It's the end of the NFL season, and college football just ended. We, in Alabama, have had the chance to see some good football all year, courtesy of the SEC. This year, if you watched the NFL playoffs, you have certainly seen some interesting games. I admit I usually have these games on in the background while I am doing something else. But I did have one observation about this year's games, especially the one between Kansas City and Buffalo.
The KC/Buffalo game was one where both teams remembered the most important thing about a sporting event ... you play to win the game. If you play not to lose, you will lose. If you try to stand pat, you will find that standing still is both a decision and a recipe for loss. In this particular game, both teams left all of their talent and energy out on the field.
Tony Campolo tells a story about taking his daughter on a tour of Chicago gangster Al Capone's old haunts. The tour guide said "When he died, he had spent every penny he had ever made." Tony's daughter said ... "Perfect timing!"
The Bible is filled with stories of investing, winning, losing and saving. These stories come to mind as I consider the theology of "the game." For we all are playing a high stakes game. It is life an death ... winning and losing. And it is choosing what is important to us.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells what the New Living Translation calls "The Parable of the Three Servants." Other translations might call this the parable of the talents, but I like the thought of God looking at our three characters as servants. In the story the master gives silver to the servants, 5 bags to the first, 2 bags to the second and one bag to the third. The first servant immediately takes the 5 bags and invests them, earning 5 additional bags. The second servant takes the 2 bags of silver and works to build them into 2 additional bags. The third servant took the 1 bag of silver and placed it into a hole in the ground, earning nothing in return. Two servants were willing to risk it all to grow the master's investment in them, while the third risked nothing, choosing to be "safe." The master calls the first two servants "good" and "faithful." The third servant is called "wicked" and "lazy."
As I have read and re-read this story over the years, I have preached about risk, how we all have different levels of "talents" and how God views His servants as they walk through life with what God has invested in them. What I haven't pondered is the wording of the master's statements to each servant. Let's give this a shot!
The third servant is called wicked and lazy ... pretty harsh for sure! The word wicked here is (in the Greek) translated both "maliciously (intentionally) evil" and "perverse." Why would Jesus use such terms to describe a sin of inaction? Maybe God views our inaction (burying our giftedness) as particularly insidious! Maybe God sees this as intentionally ignoring the purpose for which we were placed into this world. Maybe God sees "trying not to lose" as vastly more reprehensible than "trying and failing." Maybe God sees inaction as far worse than losing gold or silver. Maybe all of this (this being our life in one of the most affluent places on the planet) as an audition for eternity with God. Maybe "the game" isn't winning or losing, but is more about learning and living-out God-centered investment of ourselves! Being wicked and lazy, in the sense of this parable, is roundly condemned throughout Scripture! Don't be that guy (or girl)!
The first two servants are called "good" and "faithful." I want to stress the definition of faithful here. The Greek word can mean several things, but the two I want to stress are 1) a believer in the Gospel and 2) one who is worthy of being trusted/believed. The first definition is pretty clear. Faithful means that the servant doesn't just give lip service to the Gospel ... the servant is willing to place resources and life into the Gospel plan. They are "all in" and their "game" belongs to God's plan and God's purpose. Faithful also means that when a servant does life in this way, they are worthy of being believed. They are true and valid witnesses of the truth of Christ. Other people look at these servants and are encouraged, empowered and won to God's Good News!
As I recounted those unimportant football games, I thought about the sports cliche's that we all hear. "They left it all out there in the field." "He gave it all he had!" I am sure you have a few you could add to my list. But, I want to leave us with a few what-if's today. What if there is a game more important that a sporting event, our accumulated 'stuff' or our safe/secure lives? What if there is a purpose far more important than keeping what we have? What if we viewed things like worship, Bible study, being in Christian fellowship, and investing in God's purposes as vastly more important than standing pat on our stuff, our wealth or our legacy? Do we know the nature of our master? Do we realize that in God's word risk of time, talent, leadership and love are far more precious than attributes valued by this temporal world?
One last observation ... the two servants who invested (called faithful and good) ... say nothing about how they know the master ... for their actions profess their faith and their trust. The last servant (called wicked and lazy) says the words "I knew you" and "I was afraid." The servant did not know the master. The servant wasn't condemned because of fear ... but because of acting on that fear.
Our enemy isn't losing what we have. Our enemy isn't 1) the toil of the work to earn the master a profit, 2) being fearful or, 3) making a plan that may win or lose some earthly 'game.' The enemy is our choice when we play not to lose and when we fail to invest in God's plan and purpose.
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