Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, MO

November 13, 2005
(Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 28; Kirkin' o' the Tartan)

Meeting God Halfway

• Zephaniah 1:7,12-18
• 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10
• Psalm 90 or 90:1-8,12
• Matthew 25:14-15,19-29

Angus finds himself in dire trouble. His business has gone bust and he’s in serious financial problems. He’s so desperate that he decides to ask god for help. “God, please help me. I’ve lost my wee store and if I don’t get some money, I’m going to lose my house, too. Please God, let me win the Lottery!”

Lottery night comes, and someone else wins.

Angus prays again. “God, please let me win the lottery. I’ve lost my wee store and my house and I’m gonna lose my car as well. Please God, let me win the lottery!”

Lottery night comes again, and still no luck.

Angus prays a third time. “I’ve lost my business and my house and my car. My barns are starving and empty. I don’t often ask You for help and I have always tried to be a good servant of Yours. Please, God, just let me win this lottery this one time so I can get back on my feet!”

Suddenly there is a blinding flash as the heavens open and the voice of God Himself thunders: “Angus, you at least have to meet me halfway. Go buy a lottery ticket.”

If we are people of faith, servants of Christ Jesus, saved by Grace and filled with the Holy Spirit, then we must meet God at least half way.

In this splendid liturgy this morning, a few tartans, representing all tartans, will presented at the altar for a blessing which says in part: “Increase our reverence before the mystery of life; and give us new insight into our purpose for the human race, and new wisdom and determination in making provision for its future in accordance with God’s will....We present ourselves that we may be blessed and serve you patiently, courageously and faithfully...”

We must not be like Angus, and pray for God to act without taking any responsibility on our part. We are called to serve patiently, courageously, and faithfully.

In today’s Gospel reading Jesus says that we are to be people of action, who risk, venture, and never hoard our gifts. Be like the two slaves who take a risk, and are rewarded. And the parable also issues a strong warning: before it is too late change whatever you must in order not to be like the third slave who would not risk.

Coming out of this reading is a question I find it hard to answer: is the third slave condemned because of what he did—burying what he was given—or was he condemned for what he would not do—risk? Probably for both reasons. . .and rightly so.

Practically speaking, the third slave should have kept his mouth shut, but instead he speak, and receives a much worse condemnation. He tries to explain his lack of action, and reveals how little he thinks of his master, whom he calls a harsh man who raped the land and took what was not his.

Sadly, this is exactly how some people view God: a cosmic figure who is harsh, cruel, and terribly fickle. For a person or a parish or a community with this attitude, life becomes mere existence. Each day is not seen as a gift from God to be used in generous and creative ways, but each day becomes more like a burden, and life is little more than a struggle to survive to the next morning.

Jesus’ response leaves little doubt about what he thinks of such an attitude. “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.”

This parable is not about how money should be used by disciples of Jesus. Instead, this lesson is about how we see and relate to God, and how we see and live the life God has given us. Thus, at some point, this parable is about money, and how we as disciples of Jesus, see and use what we have been given by our Master.

We welcome today the St. Andrew’s Society to the Episcopal Church’s Cathedral in Kansas City. According to the Society’s web site, The founders [of the Kansas city St. Andrew’s Society] stated a "desire to impress upon their fellow citizens an understanding of the ancient Scottish feeling and spirit in support of all right and forward movements to better the condition of their community, for honesty, kindness and ready sympathy; in short, 'Watch Weel' that the signal fires of their forebears shall be a shining light to posterity." (www.kcscot.com)

My reading of that mission statement tells me that the members of this Society are a rambunctious lot and not just after certain beverages have been enjoyed. They support all right and forward movements to better the condition of their community…” Not only is that the mission of the St. Andrew’s Society, it is the mission of the Church. As baptized people, we are to seek and serve Christ in all people. Our city needs courageous women, men, and young people right now. An altar filled with votive candles in the rear of the nave stand for all those who have been killed by violence in our city since January 1.

Among the ways to serve our community is to care, to confront indifference, to support programs creating justice, economic and educational opportunities, and other expressions of hope for those who feel trapped with no way our of the cycles of violence and despair. We must take our place along community leaders to ensure that the greatness of this city will be measured by how well we care and provide for the most vulnerable. And such leadership assures that we will encounter opposition, rejection, and ridicule. But the risk is worth it, if it helps in the continuing transformation of this city into the City of God.

My sisters and brothers, opportunities for ministry are all around us. Whenever we serve another person, we are using what our Master has given us. There are people on the margins of life who need to know that this Holy Table is open to them, that they can come here with their wounds and anger, with doubts and antagonism, and find the Living God who will never turn away from them. And most often, these same people learn of this God by what you and I do. And by the same token, these people may never know this God if you and I don’t act. That is the principle point of today’s Gospel lesson. We condemn ourselves when we fail to risk and act.
God wants to meet us half way. As individuals we have been given 5 talents, or 3, or 1. The St. Andrew’s Society has been given 5 talents ,or 3, or 1 and so has this Cathedral. Are we ready to meet God half way? To do our part?

What say you, members of the St. Andrew’s Society: if you are up to a bonnie challenge say “Aye.”

What say you members of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral? Are you up to the challenge? If so say “Aye!” (Was that risky of me or what??)

Let us go forth and risk much for God and neighbor. As we ask God’s blessing on us this day, let us be determined, stubbornly determined, to use that blessing to the fullest. Be courageous like a Scot, be faithful like a Christian. Be a servant of God like both!

A Slave’s Anticipation

by The Rev. Bruce Hall, Deacon

Of all the seasons, fall is my absolute favorite and every dusk reminds me of times and places that are dear to me. The rusty sky of rush hour recalls childhood Halloweens and autumn terms at college and graduate school where real adulthood seemed comfortably placed on hold. It always felt like a time of renewal and fresh beginnings even as the trees, in their steady sacrifice of red and yellow let go their leaves and seem to die. The work of spring and summer is over and it is time to rest and perhaps reflect. Or visit family. In my own, Thanksgiving was a time to come back for a few days and, for as many who could to be together, tell the old stories and, once the parents had gone to bed, for the 20 and 30 somethings to escape to the bar of local Mexican restaurant and remind themselves that they were not 12.

Once in college I was at home for the holidays and came home well after midnight and realized I had forgotten my house key. After finding all the doors and windows annoying locked I was faced with the prospect of ringing the door bell and waking up both my parents from a sound sleep and hearing about for the next 20 years. Seeing that the window to my parents room was open slightly I figured that if I could wake just my father by gently, every so gently calling through the screen, that I could avoid waking my mother and avoid hearing about until I was 40. Of cause, it was a disaster. My mother sat bolt upright in bed, shouting “Who’s There!?” and had my father reaching for a bat within seconds. In future, I was advised, a doorbell provided a little more clarity at 2 am than a silhouetted person at a bedroom window.

You have your own fall memories I’m sure, and you see the leaves falling to the ground. Mother Church has her own traditions and as our liturgical year draws to a close, we are invited to consider our own situation and that, like the trees around us; we too live within the rhythm of our nature. We too, wherever we have been, whatever we have or have not accomplished, weather poor or rich, we have an appointment with our own death. Each of us is approaching the Day of the Lord.

For the people of Judah, the day of the Lord that Zephaniah prophesied was terrible one of judgment and punishment. At the time of its writing the people had enjoyed a period of freedom from the Assyrians whose power was dwindling. Yet, there remained the ideas, customs, and Gods of this former occupier and some in Judah had come to embrace them as much as they had the Old Religion. Yahweh is not amused. In fact, Yahweh is desirous for the loyalty and obedience of the people and is incensed that they should become complacent, “resting on their dregs” and believing that nothing more was required of them by their relationship to God. I came to the point that they believed that God was neutral and no longer involved in their lives. For those hearing the words of Zephaniah, the Day of the Lord was a day of profound accountability. This was a familiar view to them as well. For the people of the Old Testament, Yahweh is profoundly hot blooded. He is jealous in his possessiveness of His people and demands that they acknowledge Him alone as their God and honor him without reservation. Just as passionate is Yahweh’s love for his chosen people to the extent that we read elsewhere that Yahweh violently defends the people of Israel, slaughters their oppressors, and continually redeems them following their repeated periods of unfaithfulness. Yahweh was a package deal. A deeply passionate Creator who desired the people of Israel and a jealous lover who was enraged by their winking at other Gods and could be bloodthirsty in the presence of their infidelity. As much as Yahweh loved them, He never was seen to loose the prerogative of slimily wiping them out wholesale—and the rest of the planet as well, if Yahweh had a mind to. This can be a difficult God for contemporary Christians to explain and even problematic to embrace. Yet, these opposing parts of Yahweh’s nature are not reconciled in the Old Testament but rather, live side by side in tension with each other, tempered only by Yahweh’s own promise to be faithful in the end. Zephaniah’s Day of the Lord? Yep, its one to definitely be feared
As we hear Paul’s words to the early church we again encounter questions about the Day of the Lord. But here, the text reflects believers sense the Christ’s return was immanent and they were eager to know just when to expect him. Paul responds by redirecting them away from dates and reminding them that when Christ comes it will be a surprise to everyone, but, unlike a thief, we will be surprised by one we know and knows and loves us. More importantly, we must be ready for Christ’s return by remaining awake and sober.

“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.”

What does it mean for you and me to face the Day of the Lord? It is to face it with surprise, certainly, but not as though there was a stranger sneaking in your bedroom window. But it does, however, demand a response. The people of Judah approached that day in complacency, sitting on their “dregs.” And in today’s gospel we hear of the slave who was so concerned about angering his master that when entrusted with his master’s property he hid his single talent out of fear of loosing it. This angered his master because the slave had been responsibility to increase his master’s wealth and DO something with what he had been given. It wasn’t a matter of making millions but it was of necessity something more than returning back the single talent he had been given in the first place.

We as the slaves of Christ must live in readiness for the Day of the Lord by responding to the world with the love we have been given and by being a testament to the Gospel by our own acts of loving kindness. We must not become complacent in our salvation and ignore the suffering in the world we see each day. Our master has entrusted to you and me as the Church the continuing witness of the good news that God loves us to a suffering world in need of the Gospel. It is not a matter of being Mother Theresa or the most generous of philanthropists but it does require you to reach out beyond yourself. You cannot save the world but you can respond to what happen on you block. Use what ever talents you may possess as a result of God’s grace, and find a way to expand the Gospel to every person. It could be in the congregation or out of the congregation, wherever, but by all means GO. You have powerful truths to share and the power of Christ to make all the difference in the world. But this cannot happen if you simply recline, sip your tea, and watch the leave fall.