Remaining Neutral
How much time have you got?
I don't mean right now. I mean how much time have you got left?
As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. - Luke 19:11
Today's reading includes a parable. That isn't unusual. Jesus loved to use parables to teach. What is unusual is this parable is troubling and offers an image of a master that we would have difficulty seeing as God.
It is the parable of the nobleman who traveled to a distant land to gain power for himself.
Upon his return, the man asks his servants how well they faired managing the money he left in their charge.
I have heard many sermons and read many commentaries that focus on the answers given by the servants. The ones who invested, took risks and made money were rewarded.
What's the problem with that? It is what we do in this world, right? We seek to make a good return on our investments, to earn a decent wage, to grow our wealth.
Does that sound like a Jesus message to you?
I suspect if I was one of the followers listening to this, knowing what Jesus has been teaching, I would raise my hand and question the meaning of his telling this. What do you want us to see here, J?
Luke introduces it as a response to their inquiries about the coming of the kingdom, but that's how he wanted to frame this. They are approaching Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets, according to Jesus.
This is not going to be a good visit and he knows it, so perhaps the nobleman in the story has something to do with the rulers in this occupied city.
When he returns, those who feared him most, who charged the most interest on the money they loaned, they will be the ones rewarded, and t he ones who refused, who buried the coins and did nothing with them, they will be destroyed.
The key for me is in verses 20-21:
Then the other came, saying, "Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow."
The rulers will destroy those over whom they rule. They cannot be trusted.
The servant who stood up to the evil in the man was punished for it, but he remained true to his character. He did not participate in the evil.
We were watching an episode of a PBS program about FDR and in it, Roosevelt is addressing a joint session of congress. He knew the country was not eager to fight in Europe again after The Great War, but he also knew he could not let the people sit idly by and remain neutral in their thinking about what Hitler was doing.
He told them they could take a neutral position, but not let their hearts and minds remain neutral to the atrocities and murders.
Like the servant who stood up to the nobleman, FDR would eventually get the country to stand up against the evil of the Third Reich.
We may never know for sure what conversation Jesus sparked on the road to Jerusalem. We do know that Jesus used the parables to help the blind see and the deaf hear.
So, I don't think this parable is about God wanting us to invest our talents and gifts for a greater return.
That's too easy to see. And we hear what we want to hear.
Maybe we should get together and have a real discussion about this one and see where it goes.
More to come...