Risky Business

As I’ve noted in previous sermons, a talent is worth about 15 years worth of wages. So one servant was given 75 years of wages, another was given 30 years of wages, and a third was given 15 years of wages. The first two engaged in risky trading, trying to parlay it into even more money. The third played it safe, burying it in a field like any intelligent money manager would do in Jesus’ day. The audience of Jesus’ parable would have expected the first two servants to be in trouble when the master came back. “You risked all I had to try to double it? What if you had lost it? You should’ve taken better care of what I gave you, burying it in the field like everyone else does with valuable things!”

Instead, expectations of the audience are flipped upside down, as Jesus is known to do. The ones who invested in risky trading were commended. And the one who buried the treasure in the field was not commended but chastised. Last week we talked about how what appears foolish often turns out to be wise. And this parable is another testament to that. The audience would have thought that the risky traders were foolish, and the burier of money was wise. But as it turns out, the servants who risked everything were the wise ones, according to the master.
You see, the servant who buried his one talent was very concerned with job security. If he lost or spent any of the master’s money, the master would surely be upset. “If I lose any, he’ll never trust me with anything again!” He was determined not to fail – determined not to lose his job.

However, the servants who risked it all were motivated by love of the master. They wanted to increase his funds. They risked everything, with the clear possibility of failure on the line. Had they lost some or all of the money the master gave them, they would have been done. They’d be fired as servants, perhaps even killed – who knows what would happen if they lost the money? They’d be jobless, and with a reputation of being poor money managers to boot. Who would ever trust them again?

We can’t overlook the possibility of failure in this story. Two servants did not concern themselves with failure, and one guarded himself firmly against failure. Two engaged in risky business, and one made sure nothing went wrong. And the ones who risked it all were the ones who the master commended. The one who took the safe, predictable, culturally expected way out got in big, big trouble. Simply put, it is a parable underscoring the phrase, “No risk, no reward.”

Fred Craddock tells a story about a nine-pound sparrow that he met walking down the street one day. “Why are you walking?” he asked the sparrow. “Why don’t you fly?” “Fly?” said the sparrow. “I’ve never flown! I could get hurt?” And Craddock asked the sparrow what her name was. The sparrow’s name was “Church.”

I knew a church like this sparrow. It was a small, suburban church, not much bigger than this one. It was decreasing in worship attendance and in membership. They thought hiring a part-time youth minister would help. But when that youth minister came, he tried to take the youth on a mission trip with Appalachian Service Project. Appalachian Service Project, or ASP, is a Christian organization that leads one week work camps for youth groups, helping repair homes in rural Appalachia – areas where people have no money to repair their dilapidated homes.

Well, perhaps the youth minister was thinking too big, because all the church saw was the risk involved. Our kids will go where? That’s far away – what if you get into a car accident on the drive? What if they get hurt while working and end up in a hospital 400 miles away from home? What if this is some crazy cult organization that will brainwash our kids? What if it’s a place that will just take our money and not let the youth actually do anything? What if the youth don’t like it? What if they want to come home? What if, what if, what if…

All they could think about was the potential for failure. No one was able to think about this mission trip as an opportunity. They thought of it only in terms of how it could go wrong. They were like the servant who buried the treasure in the field for fear of failure. And they never did let their youth minister take their youth to ASP. And a couple of years later they found themselves wondering why nothing had changed around their church. 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.

A number of years ago, I was on a youth retreat as a counselor for my father’s church. My primary purpose for the weekend was to lead the youth group in indoor rock climbing. Has anyone done any rock climbing before? When the time came for climbing, we instructed everyone in all the safety procedures. Belaying is what it’s called – where one person holds the rope as the other person climbs. Well, on this retreat, we had several counselors. We had one counselor determined to try climbing, and another who would not get on the wall if we gave her a million dollars. The one who tried was the un-athletic, 69-year-old organist of the church. The one who didn’t try was an athletic woman in her 30’s. She was afraid of falling. So she didn’t try.

Well, when the organist got up there, she climbed, slowly but surely, about 2/3 of the way up the 30 foot wall. And then she started struggling. At one point, she lost her grip and fell. But you know what? The person belaying her, the person on the ground holding the rope, did what he was supposed to, tightening up the rope and catching her. She seemed quite surprised as she hung suspended in the air. For the first time, she felt what is was like to be caught by an invisible entity when she fell. For the first time, she knew that she could succeed without fear of failure. And she swung herself back onto the wall, just below where she fell off, and climbed all the way to the top. She did so because she was not afraid to try something she might not succeed at. She wasn’t afraid to be clinging to a wall 25 feet above the ground. She was empowered to engage in risky business. 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.

A lot of times, we worry about climbing the wall because we might fall. We might fail. But then if we do take that risk, and we do fall, we realize that nothing happens. Nothing happens because even though we’re climbing on our own, those times when we lose grip and fall, God catches us. God is our belayer, letting us take the risks, but catching us when things don’t always work out. Last week we talked about how sometimes wise actions appear foolish to the untrained eye. The wise bridesmaids looked foolish by taking extra oil when they probably wouldn’t need it, but really they were wise in acknowledging their own limitations. This week’s parable also shows that to be truly wise, and to truly obey our master, sometimes we have to do things that look a little foolish, like over-preparing our oil reserves or engaging in risky trading with our master’s fortunes. Sometimes we are called to do that which is absurd in our world, but makes perfect sense in God’s world.

What risky business is God our master and belayer calling you to? What risky business are you afraid to engage in because something might go wrong? What risky business are you ignoring because of fear of failure?

Are you faced with having to stand up for what is right, even in the face of ridicule?

Are you afraid to invite a friend to church, because he or she might say no?

Are you afraid to help the poor face-to-face, because you don’t know what will happen?

Are you afraid to go on a mission trip, because you don’t want to leave your safe, familiar surroundings?

Are you thinking of joining a Bible study, but don’t want to because you’re insecure about how much you don’t know?

Are you feeling called to pursue a new job, or being asked to move because of your job? Are you ignoring that call because your current job is a secure source of income?

Are you afraid to go for a promotion because of how you’ll be viewed if you don’t get it? Are you afraid to go for a promotion because of how you’ll be viewed if you do get it?

Are you worried about being friends with people who are “uncool” or “nerdy”, because people might start making fun of you?

Are you finding yourself holding onto money a little tighter now in this economic crisis? Are you burying more and more money in the ground? Or are you willing to engage in the risky business of giving generously to God, to the church, to anything that might benefit others?

Are you feeling led to share your faith with a friend, with a stranger, but are afraid they might not care?

Every day, our lives are full of opportunities. And too often, we pass up those opportunities because we worry about the risk. But you know, when it comes down to it, we’re playing with house money, so to speak. These opportunities we have are given by God. God wants us to accept the opportunities he gives and use them to spread the love of Christ throughout the world. And we are not to worry about the risk, says Jesus. Let the master worry about the risk. We must continue to be motivated by pleasing the master rather than protecting our own job security. We must not allow fear of failure to keep us from doing God’s work in the world. We must engage in risky business. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.