matthew 25:14-30 – Jesus the capitalist

In light of the economic meltdown, the lectionary reading for this week is highly appropriate. Matthew 25:14-20 is the parable of the talents (refering to units of money rather than abilities or skills).  It’s a story about investments, risks, and returns. Two of the employees did quite well in the markets, doubling their employer’s investments.  But the third played it safe, and though he didn’t lose the money, he didn’t earn a return.  The result was his own personal meltdown: thrown into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I don’t like this story. Here’s why:

1. While the scriptures imply distributive justice (especially in the Old Testament), in this story the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
2. The employer was asking them to engage in a financial practice that was against Jewish law: taking interest for a loan.
3. The third employee doesn’t seem like a bad man.  He was scared and didn’t want to screw up. He didn’t lie, cheat, or lose the money. He returned it in full. There doesn’t seem to be much mercy or grace in this story.

Many others don’t like this story as well (usually those on the theological and political left). In fact, some have gone so far is to say that the employer does not represent Jesus but the unjust system.  ‘Jesus’ in this story is the third employee who is rejected and punished. But I think that’s a stretch and not the most natural way to hear it.

Whether or not I like the story isn’t the issue.  In fact, the story just further proves that we can’t put Jesus in a box.  Whether you’re on the cultural left or cultural right, there will be times when Jesus takes the other side.  This will both surprise us and piss us off, but Jesus won’t bow to your (or my) agenda.  And in this story he’s a capitalist whether we like it or not. The employer is Jesus and the employees are us.  The story is saying something about what we’re to be doing while we wait for Him to return.

Others believe that the third man’s failure was that he misunderstood the nature of God. In verses 23-24 he says, ‘I knew you to be a hard man … and I was afraid.’  Though they suggest that this was a misunderstanding, what indication is there that his assessment was wrong? If anything, this boss was hard. I’d be scared to death to work for him. Scripturally, fear is an appropriate response to God: ‘I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes I tell you, fear Him!’ (Luke 12:5) ”After he has killed’? What’s up with that?

But again, Jesus won’t be boxed. Sometimes he punishes those we think deserve mercy, and sometimes he let’s some off the hook that we think should burn for ever. This is not a God we can play with.

By the time Matthew wrote this story down, there were doubts circulating through the Christian community about the return of Jesus.  They equated the fall of Jerusalem with the end of the world (and there’s question whether this gospel was written before or after the fall in AD 70). Yet when Jesuralem fell, the world did not end – even though the city was the center of Jewish culture, pride, and worship. It was the center of God’s world – or so they thought. The Christians couldn’t figure this out.

The second problem was that they expected Jesus to return shortly after his ascension.  But he didn’t. He waited … and waited … and waited … and is still waiting. Where is he? Why doesn’t he come back?

The purpose of the parable is to teach us what to do while we wait, and here’s a summary:

1. God has given us certain resources that represent his grace: spiritual gifts, financial resources, time, friends, family, opportunity, etc. These are blessings that come from him.
2. He doesn’t want us to simply receive the blessings for ourselves, but to multiply them.
3. I believe that we do that by serving others, spreading the joy, and making disciples of all nations. We live beyond ourselves.
4. But this requires faith, and faith means risk.  We could lose the very blessing that God has given us. Yet the first two employees were rewarded not merely because they produced, but because they risked.
5. In difficult economic times the temptation is to live by fear rather than faith. If we want to hear the ‘well done’ on the day of judgment, then we must resist fear and act in faith. In spite of the challenges, we must put others first.  In spite of the risks, we must continue to make disciples of all nations.  In spite of the difficulties, we must continue to rejoice and bring joy to others.
6. We need to invest what God has given us for the service of others no matter how bad it gets, and we must do this till Jesus returns.
7. Finally, why the apparent injustice? As Brian Jones points out in his book Second Guessing God: Hanging On When You Can’t See His Plan, God’s agenda is different than ours. James 1:2 says we are to consider it joy when we face trials because these trials work the transformation in our lives that God desires.  On the other hand, our agenda is ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ Nothing inherently wrong with that, but we must remember that it’s not God’s agenda.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

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• Mark 4:26-34 – was Jesus left or right brained?
• repenting of fear
• Genesis 9:8-17 – rainbows and alcoholics