Talented People
01/29/06 AM
Text: Matthew 25:14-25:30
Introduction
America is seemingly fascinated with talented people. Take for example the show American Idol. This past Tuesday evening over 35 Million people tuned in to see the hopefuls risk their egos and to see what Simon had to say. So many people think that this concept is new, but those of us who can remember back in the Dark Ages of the 1980’s watched when Ed McMahon was doing Star Search.
The definition:
1. A marked innate ability, as for artistic accomplishment.
a. Natural endowment or ability of a superior quality.
b. A person or group of people having such ability: The company makes good use of its talent.
2. A variable unit of weight and money used in ancient Greece, Rome, and the Middle East.
The word talent comes from the Greek word Talanton which was a measure of weight and money used in ancient Greece. And it is that word which we find in the parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25 which serves as our text for today’s lesson.
Let’s turn to Matthew 25:14 and examine the parable:
I. The Parable
A. Matthew 25:14-15
14“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15“To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.
1) In this story, Jesus describes a man who owned a great household or in today’s vernacular, a business. He often traveled great distances for extended periods of time. During this particular trip, he placed the responsibility of the business on three individuals who worked for him.
2) The owner knew exactly what each man could handle so he proportioned the management responsibility according each person’s ability. One was given five talents, one was given three talents, and the third one was given a single talent.
3) A talent was actually a measurement of weight. Talents would vary greatly depending upon just what was being weighed out — gold, silver, copper. A single talent of either gold, silver or copper would have been a significant sum of money.
4) For instance, a talent of silver was worth 6000 denarii. A denarii was the amount of money that a laborer would earn in a single day, so one talent of silver would be equal to sixteen years of salary. Five talents would be enough money to live a long and prosperous life. If you were to translate that into modern terminology using the figure that a good laborer today makes between seventy and one hundred dollars a day, a talent would be worth over four hundred thousand dollars.
5) The owner entrusted these guys with a lot of resources. It is interesting, however, that he did not provide instructions for them to follow. How they handled the money and how they behaved while he was away was left entirely to the discretion of each individual worker. What did they do?
B. Matthew 25:16-18
16“Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17“In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18“But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
1) Two of the managers were diligent. The one with five talents and the slave with two talents went to work investing, trading, wheeling and dealing, and through their skills were able to double the respective amounts they had each been given. The third servant, given the single talent, simply buried the money in the ground. In those days that was a common practice to insure the safekeeping of valuables. Let’s read the next verse.
C. Matthew 25:19
19“Now after a long time the master of those slaves came* and settled* accounts with them.
1) In our business world, we settle accounts at the end of the month, the quarter and the physical year. Whether this is a quarterly report or annual report, the parable does not say, but what it does say is that the owner returned to settle the accounts. God does not always settle his accounts in the time frame that we feel is appropriate, but one day, He will settle his accounts. That’s the message that Jesus is teaching here.
2) Each of the three servants is called to account for the funds to which he had been entrusted at the time of the owner’s departure. The first two workers doubled their investment and received the owners praise.
D. Matthew 25:20-23
20“The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 21“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
22“Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 23“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
1) They were given bonuses because of their diligent work. The owner shared his wealth with them and invited them to celebrate his good fortune.
2) The third worker is called to give an account of his management. He adopted a the strategy that the best defense is a strong offense. Instead of discussing the talent entrusted to him, the third servant confronted his master with a character assessment. He knew that the master would be harsh, so out of respect the he simply hid the talent in the ground so he could return it intact when he came back for it.
Listen to his story:
E. Matthew 25:24-27
24“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 26“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 27‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
1) The owner saw through the logic of the third worker and said if you knew I was going to be harsh, why didn’t you at least put it in a passbook savings account and made some interest. The workers disregard for his talent prompts the owner to take the talent away and give it to the first servant. The message is clear: those who have talent and refuse to use it will lose it. To those who use their talents, and stretch them to the limits, more gifts will flow their way.
2) Jesus used this parable to teach people importance of using what they have been given and to remind them that one day they would stand before God and give an account of their one and only life. Those who squander their opportunities will be separated from God for eternity.
3) This parable was told days before Jesus was arrested and ultimately crucified. He used this parable to encourage the people to remain faithful and to teach them that unfaithfulness would result in the God’s judgment.
4) I think the parable of the talents not only speaks of future judgment, but it also provides practical insight concerning our stewardship. Whether you realize it or not, you are a manager. Each one of us have been entrusted with resources from God’s storehouse. This passage of scripture encourages us to be good stewards of what we have been given. What can we learn?
II. Lessons from the Parable
A. What we have is not ours.
1) So many of us think that we own a large portfolio consisting of land, houses, stocks, and bonds, but in reality we are only managers. One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, or what kind of house I lived in, or what my clothes looked like or how much I had in my accounts. All of my stuff will be in the hands of someone else or in the landfill somewhere.
Ecclesiastes 5:15 “As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.”
I Corinthians 4:7 “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”
2) We are stewards ... managing resources.
B. We’re given what we can handle
1) In today’s parable, each man was given what he could handle. The Bible clearly tells us that God will not put on us more than we can handle. There is a danger in accumulating possessions; if we are not careful our possessions will eventually possess us.
C. We must work with what we’ve been given.
1) We cannot bury our resources in the ground and expect God’s blessing. We must use what we have for God and to His benefit. God has given us abundant resources in order to make a difference in our world. You are making a difference. Every week resources from this congregation go to ensure that:
D. We will give an account of how we used what we were given.
1) One day every one of us will stand before God and have to answer to questions:
What did you do with Jesus?
What did you do with what I gave you?
2) Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Go through your monthly bank statements and you will see what you really treasure. Those things you love, you invest in. If a person does not invest in God’s work, then it is apparent that He does not really love God.
3) If you are not actively pursuing ways to advance God’s work, then you are failing your master.
E. We must use what we have or we will lose it.
1) When the owners returned, he said, "’Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents." When we fail to use or talents, we are in danger of losing what we have been given.
2) When Jesus concluded this story, it was evident that the moral of the story was more than financial management, but he connected it to soul management.
F. Matthew 25:28-30
28‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ 29“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30“Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
CONCLUSION
A little over ten years ago, Rush Limbaugh burst on the national landscape with his daily three hour radio show. One of the trademark lines that you often hear him say is, "Talent on loan from God." Regardless of what you think about Rush’s philosophy and politics, he has one thing right: our talent is a gift from God.
Invitation
