Article 8: Who is the Hero of the Story?
This is a post about Jesus the teacher; a teacher from the Pharisaic Tradition no less. Too often the Pharisees get a really unfair bad rap. So let’s settle that right now. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were not bad guys. Quite the opposite; they were the best kind of guys. They were guys who dedicated their lives to doing the will of God. Doesn’t sound so bad, right? And as part of that journey, they were constantly trying to Know the Will of God. To do that effectively meant following a teacher. But the only reason to follow a New Teacher is if that New Teacher had something Fresh and Interesting and Challenging to Say about Following God. And the way to figure that out was to go and hear him teach and to challenge him. The Best teachers in that tradition were the ones who could accept these very public challenges and hold their own; and make their case. Jesus was a good Jew from Nazareth raised in the Pharisaic tradition. He studied scripture, he knew scripture and he was expert in handling himself in Public situations. In fact, Jesus was a Master Teacher for the best teachers not only know and can communicate content; the best teachers teach their students How to Think. You all know that Jesus used stories, parables to teach many of his lessons. But what you don’t probably know is this; most of Jesus’ parables aren’t fables. They weren’t designed to communicate some very simple and straightforward moral lesson. Quite the opposite. In the words of one of my Graduate School professors, “many of the parables are queer, strange little stories that are designed to make you think.” And there can be little doubt, that on many occasions people walked away from Jesus utterly amazed at his presence, his love, his healing, his miracles….and yet bewildered by his teaching. Those who were Pharisees would have found many of the teachings to be intriguing, even challenging and would have recognized that Jesus was challenging them to think. And if anyone was honest enough with themself to recognize the Presence of God in the ministry of Jesus….they might also recognize that Jesus was trying to teach them a little bit about how God looks at the world. All of that is a way to introduce the so called “Parable of the Talents” from Matthew 25:14-30. Before I go any further, answer this question. Who is the hero of this Story? Hundreds of Grade school lessons and Sunday Sermons should have taught you that this is a very simple story about God wanting you to use your talents to the best of your abilities and not squander what he gives to you. This all sounds great because of its obvious truth. Of course God wants us to use what he gives us. But is that what This parable is talking about? I am not so sure….and I don’t think there is any doubt that the people leaving Jesus would not have been so sure. Here is why. Jesus was speaking to poor people. In fact almost all the people were poor and there were very few rich people. If you were rich, you were bad. Well, from a poor Jew’s perspective, you were probably bad. Because the only way to own a lot of land, to get very Rich would have been to do so through very Non-Entrepreneurial Means. Remember, we are not talking about a Capitalistic system where property rights were strictly enforced and protected. We are talking about a different time; when land was taken through force. But what good could lots of land possibly do someone if they couldn’t leverage that resource to produce food? Indeed and so the very few Rich relied on the very many poor to get richer and richer. The poopr planted and harvested and the Rich got Richer because of the poor man’s work. These are the facts of how the ancient world worked….and especially of how 1st Century Palestine under Roman control worked. And so Jesus tells these poor people a story about a Rich man (imagine hearing boos and hisses from the crowd!) who leaves for a time and leaves some of his money [five talents,two, and one respectively]with three servants (poor guys who do all the work that makes the rich man richer). The first servant makes 5 more talents; the second makes 2 more talents; and the third man…..wait for it……buried his 1 talent in the ground. When the Rich Man comes hom after a long time he rewards the first two servants for making him more money. Then the third Servant comes up to the Rich Man and says “Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter [ouch that hurts]..so out of fear I went off and buried your money in the ground. Here it is back.” The Rich Man went nuts “you wicked lazy servant. So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter [you admit it, ouchier]? “Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have gotten it back with interest on my return? Now then take the money from him and give it to the one who has ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be a wailing and grinding of teeth.” So who is the hero of this story? I think that for many of the poor people leaving that day…the hero of the story is Servant…number…..three. Really? What if we overhead a typical Jew named Lev leaving that day and talking with his friend. “Man that was awesome. I am so tired of the Rich guys also getting richer on out backs and the helping the Romans tax us for the little that we do have. Here we do all of the work for him….and he is the one who gets fatter and fatter. I love how the third servant stood up to him, that was brilliant. I am sure he took a beating for it, but man that would be worth it. He couldn’t steal the guy’s money; the rich guy could have him killed for that. But what he did, took major guts. He basically said to that guy, “hey those other servants might want to make your more money, but not me…I am tired of it….you like apples? how bout them apples?” I think he made the Rich guy look foolish, score one for team poor guy! Now, this buddy may well have disagreed and given the more popular interpretation of the story, but Lev would have held his ground. Lev might have said, “hey listen, the rich guy admits he is a jerk. He repeats the “insult” that the third servant leveled at him when the Rich guy admits, “So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter?” And you still defied me. Translation, you know I am a jerk who profits on the backs of others and is not afraid to do you harm….and you still defied me? And the best the Rich guy can do is say”For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” And Lev may challenge his friend, “Does that Master really sound like God to you….or does he sound like some of the Maniacs we have had to work for…the guys who are on the side of the Romans?” No, I am sure that Lev walks away that day convinced that the third servant was not lazy but courageous, standing up against injustice. And maybe his friend walks away equally satisfied that his interpretation is correct, that God wants you to make the most of what he gives you. And in this struggle, Jesus has succeeeded. For regardless of the “point” of the story…isn’t it clear that both men are right? God does want us to stand up courageously against injustice and God does want us to use our gifts to the best of our abliites. And thus, Jesus truly a Master Teacher has taught these folks the most important lesson, he has taught them how to think like God! So now a challenge to you. Go read Matthew 22:15-22 (Paying Taxes to the Emperor) and decide for yourself, “What does Jesus want people to do in this story?” Try listening to the story as a middle class member of a Just America and the try listening to the story a poor member of an unjust Roman Palestine. Are you interpretations different? How so? Please @danielkenney me on Twitter or email me your answers to danielkenney43@gmail.com. Thanks and I really want your answers and feedback so please send them!
