Kingdom Math - Judges 4:1-7; Matthew 25:14-30

I don’t know about you, but I’m always delighted when the Parable of the Talents falls during stewardship season. It’s a tricky parable for sure. There’s a lot of outdated master and slave language in most modern translations, and agricultural metaphors are often lost on 21st-century readers anyway. But I do think this parable is often misread, so let me start off by relieving you of the notion that the property owner is the villain in the story. He isn’t.

We’re quick to take the word of the final servant and assume the worst about an authority figure, because authority figures let us down all the time. There can be a kind of twisted satisfaction when someone in power is revealed to be unworthy of their station. But the parables of the New Testament are excellent reminders that God is an altogether different kind of authority figure.

God’s power manifests in justice, mercy, and trustworthiness, so we can assume that the property owner in the Parable of the Talents exhibits similar qualities. So, that leaves us with two creative, trusting, and faithful servants, and one fearful, stingy servant. And no one wants to be exposed as the fearful, stingy servant.

You see, this is a parable about sharing, but not just in the way we might think. We know that access to resources across socioeconomic lines is an important part of a thriving community. We know that we’re called to help those who are less fortunate than we are. But the Parable of the Talents doesn’t mention debts, labor, the poor, or any of the usual signs that Jesus is teaching us about social justice. 

Instead, the property owner chastises his stingy servant for not taking the opportunity to grow and spread the treasure he’d been given, while the faithful servants grew his wealth and were thus welcomed to share in it. The kind of sharing celebrated in this parable goes beyond equitable access, it makes everyone’s lives richer. This is exciting, but the calculus get tricky.

Perhaps some of you have seen the trend going around the internet called “girl math.” Here’s an example: if I add enough items to my cart to qualify for free shipping, I’m actually saving money. Or, if I buy this treat with cash, my bank account won’t change, so it’s actually free. Or a personal favorite of mine, if I planned to purchase something today but didn’t, my spending budget has just doubled for tomorrow. This is girl math. The numbers may not add up, but the emotional logic sure does. 

I would like to propose that the Parable of the Talents, not unlike the Feeding of the 5,000 from five loaves of bread, taps into Kingdom Math. Spreading a finite amount of resources equitably across a community is an admirable notion. But an abundance that, once released and shared, will grow exponentially for everyone, well that’s Kingdom Math. The numbers may not add up, but God’s joy and truth are there. 

Let’s look at how it plays out in the Old Testament today. Our story is about my girl Deborah. Deborah conducted all her business from her favorite shady spot under a palm tree. She’s always reminded me of my godmother, who used to conduct all her business from a Motorola bag phone in her car in the late ’90’s. Anyway, Deborah was a brave warrior, a wise leader, a true feminist, and she understood the value of sharing. 

In this morning’s passage, she summons Barak and offers him a mission, a military feat that will win him great fame and fortune. This is where the lectionary stops, but I’ll fill you in on what happens next. Barak is hesitant to accept the mission. He asks Deborah to accompany him, not to do his dirty work for him, just for moral support. Deborah is willing, but she warns Barak that when we share things, like the weight of battle - or its glory - they don’t belong to us anymore, and that if she goes with him, what he hoped to claim for himself might end up belonging to a woman instead. Can we think of anything worse?!

As you might have predicted, Barak ignores her warning, and the two of them head into battle. Sure enough, just when Barak lays his eyes on the opposing army’s leader, his arch nemesis, his mortal foe, a fierce and female warrior named Jael swoops in and steals the kill right out from under Barak, just as Deborah warned. It was a tough lesson for Barak to learn.

But here’s what I love most about Deborah. With her wisdom and her might, she ensured a great victory for Israel, and even foresaw precisely how it would take place. She could have claimed all the glory of this story for herself. Instead, Deborah wrote a song. (You’ll know I love it when women sing the Bible!) Deborah wrote a song about her victory and about the Israelite people, and about Barak, and about Jael. 

In fact, we know the incredible story of Jael because Deborah celebrated her in a song, and shared the limelight with her. Now, this tale is an Old Testament classic. It’s bigger and more impactful than any of its characters could have imagined, all because Deborah was not a fearful or stingy servant of God. 

The powerful truth in the story of Deborah and the Parable of the Talents is that when we share what we have, it doesn’t matter the amount, the very act of sharing causes our physical and spiritual abundance to grow. That’s Kingdom Math. So, what if we applied this Kingdom Math to stewardship season?

Yes, we need a certain amount of money pledged and given every year to keep our building in good shape and our personnel provided for. Yes, we hope that those of us who have more to share will do so in order to help cover those of us who do not have as much to share. Yes, we realize there is no shortage of good causes and other places to put our money, and finding the right balance can be tricky.

But I think our lectionary texts are calling us to think about stewardship in light of Deborah’s story and the Parable of the Talents. If we share what we have with Christ Church, our time, talent, and money, perhaps a little limelight or some glory, or accomplishment, maybe even a compliment, an idea, or a ride home. If we share these gifts, we will find that not only does Christ Church have everything it needs, we actually have more physical and spiritual resources than we thought possible.

At our family service earlier today, we told a slightly different version of today’s Gospel passage. I call it the Parable of the Glittery Stickers. It went as well as you’re imagining. I think children understand the Kingdom Math of sharing better than we do.

As we finish out stewardship season and approach the holiday season, all in the midst of master planning season, I hope we can look to stories like Deborah’s, stories like the Parable of the Talents, to keep us centered on the joy of sharing. Because the spiritual practice of releasing and sharing what we have will transform us beyond the measure of what we share. We will, as the property owner explains it, enter into the joy of our God. And that’s Kingdom Math. Amen.