Canned Potatoes
“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,[f] 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.’
Matthew 25:14-30
**Tip for reading this parable. This can be a challenging story to read (what about that poor man with only one talent?!) Our bible study group discovered this week how helpful it was to read the parables and stories surrounding this one in the gospel of Matthew. If you have time, read all of Matthew 24, 25, and 26 and see if that helps add some perspective.
No choir, no kids, no coffee hour. We must not have much. Just me, Roland, and Josh. It’s like we were given one talent--that’s it. It wouldn’t be a stretch to see ourselves in this way right now, like we don’t have much to offer. We’re just a small church. Only a few people. So we’d better save what we have, hole up, and hope for the best.
When asking where people see themselves in this story, it is most common to recognize yourself in the person who was only given one talent. Many of us feel sympathetic to this person who just wanted to save, it seemed. And yet they were dealt with so harshly. How could this be, that the one who had so little was then left with nothing at all? We feel that deeply, because we understand ourselves in that underdog position.
And I certainly have sympathy and many feelings about this one-talent-person. But I’m more interested in why we often see ourselves as the one burying our money in the backyard instead understanding ourselves as the one with abundance and responsibility.
It reminds me of a study done by Ameriprise Financial that led to this provocative headline, “Only 13% of millionaires think they’re rich.” As it turns out, there’s no magic number that makes folks believe they’re wealthy. Location, upbringing, and always being able to see someone who has more than you--well these things make for a lot of folks with a lot of money believing they’re solidly middle class.
We don’t tend to do a good job of evaluating the gifts and the wealth we have. Perhaps none of you are millionaires, but how do you assess what you have? Do you think you have five talents? Two? Or just one? By what metric?
Josh was telling me a story recently about canned potatoes. I saw them being used to great effect on a cooking show and Josh’s testimony was that yes, canned potatoes can be wonderful. Because there was this one time when he was growing up when there wasn’t much left in the cupboards. But Josh’s mom was still able to make this memorable meal from the odds and ends leftover. For Josh, that memory is of the best, crispy potato wedges. Out of the corners of the cupboard, right into this memory of being fed, loved, and in awe of moms who can make so much out of so little.
How many talents do we have?
Well, I could give you somewhat exact numbers. We’ve been collecting your information online to plan for our budget next year. Many of you have submitted pledges of money and time. And I know that those exact numbers are important--just ask Doris our treasurer.
But I don’t need to know the exact tally to know that here at South Haven, we have been given five talents. It’s just our responsibility to recognize that and then take our abundance to create more abundance.
We have people. We have money. We have space, this building. We have connections.
It’s really easy right now to be scared. I’m scared and worried. How can we plan for the future? How can we trust that we have enough? For many people this brings up the trauma and memories of times when there wasn’t enough. For many people now there is no work, no health insurance, no food left in the cupboards.
Which is why I’m grateful that we don’t hear this parable alone. Maybe if it were just one of us facing the world, I could agree. There’s just one talent and only one place to put it, in the backyard out of fear and desire to not lose what little is left.
But together, we have more than five talents. And with that comes the responsibility to pay attention, to participate in the world that God is preparing. Together, we are able to not only feed people in our community, but start to ask why are they hungry in the first place? We can maintain our building not just so we have a nice place to meet when this is all over, but to provide safe, accessible space for the organizations that will need it most. We share in worship to glorify God and connect with one another, but also to display and express exactly what a fully open and affirming congregation looks like and believes.
This is what I want to consecrate today. I want to consecrate our five talents to become five more. By the grace of God, might it be so.