If someone gives you a bike for your birthday, they probably expect you to ride it.

If someone brings a pie to your house, they probably expect you to eat it.

If God gives you life, God probably expects you to live it.

Jesus here in the 25^th chapter of Matthew is giving his last teachings. These are doozies. I understand God to be the man going on a journey in the Scripture. He entrusts his property to his slaves, and gives them each according to their ability. Then he leaves.

It’s good to acknowledge our discomfort around the titles “master” and “slaves” especially given the history of those terms in this country. With God, there is a power dynamic between us. Yet the master knew the slaves enough to give each according to their ability. This wasn’t a calloused guy, at least based on those words. The first two take their money and make more money. The last one hides the money in the ground. The man comes back, makes a big deal over the first two and gets angry with the last one.

The last one tries to justify himself. “I knew you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. I was afraid, so I hid the money.”

The master then says, “Oh, is that what you thought of me? You could have done something. You could have taken the safe route, but since this is already your view, I’m taking the money and giving it to the one that has the most, for those who have, more will be given. Now get out of here.”

Maybe there’s a part of us that’s like the third slave. Fearful. We think people are out to get us. Better to hide at home than to risk anything. For life is nasty, brutish, and short. God is some nasty sin-miser. Harsh and judgmental. Looking for perfection and constantly disappointed with us.

Many churches believe this. It is as the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber writes that, “Christianity pawned off as nothing more than a sin management program is what was sold to so many of us. As if Jesus came to earth to hand human beings a moral elimination diet.”[1]

That is not our tradition. That is not what is preached here. Instead, we believe God is not a harsh man. God is not a man at all. God is love. God is the fabric of this existence, in and through everything. You will not meet someone whom God does not love. That includes you. All your faults. All your issues. All your insecurities. God has grace for all that.

I love what Nadia Bolz-Weber says about grace. She says that, “Grace isn’t about God creating humans and flawed beings and then acting all hurt when we inevitably fail and then stepping in like the hero to grant us grace – like saying, ‘Oh, it’s OK, I’ll be the good guy and forgive you.’ It’s God saying, ‘I love the world too much to let your sin define you and be the final word. I am a God who makes all things new.’”[2]

It has taken me a while to have good self-esteem. God gave me this weird personality, I think God intends me to use it. God gave me this calling; this interest in the Bible and Jesus and in helping others and forming community. I’m doing my best to invest it and work it and trying to grow my talents. I encourage you to do the same at any age. I’ve learned so much from you!

The goal is life-long learning. God has given us this life, this world, these neighbors. I believe God wants us to enjoy this life, this world, and love our neighbors as ourselves. It sounds really hard. Jesus was killed for saying it. He was quoting the law in his day and age, that phrase came from Leviticus. We’re not beyond Leviticus. The challenge sounds impossible, but it’s really quite a low bar.

To love my neighbor as myself, well… if I think it’d be nice to have my walk shoveled, I can do that for my neighbors. If someone raked my lawn, I think it’d be cool to rake someone else’s.

Yet, I’m also an omnivore who loves Dungeons & Dragons and craft beer. Not everyone is. Some folks have specific diets. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free. If I show up with a rack of ribs and some bread, that might not go over well. Especially if those are pork ribs and my friends are practicing Jews or Muslims. I love D&D but if if I gave you a set of dice… you might not know what to do with it. Or if I gave craft beer to someone in recovery, that would be loving my neighbor as I love myself and not taking their needs into consideration. See how that bar is actually pretty low?

But if I invest in getting to know my neighbor. To discover their likes and dislikes, their needs, wants, and desires… then that gold that I’ve invested in my neighbor grows with interest and now we’re at the platinum rule. To love our neighbor as THEY want to be loved. We started with gold and we’ve now gone to the platinum rule that I learned from Dr. James L. Knight at an association event recently. Because of our relationship, what we’ve learned, the commitment to growing and learning together, love deepens. We get so much more out of it. We have a great return on investment. We turned gold into platinum!

But all investments carry risk. Church is a risk. So much has been made of why it doesn’t work. I believe this one does. We keep our history alive. We have an adaptive liturgy. We print bulletins vs having big screens, we have hymns and organs in two of our services. It feels historic, yet the message is relevant. This is because we have deep roots and yet we’re aware of the seasons as well. Rooted in the past, forging the future. Church and being in community are risks. People die. Or move away. Or get mad at something you have done or something they think you did but didn’t and they ghost you. Yet when you find your people, life is so much richer!

I have found my people here. I hope you have, too. For here, we’re curious and open to your talents. Here, we view God not as some harsh man that reaps where he does not sow, and gathers where he did not scatter but as the one who has gifted us with all these amazing things! God has given us these personalities, these quirks, this life!  Don’t hide your talents in the ground. Don’t stay home in fear. Reject any trash theology that depicts God as a harsh man. Stay curious. Keep learning. You’ll find that this is a great reward and a way better way to live.

As Irenaeus of Lyons once said, “Gloria Dei est vivens homo.” The glory of God is one who is fully alive. You are God’s own field, the investment, the buried treasure. The gift to the world. As is everyone else. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Works Cited

[1] https://thecorners.substack.com/p/sin-boldly

[2] Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint