The Giver of All Good Things

Alex Sloter Matthew 25:14-30 The Giver of All Good Things Proper 28A (11/15/2020) Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Our Gospel reading this Sunday is the parable of the talents. This is a popular text for stewardship Sunday. We are encouraged to use all of our gifts and abilities, our time, talents, and treasures, for God’s glory. While I suppose that the parable could be used to teach this, reading Jesus’ story in this way ignores the most important part of the parable, the accusation of the third servant. He says, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.” The servant accuses his master (the master stands for God) of being a hard and ruthless character, a greedy slaveowner who uses his power to oppress others and to take what he has no right to have. Strangely, the master seems to agree, at least, he doesn’t disagree. So we are faced with a question. Is God really like this? Is he hard, oppressive, grasping, and greedy? The servant thinks so. The master doesn’t say no. But surely there is more to be said about God from this parable. In this sermon, we will think about the servant’s words and about the character of God. We will think about the question, “Who is God for us?” Answer 1: The Oppressor The first answer to this question is given to us by the third servant. He says that his master is ruthless and greedy. If asked, “Who is God for you?” He would have answered, “God is an oppressor.” Oppression is something that human experience is all too familiar with. The history of the world is filled with oppression. For example, when the coal industry really got going back in the 1800s, it was common for coal companies to purchase mineral rights from people living in Appalachia for pennies. One company bought a lucrative tract of land for 13 hogs. One gets the impression that no one bothered to tell these farmers how valuable their land really was, or what would happen to it if the company exercised their mineral rights. By any reasonable standard of fairness, the ground was almost stolen. After acquiring land, the company would build a privately owned town, a collection of shacks really, at the mouth of the coal mine. Miners were then recruited from the ranks of European immigrants or poor blacks living in the south. The company promised a good job, a way for these people to advance in life through honest work. So they came. But they arrived deep in debt. They owed the company for the train fare that moved them to the mine. They owed the company for the first month’s rent on their house since the town was owned by the company. They even owed the company for the tools they used since the miners were supposed to provide their own tools. Then they received their first paycheck. But instead of getting paid in U.S. dollars, they were paid with company money called “scrip.” Scrip was a token that could only be used at the company store. And since the whole town was privately owned, the company store had a monopoly, charging three or four times more for food and basic necessities as compared to stores in other towns. This was nothing less than slavery by a different name. The company held land it had no real right to own. It lived off of labor it never really paid for. It consumed human lives to enhance its own wealth, giving only scrip in return. In the words of the third servant, these companies “reaped where they did not sow, and gathered where they scattered no seed.” The servant invites us to think of God in this way. As someone who is fundamentally oppressive, always taking what he has no right to have. In fact, many people do think of God in this way. If to give to the church, a person with this mindset may respond, “The church shouldn’t be interested in my money. God has no right to my wallet.” God is seen as greedy, taking what he has no right to have. If someone is told that God expects him to live in a certain way, he may respond, “God has no right to control my life like this. I am in charge of me.” God is seen as oppressive, as controlling what he has no right to own. When a person is told that they owe God a debt because of sin, they may respond, “It isn’t right that God sees me as indebted. I work hard to take care of myself, and I don’t hurt anyone. I don’t owe God anything.” God’s accounting is seen as completely unfair. Worse, for those who are willing to put up with such a God, he pays them in scrip, promises of eternal life, tokens which have no value and are irredeemable in this life. For these people, God is a coal boss on the prowl for slaves. He is fundamentally oppressive, taking what he has no right to have. Complication: Is this really true? However, is the servant’s view of God as fundamentally oppressive really true? Is this who the master is? No. While the servant’s words say one thing about the master, the master’s actions tell a different story. The servant says, “You gather where you scattered no seed.” But who gave the servant his talent? The master. The master did scatter seed, and he scattered generously. The servant was given a small fortune since a single talent was worth about twenty years of wages. The problem is not with the master. He dealt generously with each servant, even the one who only received twenty years of wages. The problem is not with the master, but with the servant. The servant refuses to acknowledge the master’s claim to the talent. When the servant gives back the talent, he does say, “You have what is yours,” but this is a grudging admission of what is true. His earlier words reveal what he really thinks, “You gather where you did not scatter seed.” In other words, “The talent should rightfully belong to me, not you. You gather where you did not really scatter.” Because the servant refuses to acknowledge the master’s claim to the talent, he can’t help but see the master as oppressive. But the master does own the talent. He did scatter seed. The problem is with the heart of the servant, not the character of the master. The same is true for us whenever we think of God as oppressive. The money in our wallets, where did that come from? We earned it, but God gave it. Our bodies, where did they come from? We live in them, but God made them. Our life, our breath, we use it, but who created it? Who indeed if not God. If all of this belongs to God, then who has the right to profit from it? God. And God has a double claim on Christians. Not only did he make us, but he also bought us back from sin, not with scrip, but with the blood of his Son. You and I were bought with a price. We belong to God. But this only brings us back to our original question. It is true that everything belongs to God, but we still need to know who this God is for us. And we see in this parable that God is the generous giver of all good things. Answer 2: The Generous Giver of All Good Before the master leaves on his journey, he calls his servants and entrusts to them a sum of money. Jesus says that he gave to each “according to his ability.” That is the first sign of the master’s generosity. He does not load his servants with a responsibility that is too heavy for them. Like a father with his children, he deals with each one according to his ability because he wants each servant to succeed. So the first receives five talents, the second two talents, and the third one talent, each according to his ability. The second sign of the master’s generosity is the amount given to each servant. Even the third servant, who only received a fifth of what the first servant received, was still given twenty years’ worth of wages. The master distributes his property liberally among his servants, expecting a return on his investment, but giving to each according to his ability because he wants them to succeed. But this initial generosity pales in comparison to the generosity the master shows when he returns from his journey. He calls the servants to settle his accounts with them. The first servant approaches and says, “Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.” The servant doubled his master’s investment and is able to give him five additional talents. That is good. But what does the master give the servant in return? He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Who received more in that exchange? The servant or the master? The servant, because the master is generous. He calls five talents, 100 years wages, a “little thing” and promises to set the servant over much more, then he welcomes him into heavenly bliss, the “joy of the master,” a reward that no amount of money could ever buy. While the first servant returned ten talents to the master, the second servant only returned four talents, the original two talents and two talents more. But what does the master give him? The same reward. “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Far from being a ruthless oppressor, the master is generous with all he has and towards all of his servants. He gives to each according to his abilities and delights in rewarding faithfulness. By any standard of fairness, the master is a generous giver, rewarding his servants beyond reason or expectation. Does this master match the accusation of the third servant? Is he hard and ruthless? No. The problem lies not with the character of the master, but with the heart of the servant. This master is the generous giver of all good things. And that is who God is for us. Not a ruthless oppressor, taking what he has no right to receive, but a generous giver who delights in rewarding his faithful servants. When a person adopts this perspective of who God is, everything changes. We no longer experience God as a threat, an oppressor that we need to guard ourselves against, but as he really is, a generous father who is waiting to bless. He is the giver of all good things. When someone with this perspective gives to God’s work, she does so with a cheerful heart. Why? Because she knows that God does not expect from her what she does not have. He has given to each according to her abilities. If she has little, she gives little, and God is pleased with that and will reward her for it. He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.” If she has much, she gives much. God is pleased with that as well. Not more and not less than if she had given little. The point is not the amount, but the fact that all things are a gift from God and that every act of faithfulness no matter how great or how small earns the same reward. Well done, good and faithful servant. When someone with this perspective learns about how God expects him to live, he listens with a willing heart. Why? Because his life is a gift from a generous God. This God will not withhold any blessing from him. He delights in doing good to his servants. If God has commanded something to be done, it must be good. If he has withheld something, it must be harmful. This God is not an oppressor, seeking to control what he has no right to own, but a generous giver of all good things. When someone with this perspective learns that his sin puts him in God’s debt, he mourns because he knows the character of God. He did not rebel against an oppressive tyrant, but he rejected a loving father who showed him nothing but kindness. But he also delights in this fact: the same God who judges sin is the God who provided for his redemption. God delights to bless even faithless servants when they return to him. And that is really where the third servant goes wrong. After seeing the generosity of his master, he doesn’t say, “Lord, I did nothing with your money. Forgive me my failure. You are not hard, but you are kind and good. Have mercy on me.” If he had done that, he would have shared the joy of the other two servants because God blesses even faithless servants when they return to him. But even this he is unwilling to do. He persists in accusing the master wrongfully, and the master responds by removing him from his presence and taking back his property. The problem does not lie with the character of the master, but with the heart of the servant. So where are you? Are you the third servant? I think we can all be like him at times. Our restless hearts chafe at the idea that what we have is God’s, not ours. But this God does not want to condemn us for our faults, but to reward us for our faithfulness. So he woos us through a constant stream of gifts. First, he gives us life. That is a good gift. Then he gives what we need for life, food, clothing, friends, and family. Then he gives us what delights our hearts, laughter, fellowship, leisure, music, song, beauty. Then he provides for our redemption through the blood of his own Son. All of this cries out, “God loves you. He is the generous giver of all good things. If this is how he treats you while you are in rebellion, how will he treat you when you become his servant? Return to his service.” And when we see God as he really is, then we can’t help but come back because he is no longer a threat. He is not an oppressive tyrant, but the generous giver of all good things. All of us can be like the third servant, but we can also live as the first two servants who were faithful. If that is where you are today, then rejoice. Stay on the lookout for opportunities to serve God. He will reward you for your faithfulness. Look forward to the day when you will hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.” But while you stay alert for opportunities for service, stay alert also for God’s gifts. They are always incoming. Luther once said that when a person receives a blessing, no matter how small, he should stop and thank God for it. Why? Because God gives all good things. That refreshing conversation with a friend? A good gift from a generous God. The simple lunch that refreshed you during the work day? A good gift from a generous God. The song on the radio that lifted your spirits when you felt lonely? A good gift from a generous God. So serve him. Live as a faithful servant. But don’t forget to take the time to notice God’s gifts. When you do, he will delight you with his blessings, and those gifts will remind you once more. God is the generous giver of all good things. Go in peace, people loved by God. Amen.