The Risk of Giving

The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.”

When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in David’s hand.

“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.’”

I admit that at first glance, maybe even at second or third glances, the pairing of the David and Goliath text with the parable of the talents seems extremely illogical. Nothing within the texts themselves suggests that they helpfully ought to be read together.

But today we begin our stewardship campaign and we hope to complete it in one week! After church today, downstairs in the entry way, we want you to pick up your stewardship packet which contains your estimate of giving card for 2005. This coming week, with the courage and faith of David, consider what you plan to give to the church next year. Next Sunday bring back that estimate of giving card and we will make our commitment together during worship. A one week campaign. If we have courage and faith, we can do it and I think that connecting the David text and the talents text will help us be courageous and faithful.

The story of David slaying Goliath is certainly one of the most fascinating and important stories in the Old Testament. Its importance is obvious when we note that it takes up a whole chapter in Israel’s official history. David’s courage in fighting Goliath was the biggest factor in his rising to prominence and eventually becoming king. At the time of the battle, however, Saul was king of Israel and the Israelites were fighting one of their perennial battles against Philistine oppressors. The two armies clashed in the hills of Judah, not far from David’s home.

The Philistine’s great warrior was a giant man named Goliath of Gath. It is said that he stood some nine feet tall. The bronze armor he wore was impossibly heavy, perhaps weighing as much as 130 pounds. David himself probably didn’t weigh that much. Just the tip of Goliath’s spear weighed 15 pounds! Every morning the giant came before the Israelites and taunted them, “Send out a real man to fight me.” But the Bible says that when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. (1 Samuel 17.11)

Among the Israelite soldiers who cowered in fear were three of David’s older brothers. One day their father asked David to leave his sheep with a keeper and take some food to his brothers. He arrived just as Goliath was shouting his morning insults. David asked some soldiers why no one dared to fight Goliath. That question upset his oldest brother who yelled at David and accused him of evil intentions. Like many bullied, younger bothers before and since, David responded in pained innocence: “What have I done now? It was only a question.” (1 Samuel 17.29)

Commenting on the story, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin says, “In a society that favored firstborn sons both legally and socially, David, the youngest of eight brothers, would seem to have started life with at least two strikes against him. He certainly does not get much respect from his older siblings.”[1]

But David won the respect of his nation that day and countless people since. In protecting his sheep from bears and lions he had encountered much worse than Goliath. So he picked up five smooth stones from the dry river bed and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. Then he went to face the giant. His aim was true — he needed only one stone — and with courage and faith in God, David won a great victory.

We find David’s story so compelling, I think, because we often find ourselves in his sandals, so to speak. There are always giants around to taunt and make us afraid. There are always challenges that seem too big. There are always obstacles that seem impossible to overcome. In fact, that’s the connection between David and Goliath and Jesus’ parable of the talents. For the third slave in the parable was a man who thought it an impossible challenge to please the master — too big, too demanding, too scary. The third slave said, “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.” (Matthew 21.24b-25a) Fear made the third slave unfaithful.

There was nothing wrong with the third slave. He was just like you and me. There was no dishonesty in him, or deceit, or fraud. He caused no scandal, didn’t embezzle the talents or swindle someone, wasn’t a philanderer or prodigal.[2] There was nothing wrong with him. He was cautious, deliberate, and prudent. Could have been a good Presbyterian. What’s wrong with that? Nothing!

Except … his caution became fear. There are always things in life to be afraid of. There are always giants to taunt us. There are always impossibilities. So when fear gets hold of our caution, we take what is given us — life, love, money — and we don’t do anything, or not enough, with these things which are God’s good gifts. Caution, when it becomes fear, avoids risk even though we know that anything worthwhile requires risk. Marriage is risky. Love is risky. Parenting is risky. Being a Christian is risky. We can’t do anything worthwhile without risk and if we are afraid of risk, the giants in life will rule us.

You see, the real issue of the parable is not primarily whether we’ll risk money. The talents the master gives are not first of all about money. The issue is whether we will risk faith. Will we believe in God enough to let God be visible in us, truly visible in terms of how we live and spend our money? Or will we be just nice and religious and keep the Gospel in us safe and tucked away?

This is why when I ask you to give money to the church I rarely talk about budgets. What I’m talking about today isn’t raising next year’s budget. Budgets are pieces of paper and they are not worth much more than the paper on which they’re printed. If there isn’t sufficient giving to support the budget, then it will be cut. Budgets have to be cut sometimes.

But, and this is a very big but … when church budgets are cut, in all likelihood ministry is cut. The point isn’t the budget. The point is ministry and it cannot be done without money. Are we going to risk what we have for the Gospel which has been given to us or are we going to try and keep it safe by keeping it for ourselves?

These are not rhetorical questions because, dear friends, we are in a fight for our Christian lives. The trends for churches like ours are all against us unless we consciously, faithfully, courageously change the trends. We are a small church to support two full-time clergy. But we want and need the ministry such staffing allows. We do two different styles of worship on Sunday mornings. Some don’t like that but we’ve got to make our worship compelling to as many different folk as possible. Not quite two years ago, before I arrived on the scene, a huge giant came out to taunt us, a looming financial deficit when then Pastor Nominating Committee found a new senior pastor. Many families faced that giant and gave, in many cases with significant sacrifice, additional dollars. The taunting giant fell to the ground.

But those funds will be gone by the middle of 2005 and that giant’s bigger brother will come a-taunting again if we try to play it safe with God’s good gifts to us. Play it safe and don’t give and you won’t have to give. There won’t be anything to give to. If our giving goes down, if we continue to shrink, if we pull back, if we play it safe, then over a period of time, perhaps another one or two or three years we’ll reduce costs by reducing staff and programs. And you won’t have to do anything. Because no one will challenge you to pick up five smooth stones like David did, the stones of worship, scripture, prayer, giving, and ministry — the five essential Christian disciplines. Don’t give and the Master will take away responsibility from this congregation and give it to another.

The saddest thing about the parable, I think, is not only does the Master take away what was given to the fearful servant. He also takes his presence away. The first two servants are given more responsibility and the presence of the Master: “enter into the joy of your master,” he said. Or as one translation puts it, “Come on in and share my happiness.” (Good News Bible) How sad it is that fear diminishes the Master’s presence in our lives.

Because of courage and faith, David’s encounter with Goliath turned out well. The end of things for the parable’s third slave wasn’t so happy. I suspect we fear the slave’s fate for ourselves. But let’s remember that parables are intended primarily to teach us about God and the kingdom of God. So think back to the parable’s beginning. The master goes on a journey and entrusts all his property to his slaves. What kind of strange master gives his slaves everything he’s got? Only one. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is that kind of Master. Remember that he told this parable a couple of days before he went to the cross to give us everything he had.

One day a student who was flunking out of college received an intense phone call from his mother. She was obviously giving him a lot of grief over his grades. Parents can be good at that sort of thing. But to truly understand the mother, we need to know that the failing student was the first in his family to go to college. His mother not only worked at a very difficult job during the day but had taken a cleaning job at night in order to pay for his college expenses. She was working twice as hard to put him through college as he was working in college. She had a right to be upset with her son.[3]

My friend, Jesus Christ died on the cross to give us everything. He even gives us talents to slay the giants that inevitably taunt us. Will we risk what God gives us for the sake of the Gospel? I pray we will.

[1] Joseph Telushkin, Biblical Literacy: The Most Important People, Events, and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible (New York: William Morrow, 1997) 201.

[2] Walter Brueggemann, Charles B. Cousar, Beverly R. Gaventa, James D. Newsome, Texts For Preaching, Year A (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1995) 569. “There is another version of this parable in the apocryphal Gospel of the Nazoreans that depicts the third servant as a wild renegade, rather than as the reluctant servant who hid his money in the ground.”

[3] William H. Willimon, “What have You Done with What You Have Been Given,” Pulpit Resource 27.4 (1999): 29.