Our Gospel lesson this morning continues the theme of Judgment, which we began in the Gospel last Sunday, and will continue in the Gospel for next Sunday as well. All three of these last Sundays after Pentecost in Year A have Gospel readings taken from the 25th chapter of Matthew, which is the chapter where Matthew summarizes the point, the reason, for all of Jesus’ teaching about the apocalypse and the end of the world. The point is that the End, the Fulfillment, the Judgment of the world and of our lives will come at a time we do not expect, so we must be ready; and the way we must be ready is to be working with God’s purposes here and now, so that we can be fulfilled in God’s purposes there and then.

That’s the picture of Judgment given in this parable of the talents in our Gospel today. And the good news is that two out of three judgments in the parable are good ones. We usually think of “judgment” in sheerly negative terms: we think of judgment as “condemnation” or “punishment.” But two of the three slaves in the story have a positive judgment rendered for them; two of the three hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful slave; enter into the joy of your master.” It is that invitation into joy that is the substance of the Judgment; and the Gospel invites us to prepare ourselves for that kind of Judgment, too.

So how does the parable suggest we prepare ourselves?

When I was much younger, I had a picture storybook that retold this parable—and also added a few details that were absent from the original Gospel version. In the storybook the first servant was pictured as tall and dressed in a handsome rich robe and with a look of wisdom and intelligence on his face; he took his five bags of money and went and bought a store in the town marketplace, and for all that time when the master was gone he sold clothing and farm tools and olive oil to the townspeople, and he built up quite a business and he made quite a profit. And when the master came back he said, “Look master: you gave me five bags of gold, and I’m giving you back ten bags of gold.” And he was rewarded.

Now the second servant in the storybook was pictured as not quite so tall, and not quite so handsome, but with  a big, round, friendly face. He took his two bags of gold and bought an inn; and all the time the master was away, the second servant took guests into his inn, and cooked meals for hungry travelers; and he built up quite a business and he made quite a profit. And when the master came back he said, “Look master: you gave me two bags of gold, and I’m giving you back four bags of gold.” And he was rewarded.

Now the third servant in the storybook was pictured—you guessed it—as not very tall and not very intelligent and not very ambitious. His robe was kind of patched and threadbare. He took the one bag of gold the master had given him and took it out into the backyard. And there was a picture of him digging a very deep hole—the kind of hole every kid wants to dig in the backyard but isn’t allowed to—and into that deep hole the servant put the one bag of gold and hid it where it could never be found and where it could never do anything. And you know what happened to him when the master came home.

Now what I learned from that picture book as a child was that the way to be prepared for God’s judgment was to build up quite a business and make quite a profit; what I learned was that you had to be successful in order to get a good judgment from God. It wasn’t until rather later that I learned that the parable isn’t about money or business or success at all. The word talent in the story refers to a measurement of money: that’s what the word meant in the Koine Greek of Matthew’s time. But largely because of this very parable, the meaning of the word talent has changed over the centuries, so that now it doesn’t mean “money” at all, but means skill or ability or capacity—it means the creative gift to bring into existence something that wasn’t there before—it means the unique ability to do something out of your very self in a way that no one else can do it.

And the meaning of the parable, then, is that God gives us talents—gifts and skills and abilities—and God calls us to use those talents, not just to be successful or profitable, but to be creative, to create along with God experiences of beauty and compassion and service and joy and love. The message of this Gospel is that, in infinite wisdom and generosity, God has called us to help God make the universe—and when we give of our talents to increase the sum total of goodness and truth and beauty in the world, when we use our talents to do acts of generosity and kindness and love, then we give joy to God, and God says to us, “Well done, good and faithful servants; enter into the joy of your master.”

That’s the Judgment in this parable. And that kind of judgment is not a negative condemnation; that kind of judgment is a positive recognition, a positive celebration, of all that God creates in us and all that we use our talents to create with God. And that is the Judgment for which the Gospel tells us we should be prepared.

And we prepare ourselves for that Judgment precisely by putting our unique talents to use in the unique circumstances of our lives. And we have many, many talents we can exercise.

One person may have a talent for friendship, a real ability to connect with people, and make people feel welcomed and valued and accepted for who and what they are. Exercising that talent means increasing the amount companionship and affection and joy in the world by co-creating it with God.

Another person might have a talent for speaking the truth, a real ability to cut through appearances or manipulations or double-talk, to get right to the heart of the matter and name the problems that other people might not have the courage or insight or strength to name. I was in a committee meeting once where several of us were sort of talking around the obvious problem and no one wanted to bring it up, until one of us said, “Oh come on now, let’s get real: we all know what’s going on here”—and she said the difficult thing out loud. It wasn’t particularly pleasant to hear what she said, but it wasn’t until she actually named it that the rest of us were free to admit it and deal with it and move on from it. Exercising the talent to speak the truth means increasing the amount of truth and honesty in the world by co-creating it with God.

Another person might have a talent for silence, a real ability to be still and allow the unique gift of just this moment to come forth and reveal itself. One time I was having a conversation with some friends, and we were all talking and making comments and coming back with ripostes—except for one friend who was just sitting there, being silent, listening, taking everything in—until one moment when there was a pause in the conversation, and into the silence our quiet friend said exactly the right thing that brought together everything we’d been trying to say and trying to figure out. His silence was a gift that allowed him to hear us better than we could hear ourselves. Exercising the talent of silence means increasing the amount of attention and understanding in the world by co-creating it with God. 

All of us have talents like this that have been given to us by God. We may not think of ourselves as particularly gifted or particularly special or particularly talented. But we are all like the slaves in the parable: out of the divine fullness, God has shared treasures of creativity with us and has called us to create lives of beauty and service and well-being and love for God. And it is the mission of the Christian community to help each of us discover our talents, and grow in our talents, and create opportunities to exercise our talents in making beautiful lives for God. That’s what we’re here for. And it’s when we rejoice in our talents together that God gives judgment for us and we hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servants; enter into the joy of your master.”

Readings For Sunday,

The First Lesson                        Zephaniah 1:7,12-18

Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is at hand; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, he has consecrated his guests. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the people who rest complacently on their dregs, those who say in their hearts, "The LORD will not do good, nor will he do harm." Their wealth shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them. The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, the warrior cries aloud there. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. I will bring such distress upon people that they shall walk like the blind; because they have sinned against the LORD, their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord's wrath; in the fire of his passion the whole earth shall be consumed; for a full, a terrible end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. 

The Second Lesson         1 Thessalonians 5:1-10

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.

The Holy Gospel               Matthew 25:14-15,19-29

Jesus said, "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. 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.