Proper 28, Year A
November 13, 2005
Christ Church, Covington
“The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast” (Zeph. 1:14).
I’m warning you: this isn’t your typical stewardship sermon. This one comes with
“Cliff’s Notes”, and these are the main points of this sermon: “crisis”, “test”,
“decision”.
First, “crisis”. Ancient Israel knew all about crisis. They lived in the direct
path of competing empires, in strategic and valuable territory, on land they had
seized from enemies still un-subdued and living in the vicinity. This situation
bred war, the most acute form of societal crisis. In response, the prophets of
Israel, like Zephaniah in our first reading, posited a “day of the Lord”, a day
of ultimate crisis in which YHWH would himself appear to lead his army to
victory. The “day of the Lord” to which Zephaniah refers, in fact, may have been
the rally call of Israel’s troops, mustered from the fields to join the fight.
“The day of the Lord”: a final crisis, demanding the most of God’s People.
Second, “test”. The idea of test is implied in the very notion of crisis. A
crisis tests everybody. Leaders are generally tested publicly: remember Ray
Nagin’s radio interview with Garland Robinette on WWL in the days immediately
after the storm? People say the Mayor lost his temper. That’s an example if
there ever was one of leadership being tested (in this case, to what result I
don’t know: I guess the voters will be the judge). Even though leaders are
tested publicly, a crisis presents everyone with a test and a challenge.
“Decision”, the final theme. A crisis and a test bring with them decisions. The
character of one of Walker Percy’s novels (I think Will Barrett in The Last
Gentleman) tells himself that when faced with a choice, it’s possible to not
choose. But I’m not so sure that this isn’t part of the confused mental state of
the character which Percy used to such comic purpose. Making no decision, after
all, is a form of decision making by default. Crisis and test bring decisions,
whether we like it or not.
So it is in our Gospel today, in the story Jesus tells. It too is a story of
crisis, test, and decision. Talents, large units of money, are distributed to
three servants. Two of the servants take the talents and increase them; they
make good decisions that are rewarded. But the third servant does hardly
anything with his talent except bury it. He makes no decision, or a decision by
default, and is judged inadequate when the crisis comes. What is stressed in the
story is the necessity of readiness and action, just the sort of things that are
needed in a situation where people are tested and decisions need to be made.
It’s true: God has given each of us gifts, and the decisions we make about using
them are important. In fact, the effects of the decisions we make go far beyond
our own understanding. The decision we make that we think is really about one
thing may have its most profound effect in the mark it leaves on our own soul,
our own being. Some fairly small decisions in life may turn out to be the really
big ones for us, in their effect on our character. Our decisions have moral
content. So that’s something to take away: the real value of our own decisions,
and their effect on us.
Crisis, test, and decision; yet there’s still one other point to make. Whatever
crisis is before us, whatever test we undergo, whatever decision we make, in the
end Christians look to Jesus’ own crisis at Gethsemane, the test which he
passed, the decision made by him which brought the world salvation. We may be
judged inadequate, but he the One who is worthy, and that is of most importance
in God’s eyes. Remember Ancient Israel’s notion of “the day of the Lord” with
which we began this sermon? That’s the day the Lord himself shows up to win the
battle. So Christ has won the battle for us. That’s something, too, we ought to
take away with us today. Crisis, test, decision: the Christian life and
Christian stewardship takes place within the context of what Jesus has already
done for us.
John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church, Covington.
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