The first reading today is a tiny snippet from the story of Deborah, prophetess and judge over Israel. It deserves more than one paragraph.
As in many stories from the book of Judges, it begins with the message that God is not happy with the Israelites, who have disobeyed. They have been punished with captivity, being oppressed by the Canaanites for twenty years. Jabin, (pronounced Yavin in Hebrew) is king of Canaan, and rules in Khatsor, just north of what we know of as the sea of Galilee. Khatsor means "village" in Hebrew. Yavin's general is Sisera, who lives in Kharoshet-ha-goyim, which, in Hebrew, means something like the building of the gentiles, or foreigners. It is located on the west coast, very close to Mount Carmel.
We know very little about Deborah. We know she was a prophetess and the fifth judge over Israel. We are told she was married to Lappidot. In Hebrew, her name means "bee" as in honeybee, and Lappidot means "torch", or "flame". She sits under a palm tree, which is named after her, in the hill country of Ephraim, in between Bethel and Ramah, near Jerusalem, and all Israel comes to her to hear her judgments.
Deborah calls Barak, the son of Avinoam, to give him orders from God. Barak is in Kesher, which is several miles north of Yavin's position in Khatsor.
The name Barak means "lightening flash." "Avi" means "my father". "Noam" means "pleasant" or "pleasantness". Remember Naomi, of the story of Ruth? Her name meant "my pleasant one." His name, Barak ben Avinoam, really means "Lightening flash, son of my pleasant father." The name of our president elect, Barack Obama, probably is not related to the Hebrew, since his father came from Kenya. Ironically, these readings are in a three year cycle, and simply happened to be included right after our election.
Deborah tells Barak to go to Mount Tabor, which is to the south of the Sea of Galilee, with troops from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. Today's reading stops before Barak answers Deborah. In the next verse, Barak tells Deborah that he will only go if she goes with him. His answer seems a bit disrespectful, especially considering the fact that she is judge over the entire nation, and a prophetess. After all, the command came from God, not her. It also seems a bit cowardly, as if he needs her to hold his hand, and doesn't trust her judgment--or God's.
She agrees to come with him, but she sounds displeased, and explains that he may win the battle, but he will receive no honor from it. The victory over the enemy general will be in the hands of a woman. She goes with Barak, and, in short, the Israelites win. Sisera, the general of the Canaanite army, runs for his life when it looks like his troops are losing.
Camped out nearby is a man named Khever, who is a Kenite. The father-in-law of Moses, Khobab, was a Kenite, so they are distant relatives of the Israelites. There was peace between Yavin of Canaan and Khever, so Sisera ran to Khever's tent in the hopes he would be safe there.
Khever's wife, Ya'el, greets Sisera and is very hospitable, even giving him milk when he asks for water because he is thirsty. Then, for some unknown reason she drives a tent peg through his skull while he is lying there. Not only does she break the rules of hospitality, but you would think she would be on his side, since Khever was at peace with Canaan. She may have been afraid of the Israelites who were pursuing him. For whatever reason, she murders him, fulfilling the prophecy of Deborah.
This story is followed by a section called "Deborah's song", in chapter five. According to many archeologists and Bible scholars it is one of the oldest sections of the Old Testament, older than the rest of Judges, and a window into pre-Davidic Israel. The song is poetic and a little bloodthirsty, but no more so than Miriam's song, which is thought to have been composed by Moses' sister Miriam in Exodus. After the song we are left with one sentence to encapsulate the rest of Deborah's reign. It says, "The land had rest forty years."
Deborah is one of the few women in the Bible in a position of authority. She receives a few pages, though she reigns for forty years of peace after this one battle. Her army is not the invading army, but the defenders of her people, unlike other Old Testament figures, such as Joshua. If you consider the probable life spans of most people during this period, her reign of forty years is remarkable. Deborah not only rules, but she has a special connection to God as a prophetess. Unlike Ya'el or Judith, Deborah is not a violent woman, but a leader in violent times with a cool head on her shoulders. She is a strong positive role model.
In the second reading, Paul writes to the Thessalonians about the "Day of the Lord," which will come like a thief in the night. Much has been written on the "Day of the Lord," often known as Judgment Day. It is also known as the "Day of Wrath," in Latin Dies Irae. Paul's message is to be always vigilant, ready for that day when all will be judged. His message is of hope, though, as he tells the Thessalonians that they are children of light, not darkness. His message is of caution, that they not fall asleep while waiting, and that they continue to encourage and help one another.
The third reading, from the Gospel of Matthew, contains the parable of the talents. This parable is included in a series of parables Jesus gives while explaining the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, and what it will be like at the end of the age. It all begins with the disciples' admiration of the temple, and Jesus' comment that the temple would be torn down. They ask what will happen then, and Jesus tells them about the day of the Lord, then explains that they should be ever-vigilant, telling several parables, including the parable of the slave who is rewarded because he is awake when his master comes home, and the ten bridesmaids, five of whom forget to put oil in their lamps before the bridegroom returns. In each of these parables, those who keep watch and are vigilant, or who use their gifts wisely, are rewarded, while those who are lazy, or unwise are shut out in the outer darkness.
The parable of the talents follows these, and is in the same vein. The word "talent" is in our language thanks to this parable. Its meaning has evolved to mean a gift or ability. In its original meaning, "talent" stood for a unit of weight rather than a specific coin. The master in this parable is fabulously wealthy. The commentary said a talent was worth fifteen years of pay for a common laborer. Even the lowliest slave here was entrusted with a lot of money. One slave has five talents, another has two, and the third has only one. Most coins excavated in Galilee and Judah from the era of Jesus were bronze, likely due to the migration of silver to Rome due to taxation, so the talent mentioned may not have been silver. Even so, 150 pounds of bronze would still be worth a lot by the standards of the day.
This parable can be found in the Gospel of Luke in a slightly different form. In Luke's Gospel the master is leaving to receive power, and a delegation of citizens from his country are sent to state that they do not want him as their master. There are ten slaves, to whom the master gives ten minas, or ten pounds of coins. The slaves received one mina each. One mina was worth about three months' wages, and was a Roman coin. Though there are ten slaves, only three are mentioned later. The slaves are told to do business with this money. The master doesn't just entrust his property to them; he tells them to make money from what he has given them. One slave makes ten minas from the one, another makes five minas, and the third slave wraps the mina in cloth and saves it for his master.
Upon his return, the master rewards those slaves who made money with more responsibility. In both versions the good servants are given increased responsibility and money.
In Matthew, the unworthy slave buries the money, and when the master returns he is brave enough--or merely stupid enough, to tell his master that he is a harsh man, reaping where he did not sow, and gathering where he did not scatter seed, so he was afraid, and buried the money. This was not a smart thing to say. Excusing himself for being afraid of losing the money at this point does not win him any points. The master in the parable seems to be angry not only at the effrontery of the slave, but also that he could have at least made some money if he had entrusted the single talent to the bankers. This is true in both Matthew's and Luke's versions of the parable. Matthew's slave uses the harshness of his master as an excuse to do nothing with the money.
This is a difficult parable in that it makes one uncomfortable. Those who take whatever gifts they have and use them rather than hiding them will be rewarded with more talents, while those who do not use their gifts will be punished by having even those talents taken away. How many times have we all ignored our talents because of bad attitude, fear of being embarrassed, or laziness?
The readings today are about being prepared and productive and using our gifts wisely. The third reading, though, is also about attitude. The unworthy slave is not only lazy, keeping the money in a safe place, and not using it to make more, but he is also insulting. The slave's negative attitude brings about his punishment.
We are called, then, to do something with what we have been given. We are not merely decorative furniture on Sunday mornings, but we, as Christians, are called to find out what our spiritual gifts might be and to use them wisely.
The New Testament readings call upon us to be vigilant in anticipation of Advent. The readings will soon reflect the end of the Church calendar and the beginning of a new cycle. We are called to prepare ourselves for the coming Kingdom, and for the coming of the King as a babe in Bethlehem.
Amen