Honoring Graduating Seniors

Now a TALENT was NOT an ABILITY or a NATURAL GIFT as we think of it today. We talk about people having a TALENT for SINGING or ACTING or something like that. A TALENT was a MONETARY AMOUNT. One TALENT in those days was worth at least $1200 in today’s MONEY. And so he divides up his MONEY among three trusted servants. They were to use this money. Invest it. Loan it out. MAKE MONEY with MONEY. And then he leaves. And while he’s gone we’ll see how these fellows use the money. LET’S PRAY!!!!

I. So this fellow is going to TRAVEL to a far country. This wasn’t like it is now-a-days. He couldn’t just hop on a Jumbo Jet and fly around the world and be home the next week. This would take many months if not YEARS. He had to have someone he could rely on.

A. So he calls in his first guy. His number one trusted servant. Let’s call him John. “John, I’m gonna have to leave for a while. I need you to take care of the MAJORITY of my ASSETS. Here’s $6000. Use it wisely. You have the sharpest mind. You have experience at this. I know you’ll do great.”

Can you imagine the PRESSURE that this would put on you? What a responsibility.

ILLUS: I have a small, getting smaller everyday, self managed IRA from my former job. Someday it might be part of my retirement. But I’m the one who decides what to buy and what to sell. Sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m wrong. Lately, with the economy being what it is, I’ve been WRONG more than RIGHT. But do you know who I have to BLAME for that? ME!!! MYSELF!!! And if I was SPENDING someone else’s money, it would make it that much harder.

And that’s where we find this fellow at. He’s got his BOSSES MONEY and he has to decide WHAT to do with it. So ... Verse 16 tells us that he “went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.” He DOUBLED the money. I don’t know how long the fellow was gone. How many months or years it took but those 5 TALENTS turned into 10 TALENTS. That $6000 turned into $12000. Man, that’s pretty good. I’m not sure how he did it. I wish I knew because I could sure use some pointers!!! It says he, “TRADED with the SAME.”

I don’t know if this means he went down and bought some ANIMALS and CLEANED them up and resold them.

Maybe he bought Real Estate, divided it up, and resold it.

I don’t know how he did it but evidently, he used GOOD JUDGMENT. He made GOOD DECISIONS.

B. Now let’s look at the next fellow. The RICH GUY sends his first servant, John, on his way and he calls in the SECOND SERVANT. We’ll call him Bob. “Bob, you haven’t been with me too long but you seem like an honest fellow. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. The few things you’ve done for me have turned out well. So I’m gonna give you part of my wealth. I’m gonna be gone for a while. Here’s $2400. Use it WISELY. So what happens? Well, Verse 17 tells us, “And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.”

He did JUST AS WELL as the first fellow. The first fellow MADE 5 more talents and this second fellow GAINED 2 more. He DOUBLED what he had been given. Now I don’t know if the use of these two different terms, made and gained, really means anything. I kind of think of MADE being something that was BOUGHT, maybe FIXED UP and RESOLD. When I hear GAIN I think of more in the LINES of INVESTING. Loaning the money out and charging INTEREST. Financially backing a new START UP business. Or owning a PAWN SHOP.