Matthew 25:14-30 – The Tragedy of Buried Treasure
This morning I would like to share with you with a thought or two from a familiar passage in the Gospels. Jesus was in the midst of telling stories and parables expressing spiritual truths, and He told this one shortly before His death. It’s what we call the Parable of the Talents. John Maxwell, a popular speaker and pastor for many years, preached a sermon on this passage called What Makes God Mad. I preferred to take a less hostile but equally serious angle on the passage, and my sermon is called The Tragedy of Buried Treasure.
I found this passage online, recreated by an artist and Anglican minister named Earnest Graham. He expresses the truth of the passage as if it were modern day but the words of scripture remain the same. Let’s go through this parable together. Read Matthew 25:14-30.
I need to clarify a few things. The “talent” in the passage is not exactly what we mean by the word today. Back in Bible times, a talent was a measure of weight. It meant about 75 pounds. But it weighed coins. So it was 75 pounds of, in this story, gold. A talent, as used by Jesus, meant more than $1000. As the comic illustrated, a talent was about 15-20 years worth of work for a labourer. So, the master in the story gave one of his servants more than $5000 to invest or 75-100 years worth of earnings. He gave another more than $2000 to invest or 30-40 years worth of earnings. And to the last, he gave more than $1000 to invest or 15-20 years worth of earnings.
Realistically, this was a lot of money. The master had entrusted his servants with something very valuable. He expected them to take care of it. And even more than take care of it, he expected them to use it and increase it.
The 1st servant did just that: doubled it from 5 talents to 10. So did the 2nd servant: 2 talents to 4. Unfortunately, the 3rd servant didn’t invest his talent. He didn’t use it in any way. He hid it. He buried it and forgot about it. It didn’t grow. It didn’t get used. It got forgotten.
And what he says to his master after the long absence is really thought-provoking. He says, “I was afraid”. This attitude is sharply contrasted by the attitude I’ll show you on the screen. I love Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. Calvin is a very bright but not very nice boy who has a stuffed tiger named Hobbes, who may or may not come to life when no-one else is around. Anyway, Calvin dad says to him, “Calvin, your mother and I have decided to give you an allowance. It’s important to learn the value of money.”
Calvin then wrings his hands together like a mad scientist and says, “Money! Ha ha! I’m rich, I’m rich! I can buy off anyone! The world is mine! Power, friends, prestige! I can buy it all! I’m free!” Then, the dad says to his wife, “I blew it again, dear.”
I suppose some people who get a financial windfall react like that. But really, don’t most of us react differently? Don’t most of us act like the 3rd servant? I love how The Message words this passage. The servant says this to the master: “Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.”
He thought that the master would be OK with his inaction. But instead, the master was furious. The master said: “That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least?”
And right here is what John Maxwell was referring to when he said What Makes God Mad. This is the Tragedy of Buried Treasure. The servant did not use what was given to him. He was entrusted with something not his own, and he dropped the ball. He didn’t use it or multiply it or make the world a better place with it. He buried his treasure.
You don’t have to dig deep to see some clear truths in this story. #1, clearly, Jesus is the master and we are His servants. Now, I’m not presuming that all the world serves God. I’m not even presuming that all Christians make it their soul ambition to please God. But the truth still holds: Jesus has the right to be our Master, and He deserves each of us to serve Him.
He gave us life and breath. He is patient when we stumble. He loves us even when we are stubborn, selfish, and mean. He forgives our sins when we don’t deserve to be forgiven. He gives us the hope of a better day, even when we make mistakes that could ruin our lives. He picks us up, dusts us off, cleans us up, and sends us out. The Bible says He loves us with an everlasting love, and showed that love for us by dying for us. While we were still sinners, He died for us. He gave us His life. You never have to wonder if He loves you. Of course He loves you – He settled that 2000 years ago by giving His life as a sacrifice and a ransom, to set you free.
In light of all He has done, He asks us to live for Him. It’s not too much to ask, because He did it for us first. He asks us to live for Him, and to serve Him, and to give Him everything. He doesn’t demand it, but He certainly deserves it. Because of His love and because of who He is, He deserves our love and our service. Clearly, Jesus is the master and we are His servants.
#2, clearly, Jesus has entrusted each of us with something. He has given each one of us something to use, a talent, an ability, a gift. He has given each one of us potential to serve Him. None of us is made exactly the same, but we all have something.
The problem is that we are prone to suffer from gift envy. You know, “I wish I had his gifts” or “I wish I had her talents” or “I wish I could do what they do” and so on. A real problem plaguing the church is wishing we could do what someone else does.
I can’t say I have mastered this concept, but I do know that if everyone were like me, the world would be a messed-up place. I think well, I communicate well, but I don’t fix things well. I can preach a sermon but I can’t fix leaky water pipes or service my van. You can thank God that not everyone is like me. That’s not meant to put myself down, but to show that we all have different talents.
The Bible says that the church is like a body. Different parts doing different things. But if everyone were an eye, we couldn’t go anywhere. If everyone were a hand, all we could do it point fingers. And if everyone were a nose, all we would do is smell. The point is, folks, figure out what you do well, and what you like doing, and do it.
#3, clearly, Jesus expects us to use what He has given. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” God created each of us to use our talents and abilities and to do good works. Each of us. And the story seems to indicate that God gets angry when we don’t use our talents and abilities. When we bury what God has given us, when we hide it, or run away from it, or deny it, God gets angry. Because we are robbing ourselves of the privilege of God using us. We are robbing others of our specific abilities. We are missing out on what God has in store for us and those around us. From the story, it seems that Jesus cares less about how many talents and more with how they’re used.
1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.” God has given you your talents in order to serve others. It’s our mission here on earth. It’s the church’s mission to serve others. You have a part to play, and a mission to complete, and God has given you the gifts to do it.
I think the story is clear: Doing nothing is not an option. Remember what the master said in The Message paraphrase: “That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that!” How many of us are just plain afraid to use our gifts? For fear of what others would say, for fear of people expecting us all the time to use them, for fear that we might fail?
Folks, don’t bury what God has given you. Don’t hide it or store it away. Use it. Serve others with it. It’s what the Master expects from us.
