NOVEMBER 19TH, 2017: THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY OF THE YEAR Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 I Thessalonians 5:1-6 Matthew 25:14-30 Perhaps the key to understanding today’s liturgical readings is in our I Thessalonian’s passage. In this earliest Christian writing we possess, Paul is dealing with something most first and second-generation followers of Jesus simply took for granted: his immediate second coming. They didn’t believe carrying on Jesus’ ministry would last a life-time. They presumed the risen Jesus would return very quickly and take them with him to share in his eternal life. At most, they’d have to spend just a few years biding their time before his Parousia would break out among them By the time Paul writes I Thessalonians, around 20 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Christians are getting anxious. As we heard last week, they were beginning to worry about those who had died. Would they completely miss out on Jesus’ promises, or at least be put at the end of the line when the “goodies” were being passed out? Having addressed that problem, the Apostle is now concerned with how they’re occupying their time in the “interval.” Some Thessalonians seem to be forgetting about carrying on Jesus’ ministry, spending their days conjuring up possible “times and seasons” predicting Jesus’ arrival. (I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have a lottery going!) Others are so disappointed in this delayed Parousia that it’s no longer a factor in their everyday lives. Paul chides both in today’s pericope, pointedly telling each to “stay alert and sober.” Though he’s still holding out hope for Jesus’ imminent return, no one can pinpoint the exact time. Meanwhile, there’s work to be done. As a good Jew, Paul certainly would have held up the “worthy wife” from Proverbs as an example for all to follow. Whether Jesus’ coming is tomorrow or more than 2,100 years down the road, we should ingeniously be occupying our days, especially if our occupations help others. But by the time Matthew writes his gospel – at least 25 years after I Thessalonians – Jesus’ Parousia is being relegated further and further into the background. Though the evangelist still seems to believe the event will happen in his lifetime, he’s zeroing in more and more on what Christians should be doing right here and now. This conviction appears to be at least partially behind Jesus’ story of the talents. No one is to take whatever God has given him or her and bury it. Though “talents” originally were coins or monetary units, because of their use in this parable the term eventually began to stand for any abilities a person naturally possesses. In today’s passage the first two servants “trade” with what the master gives them and double their money. But the third, playing it safe, buries his talent. We’ve heard this story often enough to know the master’s attitude toward all three long before Jesus finishes the parable. But it’s what he says afterward that creates problems for some of us. This Galilean carpenter certainly doesn’t buy into Robin Hood’s “take from the rich, give to the poor” school of thought. On the contrary. “To everyone who has,” he says, “more will be given . . . but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Matthew’s community seems to have interpreted this surprising statement as referring to the faith with which each person is blessed. Those who use their faith to help others will continue to gain more faith. On the other hand, those who refuse to risk by giving themselves to others will eventually lose even whatever security they have. Only faith which is used for the sake of others will grow into more and deeper faith – no matter when and if Jesus’ Parousia happens.
|