Sermon: "A Time of Reckoning"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

Jesus, the master story-teller, weaves a timely tale for us this morning. He tells of a certain man who has authority over others but who depends on those others nevertheless. And this story – called the “Parable of the Talents” – is about three things: the relationship between master and servants, the responsibility of servants for the master’s property, and finally, the time of settling accounts and of reckoning.

In theological terms, these ideas span quite an extensive group of topics indeed. They include creation, free will, and judgment. However, that’s the message before the story – so let’s go back to the beginning.

Jesus says that a certain master – an owner of much property – was called away from the scene for a while. He had to spend a length of time in some place other than his home. During that time, however, his property and possessions and money had to be cared for. He could not simply go away and leave those things unattended.

Therefore, this master appointed three servants to look after his property. These three were to be stewards of the master’s possessions for a while – to act on his behalf and in his place.

Each servant was assigned certain possessions to care for – a certain number of talents. Now, a talent was not a coin, as we sometimes are told, but it did have to do with coins. Actually, a talent was a measure or a weight of money. Thus, the value of any possession or property could be indicated by the number of talents it was worth. In fact, one talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages for a laborer. And so, these servants were entrusted with a good deal, in terms of value – but it was not their own.

In terms of the master’s relationship with his servants, the way that he dealt with his property before he left was quite significant. One Bible translates the transaction this way: “He called his servants and put them in charge of his property.” Trust is involved here; the property was en-trusted to the servants. Thus, the relationship was one of trust on the master’s side and of responsibility on the side of the servants.

Then the master went away, Jesus tells us. From the story, we really do not know where the master went – or why – but, simply, that he was gone “for a long time.” And the servants were left with their responsibilities. The master was not present, looking over their shoulders. He was not checking up on them all the time. In fact, the servants were free to do what they wanted with the talents … even though the possessions were really not their own. The servants clearly did have responsibilities – for they knew that the talents were not theirs. However, they had a good deal of freedom in terms of how they handled the property and possessions and money with which they had been entrusted.

Then comes the climax to the story. The master returns. There follows a reckoning, a settling of the accounts. After all, the talents – the property, the money – had never been transferred to the servants legally. The master was still the owner; and he always remained the owner, even though he was not present for a long time. And so, the time came for him to check up on the care which had been given to that which was his.

Two servants had taken good care of the owner’s possessions. That is, they had been good stewards for him. But the third one had not been. Thus, the first two were rewarded, but the third was punished.

Jesus’ message seems fairly clear. The time of reckoning will come. Those who have responsibilities were given those responsibilities by someone else. And, while there may be a good deal of freedom to choose about being responsible or not, still a time of reckoning – of settling up – will arrive. The one who entrusts responsibility for his possessions to others remains interested in what happens to those possessions. And those who are responsible now will be held accountable later.

This story was one way that Jesus addressed the issues of relationships, responsibilities, and reckoning – the three “R’s” of stewardship … relationships, responsibilities, and reckoning. And, as I pointed out earlier, these three “R’s” have much to do with Christian understandings of creation, free will, and judgment.

The climax of Jesus’ story – the master’s return, the time of reckoning – takes us back to our other two readings, and I want to mention them briefly. The primary topic in each of them is the day of the Lord … a familiar theme as we conclude one church year and begin another one.

The day of the Lord is the ultimate day for settling accounts, the day of final reckoning. And it is quite interesting that in each of our readings, there are two very different reactions on that day – as there had been different reactions to the servants in Jesus’ story. It is pretty clear in each case that the different reactions depend on the degree of good stewardship practiced prior to that day of reckoning.

In the reading from Zephaniah, the day of the Lord was compared first to a great feast. We read there, “The day of the Lord is at hand; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests”(1:7). However, then the prophet paints a picture of significant contrast to that feast. He writes that the day – at least for some people – will be a day of distress, anguish, ruin, devastation, darkness, and gloom. And then he makes this interesting observation: “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them”(1:18). The message is clear. Not only, “You can’t take it with you” … but also, “It won’t buy your way in.”

Then, in the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, this two-sided view of the day of the Lord is shown once again. St. Paul writes first of the day of destruction and of a thief in the night. But then he contrasts that understanding to one of a Christian steward. He writes these words of encouragement to the person who has been faithful in stewardship. “But you are not in the darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day”(5:4-5).

Therefore, from all our readings today, we get several views of the day of the Lord … or, the time that the master returns to settle accounts, or judgment day. It will be a time of separation and of division. There will be some aspects of that day that will be troublesome and, even, frightening. However, in the time prior to that day, we have the ability to determine what kind of day it will be for us. In this period now, we have the opportunity to respond with free will to our responsibilities, to exercise good stewardship of God’s world. And our response to the opportunity now will have an effect on our experience of the day of the Lord to come.

Finally – and in particular, for the people of Trinity Church, Gatlinburg – note well the promises we will make in the renewal of our Baptismal Covenant in just a few minutes. We will promise to take care of God’s creation, for we have been entrusted with that creation until the master returns. Included in our responsibilities are our money, the environment, and the people we know. The quality of our stewardship of these things and these people will become clear at the time of reckoning, the day of the Lord. I pray that we may be good stewards of God’s world, including God’s people, for God’s sake. Amen.

Copyright © 2002 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee