I started reading crime novels about fifteen years ago. Like any pastor, so much of what I read relates to theology or ministry that I needed to find some genre of reading that would take me away from what I do twelve hours a day; something to capture my imagination. I started with John Grisham and read everything he has written. Then I moved on to Swedish author Henning Mankell and read all of his stuff. More recently, I have been reading the murder mysteries of Lee Childs. There is nothing like a good “whodunit” to take my weary brain away from council meetings and budget conversations.

I mention this to you this morning because of a quote I recently came across from Ray Stedman. He wrote:

Parables can be as exciting and challenging as detective stories. But parables, like detective stories, are filled with half-hid- den truths and secret meanings and clues to these secrets. Parables are God’s exciting way of challenging us to a mystery hunt, and the treasure we are after is a new insight into the nature of life which will enrich us in a thousand ways if we act upon it once it is discovered.[1]

A parable is a mystery, with clues that lead to learning a secret; I had never thought of the parables of Jesus that way. But today, just such a mystery stands before us, and Jesus is daring us to investigate what it might mean to our lives.

A man is going on a journey, but before he does, he leaves some of his possessions – his possessions – with three employees. To one he left five talents, to another two talents, and to a third, one talent. If we assume in this con- temporary age that the man left talents – like singing, or bricklaying, or slalom skiing – then we will never grasp the mystery. But if we realize that in the time of Jesus, a talent was a weight of measure, like an ounce or a pound, that changes everything. So how about if we say it this way; a man left one employee five pounds of gold, and to another he left two pounds of gold, and to the third, he left a pound of gold - serious money - serious responsibility. And he left the various sums based on what each employee’s ability was to handle such responsibility.

Then the man returned, he called each employee in to account for what was done with the boss’s wealth. The five pounds of gold guy doubled his money, and the boss was pleased. The two pound guy did the same. But the servant with one pound merely brought back the boss’s gold; didn’t gain any, didn’t lose any, because he buried it for safekeeping. The owner called the servant “wicked” and lazy” and he took the gold away from that servant and gave it to the others. Like most investors, the owner didn’t just want the return of his investment, he also wanted a return on his investment, and the third servant failed him.

Now I know what you’re thinking; you’re thinking, what if you had left your pension fund or your retirement savings with the third servant during the last recession, but instead, you entrusted your accumulated wealth to professionals. Who knew that burying our cash would have been brilliant? I actually know a man who, in the summer of 2008, inherited a great sum of money when his father died. He put it in the local bank because he was too busy to meet with his financial planner. Over the ensuing months, he would have lost 25% of it, but he was ecstatic to simply keep the principle. But sooner or later, he’s got to put that money somewhere; to make it grow, to make it work for him. That’s what the owner in this parable had intended to do.

So what do you make of this parable that Jesus told? Nice story? Surprise ending, just like in a murder mystery? Or was there something that Jesus would have us learn from this parable that will, as Ray Stedman suggests, “enrich us in a thousand different ways, once we discover its meaning”?

Then consider this; that the parable actually has to do with the blessings that have been given to us by God in this life. Did I say “given?” I meant loaned. Like the owner going on the journey, God has loaned to us these vast gifts; both financial and personal. It’s a clue in this mystery of living that many fail to see, or choose to ignore; that the stuff, and the talents and the abilities we possess aren’t really our own doing. They don’t belong to us, we just think they do. We think we were born poor and worked ourselves rich, or that we were born dumb and worked ourselves smart. And therefore, everything we have is earned and deserved. But that’s not what the parable says; the parable says they belong to the master.

So the ultimate meaning of this parable can only be found when we ask this question: What does God want us to do with the blessings that he has loaned to us? And what will happen to us if we fail to do it? It’s not a simple question, and we must not take it lightly. Because God cares how we answer it. And this is what I believe God is not calling us to do with his wealth. I don’t think he would have us spend it all on ourselves and those in our family. I don’t think God would have us buy more stuff, travel to more places, treat ourselves to more luxuries, and build up for ourselves more security. Yes, of course God calls us to provide for the needs of those we love; we are not commanded to be peasants. But I do believe that God wants a return on his investment, and the return he is looking for is the expanding of the kingdom of God. To quote a question that my friend Tom Nyman loves to ask: “What have you done for God lately?”

Have you shared a portion of your prosperity with the Valley Outreach so that they might provide for those who are without? Have you made a gift to the United Way? Did you fill a Thanksgiving bag for the Union Gospel Mission? Are your kids packing a box for Operation Christmas Child? You see, all of this expands the kingdom of God. By feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and visiting the sick and the imprisoned…by giving anything to a neighbor, we are giving it to God.

I want to speak about giving to our congregation. Your response to our needs this year has been nothing less than astonishing. We’ve paid all our bills, we’ve met all our needs. In addition, we’ve given away nearly $100,000 to ministry partners like Valley Outreach and Young Life. All of this becomes evidence that we are expanding the kingdom of God. In a year of scarcity and challenge, this congregation has been the five bags of gold servant, and I thank you for your generosity.

In the coming year, the needs will be greater. Our ministry costs will be higher. If we fail to meet the worship needs of this body of Christ, or if we fail to teach every child in our midst about the Savior, or if we fail to share with those who are without, then we become the one pound of gold congregation. And why? Because there are enough resources among the members and friends of this church to meet and exceed our budget. And only when we bury what we have been given, or spend it selfishly or foolishly; only then do we fail to return to God what is rightfully his.

And now, allow me to provide a worthy investment opportunity. Next week you will receive a letter and an “Intent of Giving” card, and you’ll be asked to return it next Sunday. And today, I am asking you not to bury it. Please don’t toss it in the recycle bin, or set aside with the comment “We don’t pledge.” I am asking you to pray about it, to talk to your family about it, to reflect on what it is you love about this church; and then decide what part of your resources God is calling you to commit. You have investment choices to make. Make them wisely. Make them joyfully. Make them count for the kingdom of God.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

1. © 1970 Living Dangerously, www.raystedman.org