£20 giveaway
12 09 2007
On Sunday, we looked at the final parable of the Kingdom (after a week break at the beginning of September) - the Parable of the Talents found in Mt 25:14ff.
We also gave away £20 to everyone that wanted … well we actually had a limit of one hundred £20 notes! This was to enable us to practically live out the parable over the next few months. If you were there, I would love to hear what you thought … If you weren’t, you can add “gutted” to the comment section!
But first the parable. For me one of the keys to understanding the parable is to know how much a talent is worth. Nobody knew on Sunday, and to be fair, I didn’t either until I looked it up! A talent was originally a measure of weight, but in NT times it was also a currency, and was worth 3000 shekels or 6000 denarii. Enlightened? Well, a denarii was a days wages, say for someone working in a vineyard (unskilled worker). In the UK an unskilled worker might earn £60 for a day’s work, which would make a talent worth £350,000!
So the story goes: A wealthy man went away for a long time, and he entrusted his wealth to his servants. To one servant he gave nearly £2million, and he put the money to work, and doubled it! To another, he gave about £700,000 and he also doubled the money. To a third, he gave £350,000 and he hid it under his mattress! What? He had that much money and hid it under his mattress (well actually he buried it … but hiding it under his mattress adds a bit of poetic licence to the story!).
No wonder the master was angry. But his response is astounding when you think about it?
you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest (vs 27)
The sense of what Jesus is saying here is: “You could have done anything with the money … apart from doing nothing!”
He could have paid for his ill mother to visit a doctor, he could have given the money to the poor, he could have thrown a party … just not hide it away and do nothing.
Jesus is talking about how we should live in light of the Kingdom that has come, but is yet to come fully. It isn’t really about money, but the wonderful gift of the live we have: our gifts, abilities, education, opportunities, time, money, our physical bodies … everything. When we are constrained by fear (vs 24), we aren’t present, don’t show up, and aren’t the contribution that we are meant to be to the world we live in.
So we gave £20 to every person who wanted it. It was a ridiculously small amount, compared to outrageously large amount each servant was given. But it represents everything that we have. We are to put it to work in some way … maybe to multiply the money, or maybe to do something that we have wanted to do, but just seems a bit risky. It could be baking cakes to sell; buying material for a painting; printing up business cards; or joining a community group or learning opportunity etc. etc. We aren’t looking for tangible results (although getting some of the money back would be nice!), but the stories of what God does in us as we engage with him and our fears …
In February, we want to hear stories of what we have done, and what changes and opportunities have emerged because of this small £20. We want to see a community than learns more to take risks, to trust God, to be present, to show up …
OK, preach over.
If you were there, what did you think? What are you planning on doing with the £20? If you weren’t (and you have managed to get to the end of this massive post!) what do you think about interpretation of the parable? And what would you do if you had been given £20 (about $40) to take some risk?
Tags: Community Church Edinburgh, Parables of the Kingdom, Preaching, Parable of the Talents, Talents, money
Hey man!
Good stuff. I think you have some great insight.
When we get to that parable for our run through we might to that too…although we might have to use loose change!
I spoke last week on consumerism (partly) from the parable of the sower and the third “bad” ground where the desire for stuff got in the way of the Kingdom. I think this relates. We can’t just assume that God wants 10% (which is OT anyway) and that we can use the rest as we please.
Do something…and do it for the Kingdom. After all, isn’t that what the servants were doing…or suppossed to be doing?
Nice work.
David - thanks for the comment. Love your thoughts on parable of the sower and consumerism. I think you are so right about the servants … do something … do ANYTHING for the Kingdom…
We had something similer in our church. Each cell group were given £25 each. The objective was to double that money any way we wish (except for gambling), and then to bless someone in the community.
I belong to two cell groups. One of those groups decided for us all to put some of our own money in to make up the extra £25 and then to give it to a non-Christian couple who are friends of ours. They have two small children, not much money and have not been able to get some time alone together. One of us was going to babysit, while the couple use the money to go and have a nice meal and drinks in a fancy restuarant in town.
The other group I’m in have decided to also put our own money in and use the money to sponsor and child from one of the projects our church runs called ‘From Kenya with love.’
Coming back to if I was given £20 for myself, depending on my circumstances at the time, if I was in need of some money and prayed for it, I would keep it and use it for whatever it is that I need. If I was ok for money and given £20, I would either pray about it and ask God if I should keep it in case He has given it to me in prepreation for a need that may be coming or should I give it to someone I think could could do with £20 now.
Thanks for the comment Tayna …
great to hear your experiences.
Reminds me of the parable of the shrewd manager. He was sacked, but then he cancelled loads of debts, spending his masters money on other people. And the master somehow didnt get mad.
Yes it does. I find that such a wierd parable … but i haven’t done a lot of thinking about it.
How do you understand it?
nicely done - money always makes moneys so they say - it’[s one of the things i love about Kiva, seeing the same small amount of money recycled and yet each time lifting people out of poverty.
We also did something similar to Tanya - but with £10, we made a stack of money with a 2nd hand sale and then used the money to put together beauty packs for a woman’s shelter
Love it Paul … thanks for sharing your experiences…
Hi Rupert,
although my wife and I did not physically make it to this church service, we felt we were “present in spirit” and therefore request you make a BACS transfer for £40 to us.
Seriously though, I once went to similar thing where I was handed a tenner and told to invest it. Well, to be honest I could think of nowt to do with said tenner, so in the end I mailed them back a cheque, with interest (it was years later), for the amount. My problem is that my ideas always require huge amounts of money…
I agree Alastair - i guess what i am hoping for is that £20 will get us thinking about ALL we have, and how we can use that for the Kingdom. £20 isn’t a lot of money…
BUT if it gets us thinking about possibilities then it will have been a helpful exercise for us to do…
Thanks for this Rupert. I like the illustration you give of how its our whole lives and gifts, skills abilities etc, ignited by the Spirit of God, that must be put to use in the world. Fear leads to stagnation, and stagnation leads to independence and alienation.
Thanks Tim … great comment. I love the last sentence.
Call me when you’re doing the £200 version LOL.
A great idea and I’m really looking forward to hearing the stories. Lets hope no-one buries it.
[…] Rupert was giving away money at his church gathering last week (Rupert - call me next time hey???? […]
That’s such a great idea - because it challenges us to really apply what we learn in church to our lives.
Having said that I wouldn’t have a clue where to begin with what to do with it…there’s a challenging thought…
I certainly wouldn’t hide it under my mattress. It’d more likely go to buy some sort of resource that I could use for education work!!!
Hi Rupert, I think you should blog how this went, but here is my version of the sequel from 18 May 2008 …
http://fromnd.blogspot.com/2008/05/great-20-giveaway.html