CELC The Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

The Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – November 13, 2005

Matthew 25:14-30

Do you remember the story of the “Three Little Pigs?” It is a story about three sibling pigs that are under attack by that arch villain, the wolf. Each of the pigs, as you may remember, builds a home. One builds with straw, another with sticks and the third with brick. Along comes the wolf and huffs and puffs and blows down the straw house and the stick house. The wolf then devours the pigs.

It is when the wolf gets to the third house, made of brick, that he meets his match. He cannot huff and puff and blow the house down. When he tries “plan B,” the chimney, the pig has a pot of boiling water to greet him. The wolf is killed.

It is a childhood story and I can remember seeing it as an animated movie where the pigs sang, “Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?” You, too, may remember the movie.

And you may have come to remember the story as I did, as one about not being afraid. Fear, it seems, was the wolf’s best tool. And fear seems to be the problem for the third servant in the gospel lesson this morning.

Jesus tells us today about three servants of a pretty tough master, a master that could pass for the big, bad wolf. Jesus tells us that the first two servants do well with the houses they build…they double their worth. So good is the return that the wolf…ah, I mean the master…commends them and gives them more.

The third fellow has a problem. He is not living in a brick house. He is afraid. He is afraid that the master will punish him and indeed he does. When the servant, out of his fear, buries the one talent he seals his future as an anxious servant that does not take the risk needed to serve his master well. Because of his fear and anxiety this third servant takes no action. The master punishes him for his lack of action.

Well, it is important we ask the question, ‘What does this story have to do with us and our relationship to God?’ After all, we know God is telling us something through the words of our Lord Jesus. Now, what exactly are we being told?

Let’s begin with context. The story is placed by Matthew in a peculiar place. It is part of a section where Jesus teaches about the end time. Preceding this passage is the parable of the ten bridesmaids, where five are prepared with enough oil for their lamps, and five are not. This is a parable about being prepared for the second coming of Jesus.

While the ten bridesmaids precede today’s passage a scene of judgment follows. You know the scene; the king is separating the sheep from the goats, the saved from the condemned. Jesus is immediately is asked when the saved were feeding, clothing, visiting him. Jesus responds that as believers did the feeding, clothing, visiting and more to others, they did it to him. It is a passage that gets your attention. It tells you there is work to be done while you wait.

Like bookends, the ten bridesmaids is one side of our passage and the judgment scene on the other. Both have to do with Jesus coming at the end of time and the seeming delay of that event.

Thus, the gospel lesson is telling us as we wait for Jesus to come at the end of time we need to be prepared as faithful, not fearful servants of God.

Beware, though, we cannot be ready for the return of Jesus without the grace, forgiveness and mercy of his cross. As much as we would like to get our lives straightened out by ourselves, we fall short. Even entertaining the idea that we can banish all fear from our lives only fools us. God is not fooled. God knows that we cannot be faithful without the grace and mercy of the cross that snatches us from the pit fear.

Think of it this way: as I wrote this sermon I took the time to look up the story of the “Three Little Pigs.” I did not want to get the huffing and puffing wrong, or the straw, sticks and bricks.

As I read the actual story of the “Three Little Pigs” I saw an introduction and a conclusion that I did not remember. As the story opens the pigs mother tells them, “Whatever you do, do it the best you can because that’s the way to get along in the world.”

Wow, I did not remember that. The “Three Little Pigs” is a morality tale to teach little children to be over achievers. The conclusion agrees when mother says, “You see it is just as I told you. The way to get along in the world is to do things as well as you can.”

What a contrast to the words of our Lord Jesus this morning! Jesus is telling us to be faithful, not over achievers. Jesus is telling us not to live in fear of the big, bad wolf, but rather to be his faithful, serving disciples.

Jesus message only makes sense when you realize it anticipates the cross. In the grace and mercy of the cross your future is assured. You do not have to fear. There is nothing you need fear, even the big, bad wolf. You are set free through the cross to faithfully serve as people redeemed by God.

This is a very different message than that of the world. Remember what momma pig says, “The way to get along in the world is to do things as well as you can.” It may be true for this world. But God has taken care of this world and the next in the cross. God has made you people of faith, people who need not act from fear, but rather people who serve with grace and mercy. And most important, since you are forgiven, when you fail God does not expel you from the kingdom. You are saved by the cross, not by works. Amen.

Pastor Robert F. Holley