They Never Saw the Rabbit

Proper 28A; Matthew 25:14-15, 19-29; St. Paul’s, Smithfield; 11/19/17

Jim Melnyk, “They Never Saw the Rabbit”

There’s an old story about a young man who went off into the wilderness on a spiritual journey.  He learned of a Holy Teacher who lived with some disciples near the edge of an old wood and so he traveled to the teacher’s hermitage to study with the learned master.  After a while the young seeker took note of the many people who, like himself, sought out the teacher.  Some, like the young man, stayed for a long time.  Most, however, stayed for a while and then they left.  One day the student found himself standing before his teacher in front of the teacher’s hut.  “Master,” he said, “I have noticed that so many come to learn from you, but most stay for only a short time and then they leave.  Why is this so?”  The teacher looked at the young man and replied, “I will tell you a story that has the answer.” 

The teacher pointed to his old dog sleeping by the doorway.  “Once, a long time ago, I was sitting here with my dog when a great white rabbit came hopping across the yard.  The dog, waking from her sleep, saw the rabbit and immediately began chasing it.  The dog chased it this way and that, through the brush and around the hills, baying all the time.  Soon the other dogs around us took up the chase with her.  They ran back and forth, through the brush and brambles, around the hills, and all along the wood’s edge.  Then, one by one, the other dogs slipped away from the chase until only this old hound was left to the hunt.”  The Master paused for a moment and then asked, “Why did the other dogs drop out of the chase?”

“I don’t know,” the young man said, shaking his head in bewilderment.  “Please tell me why.”  “They stopped,” the teacher replied, “because they never saw the rabbit.”  They never saw the rabbit!

This is one of the stories within this morning’s gospel story.  It’s a parable about how people never see the rabbit, and so they abandon the chase, often tired and worn out, worse for the wear and not too sure as to why they began the chase in the first place!

Think about our lesson for a moment.  In the story, their Master gives each of the three slaves a certain number of talents, that is, a vast amount of money – we’re talking millions of dollars in today’s economy.  They are to use the money, “each according to his ability.”  The first two slaves use their best skills to increase the value of the amounts entrusted to them.  The third slave, fearful of his Master, and apparently fearful of his own abilities to use the sum wisely, hides the money away until his master’s return.  The third slave never gets excited about his chance to use what his master gives to him – in other words, he never sees the rabbit – and therefore he fails the test.  The slave doesn’t fail because he isn’t capable.  Rather, he fails because he lacks a vision of who and what he is called to be.  He never sees the rabbit!

A former professor of mine, probably thinking about our Old Testament reading put it like this: “The time before the return of the master is a time of testing.  We’re not meant to sit on our duffs (or on our dregs, whatever that is), fearful of losing [that with which we’ve been entrusted].  We’re meant to have courage, to be willing to venture out, to take risks, to be bold and persistent…. We are required to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the tasks set before us, for we will be judged more harshly for hiding our talents than we will be for risking and losing all.” (Synthesis, SEA)

It’s hard to stay in the chase – it’s hard to risk what little or what lot we have – if we haven’t seen, or haven’t gotten a good enough look at, the rabbit – if we don’t get a good look at Jesus.  It’s hard to do the work of the church – it’s hard to offer our tithe – it’s hard to offer our time and energy – unless we have a vision of what lies ahead.  We get tired and worn out, or we get anxious and unsure, when asked to give of ourselves to a God we cannot see with a clear eye and strong heart.

And yet God wants us to see – God wants us to become a part of God’s beloved community!  We haven’t been handed a test full of trick questions, dead-ends, or false options.  God, wanting to be in relationship with humanity, has given us a marvelous sign of God’s own love for us!  God has given us a glimpse of the rabbit, my friends!  In seeing Jesus, we see God.  In seeing Jesus, we see what incredible work we are called to accomplish in loving response to God’s love for us.  And it is only when we can see the incredible love God has for us in God’s own heart, that we can take the risks, do the work, and remain in the chase.

In today’s gospel lesson Jesus tells us a shocking parable about a Master who is not at all godly in the way he makes his money, or the way he treats his slaves.  He reaps where he hasn’t sown, and gathers where he hasn’t scattered seed.  He’s not meant to be an allegorical stand in for God at all.  In fact, Jesus means for us to see him as quite the opposite of God.  And I’m willing to bet the Master’s first two slaves grow their trust funds the same way. 

And while we’re not supposed to emulate this particular Master, or even his first two slaves in how we do things, the parable is meant to call us to respond wholeheartedly with the gifts and talents God gives us – the gifts that can help make real the reign of God.  In Christ God shows us the One who risks all to make God’s presence known to all – and we are called to take the risk of sharing in that work of Christ’s love.

Jesus doesn’t tell us the story to encourage us to become overbearing fiscal tyrants, nor does Jesus tell us the story because God needs us to do the work of Christ.  Rather, we are told this story as an invitation to join in God’s vision for the world – a vision where Creator and creature share a love for one another and bring one another into the fullness of God’s love – God’s beloved community.

And while it may be hard for each of us to catch that life-giving vision of God’s love from time to time, we have been given a wonderful gift by God in Christ Jesus.  We can do for one another what the Master’s dog couldn’t do for the other dogs who shared in the chase for that short while.  We can help each other catch the vision of God’s call to live together in Christ’s love.  We can share with one another each glimpse we catch of God’s presence among us.  We can watch for the Christ in the lives and faces of those around us and point the way for those who cannot keep the pace when their strength or their vision fails.

           

How do we get a good look at the rabbit?  Where and when do we glimpse the Christ?  We find the Christ in the Sacrament of the Holy Table as we come together to share Christ’s body and blood – in the Communion of Christ’s body – each of us gathered together in this place, made one by God’s love.  We find Christ as we tell the stories of our faith, time and time again.  We find Christ in the honoring and safe-keeping of our children and our willingness to have them hear and see us act out our faith in our daily lives….  We catch a glimpse of the Christ in the eyes of a stranger – in a meal shared – in the giving of an unexpected gift, or in an unexpected word of affirmation, thanksgiving, or forgiveness.  We catch a glimpse of the Christ when we include those whom the world excludes – when we love as Christ loves us!

           

If we feel compelled to hide or guard what God has given to us, maybe it’s because we’ve lost sight of the vision – lost sight of that dang rabbit running just around the bend, right in front of us!  Together we can seek the face of Christ and rejoin the chase!  God wants us to see.  God wants us to share a vision of God’s presence and love for all of creation.  God wants us to stay in the chase – to chase that rabbit with everything we’ve got!  God wants us to stay in the chase because God wants to be caught!  God wants to come face to face with each of us and share with us the fullness of Creation Love.