Dont Fear The Talents Of God

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Dont Fear The Talents Of God

Contributed by Gary Pomrenke on Nov 24, 2017 (message contributor)

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Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

Denomination: Lutheran

Summary: exploring Matthew 25: 14-30

Matthew 25: 14-30 (ESV) The Parable of the Talents

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[c] and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Good morning St. Paul’s! Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!

Let us Pray… AMEN

This is a very Interesting passage is it not? Jesus is speaking here and he is teaching the disciples some very hard lessons in order to prepare them for their ministries after he is gone. Matthew’s Gospel is very engrained with the lessons that Jesus wanted to share to expand the minds of his disciples and followers. He

challenged their depth of understanding and was there to teach them about a new way to Live and Love.

Have you ever been in a job situation where your boss seemingly is testing you? Maybe it is to thin the herd, but maybe, just maybe, it’s to see what you do with responsibility when placed in a leadership role. You never quite know. My son Jordan became pretty dejected in one of his past job experiences that he had while living in California. He and another employee started at the same time,

received the same training, and then were evaluated against each other. Neither of them knew that they were competing for ONE position. After the three weeks of training, Jordan was given a check and a thank you, along with his termination. His response was not unlike any young man his age, “if I had known I was competing for a job, I would have tried harder.” Not that his efforts were lacking, but his competition had experience from a previous job that helped him in this situation. It’s kind of similar situation to these three servants and the tasks they were given. Jordan probably took the third option and was maybe afraid of getting in trouble, so he tried, but failed to grasp the reality of the situation. How often does that happen to us? That we are afraid and choose not to do something when we know that’s not the best choice that we could have made.

Now in this story, the master represents Jesus, the servants represent his believers, and the talents symbolize the various gifts that God places into our stewardship.

The talents could represent a great multitude of things.

They could encompass:

• The ability to lead

• The ability to teach

• The ability to sing or play an instrument

• The ability to manage finances in a household or business

• The ability to create things for the greater good of humanity

• The ability to be an effective parent

These are but a few of the many things that God may or may not have blessed us with. The important thing here in relationship to the passage is that if we are

given gifts by God, it is His expectation that we actually USE them! If we fail to use them, then we are no better than the third servant that refused to do anything out of fear of his master. We are better than that!

The first servant in our passage doubles what he had been entrusted with. He wanted to succeed on behalf of his master. He didn’t even attempt to take a cut from the proceeds. The second servant produces the same margin of profit for his master. The difference between the two is only the amount of talents that they each started with. They both pleased their master equally and were then going to be entrusted with greater tasking’s. The third not so much. He became an outcast due to his fear and his laziness to do anything at all. When the master says that the first two will enter into the “Joy of their Master.” The greater reward for these servants is being called into the presence of their Lord. This

passage symbolizes the Christian’s entry into eternal life and I can’t help but to be reminded of the great day of judgment here as well. The master in this parable is telling the first two servants “Well done good and faithful servants” which is relevant to the judgment that we will all receive on that fateful day. We will either hear this or “something else.” We all want to hear those words, but what are we doing with the talents that God has given us? Are we glorifying God through their use, or are we glorifying us? That is and will be a key component to what words we will hear when we are to be judged. Do we do well with little so that we can be entrusted with much more? If not, we should really change some things in our lives.

Our relationship to God and the world is one of stewardship. We are to use everything entrusted to us in such a way that it benefit’s God’s Kingdom. Though modern people often have far more material and technological means than any other previous generation, they often use these tools selfishly. An unfailing promise attaches to faithful stewardship: if we use the things entrusted to us for God and his purposes, we will be blessed here and in heaven. We must be active in this stewardship. We can’t be afraid to ask God for help. We are reminded in Psalms 86: Verses 10-12 that …

10 For you are great and do wondrous things;

you alone are God.

11 Teach me your way, O Lord,

that I may walk in your truth;

unite my heart to fear your name.

12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,

and I will glorify your name forever.

We have to stop fearing the unknown and boldly profess our faith in our God and in his son Jesus Christ to this world in which we live. I am reminded of that childhood song “this little light of mine,” The lyrics are representative of what we must do regarding our faith…..Now, a couple weeks ago when the power went out, I heard how well this congregation can actually sing. Now, I am going to do something crazy right now. I want you to pull out those sheets that you received as you entered the sanctuary today and we are going to sing this together … Right Now! I found many different versions, so this is kind of a mashup of two: Ready? Gayle? SING

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine (XS 3)