There’s something about this story that rubs us the wrong way. We’ve just heard the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus reminds us that blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. In this story, the meek get thrown out into the darkness and the rich seem to get richer. This master who goes away on a journey doesn’t seem to work very hard. He seems to have people who do all the work for him. He reaps where he doesn’t sow and gathers where he doesn’t scatter. He’s the 1%! What can we possibly learn from this cruel and selfish master?

         The rich master goes away and entrusts his wealth to his servants. To one he gives five talents (a talent is a large bar of silver worth a considerable amount of money.) To another servant he gives two talents and to another he gives one. The servants who were given five and two talents invest the money and double it. The servant who was given one talent buries it in a field and keeps it safe but earns no interest. The master deals harshly with him. What gives? I think this story describes business to this day. Any investment firm would do the same with its money managers if they did nothing with the resources entrusted to them.

         The hard word comes when Jesus says, “to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have in abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” This sounds odd coming from the mouth of Jesus. We have come to expect him to stand up for the poor and the weak. He is always removing burdens from the backs of the poor and unsettling the rich in their place of privilege.

         Maybe we have to set aside the story about money and look at what the servant is being chastised for. Nobody lost any money. There’s plenty of money at the end of the story. The servant hid the money because he was afraid of what might happen if it were lost. It never really was his. He would never enjoy what it could buy. It would mean nothing to him for his master to have more or less money. The servant is called worthless and lazy and wicked because of his fear. He is more anxious about failure than he is about success. He is only thinking about what might happen to him, rather than thinking about how to obey his master.

         This is the message of the story for us. It’s not about the money. We are anxious about money. I think this is why Jesus talks about money so much. The parable isn’t about money so much as our anxiety. Jesus is warning us what happens when we let our worries dictate our actions. Instead, we should be letting our faith guide our actions. This story reminds us that the good news is more than comfort. The good news compels us to take risks. In fact, we are led to take risks that are bound to make us uncomfortable. This goes against many of the motivations that draw us to Christian community. We join a church to hear words of comfort. We want to raise our families the right way. We want to hear words that will help us make sense of the confusing world around us. The last thing we want is to find more unease and tension and stress.

         The comfortable lie we tell ourselves is that God loves us and protects us. God wouldn’t do anything to harm us or burden us. The words of Jesus make us sit up! Surely we won’t be cast into the darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth! In truth God does love us and sometimes God’s love compels us to follow uncomfortable paths and uncertain outcomes.

         The fault of the lazy servant was his unwillingness to risk. He took the safe route with his master’s money. In those days, if you hid something by burying it, you would not be at fault if it were lost. The servant took the safest route he could. He risked nothing of himself (even if it meant a loss or lack of gain by his master.) This is where we have to stretch ourselves a little further. What are we willing to risk of ourselves?

         Many of the sacrifices we make are for others or for our work. We may risk looking foolish to others. We make sacrifices for our children we might not dare for ourselves (but in a way those sacrifices can still be self-serving.)

         Jesus challenges us to think bigger. Jesus challenges us to think about God’s will for the whole world. God wants to reconcile the whole world to God and to reconcile us all to one another. It is a big job. It will take everything we have to give. It was worth everything to Jesus. It was worth everything to the disciples. In this day and at this time we are being called to think about our own commitment to God’s work. What are we willing to risk? What do we have to learn to risk? What are we afraid to lose?

         We know what happens when we live in fear. We become hemmed in and isolated from our neighbors and our best selves. Our lives become less. We are in darkness. When we take that frightening step to welcome the stranger or reach out to someone in need – we may fail – and we may discover new friends and new strength. When we have courage our lives grow larger. Jesus is always inviting us into a newer, larger life. We are being invited to enter in God’s joy at the work of loving the world.

          It was a sign of respect and a polite way to address a Rabbi by asking for that teacher’s summation of the law. It was a way of seeing if that teacher could get to the truth. It was also a way of discerning where the teacher’s heart was. A student might ask, “Teach me the Torah while standing on one foot” – in other words – briefly. Then the Rabbi would sum up the law. Jesus is asked the same sort of question. “Which commandment is the greatest?” Jesus could have said many things. He could have picked the first of the Ten Commandments.

         Jesus gives two commandments, the second following from the first. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” And then he adds, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If this were another sort of story, Rabbi Jesus might explain what it means to love God with all your heart. Then he might explain what it means to love with all your strength, and then with all your mind. Each of these explanations would lead to further explanations and after a time all the possible applications might be covered. Another chapter might explore how we love our neighbor as ourselves.

         The first commandment Jesus invokes is a reflection of the teaching in Deuteronomy 6, called the Shema, a statement of faith in Judaism to this day. The second law about loving one’s neighbors puts Jesus in the liberal camp of Jewish teaching, where care of one’s neighbors is as important as personal devotion to God and is as important an expression of faith. The story continues with Jesus stumping his questioners yet again as they fail to see the significance of Jesus himself.

         I’m curious about how we hear the law as given by Jesus. We have heard the quote so often that it no longer stops us. Jesus is reminding us that our devotion to God must be complete, and then he adds that our devotion to each other needs to be complete as well. If we take his words seriously, then how do we live our lives in complete devotion while retaining our sense of self? How do we balance commitments to God and to others? How do we make it to the end of the month and fulfill our responsibilities to God and to those entrusted to us?

         This is the tricky question of stewardship. It is right for us to think of responsibility when we think of our commitment to God and to each other. But we must be careful not to think in terms of law and then immediately start counting out money. Our commitment is not first with our things, but with our heart. Jesus tells us that we are to love God. Jesus does not say fear God. Jesus does not say respect God. This is something deeper and maybe more difficult. Jesus asks for our love first.

         When we think of giving and generosity, we have trouble when we are giving out of duty. How hard is it to buy a present for in-laws? How hard is it to buy a gift for your boss? Maybe you like your boss or you in-laws so it isn’t difficult for you. On the other hand, how easy is it to give something to someone you love? I have no problem giving good things to my granddaughter. When there is love, the only difficulty may be in restraint. The lover might try to hard to impress the beloved.

         This is where we should start when we think about our gifts to God through our offerings in this church. We don’t give because it’s our duty. We don’t give because it’s our fair share. We don’t give because we’re afraid we’ll be punished or look bad if we don’t. We give because we love God. We give because so much has been given to us. We give because it is the way that we can join in God’s generous work of reconciling the world.

         We begin by giving thanks for what we have. God doesn’t need anything from us. God asks us to give because it is good for us. When we give we learn to live like God, thinking about people outside of us. When we give we are acting on faith that God will use what we give away and that God will continue to give us what we need. When we give we are saying that what I have is not mine. I am given temporary use of it to use as wisely as possible.

         The ancient standard is the tithe, which is a tenth. It has the virtue of being easy to figure – just move the decimal point. It is often a stretch, and perhaps that is another virtue of it. I know that a tithe is quite a challenge for many of us, but we can also think in terms of percentages. If we plan to give a certain percent, we are starting with what we have been given, and we are making wise choices with God’s gifts. If you feel that even this is too much to do, start with a simple first step.

         God only asks us to use what we have been given. God doesn’t expect us to give what others give. God knows our situations and our struggles. I’m always aware that the people who are often most faithful and generous hear the wrong message in a stewardship sermon. It is not the amount: it’s the attitude. Do we give in order to obey a rule? Do we give because we are afraid? Do we give because we are ashamed?

         None of those reasons will help us at all. We will get no benefit from our giving. If we seek to love God – If we seek to know how generously God has blessed us – If we seek to grow in love with each other, then we will want to let go of the question, “What should I give?” Then we will ask the question, “What more can I give?” Hopefully we grow to the place where we give with all our heart and with all our strength and with all our mind.

          "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods." If only we could offer such witty comebacks! What a great way to open up a stewardship sermon! It practically preaches itself. I also admire how easily Jesus offers a rather extraordinary lesson without really answering their question the way that it was asked. Jesus has been challenging the religious authorities and leaders of the people. He has stumped them with questions and he has told parables that don’t show much respect for the leaders. They are becoming worried that their status is being undermined. They start to work together to trap Jesus. They want to make him say something unpopular or difficult – as if they were making points during a debate.

         The question they pose has to do with the Roman poll tax. It had to be paid with a Roman coin. No one likes to pay taxes, but this coin has the image of the emperor, who is considered a God. The devout authorities, the Pharisees, believe it might be sinful even to touch the coin. The Herodians are political leaders who have been granted power by the emperor to rule the people, so they want people to pay the tax. If Jesus tells the people to pay the tax, he will be ridiculed by the devout Jews. If he tells people to not pay the tax, then the political leaders will arrest him for disloyalty to the emperor.

         Jesus doesn’t answer them yes or no. He asks to look at the coin. Since it has Caesar’s image, it belongs to him. This is the subtle point Jesus is making. If the coin belongs to Caesar because it bears his image, then what bears God’s image? We do, of course. If fastidious observers want to have nothing to do with a coin because of the image it bears, that same particularism therefore applies to us. We bear God’s image, and therefore we belong to God. Then we must give all that belongs to God back to God. We must give ourselves to God.

         This is the hard calling. It would be a great stewardship sermon if I could deduce from this saying the exact percentage you should all give to know that you were all doing God’s will. The hard answer is more than we can measure. It seems as if Jesus is telling us to take care of our responsibilities, remembering that everything we have and everything we are belongs to God.

         This is the difficult calling we have as Christians. We know that God reaches out to us and loves us no matter what. God gives us everything freely. The challenge is in how we respond. We live in a culture that is increasingly self-centered. We are living in a world where the measure everyone uses is “what’s in it for me?” We are growing used to a culture where we are all increasingly isolated. We are connected with more and more technological ways to connect with others, but all these connections are increasingly on our own terms. We can use social media or not. We can choose to text our friends and ignore the people around us. We are surrounded by the subtle message that we can choose everything about our lives. We are being groomed with the message that we are the measure of all things. We are made in our own image.

         Jesus reminds us whose we are. Jesus reminds us to whom we belong. Jesus’ call to give ourselves to God rescues us from giving ourselves to false idols. Jesus also rescues us from ourselves, when we would make ourselves the center and force the world to adjust to our own personal taste and wishes.

         It is not that we must lose ourselves and become spineless drones to follow God. When we realize that we belong to God, and all our gifts come from God, and all that we do is connected to God – it frees us. We are no longer hurrying to adopt a pose or personality that impresses our followers or friends (however loosely we define them.) Our worth is not based on how well we control or use the latest technological tool. Our value is based on how we reflect the face of God.

         We live in a world where we need to define who we are and to whom we belong. We have nationalities and cultures that we use to name ourselves. Perhaps we follow certain ideologies. Maybe we follow sports teams or listen to certain bands or artists. Jesus reminds us that we are not Pharisees or Herodians. We are not Jews or Greeks. We are not male or female, rich or poor, white or black. We are all made in the image of God. This is what gives us value. This is what reveals our loyalties and our responsibilities.

         The apostle Paul visited the city of Thessalonica. When he preached and taught about Jesus in the synagogue, a few members believed him. Many of the visiting Greeks also believed as well as a few important women. The good news divided the synagogue in Thessalonica. The city authorities got involved and the opponents of Paul arrested some of them “because they were turning the whole world upside down.” This is the faithfulness that Paul gives thanks for when he writes to them in the letter to the Thessalonians.

         We take it for granted that God loves us. God wants to give us more than assurance that we will get to heaven someday. God wants to change the world. God wants to free us all from the narrow definitions that enslave us. God wants us to bear this good news to anyone who will hear. It will cost us everything, but it is worth everything. Giving to God the things that are God’s ultimately returns us all to God. It may turn our world upside down, but it will put us in a place where we will find life.