PASTOR'S MESSAGE
OCTOBER 2006
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Do you remember Jesus' story about the talents? A talent was a coin. A man goes on a journey and entrust to one
servant five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. The man
who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also the one with
two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hold in the ground and hid
his master's money. When the man returns, he rewards them accordingly, putting the first two servants in charge of
his property, and taking the one talent away from the servant who was afraid to invest and therefore risk losing it. "For
everyone who has will be given more," Jesus concludes, "and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what he has will be taken from him."
I don't think Jesus is talking about money here - he's talking about faith. Can you imagine what he would have said
to a fourth servant who told him, I took my talent and bought a lottery ticket with it? Just think, had I won, I would
not only have doubled your money for you but I would have increased it a million fold. This would make the person
who buried his talent in the ground look like a saint and a winner.
As I am writing this letter, our State Legislature is about to grant six gaming licenses to horse tracks around the
state. Once again, proving this country's s"all or nothing" mentality.
If you haven't noticed, we are slowly moving (maybe not so slowly) from a culture that honors the laborer and their
hard work, to a culture that defines success only in terms of conspicuous excess.
There was a time in this country when success was viewed collectively, shown not by lottery winners and 2 million
dollar houses, but by such tings as barn raisings, where all the neighbors would gather for a day and build a barn on one
of their farms. At the end of the day, there would be a great feast. Everyone would contribute. Everyone would
participate. Everyone would share the hoy of working eating together. At the end of the day, they didn't go home and
feel diminished because one of their neighbors' barns was now bigger or newer than their own. They went home and
felt good about how their little community had been enhanced and the part they played in this.
Today, one of the most toxic repercussions of our "all or nothing" culture is that the many little thins we can do to
improve our world seem like nothing. When we view success in terms of a million talents, and the world in terms of a
million problems, what does it mean for us to double our little two to four, or our little five to ten? I am not only talking
about money. With Jesus, I am talking about faith, faith in ourselves and faith in one another. Faith that we can make a
difference in the world - faith that what we do, especially what we do together, really matters.
Fifty years ago, and still in some parts of the country today, when neighbors got together and raised a barn
somewhere in their neighborhood, they didn't solve society's problems. They didn't eliminate poverty. They didn't win
the lottery. All they did was help neighbor. But think about that meal at the end of that day. I bet it was satisfying and
everyone had enough. Everyone was filled. They didn't go home depressed. They didn't think that what they
accomplished that day nothing. They helped a neighbor. And that is everything.
Which brings me to my point (finally, you say!) Rich Gubish is once again preparing to launch a soup kitchen for
the fall and winter seasons. It will offer members of this church an opportunity to participate in Rosemont' version of a
barn raising.
There are many in our neighborhood who live below the poverty lien. Can we change that? - Probably not. We
can't spend our single talent, or tow, or five, and win a million in a 'save the world' lottery. All we can do is double
two, or five. All we can do is try to save the world and ourselves from insignificance one neighbor at a time.
Does this matter? Does anything as small as this really matter? Of course it matters. And all the people we feed, all
the people we serve every week in this church--that you feed, that you serve -- does that matter? Nothing, in fact, is
more meaningful. So I invite you once again to sign up and do your part in helping feed the hungry, or any one of our
outreach programs, they all need more volunteers.
One final thing, what I am talking about here is not an all or nothing proposition. It is a something proposition. We
can each do a little something to raise a bard, to share a little food with our neighbors, to love them as ourselves. It is
not a matter of burying our talent so we don't' risk it, or throwing away in some million to one lottery. It is a matter of
turning two into four, and five into ten. It is a matter of building up our common faith by investing ourselves in one
another. It is how we can actually save the world, both the world and ourselves: one neighbor at a time.
If you would like to Contribute Money or volunteer at the "Soup Kitchen" please contact Rich Gubish through the
church office - 610-867-3705
Pastor Steltzer
