“Connected: A Good Designer”
Ephesians 4:7-13; Mathew 25:14-30
Some labels miss the point and purpose of their product’s existence. For example, a hair dryer had this instruction label: “Don’t use while sleeping.” Or consider this one on a toilet at a public sports facility in Ann Arbor: “Recycled flush water unsafe for drinking.” How about the label on an iron that read: “Caution, do not iron clothes on your body.” Or this one on a portable stroller: “Remove infant before folding for storage.” And then, on a Superman costume: “Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly.” The third servant in the parable of the talents had plenty of talent with which to work but failed to understand the giver or the purpose of the talents.
According to Matthew, one of Jesus’ last major teachings prior to what we know as the Holy Week events was this parable of the talents. Being one of his last teachings, we can assume it had major importance and impact. But it is a frustrating parable. It’s simple, yet not simple; about money, yet not about money; about judgment, yet not about judgment; about us, yet not about us. So let’s begin where Jesus began: “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.” The parable pictures a common custom. When a property or estate owner left for a long period of time, he would assign his most trusted servants the responsibility of caring for and managing his property and assets. We automatically assume, then, that the parable will be about the servants and the property. In fact, the parable was eventually titled “The Parable of the Talents.” But note that the parable begins and ends with the master. Perhaps it is not about the servants but instead concerns the master.
And, of course, we quickly realize that the master is Jesus – He’s telling a story about Himself. Therefore, THE PARABLE IS ABOUT GOD, not us. It is a story or lesson about what God is like – and whenever Jesus paints picture of God it is surprising – and often upsetting! Here it appears that Jesus claims God is a harsh, greedy, master who has no patience for cautious people. Or is He?
What is your view of God? Whatever it is, it is important, because OUR VIEW OF GOD DETERMINES HOW WE ACT. Consider the 3rd servant’s response to the master’s return. “… I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” The servant’s feelings about his master determined how he acted. So what is your view of God?
Listen to the Psalmist (95:3-7): “For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” God is our maker. He is our designer. It is important that we know and are connected to our designer. Some people will only buy clothes from a certain designer – because of quality, looks, price, or fashion. They will wear only certain labels because they like what it says about them. What does the label of your life say? To whom does it point? It is essential that we understand who God is, because GOD HAS PUT HIS LABEL ON US –WE ARE SHAPED FOR GOD’S SERVICE. So what is your view of God?
Let’s go back to the parable. “…it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants…” Notice that GOD TAKES THE INITIATIVE. God always takes the initiative. In Genesis, He was the one who would show up to walk with Adam and Eve. After Adam sinned, it was God who took the initiative and sought him out. In Exodus we learn that it was God who, after hearing the cry of the enslaved Israelites, called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt into a promised land. It was God who took the initiative in saving us, for He is the one who implanted His seed in a virgin named Mary. It was God who took the initiative sending Jesus to the cross: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It was God, through Jesus, who took the initiative to go on a journey and call his servants. God takes the initiative – HE STAYS INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES. Isn’t God great?
Jesus continued: “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.” The focus is on His property. It serves as a reminder that GOD OWNS EVERYTHING. Everything we see, taste, touch, feel, and smell belongs to Him. (Ps. 24:1): “The earth is the LORD’S and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” (Ps. 104:24): “…the earth is full of your creatures.” (1 Chron. 29:11): “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.” (Haggai 2:8): “The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the LORD almighty.” God is not only our designer, but He has complete ownership of us. WE BELONG TO HIM; everything we possess is from Him. Isn’t God great?
Yet GOD IS GENEROUS. Notice the master gave His servants His property – that means everything – the keys to the Cadillac and the house, the rights to the pool, the tickets to the football games, and access to the bank accounts. God gives us all things & everything; then He trusts us to be faithful and diligent in managing them. So, said Jesus, the master gave out talents. Just a note about the word ‘talents.’ Originally it was a measure of weight; later it came to mean a fixed sum of silver or gold; the amounts here have been estimated at 5 years of wages. For now, it’s enough to realize that the immensity of the sum is meant to remind us of the preciousness and extravagance of what God entrusted to us. God is extravagant when He gives! While we do not want to spend time this morning on precisely what the talents mean suffice it to say that it represents whatever God has entrusted or gifted to you – time, talent, money, abilities, relationships, salvation, faith, reputation, spiritual gifts, abundant life, Spirit-filled souls, bodies that house His Holy Spirit – just a little list to get you thinking! At Pentecost He came in His Holy Spirit and began to live within His people. In essence, GOD GIVES HIMSELF TO US. He is generous. Isn’t God great?
Do you realize what is happening when God gives so generously? GOD IS EMPOWERING AND INVITING. God designs us to be co-creators in the unfolding of history. God fills us with the potential to do divine, creative work for Him! A. Whitney Griswold, in an address @ Yale University, said, “Could Hamlet have been written by a committee, or the Mona Lisa painted by a club? Could the New Testament have been composed as a conference report? Creative ideas do not spring from groups. They spring from individuals. The divine spark leaps from the finger of God to the finger of Adam, whether it takes ultimate shape in a law of physics or a law of the land, a poem or a policy, a sonata or a mechanical computer.” That’s the symbolism in the sermon slides – God’s creative Spirit leaping from the finger of God to our fingers, from the heart of God to our hearts. GOD GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE FAITHFUL STEWARDS AND MANAGERS of everything He gives us. 1 Pt. 4:10 states, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” Paul, in 1 Cor. 4:2, wrote “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”
So why did God reward the servants who risked His talents and throw out the servant who protected them? It’s because GOD IS A RISK-TAKER. Keep in mind that Matthew relates this story of Jesus at the end of gospel – just before he records the crucifixion. Jesus was announcing that when He ultimately left this earth, He would give His servants all he had. His ministry would be over and they would carry it on. That’s what Pentecost was all about! It was the culmination of all He had said and promised. (Eph. 4:8-12 MSG): “7But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is, He climbed the high mountain, He captured the enemy and seized the booty, He handed it all out in gifts to the people. It's true, is it not, that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.”
Everything that God is, and what is known about Him, is dependent upon us. GOD PUTS HIMSELF AT RISK – HE MAKES HIMSELF VULNERABLE TO OUR BEHAVIOR. Can you think of any greater risk than for God to stake His reputation on me? And before you agree too quickly – staking it on you? God is so great!
Perhaps this parable is teaching us that GOD IS AWESOME. This initiating, generous, empowering, inviting, and risk-taking owner GIVES US A GREAT OPPORTUNITY – THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE LIKE GOD. God leaves us free to choose what to do with His generous giving – He does not say, “Do this or that”, or “Invest this here or there.” God is not a micro manager. He loves us enough to give us the choice of how to live in the light of His generosity. But to be like God, we, too, must be creative risk-takers. Even the 3rd servant, who had the least to work with, still had great deal with which to work. TO BE FULLY ALIVE IS TO BE AS EXTRAVAGANT AND RECKLESS IN RESPONDING TO GRACE AS JESUS WAS IN SHOWING GRACE to us. In fact, it is really the only way to truly know God and experience the abundant life He promised. God wants us to join Him in shaping the future. Isn’t God great?
But why? Why does God operate this way? Why does He take such a risk? “Come and share your master’s happiness!” God gives this way, God operates this way, God takes such a risk because HE WANTS US TO ENTER INTO JOY! God doesn’t just want us to be happy – He wants us to share His happiness. God doesn’t just want us to have moments of joy – He wants us to enter into a state of joy. One writer put it this way: “It is but little we can receive here, some drops of joy that enter into us; but there we shall enter into joy, as vessels put into a sea of happiness.” Here’s the difference. I can drink a few sips of water and experience water. But that’s not the same diving into a lake! One is to be momentarily filled; the other is to be totally submerged. And God wants us to enter into, be totally submerged in joy! Isn’t God great?
As I think about this parable, perhaps the issue is not “How could God react this way to His servant who protected the talents?” Maybe the issue is “How could the servant react that way to God?” I believe JESUS IS NOT AS CONCERNED WITH RESULTS OF OUR EFFORTS AS HE IS WITH THE EFFORTS THEMSELVES. After all, He risked everything on us.
God designed you. He loves you so much that Jesus has given you everything He has – He has given you Himself. God in Jesus has risked it all – for you. You can have their label on your life. Some of you are letting your talents lie on the ground. Some of you have buried them so no one will see them or ask for them. I exhort you to invest your life in the Kingdom. Get back in touch with Jesus, the Master, and get busy. Many of you use your talents – who you are, what you have, and what you do – very well. Hope Church is greatly blessed. But you get tired and weary, for life is difficult and ministry demanding. I exhort you – get back in touch with Jesus.
Someone has written two letters to remind us what to do. Listen. Letter #1, is addressed, To: Commander and Chief Spiritual Armed Forces, Jesus Christ: Dear Lord: I am writing this to You to request a transfer to a desk job. I herewith present my reasons: I began my career as a private, because of the intensity of the battle You have quickly moved me up in the ranks. You have made me an officer and given me a tremendous amount of responsibility. There are many soldiers and recruits under my charge. I am constantly being called upon to dispense wisdom, make judgments, and find solutions to complex problems. You have placed me in a position to function as an officer, when in my heart I know I have only the skills of a private. I realize that You have promised to supply all I would need for the battle. But Sir, I must present You a realistic picture of my equipment. My uniform, once so crisp and starched, is now stained with tears and blood of those I have tried to assist. The soles of my boots are cracked and worn from the miles I have walked trying to enlist and encourage the instructed troops. My weapons are marred, tarnished and chipped from constant battle against the enemy. Even the Book of Regulations I was issued has been torn and tattered from endless use. The words are now smeared. You have promised You would be with me throughout, but when the noise of the battle is so loud and the confusion is so great, I can neither see nor hear You. I feel so alone. I'm tired. I'm discouraged. I love being in Your service. But I humbly request a demotion and transfer. I'll file papers or clean latrines. Just get me out of the battle--please, Sir. Your Faithful, but tired, Warrior.”
Letter #2: “To: Faithful, but tired, Soldier, Spiritual Armed Forces - Location: The Battlefield - SUBJECT: Transfer: Dear Soldier: Your request for transfer has been denied. I herewith present My reasons: You are needed in this battle. I have selected you, and I will keep My Word to supply your need. You do not need a demotion and transfer. (You'd never cut it on latrine duty.) You need a period of "R&R"--Renewal and Rekindling. I am setting aside a place on the battlefield that is insulated from all sound and fully protected from the enemy. I will meet you there and I will give you rest. I will remove your old equipment and "make all things new." You have been wounded in the battle, My soldier. Your wounds are not visible, but you have received
grave internal injuries. You need to be healed. I will heal you. You have been weakened in the battle. You need to be strengthened. I will strengthen you and be your strength. I will instill in you confidence and ability. My Words will rekindle within you a renewed love, zeal and enthusiasm. Report to Me tattered and empty. I will refill you. Compassionately, Your Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ.”
