Other People's Money

                                “Other People’s Money”
                                Matthew 25:14-30
                                Rev. Dr. David Hutchinson
                                Sunday, November 13, 2011

    What is the honorable thing to do - - -
- - - with something - - that has been given to you?
    That question - - that straightforward but difficult question - - has been my life-preserver as I read and prepared for this morning. The biblical text from Matthew’s gospel is challenging. And it turns out that there is more one way to answer this question. There is more than one answer - - depending on - - who you are and how you see things. AND there’s more than one answer - - BOTH for us today - - and as we examine this lectionary reading from Matthew.
    So, in the midst of the storm - - of different ways of seeing things, I have clung to this initial question. And the reason I cling to it, is that I keep coming back to it. The question is central. Whatever ELSE one concludes, that IS the question. And we can say this much at the very least: certainly the parable Jesus told - - wanted us to wrestle with this question.
    This straightforward but difficult question…
    What is the honorable thing to do with something that has been given to you?
    And - - - in the case of the parable the thing - - - is money.
    So - - what is the honorable thing to do with money?
        Money - - that has been given to you - - by someone else…?
    What - - shall we do with it?
        What would God want us to do?
        What is the faithful thing to do?
    My recommendation is - - that you cling to that question as I have.
    Let it be your life-preserver.   Let it be your island of safety.
    Let it orient you - - in the midst of the examination of this biblical text that we will now undertake together…..ok?
    What’s the honorable thing to do with money that has been given to you?
    As we embark, here are some initial things to consider…number one:
1.    If it has been given to us it is NOT OURS.     (“number two”)
2.    If it’s not ours, then the values and ideals of someone else are important to consider. So how do we consider the values and ideals of others? Particularly how do we consider the values and ideals of the one who gave the gift?  (#3)
3.    Biblically speaking, everything is God’s, so nothing is ours. So this question in a broader perspective - - applies to everything that supposedly is “ours” for the time being.
The three points again: number one - - it’s not ours, it’s given; so number two - - we are
called to consider the values of the giver; and number three - - in a broader sense this way of thinking applies to everything - because everything is a gift from God.
These three points make me think that TRUST is involved in our decisions about what to
do. We have been entrusted….   So what do we do with the gifts entrusted to us?
    We do NOT bring our gifts to the offering plate - - we bring our offerings from OUT OF our gifts. Someone has trusted us. We are trustees of other people’s money. And we are trustees of everything - - that originally is God’s, and has been given.
So what is the honorable thing to do?
The biblical parable wrestles with this question. So now, let’s think about how it does….
The parable does NOT begin by saying “The Kingdom of heaven is like…”, instead it
begins by stating, “For it will be as…”. Could it be that this story told by Jesus is more of a description of how things are on earth…rather than a description of heaven?
    We certainly know there are harsh and profiteering masters on earth.
        But is that really how God is?
        What is Jesus saying by telling the story this way?
Set that question aside for a minute and we’ll come back to it.
Just recognize that Jesus begins the story saying, “it will be like this….”
A master goes on a journey and gives three servants different amounts of money.
Actually the word is “slaves”.
Three slaves get different amounts of money.     And the amounts are enormous.
A talent is about the amount a day laborer would earn in 20 years. So each one is given
somewhere between a half a life savings, and two life savings. These are more like the amounts a person would inherit from well off parents and grandparents, than they are like the small amounts given in the story as told by Luke’s gospel. 
Each is given an inheritance sized amount.
It turns out this master in Matthew’s version is unbelievably rich….
And in an unfair world, some get a larger inheritance than others…   
    This is the exact OPPOSITE of the way Luke tells the story. In Luke’s gospel each slave is given the same amount to begin with. But they each get a different rate of return. In Matthew each slave RECIEVES a different amount but the two who earn interest get the SAME rate of return.
    Makes me wonder which way Jesus told the story…?
        Or did Jesus tell it more than once, and in different ways?
        Maybe to different audiences…?
            Because there is more than one way to answer the question:
            What is the honorable thing to do with money given to us?
    In any case Matthew exaggerates the amount.
    And in Matthew - the master judges the slave who buried his money very harshly.
    According to Matthew, Jesus told the story like this:
    A greedy profiteering master had differing opinions of his slaves. And so when he went away he gave some of them more than others, because he expected less of some than others. And when he returned from his LONG trip, it turned out he was right. The slaves lived up to his expectations. The ones he gave more to were just like him. They made money. And the one he had low expectations for did exactly as he expected. Buried the money.
    The question is,
what is the honorable things to do with money that has been given to you?
    Is burying the money honorable?
    Well according to some noted biblical scholars, including Dick Rohrbaugh, burying the money is EXACTLY the honorable thing to do in ancient near-Eastern culture. He states that “rabbinic law provided that since burying a pledge or deposit was the safest way to care for someone else’s money, if a loss occurred, the one burying the money had no responsibility for it”.
    The honorable thing to do, with money given to you, in ancient near-Eastern culture was bury money in the ground. The master expected him to act honorably and he did. And then the master calls him wicked, lazy and worthless…for acting honorably.
    Because perhaps, maybe, this master is NOT so honorable.
    And the slaves who act in riskier ways…more like their master…are commended.
    The lesson seems to be…act like your master.
    Consider the values and ideals of the one who gave the gift.
        And if your master is a harsh scoundrel…be one too!
    But - - - what if your master is NOT a scoundrel?
        What if your master is Jesus?
    The very next thing that Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew, after telling this story, is that if anyone helps out a poor person, it is like they help Jesus. Jesus says that when we feed clothe or visit someone in need, we feed clothe and visit HIM. Jesus says, ‘Truly I tell you, as you did it to one of the least of these…you did it to me”
    Maybe the slave who buried the talent in the ground was imitating a different master?
    Maybe that slave…who the greedy master expected so little from…
        …was the most courageous one of all.
    The question is WHO is your master?
    Maybe that’s a question we have to answer first.
And maybe then, and only then, can we decide what’s the honorable thing to do with money that has been given to us…
Billie Holiday sang out the pain over the unfairness around money in the song ‘God Bless the Child”. The song is a direct reference to this text from Matthew…
“Them that’s got shall get
Them that’s not shall loose
So the Bible says, and it still is news
Mama may have, papa may have
But God bless the child
That’s got his own
That’s got his own”
The song is charged with irony, anger and resistance…
According to the song the answer to unfairness…is to get your own.
“Rich relations give
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don’t take too much
Mama may have, papa may have
But God bless the child who’s got his own…”
So…how do we live our lives as if everything is a gift,
in a world where people long to have their own?
    Is it possible that the Bible, like the song, is sometimes ironic and filled with longing?
    Is it possible that the Bible, like the song, is painfully realistic about life?
    Is it possible that Jesus wasn’t’ always talking about heaven…but sometimes about life on earth. Maybe Jesus is saying…follow me with your lives.
        Follow me with your giving and with your living.
    Maybe Jesus is saying…I am about to give you everything…on the cross.
    And if slaves in an unfair world can act according to the ideals of their master, then at least as much is expected of us.  Only different ideals. Different master.
    But what does that mean for us today?
    We do NOT live is ancient near eastern society.
    Burying money in the ground is NOT the honorable thing to do any more.
    So the parable begs us to figure out - - what is.
    Is the honorable thing to do…to invest…and make as much return as legally possible?
        And THEN…give to the poor…or build up the church…?
    The 1991 movie “Other People’s Money” starred Danny DeVito as “Larry the Liquidator”. In the movie, Larry works for the board of trustees of the New England Wire and Cable company. The problem is that in a world of computer chips, the wire and cable company is becoming obsolete. The world is changing. In his speech to the shareholders, Larry compares the wire and cable company to “the last buggy whip manufacturer”. He says that, while it probably produced the best buggy whip in the country, eventually it closed down because the product was obsolete. He concludes by saying that the goal of business is to make money for all the shareholders. His money is made with THEIR money. And he pledges to do that even if it means difficult decisions, that make him unlikeable. He’s not in it to make friends. His final word to them, “I’m NOT your best friend…I’m your ONLY friend”.
    The movie is about difficult decisions, in a changing world… 
        And I’m not saying we should be like Larry the Liquidator…
        And I’m not saying we should bury our money in the ground…
    But in a world in which the world economy is fragile because of the events in Greece and Italy…in a world in which the occupy Portland demonstrators reach week five…what is the honorable thing to do?
    In a church with hopes and dreams related to stewardship and worship programs and mission…and with accessability issues and building issues to solve…what is the honorable thing to do?
    I know there is more than one way to answer the question.
    AND I KNOW…that Westminster can figure out the best way to answer it.
    In the early 1980s a Texas newspaper ran an article on the front page of the paper with a picture of a beautiful woman…born without arms or legs. She was the mother of a five year old daughter.
    The state Department of Public Welfare charged in court that she was not capable of taking care of her daughter…because she didn’t have arms or legs. She was disabled.
    During the hearing she surprised everyone. In front of everyone she undressed and then dressed her baby again. She did it using only her lips and her tongue. And the judge was so impressed that he not only awarded her custody of her daughter, but made this statement:
    “I commend you for your courage and spirit. You have proven that physical endowments are only a PART of the spectrum of resources that human beings possess.”
    What resources have WE been given?
    What is the honorable thing to do with them?
    Could it be that this woman with courage is a little like the slave who buried the talent.
    Courageously following an honorable master, by using what was given.
        May it be so for you and for me.
            Amen.