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

‘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.

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Well, Jesus says the Kingdom of God is like these three slaves who are given money to invest while the master is away. Two of them are willing to take a risk. They invest, and it turns out well (they didn’t buy stock in the last year, I guess), and they get 100% returns. We don’t know how long the master was away, so we can’t tell what their annual return was, but he seems pleased, so they must have done a good job, and he tells them to "enter into the joy of your master." Isn’t that a wonderful phrase? "Enter into the joy of your master."

The third guy didn’t invest. He was afraid to take the risk. All he could see was the prospect of getting into trouble, so he let fear rule him, and he buried his money, literally, dug a hole and buried it in the ground. You do not want this guy investing your money. And neither did the master. The money was very very safe, but there was no return at all. No change. And all that guy can do is whine: "I knew you were harsh, really harsh, and I was afraid." The master is angry.

Well, this is obviously a story about using our gifts for God, and I have to tell you that it’s tempting to want to talk about it as a sales pitch for giving your money to God and making good financial investments for the church and that sort of thing. I mean, when Jesus tells a story about money, it’s hard for us preacher types not to take a swing at trying to get more financial support for the church. But I think I need to lay off that pitch, because I don’t want to reduce this parable to the level of fund-raising, or even a story reminding you to use your gifts for God. I think this is about those things, but I think it is also about something so much bigger.

What I want to talk about is the difference between being motivated by fear, and being motivated by joy. The servant who buried the money entrusted to him said, "I was afraid," and he made it very clear that all he could see was a fearsome master. And what he got was a fearsome master. Ironically, the reason he got a fearsome master was that he could only see a fearsome master. The other servants were not afraid, they saw it differently, and they entered into the joy of their master.

Well, I think fear is a part if everyone’s life; it certainly is part of mine. I’m not consumed by it, but I’m probably afraid more often than you know. I think I sometimes create this persona, this aura, that I’ve got it together and know what I’m doing. People tell me that I can be intimidating. Don’t be fooled. I don’t feel intimidating on the inside.

On the inside, I’m not racked by fear, I don’t want to give you that impression, but I’m often afraid that I won’t know the right thing to say, or do, or that I won’t know the answer I should remember, or that I’ll offend someone, or I’ll forget your name when I really should know it (and, of course, it will come to me in the shower). I deal with fear that you won’t like me, or that I’ll come on too strong, not say enough, or that a class I’m teaching will bomb, or I’ll come one Sunday and no one will be here. Probably my overriding fear is that I just won’t do my job well, that I won’t be competant at this. And that means a lot to me, because I don’t work for St. John’s. I work for Jesus, and the stakes are high, and I don’t want to let him down.

I’m not saying that these are healthy fears, a lot of them aren’t — they’re just the typical neurotic insecurities that ping around in most of our heads. But I am saying that most of us have some fears that we have to deal with.

So let’s look together at what fear can do to us. First of all, I think it causes us not to recognize our gifts, or not to value them. This parish has lots of gifted people, but I often get the impression that you have no idea of how gifted you are. "I’m wouldn’t say I’m gifted," some of you say, "all I’m good at is helping a child tie a shoe." Or reading a story, or welcoming visitors. Or keeping the books. Or updating our web site. Or working at the Bargain Shop. Or fixing things when they break. Or cooking for sixty. Or doing the dishes after sixty people have eaten.

"These aren’t really ‘gifts,’" some of you think. "They’re just something I can do to help out. I haven’t gone to school to learn these things or anything." They are gifts, and believe me, there are lots of parishes that don’t have them the way we do.

But it is true that some of you aren’t particularly gifted at doing things. All you’re good at is listening to a friend, and laughing, and crying with them. You don’t know the answers; all you’re good at is asking the question everyone wants asked. You often feel inadequate because you have failures and weakness in life. All you’re good at is sharing what it’s like to battle depression, or addiction, or to be unemployed, or to live with cancer, or to lose a loved one, or to come from a tragic family. Shoot, people like you can’t answer prayers; all you’re good at is letting someone know that you’re praying for them, or with them. The list could go on.

Please don’t tell me that these are not gifts. These are deep, profound gifts that form the fabric of our lives together. And fear that we don’t do it right, or that we’re not credentialed right, or that someone will find out that we don’t really know what we’re doing, that fear can cause us not to recognize our gifts, or to undervalue them.

So, be brave, and recognize your gifts. You’re not gifted in some of the ways some of the other parishes I’ve been in have been gifted. But let me tell you something, I would stack the value of your gifts up against anyone, anytime. Don’t value them the way the world does. Value them the way the church should.

Once you know your gifts, two other fears arise: fear of failure, and fear of success. The servant who buried the money might have been motivated by a fear of failure, fear of losing it. I don’t need to say much about that; everyone has experienced a fear of failure. But notice that it was the fear of failure that caused him to fail. He was so afraid of losing the money that he blew his chance. A lot of Christians are like that, I think. If you’re a Christian because you want to avoid going to hell, then I’m really sorry for you. Because the difference between being motivated by fear, and being motivated by joy, is profound. It affects how you see God, and for us, I think, it is the difference between, on the one hand, entering into the joy of our master and, on the other, sewing the seeds of a fear-based life.

Fear of failure is not the only kind of fear. There is another kind that often masks itself as fear of failure, a kind that is more insidious, and that is fear of success. If the servant had invested wisely like the others did, his whole world would have to change. He’s already identified as someone without much talent (that’s why he’s given the smallest amount), and if he now becomes successful, he’ll have to grow in ways he can’t imagine, and which probably scare him. There will be new responsibilities, new expectations, new chances to mess up; the comfort of having your talent safely buried will be gone. The comfort of just living out the label you wear will be gone. The security that comes from knowing that you’re not really good enough to play in the big leagues is taken away.

I have struggled with fear of success for a long time. I can sometimes hear a little voice saying, "Don’t do it; don’t go for it; don’t risk it."

It’s challenging to leave the comfort of moderate success, or meaningless success, or even the comfort of failure. Or the comfort of viewing yourself as someone who was damaged and can’t be made whole.

Choose this day, Jesus is saying: risk it, go for it, and enter into joy, or live a life of fear, yielding a God made fearsome because God is seen though fearful eyes. I’d like to close with a quotation you’ve heard before, but which bears repeating:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in EVERYONE! And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others!

Amen.

The Rev. James H. Pritchett, Jr. St. John’s Episcopal Church, College Park, GA

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