11.16.08 L33 Kingdom's Work without Fear

• The first servant had been given 5 talents – a vast quantity of weath, far more than he could earn in even 5 lifetimes – he had been given five talents, put them to work, and presented the orginal 5 plus the 5 more that he had earned to his master
• The second servant had been given 2 talents, also a vast quantity of weath – far more than he could earn in 2 lifetimes, and he had also invested them so that when his master returned, the servant had presented him with the origninal two talents plus two more
• And the third servant had been given 1 talent, still a vast sum of money – more than he could earn in his lifetime – an estimated 75 pounds of silver or gold coins – but he buried all that wealth in the ground where it was safe, and then dug it up again to give back to his master just the original sum of money
  • Why did he do this? In his words, he said, "I WAS AFRAID!"
  • He was afraid of his master
  • He was afraid of losing his master's money
  • He was so filled with fear that he was paralyzed into inaction – simply digging a hole, burying the wealth, and digging it up again
• How different it was for that servant compared to us!
  • He was afraid of his master
  • The Good News of the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed, is that we need to not fear either God or God's Kingdom!
    • The kingdom of God means that God will set right what has been wrong
    • The world's injustice will be replaced with God's justice and peace
    • The sin that has broken creation and torn our lives has begun to be healed by the king who humbly allowed himself to be nailed to the cross
    • The sin that had mortally mortally wounded our lives has been conquered and our relationships with God and neighbor have begun to be healed by the king who has been raised from the dead
  • Unlike that third servant in the parable, WE NEED NOT FEAR THE MASTER!
  • We need not fear, and indeed we welcome the kingdom of God, because God has first welcomed us with the kingdom's promise of justice and peace, forgiveness and life, in the word of promise proclaimed, in the word of promise poured over us, and in the word of promise fed to us by Jesus Christ our host for each and every assembly of the faithful
• And yet, although we need not fear our master or our master's kingdom, fear is especially rampant in our world right now
  • We have been given so much
  • But listen to the television, read the headlines, or read the quarterly report of our retirement investments, and fear quickly creeps back into our lives
  • Let me be clear, some fear is justified – a few people in this community of faith have been impacted by unemployment or cutbacks or reductions in earnings, and we need to support them and walk with them through these difficult times
  • But for many of us, perhaps even most of us, gas prices are down, life has gone on, and we are unnerved by what we hear
  • And when we are afraid, we tend to hold onto our wallets and our checkbooks event tighter – I know I do!
• Yet this parable of God's kingdom provides us the kingdom's perspective, if we will allow it to be heard even in these fearful days
  • The kingdom of God is NOT a fearful place, but the announcement of justice and peace, forgiveness and life – what could be greater than that?
  • Let that promise, let that kingdom, put the rest of life, even the setbacks of life, into perspective
  • The ground, the mattress, or the cookie jar is no place for the wealth that has been loaned to us by God
  • What has been loaned to us needs to be put to work!
    • Sure we invest for retirement – that's a good thing
    • Sure we save for our kid's college – that's good too!
    • The resources that God has loaned us are God's way to see that we have food, clothing, and shelter – part of God's ongoing creation
    • And our offering – the weekly offering for the work of God through this congregation and through the wider church, is an acknowledgement that we trust God enough to share a significant portion, perhaps even a tithe or more, of what God has loaned us so that others may have food, clothing, and shelter – and so that they might also experience a taste of the Kingdom's justice, and hear the Good News of Jesus Christ
    • And our capital appeal?
      • We were not fearful, but rather excited, about nine years ago when we began planning a broader ministry, which to accomplish would take an expanded staff and an expanded building
      • We were not fearful, but rather pretty excited, when about six years ago we realized that it was time to dream and design a larger facility to serve Christ's mission for this congregation to and with its community
      • We were not fearful, but really, really excited, when about three years ago we broke ground for construction
      • We were not fearful, but tremendously excited, when earlier this year we dedicated and began using this larger building for a larger ministry
      • And now we need not be fearful, but even more excited about the next three years – three years of a capital campaign to help pay for the building, parking, a modest subsidy of our ministry – and for some people, even a new school for AIDS orphans in Tanzania to learn a life-sustaining trade
    • But most importantly by investing in both the daily ministry and the capital appeal of Friedens Lutheran – for three years, for more than three years, for three or more generations even of those who will come after us in this congregation, God's call will now and into the future stir the people who assemble here for Bath, Word, and Meal, so that we and those yet to come can fearlessly and fruitfully proclaim the Kingdom of God both near and far.

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