Matthew 25:14-30
“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
A wealthy man entrusted three slaves with his money. They weren’t asked to keep it safe. They were asked to make it work! The amounts given weren’t chump change either! Roughly half a million, a million, and 2.5 million dollars in today’s money. When the guy got back, two slaves had made money while the third had dug a hole and buried it, so as not to loose a penny. Two of them trusted. One couldn't. In FEAR, he had dug a hole. His fear ended him up sitting in the outer darkness, weeping, and gnashing his teeth.
Digging that hole, however, wasn’t a choice. His fear had left him only that one option… dig a hole. What was it that shut down his access to the part of his brain that did nuance, creativity, and trust? Was it an individual thing? Was it a collective trauma? Was his fear passed onto him by his parents? Maybe a little of all of it? Maybe a lot of all of it? We don’t know where his fear came from. All we know is what that fear did. It cut off every other option from his mind so that when he was given that money, his fear-filled mind was only able to give him ONE option, “dig a hole”… biologically that was ALL he had.
Now imagine how fear can work in a whole community, a whole country, a whole people… imagine what happens when fear shuts down access to the parts of the brain that do nuance, creativity, and trust for an entire people! Imagine an entire people with only one option left to them… to dig a hole. But we really don’t have to imagine what fear can do to an entire people do we? It’s Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge. It’s Israel and Palestine. It is reason people are actively digging a fascist-shaped hole in our country right now. Stuck in fear, cut off in their minds from access to trust, creativity, and nuance, they do the only thing their minds can dish up as an option… dig a hole, sit in darkness, weep, and gnash their teeth. I don’t think Jesus meant for the outer darkness to be permanent. To be sure, it is a very real, biological, consequence of fear, but it doesn't have to be our full time home. So what can we do?
Here's an example of what we can do on a smaller scale. As I worked on this sermon down in North Carolina, Kelly reminded me of what Pastor Krautwurst told us in our pre-marital counseling. He said the thing we’d fight about most was money. Mom chimed in and said that’s every family! Then Kelly said, “right, and what’s a church? A family system… and what’s got the financial leaders in church, including you, anxious these days?” I said, “well, getting a mortgage for The Grey Cottage, higher interest rates, our maxed out line of credit from the Grey Cottage project, landscaping costs, clergy compensation, a pledge drive, fewer people in worship, a church that needs some paint and a few other repairs, a dead sanctuary air conditioning system, Ellen Elizabeth’s estate…” “Okay, okay, yes,” Kelly said, “that’s enough. And what are all those things?” The lightbulb came on. "Money" I said. "We’ve got money fears and we're starting to dig a hole, aren't we?"
At that point I slid my laptop across the table to her and said YOU get to preach! She said, “I run the cameras. You do the preaching. Just give me credit.” So credit given where credit is very due! But she’s right you know, my fellow, financially, fearful, folk… she’s right. We are on the edge of becoming that fearful slave with “digging a hole” as the only option left to us!
Now, just to be clear, our church isn’t having “we just used the last diaper and there’s no money to buy more” money troubles. Our church is having “we like having financial cushions and reserve funds and lots of breathing room in the check book for “just in case” but we’ve used all that to get the Grey Cottage finished and haven’t got our cushions back yet” money troubles. Those are VERY different kinds of money troubles when you look at them from the outside. But on the inside, our biology offers just one, identical solution for both… dig a hole! So how can we regain access to the creative, trusting, and nuanced parts of our collective noggin? How can we move back into the part of our collective, creative, slightly irreverent part of our brain that gave us things like the AT project, Berkstock, Lichgate Concerts, and Feeding Friends?
The answer, I believe… is lunch. Specifically Joe’s lasagna lunch… today. Maybe its not the WHOLE answer, but if you’ll come to lunch, sit down and talk to the folks at your table about what they love most about Christ Trinity, that will be an excellent first step. Ask one another what gives them the most joy here at church? Ask them what would they want to try around here if they weren’t afraid? Ask them if they would try a new thing if you tried it with them?
Our loving God does not send anyone into darkness, to weep, and gnash our teeth. It is, however, a very real biological human consequence of living in, and acting out of fear. However, with intentional questions and small steps taken toward a future of shared goals and values, I believe any person or any people, even Cambodia, even Israel, even Palestine, even us… can be resurrected from hole-digging fear and regain access to the creativity, nuance, and trust that leads to abundant life. Let us all start that resurrection journey today, with lunch! Amen.
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