From the Daily Lectionary for Tuesday in the Sixth Week after Pentecost
Matthew 25:14-30
“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For 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. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
We know by now, if we’re paying attention, that Matthew is condemning relentlessly the elite and powerful of his world. In his critique Jesus has spared no mercy towards the arrogant and tyrannical Jewish leadership in Jerusalem; and yet, commentators time and again get this parable wrong. Their interpretation goes something like this: The master is God, and the master is commissioning his slaves to multiply his wealth, that is to say metaphorically, to work towards the fruits of the promised kingdom of God… to be productive disciples for the good of the cause… and, if one were to dare question the master’s motives, his authority, and thereby fall short in production, then there is eternal punishment. We don’t have to look so very far into our history to see that the church has played to the quid pro quo of performance and obedience versus punishment.
Such an interpretation, I believe, arises out of the church’s institutional privilege. We side with the master, and like the master we condemn the slave for failing willfully in his mission. But Matthew here is describing the system under which the people under Roman occupation live. Again we see the appearance of the absentee landlord, a property owner only because of his status and privilege with the empire. Rome granted property rights to their vassals to bolster its influence in the provinces. The profits from such privilege were divided between Rome and the absentee landowner, thereby sapping the resources from the local communities. In short, in this system the rich get richer while the poor, the vast majority of the population, languish in poverty.
If we read this parable in the context of Matthew’s critique of the hierarchical system, then its meaning comes clear. The master is just what Matthew says he is: the rich master/owner of an estate… not God. He is dishonest, reaping profit and wealth on the backs of the workers, while he gads about the empire. The first two slaves acquiesce to the ways of the system; the third slave challenges the inequity of a system that is destroying the sustainability and dignity of the community. He’s speaking the truth. To be sure, to challenge the system is to take one’s life into one’s hands. The empire will crack down on dissenters. Indeed this parable is the last one Jesus tells before the passion narrative, his arrest, torture, and murder. The powers that be can’t abide the critique. The powers that be can’t handle the truth.
This is something like the fable of the “emperor with no clothes.” A menial slave dares to question the vast inequity of a system that relies on power and wealth for its existence; and power and wealth will always corrupt. We know that. We know it all too well in our own society, a society that had us believe that “Manifest Destiny” was a virtue.
The daunting reality, and perhaps an irony, is that it is only the powerful, the privileged, who can fix the system. The powerful constructed the system for their own good; and to dismantle such a system will require the powerful to recover their compassion and empathy; to say no to self-interest, and opt for the good of the whole. The Episcopal Church in The United States is mostly privileged (we used to be called the “Republican Party at prayer!”). And therefore, we have a responsibility to work towards dismantling the social and economic inequities and injustices that pervade, infect, our world in our own time and place. Our influence should be given over to the good of the left out, to restore them to their rightful place at God’s table; and that means a radical reorientation from the way things have been for so long now. It seems to me the time is now. The emperor has no clothes.
Perhaps we begin with universal healthcare; immigration reform; “defunding” the law enforcement system in deference to more specialized services needed for social ills; scrapping and rebuilding our prison system whereby “correction” and rehabilitation become the aim instead of punishment that is out of sight and out of mind; reparations for the sordid abuse of black Americans over the past four hundred years in this land; a meaningful redistribution of wealth to close the gap between rich and poor. These are mere beginnings, but the system won’t last the way it is, nor should it. Perhaps we should give the way of love and justice a try.
A Prayer for the Church (BCP p. 816)
Gracious God, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son, our Savior. Amen.
