I am a huge fan of Rob Bell and especially of his podcast, or "Robcast". I listen every week, and although I usually love his interviews and being introduced to wonderful people doing amazing work, I mostly love to hear him preach. I look forward to his sermon podcasts and am inspired by them. It's very rare I hear him preach on a bible passage and am not blown away by his interpretation, but last Monday was one of those rare occasions.
Last Monday, the scripture passage on which he preached was from the gospel of Matthew, chapter 25. This is sometimes referred to as the gospel of the talents, but in the New International Version, the one to which Rob referred, it is the parable of the bags of gold. In this parable, a master is going on a journey, but before he leaves, he entrusts his money with three of his servants. Upon the master's return, the first servant, who was given five bags of gold, now has ten. The second servant, entrusted with 2 bags, now has four. The third servant, entrusted with one bag, buried the bag, so now still has only one bag. The first two servants are rewarded while the third is punished. Most times, people interpret this passage as one about the gifts God has given us, and about people not using them or wasting them, not sharing them with the world. Rob interpreted it differently, but in every interpretation, the master of the parable is seen as God, and the servant who buried the money is seen as the one who made the wrong decisions and deserving of his punishment. Rob's was a really good message, but I see this story in a different light.
While I was studying to be a minister, I heard a different interpretation of this passage that I have never forgotten. An instructor of mine shared an interpretation which she had heard from the indigenous people of Guatemala. It has stuck because it was in interpretation offered by an oppressed people, people fighting for their rights and freedom, people struggling with poverty, people under the heavy weight of empire. I think the indigenous people of Guatemala are much closer to the reality of Jesus and his followers than any other theologian that I have heard interpret this passage.
The people of Guatemala did not see the master of this story as a God figure. In this passage, the master is the Roman Empire, or one of the very powerful people supporting this empire. This master was going on a journey, but felt it important that his wealth not just remain stagnant. He wanted to see it grow while he was away, so he entrusted three of his servants to do this for him while he was away. Two of the servants did exactly as asked but the third decided to take a stand. The third servant decided that taking part in this world of empire, a world where the rich get richer and poor get poorer, a world where wealth and poverty were more important than compassion and justice, was not what he wanted to support. Instead of increasing his master's wealth, he buried it. It was an act of defiance.
Of course, his master was not happy with this servant. I find the most telling verse in this story, spoken by the third servant, to be, "I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed." We know by experience today that many do not earn the wealth they own. This master had gained wealth in harvest that he had not sown and had gathered wealth where he had not scattered seed. And the master agrees with this statement but doesn't see anything wrong with it. He just tells the servant that if he didn't want to invest his master's money, he could have at least put the money in the bank to earn interest. For the master, it's all about gaining wealth, even if it's just a little interest. In his mind, this third servant has gone against the system, has set a bad example, and needs to be silenced. The master believes in a social system where "whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them." Of course, oppressed peoples, then and now, would have found this system to be a familiar one, a world where the rich gained in wealth, and the poor increased in suffering.
In this version of the story, Jesus is the third servant. Jesus is the defiant one, teaching a new way of life. Jesus is the one who needs to be silenced by the current establishment. Jesus is the one who will suffer. Jesus is preparing his followers for his death at the hands of the Roman Empire and those in support of it. It's a common story, one experienced all too often by those with little power.
At the time I heard this story, I wondered how the rest of the bible might be heard if interpreted by oppressed people. Many in the church are too powerful or have too much privilege to really and truly hear the story as it was told in first century Israel, but I think we need to try. Too many stories are taken out of context and used to judge people. My god is one of compassion and justice, with a preference for the poor and marginalized and this is the god I hope to uncover as I continue to explore the bible.
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