And Throw Him into the Darkness

I heard a sermon yesterday by Pastor Craig based on a biblical text that I have always found disturbing, Matthew 25:14-30. It's a story that Jesus tells about a rich man who gives differing amounts of money to three of his servants to watch over while he's away. Then, what happens when he comes back.

The problem that I have with the text is how it ends. The servant who returned the money intact, no more and no less, is punished.

28‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Mt 25:28-30, NIV)

Quite frankly, it doesn't sound very "Christian" to me. It doesn't seem to match up with Jesus' mission statement in Luke 4:16-21.

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
   18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
   because he has anointed me
   to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
   and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
   19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Isaiah 61:1,2)
 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus is talking about helping the poor and the oppressed, not rejecting people who don't make a lot of money or are less successful. It just doesn't mesh. The Matthew passage is what is sometimes referred to as a "difficult reading." No kidding.

The problem with difficult readings is that people tend to avoid or ignore them.  However, if we consider the Bible important or even a way for God to communicate with us, can we just pick and choose what we are going to accept in it and what we can safely ignore? The logical side of my brain says no, but the emotional side can not get past a passage that seems to say that it's okay to throw people away.

That was why I was so excited by the sermon I heard yesterday! It allowed me to see this Matthew passage in a whole new light.

It's not about money, success, or the lack thereof. It is about how we use our God given talents. At the time the passage was written a "talent" was a large sum of money, but we don't even think about it that way anymore. We think of talents as abilities that people have.  The important part of the story is that the third servant hid his talent in a hole. He buried it and did not share it with anyone. He horded his talent.

What happens when we don't share ourselves and our talents with others, the community, the world? We find ourselves isolated, lonely, and alone. We find ourselves in the darkness.  It is not a "punishment" from a ruler. It is a natural consequence of our actions.  What's more ... it's an invitation ... An invitation to participate in the community to help and give joy to others by sharing what we have.

Now, that sounds more like the Jesus I know.