Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Grace to you and Peace from God our Creator and our Savior Jesus Christ.

There is a well-known tale about how to capture a monkey. It is said that trappers in south India capture a rare species of monkey by hollowing out gourds or coconuts and filling them with rice through small holes. The hole is just large enough for the monkey’s hand to go in it. The trappers then hang the coconuts in trees or chain them to the ground and wait. Without fail, the monkeys come, reach into the hollow shells, and grab fistfuls of rice. And because their hands are full, they can’t remove their hands through the holes. While the monkeys tug and twist trying to find a way out, they are stuck because of their clenched fists when the trappers return. All the monkey needs to do is unclench his fist and he would be free, but he holds on to the rice tightly. There is a connection between the monkey trap and the gospel parable for today.

The parable from Matthew tells a tale about three slaves who are given talents. Two find a way to increase their talents, but the third servant who is only given one talent, decides to hold on to it and presumably keep it safe. As we read the parable we sympathize with the third servant. He is, after all, doing the prudent and safe thing by saving and holding on to this tiny, little amount that he has been given. But then, why is the master’s reaction so harsh? The one who was given so little was faithful wasn’t he? He didn’t lose it. He held on to his small gift. So why the reaction?!

But we have to remember it is Jesus telling this story and when does God ever give a tiny, little gift?  The meaning of the parable changes when we realize how much a talent is. It is not the small amount that we originally assume it is. One source said it was the equivalent of 20 years wages, so all of a sudden this “tiny, little” amount seems like a pretty generous portion given to him by the master. This changes the meaning of the parable considerably. The one talent only seems small when the comparison is made to those who have more…and this is of course where our mind goes first. Instead of seeing the generosity, we see the scarcity and what is lacking.

It is our default reaction to look to those who have more and compare ourselves to them or to hyper focus on what we lack. And when we do so, our fists stay clenched and we become fearful about not having enough. But….when we see and focus on the resources, gifts, and blessings that have been entrusted to us, we are surprised by God’s goodness and abundance, and our hands begin to open.

This past week in our class on Making Sense of the Christian Faith, we were looking at the two creation stories in the first two chapters of Genesis. After reviewing all of the things created by God we talked about how surprising it was that God entrusted humans to care for it all—how God had carefully created and then opened his hands to give it to us—to have dominion over it all. Right in the middle of discussing what it means to have dominion and be good stewards of the earth, one of the class participants had an “aha” moment. She burst out with the simple sentence: “We aren’t meant to be takers on earth, but givers.” It was such a simple statement, and yet it hit all of us with a challenge. Can we really imagine a world where we all live with open hands? Where taking is replaced with giving? Or is that just foolishness?

At the heart of this gospel parable is a call for us to examine our relationship with God. Does God want us to relate to him and others with fear or faithfulness? When we are fearful, we are stuck like the monkey with our hands clenched. We are fearful of God, of what others think about us, about whether we have enough, about whether we look foolish, about everything. This kind of fear keeps us trapped in prisons of our own making—prisons where we are richly blessed and yet still fearful.

Instead, it is God’s desire that we live faith-filled lives with open hands and moved hearts. God wants us to trust in his goodness and see how we are filled to the brim with the treasures and the abundance that he gives to us. And as we do so, we cannot help but spill that abundance out into every area of our lives….and at times doing so might seem downright foolish. This is what a richly blessed and faithful relationship with God might look like.

It is amazing what God can do with us when we are faithful instead of fearful. One of the most powerful examples of “foolish” faithfulness from this congregation comes from 1963 when Sidney Rand made the motion at a congregational meeting that “at least 15% of all monies raised for Long Range projects should be earmarked for Outreach.” What I would give to have been at that meeting! Maybe some of you were there. What Holy Spirit-filled folly led him and everyone present to have such open hands and moved hearts full of faith?

Since the motion was approved, that has meant that over 15% of every Capital Fund Drive since then—and there have been seven--has been earmarked for global and local mission. And this is on top of annual giving, special offering giving and Foundation gifts. This rich and some might even say “foolish” faithfulness has been used by God to do all kinds of things: fund a mission start congregation in Baxter, MN, start a rock and roll congregation known as Spirit Garage (just craziness!!), fund Journey Homes supportive housing and Zoom house transitional housing in south Minneapolis, start Jacob’s Well congregation, build a church in Panruti India, build a childcare center and fellowship hall in Argentina, and the list goes on and on.

Part of the Share the Spirit Capital Campaign went to paying for the seminary education of Bee Vang at Luther Seminary. This unfolding story has grabbed my attention. I have recently learned more about the Hmong experience in the book The Latehomecomer written by local author Kao Kalia Yang.  After reading this book and hearing some other Hmong community leaders speak, I realized that Bee is part of the first generation of strong Hmong leaders emerging in the Twin Cities. He was a young child when his family came to Minnesota. Lutheran Social Services (with the help of churches like Bethlehem) hosted and welcomed Hmong refugees in large numbers to Minneapolis and St. Paul in the 1980’s. Minnesota received the 2nd largest number of refugees next to California.

With Bethlehem’s support, Bee was able to work at Luther Memorial Church in North Minneapolis and be in ministry with Hmong youth instead of taking a job that would simply pay the bills. Bee will now be called and ordained as a pastor at Luther Memorial in February. He is one of only a few Hmong-speaking pastors in the Twin Cities sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. The work he has done with Hmong youth is already bearing fruit as they are beginning to think about their role in ministry as well. The generosity from this congregation enabled God’s mission and ministry to happen in this very unique community and it will continue to grow at this very unique time. God can do amazing things through us when we are faithful instead of fearful.

Anna Carter Florence, one of my favorite preachers, asked: “What if this parable is stretching us to dig deeper? What if the talents the owner gave his slaves weren’t commodities to be bought or sold...but gospel to be spread? What if the owner trusted his slaves with pieces of the greatest treasure ever given to human beings: the good news of Jesus Christ?”

The good news of Jesus Christ frees us to relate to God, our neighbor and our resources in a radically different way. The image for these relationships and for the kingdom of God is the movement from a clenched fist to an open hand, from being fearful to being faith-filled. With open hands and hearts we can be used by God to share the treasure and the good news of Jesus Christ in all that we do.

The good news of Jesus Christ moves us from navel-gazing and being turned in our ourselves, worried and fearful, to the opening up of our lives in the sign of a cross, reaching out to others in need and being freed to live cross-shaped lives. In trying to save our life (by burying the resources we have) we will lose it and become stuck and trapped and miserable. Only in the giving of our lives will we find freedom and enter into the joy of true life.

Giving of our lives can happen when we give of our financial resources. With this renewed relationship with God, our treasures become means for sharing the gospel, sometimes in very tangible ways. This week on Wednesday, November 16, we encourage you to participate in the Give to the Max day. Bethlehem is participating in this on-line day of giving and every dollar given to Bethlehem on that day will be given directly to Lutheran World Relief to fight the famine in East Africa. Then next Sunday we ask you to bring back your pledges for Consecration Sunday. With those envelopes, we want you to bring bags of food or monetary gifts that will be designated for our local food shelf. In this way, the gospel of Jesus will be shared to those most in need in very tangible ways.

Giving of our lives also flows from the ministries in which we are involved. Sharing your gifts and talents is another way of being faithful and living with open hands. There are many ways for you to share your gifts here at Bethlehem and beyond these walls. The gifts inventory in your bulletin is one of the best ways for us to know what the passions and gifts are that you have to share. So at this time, please take out the white sheet. I will give you over a minute of quiet time, so you will have time to fill them out. Ushers will have more ready to give to you if you need one as well as extra pens and pencils. Go ahead and begin now……..

You can place your completed sheets in the offering plates when they are passed around or you can give it to an usher after the worship service.

Please close your eyes now and pray with me. Begin praying with clenched fists.

God we have come here this morning with many things that worry us, concern us and keep us fearful……(Now begin to open your hands slowly)…..

Creator God, help us to imagine a world where our hands are no longer clenched tightly, but open, reaching out to share your love. Loosen our grip on those things you can use to share your gospel. Free us from the traps and prisons we create for ourselves and free us for loving you and our neighbor. Move our hearts to hear where you are calling us in ministry and open us to live cross-shaped, faithful lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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