33 RD SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A
And so the master returns. The first two servants that had invested their talents and
doubled the amount were rewarded and given additional responsibilities. But the decision by
the third and more cautious servant is not rewarded. It seems there were some better options for
how to pass the time while his master was away.
The master turns to the third servant, who immediately begins to offer explanations and
excuses, noting that he was afraid to do anything but hide what he had been given in the ground.
The master is harsh, calling the servant lazy, saying he at least could have put it in a basic
interest bearing account. And then that third servant is punished, banished to the darkness
where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.
It’s a hard story to swallow. It’s not like the third servant squandered these funds on
gourmet dinners and fine wine. He didn’t buy a new iPhone or go on a shopping spree on Black
Friday. He just played it safe. And that seems to be the heart of what Jesus is trying to teach
in the parable.
As it turns out the greatest and most dangerous risk of all for a Christian is to not risk
anything, to not care deeply enough about anything to invest in. The greatest risk of all, it turns
out, is to play it safe, to live cautiously and prudently.
Jesus is expressing in today’s gospel what he hopes and expects of his disciples after he is
gone and as they wait for his return in glory. This is a parable about what it means to be a
follower of Jesus and being faithful to him, even when he’s not here to show us how to do it.
And so, the parable is not only about the first disciples, it’s about you and me as well.
That third servant had the opportunity – the calling really – to take what had been given
to him and do something for his master. But instead of building up, he dug a hole in fear.
From the first century until today, God’s people have had trouble stepping up to live fully
into Christ’s call to live actively as his disciples.
In the 1940s, German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer struggled with this as he wrote in the
midst of the Holocaust. He suggested that the sin of respectable people is running from
responsibility as he himself wrestled with his own sense of responsibility to speak out against
Hitler and the Nazi party.
This led to his arrest, internment in a concentration camp, and execution. Running from
responsibility looks a little bit like digging holes and burying talents.
As people of faith, we are called to take risks, not dig holes. This is one of our greatest
callings as disciples of Jesus as we live in anticipation of his return. To live into the kingdom of
heaven means being ready to present ourselves to God, not as maintainers of the bare minimum,
but as faithful investors who have been given great responsibilities and who hope to share our
master’s joy.