As I said at the beginning of the service, the parable that we had in our gospel reading is probably going to be jarring and confusing. It’s likely that we’re more familiar with the version of this parable that is in Matthew’s gospel than this one in Luke. Indeed, it is quite likely that both accounts of this same parable are from the same source, but we are actually to interpret them in the opposite way.
In Matthew’s gospel we call it the Parable of the Talents. There a man is going on a journey. Before he goes he summons his slaves and entrusts his property to them. To one he gives five talents. To another two. And to a third, one. A talent is a large sum of money; in the range of a million dollars today. Two of the three slaves are industrious and double their master’s money upon his return. The third hides the money and then returns it. The master praises the industrious slaves and condemns the one who did nothing. In that parable we come away with the idea that the master is God and we are the slaves. We are to put our resources to work to accomplish God’s purposes.
But that’s Matthew’s gospel. Here in Luke the situation is different. First, we have to remember the context. The Bible passage started with the words, “As they were listening to this…” That connects it to the story we read last week. That is where Jesus has met Zacchaeus the ruling tax collector. Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house. This parable is then told in Zacchaeus’ house with some number of people listening in.
Right after this parable is the Palm Sunday story. This is the final teaching of Jesus before he enters Jerusalem. You know the Palm Sunday story well enough to remember that the crowds welcome him as if he were a king. And by the week’s end Jesus will be crucified with the sign, “King of the Jews,” hanging on his cross. So, what sort of king is Jesus actually? Is he like the king in the parable, or something else? And if he is something else, then how are we, his followers, to follow our different sort of king?
Let’s delve into some of the details of this parable. The idea of a king going off to receive a kingdom is something the people of the area would have known well. The Herod family, who served as puppet kings of the region for Rome, had done just such a thing. And it didn’t happen once. It happened a few times over generations of the Herod family. A member of the Herod family would head off to Rome to get a royal title and power, and Jews back home would become unruly in protest of his leadership. But the member of the Herod family would come back and crush those who were unruly. Either you supported the Herod family or you were punished for unfaithfulness. (Some things never change in the realm of politics and power.) So, Jesus’ hearers of this parable would have lived the very thing he is describing.
We always want to remember that in those days slavery was very different from the way slavery was in America. In those days slaves could be very powerful and wealthy. Master’s would make slaves their legal agents. Slaves would do business on their master’s behalf, and even manage large fortunes. It was typical for slaves to be freed after a certain number of years. Slavery was seldom life-long. And when a slave was freed a slave could use the connections they had made when managing their master’s resources to build a nice life for themselves.
The ruler gives ten slaves each a pound. Unlike a talent, which was worth around a million, a pound was worth around $20 thousand. So, it’s still a good bit of money, but by no means a fortune. Each slave is to do business with the money until the master returns.
We have to remember that not only was slavery different in those days, so was the economy. These days we talk about economic expansion and prosperity for many, if not all. We think the economy is basically unlimited. That may or may not be true. But in Jesus’ day the economy was stagnant. There was only so much money. There was only so much land. There were only so many resources. In order for one person to have more someone else had to have less. This is one of the reasons why Jewish people were forbidden to lend money at interest. Interest was seen as a way of taking from another person without actually laboring for the gain.
So, when the king returns he has a reckoning with his slaves. The first has taken his pound and made ten pounds. That would be equivalent to turning $20 thousand into $200 thousand. There is absolutely no way such a thing could be done in those days with honesty and integrity. This slave has to have leveraged, exploited, manipulated and trampled upon who knows how many people to get such a return. The greedy king is delighted. As a reward for such shrewdness and dirty dealings this slave is put in charge of ten cities. We start to see the qualities this king wants from his staff.
The second slave comes and has a five-fold increase in the money. The king is not quite as pleased by this. He offers the slave no praise, but it is still the cunning attitude he is looking for. He puts this slave in charge of five cities.
We then hear about a third slave. This one has hidden the money and is now returning it. Unlike Matthew’s version, where we join in criticizing this slave for being worthless and lazy, here we should be in solidarity with him. This slave was not about to manipulate and exploit others on behalf of the overly greedy king. This king always wants more. He can never have enough. But this slave will put a stop to it in whatever way he can. In this parable it is this slave who shows honesty and integrity. And he will suffer for it.
The king is enraged. He takes the pound from the slave and adds it to the pile already in front of his top achiever. Then the king says, “I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
The king wants to surround himself with people who are cunning and greedy. If you can’t deliver for this guy then you will be impoverished.
But the king is not done. Next, he reckons with those who opposed him. He has them brought before him and he slaughters them. If you don’t support this king and his schemes for power and money he annihilates you.
If you can, keep all of that in your head and contrast it with what is about to happen to Jesus. He already has nothing, or almost nothing. About the only thing he has is the clothes on his back, yet even they will be taken away when the powers that be annihilate him. So indeed, someone who had nothing even had that taken away.
Unlike Herod and Pilate, the Roman prefect, Jesus commands no armies. He has no slaves. As king he does not destroy anyone or take their property or enslave them. In being crucified he does the exact opposite. You’ll remember that in his week in Jerusalem before his arrest he spends a lot of time in the temple complex. Among the things he sees are many people putting large sums into the temple treasury. But the one who stands out to him is the poor widow who puts in two pennies; all that she has. She had no earthly power or ability. She had no real way of having a secure life. Yet somehow she gives all that she has, even though it was basically worthless in the vast economics necessary to keep the temple running.
Who is this king of ours? What does following Jesus mean when everything that we depend upon to give us safety and status in life has no value before him?
It would be very easy to wrap up this sermon by saying we are to become social justice advocates for the poor and marginalized in our society. To say that we should use what we have to advocate for those who do not have and do not have a voice of power in society. But that would be an easy way out. In my opinion, too many who say they are standing up for those who are left out are really not actually doing anything. They are just posturing so as to claim for themselves the moral high ground; and they are using the teachings of Jesus to accomplish their agenda.
While such people may have their hearts in the right place, they are still not really risking anything. They are staying safe within their social circles and realms of power.
Jesus didn’t stay safe in his social circle. He didn’t stay safe at all. You know the crucifixion scene in Luke’s gospel. The authorities have handed him over for execution. The crowds have abandoned him or turned against him. The disciples have fled (some loyal friends they were!). The religious leaders taunted him. Even the criminal element mocks him. You remember what the one criminal crucified beside Jesus says, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself! And us!”
Only the other criminal in his dying gasps says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Some royal court Jesus has around him! He’s dying and a dying criminal is his sole supporter!
Yet Jesus fundamentally changed the world that day. He is truly the great king!
Jesus said we are to take up our cross and follow him. That requires seeing status and power in a way fundamentally different from the world. Wealth and power are not to be used to gain more -either wealth and power- or status and honor (like giving money to have something named after you, or social signaling to others by giving to the right charities and priorities). As Jesus taught earlier in the gospel with the parable of the Dishonest Manager, all money and power (regardless of how you came by it) is dishonest wealth. For no amount of money or power can heighten your position before God.
To the extent that we have wealth and power we can faithfully use them to equip others for fullness of life. That’s not about just giving to charities, or going to rallies, or writing letters to congressional leaders. That is applying those things with devotion, hard work, and without any social gain for ourselves.
We’re going to mess up. We always do. Such is the false allure of wealth and power. But wealth and power are no match for the power of the cross. By that our king Jesus saves us. And so ultimately, even in our imperfect ways and with all our flaws, we live in awe of our perfect king and do all things as a reflection of the love he showed for us.
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