“A GRAND RESPONSE TO GRAND THEFT AUTO”

MATTHEW 25:14-30

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.

15 To one he gave five talents,  to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.

17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.

18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’

21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’

23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,

25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?

27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.

29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

It’s the second Sunday in May and I have a problem on my hands. 

My problem is similar to the one that Robert Fulgham faced many years ago.  Do you remember Robert Fulgham?  He wrote a best selling book back in the early 1980’s.  The title of the book was “Everything I Ever Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten.”  What you may not know is that before he wrote that best selling book Robert Fulgham was an ordained minister. Looking back on his previous career, “For twenty-five years of my life, the second Sunday of May was trouble…I was obligated in some way to address the subject of Mother’s Day.  It could not be avoided…The congregation was quite open-minded and gave me free reign in the pulpit.  But when it came to the second Sunday in May the expectation was summarized in the words of one of the more outspoken women in the church: “I’m bringing my mother to church on Mother’s Day, Reverend, and you can talk about anything you want, but it had better include MOTHER and it had better be good!”                                                           (It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, 1991)

That’s the problem I have this morning.  It’s Mothers’ Day, but for us it’s also Stewardship Sunday.  So, the challenge this past week was to craft a sermon that did two things.  It had to be a sermon that lavishes praise on all the mothers of the world and at the same time inspires all of you to open up your wallets and give like you’ve never given before.

It seemed like an impossible task.  So I sat down and I prayed.  I prayed for the wisdom of Solomon.  I prayed for the patience of Job.  I prayed that I might be able to con our student minister into giving the sermon.  

My prayers were answered when I heard about a new video game that went on sale a couple of weeks ago.   It’s the latest edition of a video game called Grand Theft Auto.  The video game has made a lot of people angry.  So, I thought I would ask the mothers this morning what they think about this video game.  Moms, what do you think about a game where your children get points for shooting people, stealing cars, running down police officers and soliciting prostitutes?  Is that a game that you want your children to play?  What about the rest of us?  Would you buy a child that game for his or her birthday?

I wish I could say that Grand Theft Auto has been a colossal flop, but just the opposite is true.  In just one week Take-Two, the company that makes the video game has seen cash registers around the country ring up $500 million dollars in sales.   Now I may be crazy here but something is seriously wrong when a company can make millions of dollars on a game that promotes death and destruction. 

Then there’s Eric Thompson.  He owns the company that sold the guns that were used to kill all those students at Virginia Tech last year.  Did you see where he went to the Virginia Tech campus a couple of weeks ago to speak?  He said he wants to sell guns to all the students so they can protect themselves.  He’s even offering them a special discount.  Once again I may be crazy here but something is seriously wrong when someone can exploit a terrible tragedy to sell more guns and make even more money.

In many ways it’s a sad world that we live in these days.  That’s why those talents that God has given our mothers and fathers and all the rest of us are so important.  You see here’s the interesting thing about those talents.  On the one hand those talents can be used to bring a little more of God’s love into this world.  On the other hand those talents can also be used to bring a little more greed and hatred and evil into this world. 

That simple truth can be seen in a television documentary that was aired many years ago.  The documentary was on the life of Mother Theresa.  The documentary showed her working with poor people in the slums of Calcutta.  One of the things that made the documentary even more powerful though was what you saw during the commercial breaks.  The sequence went like this: Mother Theresa working with lepers followed by a commercial that showed scantily clad women romping on a beach.  Starving people followed by a commercial for designer jeans.  Abject poverty followed by a commercial for fur coats.  Abandoned babies followed by a commercial for ice cream sundaes.  Dying people followed by a commercial for diamond watches.

It would be naïve to think that there aren’t people out there who are using their talents to bring a little more greed and hatred and evil into this world.   That’s why the master in the parable wasn’t happy when the servant who went out and buried his talent in the ground.    God wants the moms and the dads and the accountants and the lawyers and the factory workers and the students and the pastors and all the people in the pews to use their talents to bring a little more love into this world.

Did any of you happen to read about the amazing thing that happened a few weeks ago to Sarah Tucholsky?  Sarah Tucholsky plays softball for Western Oregon University.  She found herself in the news when she hit a homerun for the first time in her life.  The homerun would have won the game for her team but her dream quickly turned into a nightmare when she tore the ligaments in her knee while rounding first base.  She quickly fell to the ground and was writhing in pain.  Sarah wanted to continue running around the bases but she couldn’t. Her teammates wanted to help her but the umpire told them that Sarah would be out if they helped her.  The first base umpire told Sarah’s coach that she could take Sarah out of the game and put in a pinch runner.  If the coach did that though the homer would be erased and Sarah would be credited with a single instead.  That’s when Mallory Holtman, the first baseman for the Central Washington team asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Sarah.  The umpire said there was no rule against it.  So, Mallory Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace picked Sarah up and carried her around the bases.  They stopped at each base so Sarah could touch it with her uninjured leg.  They did that even though it meant that their team would loose the game and be eliminated from the playoffs.  By the time they got to home plate the entire Western Oregon team was in tears.  Later Liz Wallace said, “We didn’t know that she was a senior or that this was her first home run….We just wanted to help her.”   Pam Knox the coach for the loosing team had this to say about what happened.  "It's a great story….something I'll never forget -- the game's about character and integrity and sportsmanship, and it's not always about winning and losing."

That’s the kind of world I want to live in.  That’s the kind of world I believe in.  I don’t want to live in a world of Grand Theft Autos.  I want a world with a lot more of God’s love and a lot less greed and hatred and evil.  That’s only going to happen if the moms and dads and the rest of us give generously and faithfully of our talents, our time and our treasures.

There’s a story that says that after Jesus ascended to heaven all the angels gathered around him to welcome him home.  The angels wanted to know what Jesus did while he was on earth.  So, he told them about the miracles he performed and the wisdom that he passed along.  He told them about his death on the Cross and his resurrection.  When he finished the angel Gabriel had a question.  “What happens now?” Gabriel asked.  “Ah,” Jesus replied, “I have left behind eleven faithful disciples and a handful of men and women who faithfully followed me.  They will declare my message and share my love.  They will build my Father’s kingdom on earth.”  Those words trouble Gabriel.  “But, what if they fail?” Gabriel asked.  “What is your other plan?”  Jesus replied, “I have no other plan!”   Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

May 11, 2008