Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Daily Office, Year One, Proper 5, Wednesday
Today's Readings:
Luke tells the parable of the ten pounds: A man travels to seek royal power and leaves part of his fortune with his slaves. There is an attempt to have him assassinated while he is away. He returns to find one man has turned one pound into ten, another turned his pound into five. These slaves are praised and rewarded. One slave hid his pound and returned it to the master. This slave was punished, and those that sought the nobleman's death are killed.
It's a tough one to sort out. There are lots of small details that help. Jesus does not start this parable with "The Kingdom of God is like..." He tells this parable because his audience believed that the kingdom of God would appear immediately. This gives rise to the question: Is the nobelman of the parable the triumphant Christ or an Anti-Christ? I'll dismiss anti-Christ because I don't think of Jesus teaching about false prophets and the anti-christ that we usually think about in the Revelation to John. No, this nobleman is Christ, but he doesn't sound Christ-like, does he? Then again, what is a pound? In my Bible, the word pound is used instead of mira, which is worth about three weeks pay (thank God for footnotes). This story also appears in Matthew in a different guise. Instead of ten slaves, there are three. The three slaves are given ten, five, and one talent repsectively. Another footnotes points out that a talent is worth about fifteen years of work for a laborer.
The phrase that has given me the most trouble is Luke 19:26: "I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." Fortunately, this phrase shows up at least twice in Matthew, twice in Luke, and once in Mark. The other time Jesus uses this phrase he is referring to the secrets (or mysteries) of the kingdom of heaven. Those who know about the Kingdom will be given more knowledge, etc. In Mark and Luke, the second place this phrase appears is with one of my favorite Biblical images: The lamp under the basket. No one buys a lamp and hides it, but places it high so everyone can see its light.
So what am I left with? A closer reading of Luke's version of the nobleman and the slaves. Verses 15-17:
- Psalm 72
- Deut. 31:30-32:14
- 2 Cor. 11:21b-33
- Luke 19:11-27
Luke tells the parable of the ten pounds: A man travels to seek royal power and leaves part of his fortune with his slaves. There is an attempt to have him assassinated while he is away. He returns to find one man has turned one pound into ten, another turned his pound into five. These slaves are praised and rewarded. One slave hid his pound and returned it to the master. This slave was punished, and those that sought the nobleman's death are killed.
It's a tough one to sort out. There are lots of small details that help. Jesus does not start this parable with "The Kingdom of God is like..." He tells this parable because his audience believed that the kingdom of God would appear immediately. This gives rise to the question: Is the nobelman of the parable the triumphant Christ or an Anti-Christ? I'll dismiss anti-Christ because I don't think of Jesus teaching about false prophets and the anti-christ that we usually think about in the Revelation to John. No, this nobleman is Christ, but he doesn't sound Christ-like, does he? Then again, what is a pound? In my Bible, the word pound is used instead of mira, which is worth about three weeks pay (thank God for footnotes). This story also appears in Matthew in a different guise. Instead of ten slaves, there are three. The three slaves are given ten, five, and one talent repsectively. Another footnotes points out that a talent is worth about fifteen years of work for a laborer.
The phrase that has given me the most trouble is Luke 19:26: "I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." Fortunately, this phrase shows up at least twice in Matthew, twice in Luke, and once in Mark. The other time Jesus uses this phrase he is referring to the secrets (or mysteries) of the kingdom of heaven. Those who know about the Kingdom will be given more knowledge, etc. In Mark and Luke, the second place this phrase appears is with one of my favorite Biblical images: The lamp under the basket. No one buys a lamp and hides it, but places it high so everyone can see its light.
So what am I left with? A closer reading of Luke's version of the nobleman and the slaves. Verses 15-17:
When he returned, having recieved royal power, he ordered these slaves, to whom he had given the money, to be summoned so that he might find out what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, "Lord, your pound has made ten more pounds.' he said to him, 'Well done, good slave...'I've emphasized a few important key phrases that I didn't read the first time. I inserted the notion that the slaves returned money to the master, which is what caused me so much confusion. Jesus taught not to worry about money or wealth. The slaves did not return the money to the master. They made more money. What about the third slave, the one who hid his money? He is punished. Why? He was given a secret of heaven, and he hid it away, hoarded it, he didn't share it, he didn't think about it, so when the master returned he had nothing more than what he'd been given. He'd wasted his gift. If he had put the money in the bank, or taken the secret to heart and prayed, the master would have gotten the interest. The slave did not use the gift even for his own personal growth. He lived in fear of the master. Now, when I read 'fear of the Lord' in the Bible, I read it as 'awe of the Lord', because awe envelopes wonder, fear implies a"Just wait until your father get's home" kind of trouble. I've met Christians who claim to put 'fear of the Lord' first in their hearts, and their understanding of this is 'if I do something wrong, Jesus will send me to Hell.' They say that the movie The Passion helps them because they imagine their sins as a welt on Christs body, and that guilt keeps them on the 'straight and narrow' path of righteousness. The good slaves were the ones who did something with their gift. As a Christian, you have been given a light, you are a light. Be a beacon. Share your gift. Do not save it for the 'rapture', give it away. It will grow when you do. ¶ 12:11 PM
