The King

Common English Bible Chapter 25

14 “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was leaving on a trip. He called his servants and handed his possessions over to them. 15 To one he gave five valuable coins, and to another he gave two, and to another he gave one. He gave to each servant according to that servant’s ability. Then he left on his journey.

16 “After the man left, the servant who had five valuable coins took them and went to work doing business with them. He gained five more. 17 In the same way, the one who had two valuable coins gained two more. 18 But the servant who had received the one valuable coin dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.

19 “Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received five valuable coins came forward with five additional coins. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five valuable coins. Look, I’ve gained five more.’

21 “His master replied, ‘Excellent! You are a good and faithful servant! You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’

22 “The second servant also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two valuable coins. Look, I’ve gained two more.’

23 “His master replied, ‘Well done! You are a good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’

24 “Now the one who had received one valuable coin came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest grain where you haven’t sown. You gather crops where you haven’t spread seed. 25 So I was afraid. And I hid my valuable coin in the ground. Here, you have what’s yours.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You evil and lazy servant! You knew that I harvest grain where I haven’t sown and that I gather crops where I haven’t spread seed? 27 In that case, you should have turned my money over to the bankers so that when I returned, you could give me what belonged to me with interest. 28 Therefore, take from him the valuable coin and give it to the one who has ten coins. 29 Those who have much will receive more, and they will have more than they need. But as for those who don’t have much, even the little bit they have will be taken away from them. 30 Now take the worthless servant and throw him out into the farthest darkness.’

“People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.

Knowing Place!

Introduction- The Kid on the Diving Board

In my youth ministry career we used to go to something called the Alive Music Festival.

It was like Christian Woodstock.

You camped out for a weekend in the middle of a big farm.

There would be musical acts all day.

And they had a man-made lake in the middle of the park where you could go swimming.

The lake had a swimming area, an island in the middle for playing football or something, and it had this huge obstacle course area with rings and balance beams.

It also had a legitimate high dive, something like 20 30 feet up.

One year, I remember walking through the park with some of my teenagers, and noticed a larger than average crowd at the lake.

A young boy, had to have been like 5 or 6, had foolishly climbed up the high dive.

You weren’t allowed to go back down the ladder because of safety issues with someone falling or something like that.

So his only choice was to jump.

And he totally froze.

As we got on the scene, something like 300 or 400 people had gathered around the diving board, and were cheering this kid on.

I’ll never forget the moment that he creeped up to the edge, and stuck his toes over the board.

The whole crowd went silent.

And then, he jumped.

After the tiniest splash you’d ever see, the entire crowd erupted in applause and cheering.

It was a beautiful moment.

The kid for his part fell in love with the jump, and I saw him the rest of that week going up and down the high dive like it was no big deal.

Isn’t it great when you have an opportunity to watch someone risk it all, and succeed?

Jesus tells us a story in today’s scripture about risk and reward.

Talents and Investment

I read today from the Common English Bible for a couple of reasons, but the “valuable coin” they’re talking about here is called a “talent” in Greek.

A talent was worth 15 years wages

Now I’m going to do the riskiest thing I’ve ever done as a pastor.

I’m going to do math during a sermon.

If I get these numbers wrong, just keep it to yourself.

Current value for one Talent:

Minimum wage is $7.25

For 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, times 15 years

Pre-tax is $226,200

That’s what the third servant recieved from the King.

The second servant got $452,400

And the first guy got $1,131,000

This tells us two important things about this story:

Everyone gets something

Even the guy at the end gets what would be a really generous amount of money by todays standards, doesn’t he?

He may be tempted to compare what he had with what his fellow servants got, but everyone got something, and in fact everyone got quite a lot.

Which leads to the next point:

This king is extremely generous

The word “handed over” here in Greek has a permanence to it.

It’s the same word used when they say that Jesus was handed over to the Romans to be crucified.

In other words, this isn’t some kind of loan.

The King has given them ownership of his wealth.

The King has acted remarkably generously.

Our Old Friend Fear

The two servants that do this right are so similar they’re actually pretty unremarkable.

The actions of the third servant though stick out like a sore thumb.

He goes and buries The King’s cash, so that he won’t lose anything.

He is afraid.

So often in the Bible and in life when someone is behaving badly, it’s because they are behaving out of fear.

But this of course leads to a bigger question for us to consider:

What is this guy afraid of?

He tells us straight up what he’s afraid of.

He is afraid that the King is a harsh man.

He’s afraid of being punished for loosing.

He’s afraid of risk.

He’s afraid of the King himself.

Fear paralyzes.

Like a kid who has found himself on the top of a high dive, this servant is afraid to make a move.

He doesn’t want to take a risk.

He doesn’t want to loose.

He doesn’t move.

When you are afraid, it’s super easy to bury things.

There’s a lot to be afraid of these days.

Or at least people want us to believe that.

Inflation

I don’t know that I can turn on the news and not hear these numbers over and over again every night.

Something that cost you $10 in 2000 probably costs you $18 today.

This week it was announced that your Thanksgiving dinner will cost 20% more than it did last year.

Gas in PA is up to $4 a gallon, prompting some pastors in our area to purchase electric cars...

Particularly those among us who are on fixed incomes, these numbers are rather scary.

When we are afraid of the economy, we can bury what we own.

When we are afraid of our resources running out, we can bury our generosity.

When we are afraid of the news we’re hearing night after night, some of us just want to bury our heads in the sand.

Depressing Numbers in the church.

I’ve mentioned this before, but if you look at the numbers in the American Church, it’s not the best news.

In 1937, 73% of Americans were members of a church. Today that number is 47%

Our own denomination (PC USA) is experiencing the sharpest decline among protestants in the USA.

In the last 14 years, we have lost more than a million members from our rolls.

And for that matter, in the wake of COVID, Pastors and professional leaders in the church are leaving in droves for other employment.

And so when you look around, the Church has a lot to be afraid of, don’t we?

When we’re afraid that we’re losing our relevance in the world, it’s tempting to bury any effort at evangelism (that word along also causes a fair amount of fear in the lives of Presbyterians)

When we’re afraid that we’re going to loose our majority in the country, it’s tempting to bury ourselves in the way things always used to be, if only for our own comfort.

When we’re afraid of the changing world around us, we can bury the teachings of Jesus about civility and kindness in favor of living with knives out, protecting what we have left.

Two Sundays:

Stewardship Sunday

Indeed, it is Stewardship Sunday today.

Which for the record is not usually what they recommend doing on your third Sunday in a new call.

And I’ll bet that there are some pastors out there who are using this verse for their stewardship Sundays, and that they are using it wrong.

Because on the surface, this sure seems like it’s about money, doesn’t it?

On the surface, it looks like the King is going to want us to invest the money we’ve been entrusted with in Kingdom values.

On the surface, it sure looks like it’s about giving back to the King what the King has given us.

On the surface, you could probably raise a lot of money with a bad reading of this verse.

Indeed, it is Stewardship Sunday.

But it’s also something else.

Christ the King Sunday

Typically when there’s a parable with a King in it, that King is the God character.

So maybe this story isn’t so much about the money as it is about the king.

The third servant isn’t afraid of losing cash, he’s afraid of the King.

He doesn’t bury the money because of his own business practices, he buries his money because of what he assumes about the King.

The way the third servant behaves don’t really tell us much about him. They tell us what he thought of the King.

What we do with our fears says a lot about how we view Christ our King.

The first two servants weren’t afraid.

They weren’t afraid that the King was “just kidding” with his generosity.

They weren’t afraid that their performance was being judged by the King.

They weren’t afraid to take risks with what the King had given them.

For what it’s worth, as much as they doubled their money, it was every bit as likely that they would have lost it all.

The risks they were willing to take absolutely displayed how they viewed their king.

They trusted him.

The third servant betrayed his view of the King too.

A harsh King.

A stingy King.

A judgmental King.

A King that couldn’t be trusted.

What we do with our fears says a lot about how we view Christ our King.

What are you willing to risk for the King?

Could you risk a bigger pledge this year?

I know this is a risk.

I know it’s a risk in a tough economy.

I know it’s a risk to throw your lot in with a new pastor.

I know it’s a risk to make a sacrifice in this particular season of life.

But the amount we are willing to risk with our finances has a lot to say about how we view Christ our King.

Every week the discipleship team has been showing you a video about what’s going on in the life of Beulah Presbyterian Church.

I’ve even been watching before I got here, thanks to the wonder of live streaming!

And I know for a fact that you’ve seen videos about Youth Ministries, about Worship here at Beulah, about Children’s ministries, about exceptional friends, about buildings and grounds, and today about the very people that call this place home.

And I know that every video has ended the same way. To God be the Glory.

That’s super vital to keep in mind.

We’re not asking for your pledges because I’d rather be driving a Tesla.

We’re not asking for your pledges because we’ve got our eye on a more comfortable sofa for the youth room.

We’re not even really asking for your pledges because we want to balance the budget, though that would be nice.

We’re asking for more pledges because we are confident that Jesus Christ our King is up to something here in this place.

We are confident that Jesus Christ is meeting our young people in new and vital ways through our discipleship efforts.

We are confident that Jesus Christ is encountering each of us when we gather to lift our praises in worship.

We are confident that Jesus Christ is being boldly proclaimed to and through our mission partners here in town and around the world.

And we desperately, desperately, want you all to be a part of it.

But you know what? Our finances are just a piece of the puzzle.

There’s a lot more we could risk in service to our King.

Could you risk inviting someone new to Church?

I know, I know.

I’ve mentioned evangelism twice in this sermon.

And in a Presbyterian Church, that’s enough to make anyone break out in to a cold sweat.

But what would it look like for you to risk inviting someone to be a part of what we’re doing here?

Of course, invite them on a Sunday.

Our worship services, both of them, are in my humble opinion the finest examples of these two distinct worship styles.

Our traditional service is incredible.

Our emergent service is outstanding.

Bill and Kelly are doing outstanding work here.

Invite someone to come and see.

Particularly as this Advent and Christmas season is approaching, some folks in your life are going to just be looking for a place to belong.

Trust me, they belong here.

Or if you’re not ready for Sunday, invite them to one of the countless offerings we have during the week here at the church.

Since I got here I’ve been doing my level best to get around to every group and say hi.

Do you know how many women’s Bible studies we have?!?

Men, we have a bit of catching up to do!

But each and every one of them I’ve been to has been a welcoming, warm, and inviting group.

Do you know someone who needs something like that in their life?

To risk inviting someone to church, and when you do you will display a trust that Jesus Christ the King has already been working on their hearts.

Could you risk being involved in something new?

Trying something new can be a big risk, can’t it?

I can’t tell you how many times when I was working as a youth pastor, I would ask someone to come and help out in our ministry, and the same two things would happen:

The person I asked would say “Oh, those kids don’t want me hanging around.”

And then those who agreed to give it a shot came to find out that they were exactly the person the kids wanted hanging around, because they were willing to show up.

So many people think that volunteering to do something new is so scary that they’d rather bury their gifts.

When there’s an after school program that could use tutors but no one shows up, someone buried something.

When there’s a children’s ministry in need of Sunday School teachers but no one raises their hands to volunteer, someone buried something.

When there’s a youth group that could use more adults to be a presence and relationship builder, but the same 3 or 4 people are the only ones who show up, someone buried something.

To risk being involved in something new is to say that your King isn’t done with your story yet, and maybe it has some twists and turns in it that you didn’t see coming.

And if you don’t believe me, come back/stick around to decorate for Christmas, and let’s see what Christ can do for us when we find ourselves in relationship with each other.

You’re playing with house money.

The inside joke of this parable is that once the King entrusted his wealth to these servants, it was their money.

They weren’t risking the King’s resources.

The King gave them all the house money they needed.

You and I, we’re playing with house money.

The God of abundance has provided resources for each and every one of us, and will continue to do so. We can risk that house money.

The Spirit of God who connects us all will give us words to say when we are bold enough to invite someone new in to our midst. We can risk that house money.

The Kingdom of God is growing and expanding here at Beulah, and we can be a part of that in new and unique ways. We can risk that house money.

And the King of Kings, Jesus Christ our Lord, gives us grace upon grace upon grace, enough to risk the ocean of our souls if we’re up to it.

So my friends, let’s not stand with our toes over the edge of the high dive.

Let’s risk the jump, let’s dive in, and let’s errupt in holy celebration for each other when we do.