Grinding of Teeth
A "warm" Sunday morning reflection on regret and the grace of God.
Today is the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost and what better time than now to address this phrase that shows up no less than five times in Matthew’s gospel:
Weeping and grinding of teeth.
In short, this was a way of describing the bitter mix of grief and anger that comes from realizing too late what has been lost. It’s an image of regret.
It’s disappointing and not fun to think about. It’s that feeling in one’s gut after a car accident that could have been avoided if just with one little move or tap on the brakes. It’s the missed deadline that resulted in significant loss of grade or money or opportunity.
It’s the human feeling most anyone knows: “I could have and should have done much better.”
It’s easy enough to despise this notion coming from Jesus’ mouth. What happened to seventy times seven times of forgiveness? Is there really a line of demarcation at which forgiveness ends? Is Jesus just hyperbolizing (and if he is…why would that change what we do with it all?)
In today’s parable, the servant who buries his talent isn’t condemned because he lost money or took a risk that failed. He’s condemned because he wasted what was entrusted to him. He let fear dictate his response instead of trust in the master’s generosity. His regret is not about failing a test, but about missing the invitation to participate in the kingdom’s joy.
So weeping and grinding of teeth is not God’s arbitrary punishment, but the very real ache of realizing we’ve wasted what was given. It’s the sorrow of lost opportunity, of refusing to trust God’s abundance when it mattered. The tension we often feel between eternal damnation and the endless love of God can be distracting. It’s not simply a scare tactic regarding Jesus’ forgiveness and his warnings, but a depiction of God’s grace and our human refusal to live in it.
As you worship with the Church today, take joy and comfort in knowing that the Table is set for you — not as a place of fear, but as a feast of grace — and for all who come in trust.
…even as we rightly feel the urgency of deciding to do so.
Matthew 25:14-30
“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was leaving on a trip. He called his servants and handed his possessions over to them. To one he gave five valuable coins, and to another he gave two, and to another he gave one. He gave to each servant according to that servant’s ability. Then he left on his journey.
“After the man left, the servant who had five valuable coins took them and went to work doing business with them. He gained five more. In the same way, the one who had two valuable coins gained two more. But the servant who had received the one valuable coin dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.
“Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five valuable coins came forward with five additional coins. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five valuable coins. Look, I’ve gained five more.’
“His master replied, ‘Excellent! You are a good and faithful servant! You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’
“The second servant also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two valuable coins. Look, I’ve gained two more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done! You are a good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’
“Now the one who had received one valuable coin came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest grain where you haven’t sown. You gather crops where you haven’t spread seed. So I was afraid. And I hid my valuable coin in the ground. Here, you have what’s yours.’
“His master replied, ‘You evil and lazy servant! You knew that I harvest grain where I haven’t sown and that I gather crops where I haven’t spread seed? In that case, you should have turned my money over to the bankers so that when I returned, you could give me what belonged to me with interest. Therefore, take from him the valuable coin and give it to the one who has ten coins. Those who have much will receive more, and they will have more than they need. But as for those who don’t have much, even the little bit they have will be taken away from them. Now take the worthless servant and throw him out into the farthest darkness.’
“People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.”
Psalm 90:1-2, 10-14
Lord, you have been our help, generation after generation.
Before the mountains were born, before you birthed the earth and the inhabited world—from forever in the past to forever in the future, you are God.
We live at best to be seventy years old, maybe eighty, if we’re strong. But their duration brings hard work and trouble because they go by so quickly. And then we fly off. Who can comprehend the power of your anger? The honor that is due you corresponds to your wrath. Teach us to number our days so we can have a wise heart.
Come back to us, Lord! Please, quick! Have some compassion for your servants! Fill us full every morning with your faithful love so we can rejoice and celebrate our whole life long.
Prayer1
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer contemporary Collect for Proper 17, in 2025, the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost.