We used to know what a good investment strategy was. The watchwords of this strategy were words like diversification, and blue chip and dividend reinvestment. Greed never goes out of style, of course, and the human mind and complex economic systems are very good at inventing new ways to feed the greed. Now we sell mortgage debt and credit card debt as an investment. The more you can get people to owe, the more the people at the top of the economic food chain can profit. I do not even pretend to understand the complexities that have led us to our current economic crisis. But, I need only simple arithmetic to understand that my so called “age-appropriate” investment strategy has left me with less money than I began with in my investment accounts.

When we read this text in Sermon Shaping Wednesday morning, and we got to the part where the third servant should have at least put the money in the bank and earned interest, we actually laughed aloud! That’s the situation we find ourselves in. We may need to reinterpret this parable so that burying the money – the equivalent of putting it under the mattress – is the better part of wisdom.

But let’s assume for a moment that the writer of Matthew’s gospel never anticipated the ebbs and flows of modern capitalism. Let’s assume that though this is a story about business transactions and an economy meant to generate wealth for the wealthy, it is told to illustrate something about the kingdom of God that Matthew’s gospel proclaims.

There is a master who is already very wealthy. We know this because of the amount of money he has available to distribute to his managers. A talent may have been as much as fifteen year’s wages for a laborer at that time. The master is apparently also a shrewd judge of the ability of his managers, because he gives them differing amounts to manage. And they perform as predicted. The ones to whom the most is given do best. But for the third manager, who protected his master’s investment, though he did not multiply it – a harsh judgment awaits.

Again – our current situation intrudes on the story. Someone who protects the principal without doing any really risky deals to try and multiply it – that would be a good guy these days!

But this is not our story – it’s Matthew’s story. And Matthew is clear that the strategy of the third servant is not to be pursued. Furthermore, the story invites us to examine the differences in behavior and motivation between the servants. The first two are not risk averse. But the poor third servant is immobilized by fear.

Unable to act on his master’s behalf because of fear of failure, fear of loss, and fear of punishment, the third servant ends up experiencing an even worse consequence – he is rejected from relationship with the master. He misses out on entering into the joy of shared relationship.

The first two managers are invited to enter into the joy of the master. Here we have a kingdom of God image injected into this story about a business transaction. The second benefit that accrues to the first two servants is that they are given more responsibility. Having been faithful in many things, they are not given a big bonus and a trip to a resort and a substantial retirement account – no retirement or rest for these managers. They are given more to do.

So this is what the third servant misses. He misses the opportunity of sharing in the joy. And he misses the opportunity to be asked to do more.

Gifts that are used, that are employed multiply. Gifts that are unused atrophy.

Put another way: when God gives you a gift, you ought to use it. And God has given us a gift. We have been given life. A personality. A set of skills and abilities. Resources. Ideas. Hopes. Dreams. No matter who we are; what our age or place in life, we have been given a gift.

But the strategy of the third manager is tempting. What if we offer ourselves and we are criticized? What if we offer ourselves and we are rejected? What if we try and we fail? It seems to me that the third manager was held accountable not for his poor results, but for his reluctance to take the risk.

I propose that this story is inviting us to invest in relationship – to take a risk on relationship not just with God as revealed in the Christ of the gospels, but to risk relationship with community; with the neighbors that we are called to love as Jesus loves. This is what Jesus calls us to: love of God with heart, soul, strength and mind; and likewise, love of neighbor.

And because we find that risk hard to assume, we adopt a variety of strategies.

One strategy for our relationship with God is to assume that God is judgmental and a hard taskmaster and we thus withhold ourselves from relationship. We assume that people will not receive our gifts graciously, and so we do not contribute. We assume that we have nothing to offer, and so we offer nothing. For any one of us to assume that we have been given nothing to offer is to make a harsh judgment about God. God is the giver of the gifts – and in being given life we are given resources with which to invest in relationship.

Another strategy that we use for our relationship with God is to pursue a business relationship; that is a relationship that is based on trade. We make a finite commitment in order to purchase God’s favor or a sense of security with God. We believe that if we go to church, or give a certain amount of money, or serve on a committee, we’ve traded our money or time for God’s favor. It’s sort of like buying insurance. We’ve given to God a finite commitment which we hope will purchase us God’s protection, or God’s attention.

Another strategy is to bargain with God. We sort of ignore God until something happens to make us feel afraid or threatened, and then we begin to make all kinds of promises. Our prayers here sound something like, “O God, if you’ll just get me through this, I promise I’ll never…” or, “O God, if you just get me through this, I promise I will…”

All of these strategies are based in some way on fear.

Fear of the consequences of a future event can be a powerful motivator – so powerful as to be an effective tool for manipulation.

In Thessalonians, the theme so prevalent in early Christian tradition is sounded. Jesus is returning, and the disciple needs to be prepared and ready for this day. But though there are warnings, in the end Paul does not make his appeal to fear. He appeals to light; to faith; to love. His strategy is to inspire faithfulness. We should not be afraid, but assured. God has destined us for salvation. Therefore, encourage one another.

Though it is heretical to say this in some circles, and a welcome assertion in others, I believe that if Jesus was coming back to earth, he would have done it by now. I don’t think Jesus is literally coming back to the earth. But that is not to say that it’s not true that Jesus is coming today. Jesus is coming every day. Jesus comes daily to earth, in the presence of the hungry in need of food, the thirsty in need of water, the naked in need of clothing, the sick in need of visiting. What we do here, when we meet Jesus in the face of stranger or the soul of a friend, matters.

The major themes of the Christian faith cannot be lived without risk. This gospel good news is not to be hoarded, protected, or guarded. We are to take risks with it. Faith is to be our watchword; not fear.

We do know this for sure. We are not leaving this world with our physical bodies, or with our bank accounts. If we are going to make wild, risky, reckless investments in God’s justice, let us put on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation and get out there and take a chance on relationship. Let us risk rejection, and judgment and criticism and be reckless with our love of neighbor.

How do we learn to do this?

First, we have to taste the joy of relationship with God. We have to risk bringing all of ourselves – our emotions, our bodies, our minds and our spirits to worship. We have to learn to read the Bible in community with other Christians – read it thoroughly and take it seriously (though not literally). We cannot assume that we know what it says unless, in fact, we’ve read it in community. And we have to learn to pray. We have to learn to reflect on our life experiences, our insecurities, our fears, our relationships, our failures and our achievements in conversation with the one who created us, who sustains us and who is delivering us. We have to examine our lives not against the standards of a world that demands success, and instead in conversation with the God who invites faithfulness.

And we have to be reckless with our gifts and resources. We have to risk them for God’s purposes, rather than using them exclusively to promote our own self interest or let them delude us into thinking that our ultimate security is in the things of this world.

Are these themes familiar? Do they begin to sound like the practices of radical hospitality, faith forming relationships, passionate worship, risk taking mission and service and extravagant generosity?

What will you do with the opportunity that God is giving you to invest in God’s purposes? What is your investment strategy?

After all, in the end, don’t we all want to hear, “well done, good and faithful servant”?