Perfect love casts out fear
Sermon by the Revd Dr Brutus Green
Readings: 1 Thessalonians 5.1-11, Matthew 25.14-30
Today’s Gospel is the vindication of capitalism. You can imagine, Jesus, St Matthew and Dominic Cummings meeting together, discussing the future church: Dominic says: ‘we need a line that’s going to get some big hitters on board. At this point, we need investors.’ St Matthew: how about ‘to all those who have, more will be given… but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away’.
St Matthew, previous career, tax collector. Judas roars with laughter and slaps his thigh. Jesus quietly “that’s not what I meant”. But this parable – Double your returns! Show me the money! God encouraging usury and banking – seems a little surprising, at first glance. As Jesus said, ‘give them to me young, hungry, and stupid. And in no time, I will make them rich.’ Oh wait, that was Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street.
Over the last few weeks we’ve been slowly moving to the end of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew’s Gospel. Next week we have the parable of the sheep and goats, (usually enough to terrify any Christians in doubt of their salvation) and the end of Jesus ministry, before the passion begins. All this section of the Gospel is about the End Times. So we’ve had prophecies of destruction – specifically of Jerusalem, of the return of the Son of Man. Last week we had the ten virgins, and the returning bridegroom; next week is the return of the King and the final judgement. This parable too concerns the master who has gone away, entrusting his property to others, before his return and judgement. The vibe is apocalyptic. So no – that great day when you stand before the Lord, he’s not going to say to you ‘Well. With all that I gave you, did you make much money?’
But we also mistake the meaning if we think – ‘Lord, I’ve been given all these opportunities and resources, I’d better get doing stuff, making the most of what I’ve received.’ The Gospel is never about doing things to earn your reward.
The key to understanding these passages is to understand that for the Church the world exists in a finite time between Christ and Judgement. St Paul thought the time was short. In today’s epistle, the writer defers when the day of the lord will come – but insists it will come as a thief in the night. In this Gospel, completed perhaps 50 years after the death of Jesus, it’s clear that this may prove an extended period. Last week the bridegroom was away, the virgins were still waiting. This week the man has gone on a journey. We don’t know when he’ll return. Next week the sheep and goats will do well or badly without realising it, before the time of judgement.
The call, the example, the lifting up of Christ on the cross, is the banner to which God calls his people. In Christ’s return, which meets each of us in our bodily death, which forms the closing bracket of life, We will understand our vocation, our calling and our faithfulness to it.
The Gospel understands the crucifixion and resurrection as the moment of crisis in history. At this point, God’s meaning becomes clear. For all of us who come after, it’s our response to this crisis that determines our character and faith. And maybe we can understand this better now as we’re currently living in a crisis. Going to the supermarket, going to church involves risk. We’re better placed now to understand our priorities than in the normal stream of life. When you can’t go to church; when church is restricted; hymns, sacraments, community – Does it matter? Are you missing something? Right now, what does Church mean to you? A crisis is revealing. Revelation.
Last week’s parable of the stockpiling virgins asks if our faith has the endurance to persist. Do we have enough oil in our lamps to keep us burnin’, even through a crisis? Next week’s parable asks have we loved our neighbour? Have we reached out to support those in need – even in a crisis, when our thoughts are on our own vulnerability? This week’s parable asks, are we living our faith?
If we are living our faith then it will grow. By however much we are able to put out there, it will come back to us double. But if we bury it, it will die. Faith, hidden from the world, unexpressed, ceases. It’s not that we’ll be judged on how much we’ve done with what we’ve been given. That would be a salvation by works, where we justify ourselves; but our faith must be open, part of our lives. It has to breathe.
The understanding of why this faith gets dug in, buried, is clear in the parable. The servant believes his master to be ‘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.’ It’s fear that drives his faith into the ground. There is a mystery to God and the ways of this world, that can easily make someone fearful. The judgement of both God and other people can make us fearful, just as a crisis threatens our security and so accentuates fear. ‘There is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them!’
The epistle of John, on the other hand, tells us that ‘perfect love casts our fear.’ The great heroes of the church, St Peter and Paul, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Bonhoeffer, Stein, Kolbe – You could write a song about this –But they were none of them restricted by fear. This is really the key to this parable. Christian love is not afraid; not possessive, inward-looking, concerned with itself. It’s honest, open-handed. It trusts. It will suffer but it will endure. It will take risks, any amount of risk, not for its ego, or to be seen to be doing something, but for the sake of the beloved, yes.
In next week’s Gospel, the sheep and the goats, we see how those who have not loved – have not fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited those in prison, come under judgement. This week helps us to understand the cause – fear; whether that’s through insecurity, fear of physical harm (and Matthew is writing for a persecuted church), or fear of loss of security – protecting our own resources – fear of looking stupid, of incompetence, fear of rejection, of not being wanted; fear is the major impediment to love.
But here fear is also the block to experiencing the love of God, creating in your own mind a fearful and violent god; faith is based in what is unseen. Fear trusts only what I can see and count: money, the praise of others, being liked, pleasure. I’ve noticed taking funerals that one of things people are most keen on is to say that ‘he enjoyed life’ ‘she had a good life’. What most people want for their loved ones is happiness. This gives a sense of meaning: their life was worthwhile, if they found happiness: in career, in marriage, in children, in retirement. But how much more should we think of someone who eschewed happiness for their faith? Who embraced suffering for truth or justice? Happiness in itself provides no meaning, although it’s the only form of meaning for those who don’t believe in anything. But happiness can also be found in finding meaning – in doing what you know to be true and kind, in the following of faith.
So St Paul instructs the Christians of one of his churches to ‘widen your hearts’: ‘Now is the day of salvation! … We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return—I speak as to children— open wide your hearts also.’
Perfect love casts out fear. And the riches that have been given to each of us will only increase as we are able to step out of fear into love. So no this parable is not about wealth creation. If anything it’s about the realisation that none of our wealth belongs to us, and must come and go freely. But it is about living in a time of crisis. Of knowing that the moment that matters is now; the kingdom of God is here: ‘let us not fall asleep as others do’; And of taking up the challenge of letting go of fear and embracing love; of keeping the faith; maintaining our hope; and serving our neighbour. Amen.