Creekside Church Sermon of October 20, 1996 "The Curse of Being Careful" Matthew 25:14-30	Rev. David Bibbee
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It can't be said more simply. To live means putting ourselves where the action is. But no sooner do we consider this than a voice within or from someone else says just two words..."Be careful." Think of all the times when out of concern for our safety and well-being we were told to be careful. When making the first solo trip on the bicycle or in the car, when choosing friends or making important decisions, a voice of cautiousness and concern says, "Please, be careful." Jesus told his followers as much. "Beware of covetousness. Beware of riches. Be careful where you place your treasures and your loyalties." Practicing caution is absolutely essential... and yet we can be too careful and shield ourselves from the very things which make life worth living.

Jesus was on his way to Calvary. The end in sight. There would be no holding back, and in the midst of this date with death, he told a parable which underscores what happens when cautiousness gains the upper hand. For it will be as when a man went on a journey. Where or how long he didn't say. He called his servants and entrusted them with his property. He simply handed it over, hopped in his Cadillac and away he went. No instructions. No names of brokers or bankers to help them manage the money. He simply gave three men five, two, and one talents and waved goodbye.

It is important to pay attention to what was given. A talent wasn't pocket change. Just one talent was worth fifteen years wages. Even at minimum wage the man who got one talent had over one hundred fifty thousand dollars. He didn't get it in a cashier's check, but in tens and twenties. What was he to do with all that currency? There were no Brinks armored cars to tote it home. Somehow he had to get it there without getting robbed, so he stuffed it into a big mailbag and drug it home where he locked the doors, pulled the blinds, and dumped it on the dining room table.

He decided to sleep on the decision of what to do with it until morning, but he tossed and turned all night, worrying about losing it, or worrying that someone would steal it. There was no hiding place big enough in the house, so the next day he put up a high wooden fence around his back yard. That night he set his alarm for 1:00 a.m. and dug a big hole in the back yard. He put the money in a garbage bag inside a garbage bag, inside a cardboard box inside a wooden box, and buried it and called Judy DePue to plant a flower bed on top of it.

I am friends with a couple who built their dream home in the country. Soon afterward they were robbed, so they installed a computerized security system. That didn't seem to be enough, so they put up an electric fence and got three german shepherds. So much of their energy went into protecting their property, that after a year they decided to move back to town because their home had become their prison.

Likewise, the talent consumed the servant. To keep a close eye on it, he built a deck and got a grill and swimming pool in order to spend more time in the back yard. It was a real relief when he heard the master had returned so he could give the money back. The other two were ahead of him. The first said, "While you were away the Dow Jones Industrials broke the six thousand mark. The seventy-five years worth of wages you gave me I invested and doubled." "Splendid investing," said the master.

"You have been faithful a little. I'll put you in charge of much." The man with two talents also doubled what was given him, and he, too, won the master's praise.

Now the third servant enters the office, dragging the bag and a trail of dirt behind him. He felt good about himself. He had watched the money like a hawk. He didn't spend a dime of it on himself or his family. He didn't put it in a risky venture. He didn't lose a single penny. Then the master said, "You spineless wimp. If you knew I expected something in return, you at least could have put it in Standard Federal and gotten me a three percent return. Take the garbage bag he watched so carefully and give it to the other two."

I suspect that many of us struggle with this parable because we want to stand up for the little guy. He wasn't irresponsible. He didn't take any unnecessary risks. He didn't gain anything for the master, but at least he didn't lose anything, either. Yet the master gave his portion to the others. Jesus said these troubling words, "For to all those who have, will more be given, but for those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." If you made your living on Wall Street, this would be a verse to love. We hear more and more about the growing gulf between the rich and the poor, about how a very small percentage of the population in this country controls a disproportionate amount of the wealth. Take away from the poor and give it to the rich. That's not right. Sure...the servant was too timid, but this master seems too hard.

This is our impression when we read the parable through the servants eyes. The master seemed like a hard, exacting man, therefore the servant was exceedingly cautious. In 1978, Karl Walenda, considered the world's greatest tightrope walker, attempted his greatest feat, walking on a cable stretched between two sky scrapers in San Juan, Puerto Rico. But the spectators were horrified to watch Walenda fall to his death in the street. Months after the tragedy, Walenda's wife said that it was attributable to a negative mind set. "All Karl thought about for three months prior to the walk was falling. It was the first time he had done that and it seemed that he put all his energies into not falling rather than on walking the tightrope."

They call it the Walenda factor, being absorbed more with not doing something wrong, than channelling energy into doing it right. This is a parable about accountability which points to the judgment we will all face when we are asked what we did with what we were given. The servant didn't understand the master and therefore was too careful. But look again at what the master did. Before he left, he turned his property over to the servants. Not a portion of it, all of it. He took everything he had, divested himself of every stock and bond and bank account, every nickel and dime, and simply turned it over to them.

When he returned, he was anxious to see how they had performed. He was delighted with the first two. They took what he gave, and in the spirit which he gave it, they laid it on the line, they were willing to take a risk. His disappointment with the third servant was that he failed to realize the reason for which the talent was given...not to hoard it, hide it, and guard it, but to give it and live it.

We are holding up an enormous truth here. When you lay loyalty on the line, pledging yourself to stand by another come what will, loyalty multiplies. When you lay your abilities on the line, your music or your leadership skills, you see its impact on others. What happens when you lay love on the line? It's risky to love, but the returns far outdistance the pains and you get love and you grow more loving. Homer Dodge was right, "If you want interesting experiences, put yourself where they can happen." "To all who have," Jesus told us, "will more be given. But those with little, those who play for safety, will have it taken away."

Not knowing, and not appreciating, what we have, it is easy, so dangerously easy to let it go. We become a little like the guy who got his hands on an old Bible he found in the attic of a house he had bought. Thinking it worthless, he pitched it. Later he described it to a book collector. "Somebody named Guten-something had printed it." "Gutenberg!?" gasped the bookman. "Yeah, that's it." "You idiot! You threw out one of the first books ever printed. A copy just sold for over one million dollars!" "Don't worry," he said. "This copy wouldn't bring a dime. Some guy named Martin Luther scribbled all over it."

Read this parable through the eyes of the master and you realize it is about a God who gives away everything and delights when his people follow this example of extravagance. God doesn't do anything part way. He is the prodigal father who responds to his deadbeat son with forgiveness and a party. To the older brother he said, "All I have is yours." Remember that this parable was told on the way to the cross, where Jesus gave himself away to the last drop of his life.

Now do you see why the third servant was such a disappointment? He failed to see the generosity of the master. He was so careful not to lose what he had been given, that he didn't use what had been given. The master didn't want the money back, he wanted it employed. Because the servant was so careful, he had the money but nothing else. No satisfaction. No joy. No accomplishment...just a hole in the back yard.

The blessing comes to those who take what God has so extravagantly given, and venture something with it. I said that when loyalty, abilities, and love are laid on the line, they multiply. I need to include money as well. I do not believe that God financially bless those who give generously. But as someone said, I believe that , "When you invest your loyalty and love and in that context, risk the money, powerful energies for good are released."

Between now and next Sunday, I want you to give serious reflection to how much you need to give next year--not how much the church needs to receive, but how much you need to give. I want you to frame your decision not in terms of giving to a budget, not according to the inflation index, not according to some stone cold obligation, not according to what is yours and what is God's, because it is all God's. I want you to decide what you need to give in response to God who held nothing back from you, but gave everything, and judges each of us on the basis of how willing we are to follow Jesus' generous example.

For over the last decade or more, the average per member giving across denominations has stayed around two percent. What is two percent, in response to the blessings we have received? The more calculating and cautious a person becomes, the more constricted they become. But the more willing we are to take risks with our love and our money, the more we will grow. For some this will mean making a tithe, for others more than a tithe, for most of us, I hope it will mean enabling the church to do what it needs to do by taking one step up in giving. Don't misunderstand the God we serve. Don't be so careful. Put down the shovel, and trusting him who said we will not be left desolate, lay it on the line.

I leave you now with a portion of a letter written to a pastoral colleague which spotlights the spirit of Christian giving I've discussed. To bring it home, I'll insert our name and needs.

Dear David:

Here is our pledge for 1996. It does represent an increase over 1995, although we know it's not what it could be. I sense that some folks don't have any concept of what proper giving is in terms of dollars. Some who send in their "dues" once each year may not realize that many people give an equal amount each month or even weekly. I grew up thinking that only wealthy people could give $100 a year to the church. Now, I know there are many who give a Wendy's combo every day and they are still not tithing. Well, anyway, here's our pledge. It is increased because we trust God to increase His love for us. He consistently does.

It is not increased because:

a. Elkhart city is a wonderful place (it is!)
b. Our leaders are working hard to make a difference (they are)
c. It needs to face the future and grow (it does)
d. Programs need to expand (they do)

It is increased because somebody died for us and we can do nothing else than respond to that. This is the spirit in which we grow...this is the only spirit by which we give.

[The approach to this sermon was inspiried by the thoughts of Barry L. Johnson and William Willimon.]

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