Dont Fear The Talents Of God

Matthew 25: 14-30 (ESV) The Parable of the Talents

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[c] and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Good morning St. Paul’s! Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!

Let us Pray… AMEN

This is a very Interesting passage is it not? Jesus is speaking here and he is teaching the disciples some very hard lessons in order to prepare them for their ministries after he is gone. Matthew’s Gospel is very engrained with the lessons that Jesus wanted to share to expand the minds of his disciples and followers. He

challenged their depth of understanding and was there to teach them about a new way to Live and Love.

Have you ever been in a job situation where your boss seemingly is testing you? Maybe it is to thin the herd, but maybe, just maybe, it’s to see what you do with responsibility when placed in a leadership role. You never quite know. My son Jordan became pretty dejected in one of his past job experiences that he had while living in California. He and another employee started at the same time,

received the same training, and then were evaluated against each other. Neither of them knew that they were competing for ONE position. After the three weeks of training, Jordan was given a check and a thank you, along with his termination. His response was not unlike any young man his age, “if I had known I was competing for a job, I would have tried harder.” Not that his efforts were lacking, but his competition had experience from a previous job that helped him in this situation. It’s kind of similar situation to these three servants and the tasks they were given. Jordan probably took the third option and was maybe afraid of getting in trouble, so he tried, but failed to grasp the reality of the situation. How often does that happen to us? That we are afraid and choose not to do something when we know that’s not the best choice that we could have made.

Now in this story, the master represents Jesus, the servants represent his believers, and the talents symbolize the various gifts that God places into our stewardship.

The talents could represent a great multitude of things.

They could encompass:

• The ability to lead

• The ability to teach