“Buried Treasure” Colchester Federated Church, November 19, 2023, (Matthew 25:14-30) Thanksgiving Sunday

Today’s text is the parable of the valuable coins (or the parable of the talents as it is more famously known).  Jesus begins the parable of the valuable coins by comparing the kingdom of heaven to a man leaving on a trip.  The Master is described as a harsh man, who harvests grain where he hasn’t sown and gathers crops where he hasn’t spread seed.  The Master goes on that trip, and in his absence, trusts his servants with talents—large sums of money.  One talent would be worth nearly 20 years of earnings for a laborer.  So we’re talking about the Master leaving his servants a sum of one hundred years’ wages, forty years’ wages, and twenty years’ wages respectively.[1]  The amounts entrusted are based on the Master’s judgement of each servant’s ability.  Though all of them receive significant amounts of money.

The most trustworthy servant greets the Master on his return with 10 talents, he doubled the original amount.  The second most trustworthy servant comes to him with 4 talents, also doubling the original amount.  Finally, the frightened servant comes forward with the 1 original talent.  That servant was so afraid of losing the money and upsetting his master that he buried the talent in the ground, keeping it safe and sound and hidden like buried treasure.  Though the Master berates the servant.  Considering this is how the servant is treated, no wonder he was terrified of disappointing the Master by losing the talent entrusted to him.  The story ends with the Master ordering the talent taken from the servant and commanding him to be thrown outside into the darkness. 

This parable Jesus tells is fascinating because we see the two other servants (who also knew that the Master was a harsh man) behave differently.  It ends up that paralyzing fear held back the least trustworthy servant.  And that’s sad, right?  We get a sense that this frightened servant might have suffered from low self-esteem and a lack of confidence in his abilities, in his talents as a person.  Which is why he went outside and literally buried his talent in the ground—safe and sound, though hidden.  

Taking risks and using the gifts that God has entrusted to us is at the heart of this parable.  It’s an important life lesson.  Today is Thanksgiving Sunday and we are in the midst of our 2024 Pledge Campaign here at Colchester Federated Church.  There is a reason that we often talk about people giving to our church using our time, talent, and treasure.  One of the ways that we give thanks to God for the gifts we have in our lives is by giving back to others.  We can also see how when we are part of a community of faith, our gifts multiply and become more impactful.  Maybe talking about servants and talents getting multiplied or buried is a hard way to think about this concept.  Though this parable from Jesus can be read as a warning and an invitation. 

One of my favorite inspirational quotes comes from Frederick B. Wilcox who said, “Progress always involves risks.  You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.”  You can’t do it.  If we become so timid and afraid of making mistakes, if the fear of failure gets in our heads and hearts, if we can’t bring ourselves to go for it and see what happens, we’re going to get thrown out at second base every time.  The best base stealers in baseball may have the natural talent of speed.  Of course they are fast runners.  But they also often take risks that other players won’t.  We can watch the best base runners get in the heads of pitchers by stepping off first base and almost daring a pitcher to try to pick them off.  There’s some swagger there, some self-confidence.  The terrified servant in our story doesn’t even try to steal second base.  He quite literally buried his talent, buried that treasure.  The master labels him as “evil and lazy” though that doesn’t seem accurate.  Because the servant himself identifies his hang-up, “So I was afraid.  And I hid my valuable coin in the ground.”[2]  Perhaps we can read this as a cautionary tale about what the fear of failure does to us.

Or we can consider a story from the businessman and columnist Harvey MacKay, a story I admittedly shared some years ago because it’s a good one.  There was a college professor who stood in front of his class of senior molecular biology students on exam day.  Before passing out the final exam, he said, “I have been privileged to be your instructor this semester, and I know how hard you have worked to prepare for this test.  I also know most of you are off to medical school or graduate school next fall.  I am aware of how much pressure you are under to keep your GPAs up.  And because I am confident that you all know this material, I am prepared to offer an automatic B to anyone who opts to skip this final exam.”

The sighs of relief around that classroom were audible.  Some of the students jumped up from their desks right away, thanking the professor for the lifeline and walking out the door.  “Any other takers?” he asked.  “This is your last opportunity.”  One more student decided to leave.  The professor then looked around the classroom and handed out the final exam to his remaining students.  The exam consisted of two sentences.  It read: Congratulations, you have just received an A in this class. Keep believing in yourself.[3]

Now ask yourself honestly—would you have stayed seated in that classroom to take the final exam or would you have walked out the door?  Okay, if it was a molecular biology exam, I would have taken that B and run out the door.  But if that happened in Seminary, I might have stayed.  It’s an interesting scenario to ponder!

The parable of the valuable coins in Matthew’s Gospel is another one of those timeless stories that does make us stop and think.  It’s a reminder that great risks can yield great rewards.  And God is with us through it all.  We are challenged to be faithful with what we’re given.  To use the gifts that God gives us.  We can thank God for those gifts, but we also must use those gifts.  When we adopt this mindset of sharing our time, talent, and treasure in churches—that’s when amazing stuff starts happening.  Because it doesn’t do anybody any good to bury our talents and hide them because we’re afraid of failure. 

As Jesus taught in another part of the Gospels, we’re not meant to hide our lights under bushel baskets.  We’re meant to put our lights on lampstands and let them shine!  There are consequences when we don’t.  Perhaps not as harsh as being thrown outside into the darkness.  Fear and guilt and shame doesn’t ultimately inspire people to genuine faith as far as I’m concerned.  More often than not, our courage helps someone else be courageous, our love helps someone else be loving, our forgiveness helps someone else forgive, our giving inspires generosity.  Jesus taught us to love one another for a reason.  Because in this life, we need each other and we can help lift each other up.

New Testament scholar Arland Hultgren reminds us, “Even the disciple who thinks that he or she has little to employ in the service of Christ must use what has been given.  One enlists what one has.  Each one is given according to his or her ability . . . to be afraid or to refuse to use one’s gift signifies failure.”[4]  In the case of this parable of the talents, failure is letting fear get the best of us.  It’s not even bothering to try.  Because we’ve got to use what we’ve been given for the sake of the Kingdom of God—and that means taking risks in service to God.

If we want to make any progress in our lives, if we want to help God make our world more loving and just, if we want to live into the gifts that God has given to each and every one of us—we have to stick our necks out.  We have to take our feet off first base.  We have to sometimes sit for that exam.  And deeply trust that when we do this in community, when we share new ideas or solutions to old problems, when we put ourselves out there and try new things, when we stand up for the lost and the least, we’ll be supported when our risks triumph and even when they fail.  On this week of giving thanks, let us be thankful for the gift of Christian community here in this place.  And let us give thanks for the opportunity to continue our traditions, passing the torch from generation to generation.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

[1] Arland J. Hultgren, The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary, 275.
[2] Matthew 25:25, CEB.
[3] “Believe in Yourself,” Wisdom Stories to Live By Blog, https://philipchircop.wordpress.com/tag/harvey-mackay/
[4] Arland J. Hultgren, The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary, 278.

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