Matthew 25:14-30
The Parable of the Talents
14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ’Master,’ he said, ’you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
21"His master replied, ’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22"The man with the two talents also came. ’Master,’ he said, ’you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
23"His master replied, ’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. ’Master,’ he said, ’I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26"His master replied, ’You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28" ’Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“What Kind of Return Will We Get on Our Dollar?”
1. What have we been given?
Once upon a time, following an exceptional stewardship drive… everyone in the church was inspired to use their talents for the ministry of the church. One man in particular went to his pastor and said, “Reverend, I only have one talent.” The pastor asked, “What’s your talent? The man said, "I have the gift of criticism." The pastor thought about this… and finally replied, "You know… the Bible says that the guy who had only one talent went out and buried it."
But seriously… I hope you all know by now how important I think it is for every single one of us to know the talents that God has bestowed upon us and how every single one of us is called to serve in ministry using those talents. Today’s scripture does a phenomenal job of reinforcing that.
Right on the heals of our scripture text last week about keeping our lamps lit... is this odd little parable of a master with three servants. Now, there is a lot of odd stuff going on in this parable… like how each servant is not given the same amount. You would think that Jesus would say something along the lines of how we are all given equal talents and equal gifts… but he doesn’t… each servant gets a different amount. However… you will also notice no servant is left out… everyone gets a talent… but not everyone gets the same!
After some serious thought about this, I guess… in a very strange way this makes sense. We are not all the same and we are not all in the same place. We all have different talents and different callings, and we all are at different places along our Christian journey and are ready for different things at different times. I think the lesson to be learned in this little tidbit is that the master never gives his servants more than they can handle. God will never charge you with more than you can deal with or more than you are ready for!
Now… before we move on there is one more odd little detail that needs to be worked out… one might think that because the third servant only got one talent he in some way was slighted. But you have to understand what a talent in this story represents… a talent was worth about 20 years wages for a laborer. Or… to put a dollar amount on it… a single talent would be close to $400,000 dollars in today’s money. So it is hard for anyone to say that the servant who only got one talent… really didn’t get much! Jesus uses an insane amount of money to represent just how precious God’s gift to each of us is… and how important we are take them! Whether you are trusted with five talents or one… it is a huge gift we are given.
2. So What? Two responses.
With a huge gift… comes a huge responsibility. At least that is what we learn next as Jesus tells his disciples about how each of the servants responded… and how the master responded to them upon his return.
First off, we hear about the servant with five talents and the servant with two talents. They take those talents… and put them to great risk… and put them to great work… and for their efforts… they double their gifts… and they are praised… finally, they were invited to share in the joy of the Lord.
The third servant… did nothing with his talent. He didn’t risk it… he didn’t use it… he didn’t double it either. He buried it… and let it sit… doing nothing. The master is very displeased with this servant. The master calls the servant out… “You wicked and lazy servant…” I have given you a great gift and given you great responsibility and what have you done? You have done nothing. No joy for you!
So what are we supposed to do with this text? What sense are you and I supposed to make of this little parable of Jesus’. If we place ourselves in this parable… where do we stand? All of us stand somewhere in this text… just like the servants… we have all been given great talents and great gifts from God. I guess the big question looming after we read this parable… is what are we doing with it?
3. “To whom much is given… much is expected.” We can’t bury it!
It’s easy to be the one talent servant… not risking… not doing… but there is no reward with it either. It is harder to be the five talent or two talent servant… hard working… risking… reaching out… but the rewards are great to. The five talent and two talent servant both doubled what they had.
While it may not be the easy thing to do… I would argue that it is better to put it out there and trust God… rather than to hold it back… hold it in… risk nothing… gain nothing. If we seek to gain… we must risk. If we seek to gain… we must reach out. If we seek to gain… we have to trust in God. You know… probably even beyond “If we seek to gain…” “We have to gain!” Because that is what Jesus calls us to in our scripture today.
All of the gifts God gives us… are our responsibility… to use as we wish. However, today’s scripture paints a very clear picture of what exactly we are responsible for. In Luke 12:48 Jesus teaches, “To whom much is given… much is expected.” And I think that lesson is the cornerstone of Jesus’ parable today.
We have all been given much. This church has been given much. We have been blessed financially, we have been blessed with several wonderful workers, and we have been blessed by a long history of dynamic leadership… both from your elders and from your pastors. There is also much expected of us… God expects a lot from us… and I think that is something that none of us have quite lived up to yet.
4. The Final “SO WHAT?” (What are you/we burying?)
I think we are all guilty… of burying things that God has called us to use and invest. I think this church is guilty of burying things… in hopes of preserving them… when God has called us to use them and invest them for him. I guess the final question from today’s text… is what are you burying? What has God given to you that you have decided to bury away!
What is our church burying? What has God given to us… what has God called us to do that we have decided to bury away? The answers to those questions are important ones, because I think the one lesson to take from today’s scripture is that we can’t continue to bury it… we can’t continue to ignore our calling as disciples and our calling as a church.
As we look to our future… as we look to the ways we want, check that… as we look to the ways we are called to grow and to flourish, we need to look to all the ways the Lord has blessed us, and ask how we can use them… how we can double them… and how we can be invited to share the joy of the Lord in our ministry and in our lives!
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
