcer of rules, as a God waiting for you to fail, then it makes sense to follow the rule for safely guarding the money and burying it because the issue is about how best to abide by rules.

2.  If we see God as a God of new life who desires to reap extravagant grace on us, a God who takes risks, then we become risk takers, who dare to push ourselves to new places in how we respond. 

4. When I arrived at the church I served in OH, one of the committee I met with was the Endowment committee.  

Before the first meeting, they gave me a document they had prepared during the interim, a document that outlined how the Endowment committee would run, including strict rules about how the money was to be invested how it could be spent.

their policy mandated that the money could only be invested in government bonds with a guaranteed interest rate, albeit a very low interest rate.

At the first meeting, they asked me, “What do you think about our investment policy?”  

I played dumb, which wasn’t that hard, and said I hadn’t had much time to look it over, so maybe we could talk more about it the next time they met.

They only met a few times a year, so i had some time to figure out the policy.  I learned that not everyone on the committee thought this very conservative investment policy was the best course of action, but i also knew that the secretary/treasurer of the Endowment fund was the driving force, and he was for it.

The policy was on the agenda for the next meeting.  Once again, the question, “Richard, what do you think?”

“Well,” I said, “I’m not really an investment person.  In fact, most of you know a lot more than I do, but let me ask you a question, ‘why do you have such a conservative investment policy?”

the treasurer quickly replied, “Because we cannot lose this money.  People have entrusted it to the church, and we have to invest it in ways that guarantee we never lose it.”  

Several heads nodded.  Put that way, it seemed to make some sense, even to me.

“Well, let me ask you another a question.  Is that how you invest your money.”

“Oh no,” came another quick reply.  “I invest across the whole market to try and make as much money as I can.  But, that also means that I risk losing some of it.  We cannot risk the church’s money.”

5.  Imagine that - we follow the God who risks being in relationship with people who God knows who fall short of the image in which they are created.

We follow a God who risks loving and forgiving people who who sin again.

We follow a God who risks sending God’s son to earth, a risk that leads to his death, and then God risks again by resurrecting and calling us to new life.

We follow this God of risks, and the best we can do sometimes is join with the servant who buried the talent in the ground for fear of losing it.

Conclusion:  As we live in the abundance of all that is God’s, what is the best we can do?