In the parable of the talents, Jesus invites us to see the destructive and dishonest truth of greed—and the truth of abundant grace.
And who we really are
Proper 28A | Matthew 25:14-30
We’ve had some pretty intense gospel readings for several weeks. And last week I began to feel it. So I thought maybe this week, we could start out with a joke.
I’m so much in debt, I can’t afford to pay my electric bill…
These are the darkest days of my life…
OK. How about this one:
I lost my job at the bank on my very first day.
An old man asked me to check his balance, so I pushed him over.
Alright, here’s a classic:
My bank loves me.
They told me my credit card balance is outstanding!
What do you think? Does this help us talk about money, debt, obligations, and standing against the exploitative buzzsaw of individualizing economic fortunes? Yeah!
But really, the best joke is that this parable shows up every third year on the day many churches, including ours, choose to do their pledge campaigns. That’s the best joke of all!
Jesus is talking about usury—exploiting people through crippling debt—and we’re going to have to spin that into a message about stewardship.
So, here goes nothing!
The full text may be found here.
For a limited time, you may find the audio here.