11-15-17 - Choose or Lose

I once attended a seminar on personal finance and learned this: if you do not choose to invest your money, you are in effect choosing to lose your money, as it gradually loses value with the rate of inflation. Not choosing means losing.

A biblical exemplar of “not choosing” is the third servant in Jesus’ parable of the talents, or coins:
“The one who had received the five coins went off at once and traded with them, and made five more coins. In the same way, the one who had the two coins made two more coins. But the one who had received the one coin went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”

Why would he think it a wise move to hide the money? He was afraid of losing it; this seemed a risk-free strategy. Turns out he was also afraid of his master, telling him when he returns from his journey: “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.”

This guy doesn’t think very highly of his master’s integrity – he as much as calls him harsh, dishonest, a thief "appropriating" what is not his to take. This servant does not appreciate the trust placed in him – he can’t wait to be rid of the burden: “Here you have what is yours.”

Who does Jesus intend this servant to represent, I wonder? Another way of getting at that question is to ask what it means to invest our "talents" in the spiritual life. To me, investment means full-on engagement in the life of faith – orienting our lives to moving in the mission of God, praying with bold expectation, taking risks in ministry, risking some disorder, disdain, disappointment. It’s radical trust in the Spirit of God to lead and guide us. It’s saying and praying, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

By contrast, burying our “talent” is playing it safe, laying low. Instead of radical trust, we exhibit radical mistrust in the power and promises of God. We pay way more attention to the unanswered prayers and things that didn’t work than to our victories in God. We allow ourselves to become bench-warmers (or pew-warmers…), disabled and sidelined. The master in Jesus’ story has no patience with this:

“But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! 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 coin from him, and give it to the one with the ten coins.”

Which servant do you feel most like today? The big risk-taker investing all five of her coins, the moderate one with the two – or the one who plays it so safe he accomplishes less than nothing? If you’re in the latter category, faith-wise – what’s holding you back?
Do you mistrust God because of some pain that you feel God allowed, did not prevent? 

Prayers you did not see answered? Do you see God as a harsh judge, or as loving father?
You can afford to be honest with God. Allow the Spirit to pour some healing balm into those wounds, and think about trusting again.

The great thing about being a servant and not a master is that we don’t have to worry about results. We just have to follow orders and give it our all, and let God bring about the outcome. The very act of stepping out in faith, Jesus suggests, allows God to work through us – and the yield is abundant.

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11-14-17 - Double Or Nothing

I wish I knew the investment strategist guiding these guys in Jesus’ story: 

“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.”

I don’t know what a “talent” is worth, but doubling your money is always a good deal. If my math is correct, each of these servants got a 100% rate of return. And I don’t know how sophisticated Jesus’ command of math was (hey, if he could conquer death he could handle calculus, right?), but I read into that percentage a symbol of wholeness.

This is a parable about faithfulness, not finance. As we invest faithfully the assets God has given us, we realize wholeness. And if we believe that the mission of God is to restore all of creation to wholeness, we get a big clue about how we as followers of Christ are to go about participating in God’s mission. One message of this parable is: Our acts of faith will yield fruit, 100% worth. Our holding back in fear? Nothing.

And we should expect big yields! We’ve grown so timid, so many of us nth-generation Christ-followers. For too long we have dwelt in the land of diminishing returns, our attendance and budgets and staffs shrinking, our giving tepid, our children fleeing what we know as “Church,” our neighbors disinterested in joining us. So we adjust our expectations downward – and maybe we hold back on our investment of faith and energy too. And all the while it may just be that God is leading us to do church in a new way.

This parable invites us to look up and remember who called us to those tired buildings in the first place. The Lord of Heaven and Earth says, “Join me – I am making all things new! Here, I give you all these riches, freely, your inheritance. Now plow it back into our Family Business. Let’s see what 100% growth looks like.” And you know, when we expect 100% , we’re more apt to realize it.

In what places in your life do you believe you reap a mighty return on investment of your time and energy? What feels fruitful? Why do you suppose that part works?

Where do you feel you get nothing back, or see returns diminishing? Might you ask Jesus to show you a new way to invest in that area? Maybe we need some new methods.

100% growth – I like it. it starts with our hearts and our faith and our actions, opening ourselves to the nudgings of the Holy Spirit. We can’t do it without God, and it seems God won’t do it without us.

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11-13-17 - Investment

Jesus was a versatile communicator, ably connecting with diverse audiences. To describe the realm of God, he told stories of sheep, vineyards, bread-baking, house-cleaning, seeds, crime victims, rebellious sons, foolish bridesmaids. This week we explore a parable set in the world of finance, a story of investment, stewardship, trust and mistrust. Like last week’s, this parable illuminates Jesus’ warning: “Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” – of the final judgment, that is.

To give his followers a clue what it means to live “awake” (not, perhaps, the same as “woke”…), he tells a story about three servants to whom a man entrusted his wealth:

“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his servants 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. 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.”

A simple enough story on the surface; if you read to the end (spoiler alert!), you know that the two who invested their funds were rewarded, while the one who protected his master’s investment was roundly condemned. We'll focus on them another day. For now let’s consider how the language of investment can draw us into the Life of God.

"Investment" is a word I use a lot in stewardship season, inviting congregants to make financial pledges on which the church will base its budget. A pledge is an investment in what God is up to at your church. Beyond "seeking support," investment is active, participatory; when we invest in something, we look for returns, maybe even work to improve the returns.

The life of faith might be seen as an exercise in wealth management. Our God, who made it all and owns it all, has invested tremendous wealth in us. God has given us life, gifts, relationships, work, ministries, joy, love – you name it, not to keep and hoard but to tend and nurture for growth. I believe God wants to see great returns on the investment God makes with us – our children growing healthy and independent, our marriages becoming more than the sum of two partners, our work lives fruitful in ways that expand possibilities for others, us all working for peace and equity. All of this “good fruit,” to use Jesus’ phrase, comes from our returning the trust God has invested in us by our investing in one another, in this world, and in the mission of God to reclaim, restore and renew all things in Christ.

What are some assets you feel you have been given? 

Make a comprehensive list – and don’t forget to include the intangibles, spiritual and emotional and relational gifts, along with the quantifiable ones.
In what ways have you invested these assets so they grow? 

Are you clinging to any, afraid to risk losing them?

This is good prayer fodder. Let’s spend some time chatting with God today about our answers to these questions, asking God for some “stock tips,” places God particularly wants us to invest ourselves and our gifts.

Jesus invites us to step out in faith, investing our energy and resources, not sure of the return. The faithfulness God seeks is in the act of investing, not in the dividends.

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