In 2006, the Trachte brothers discovered a Norman Rockwell painting behind a false wall in their late father’s home in Vermont. The brothers put the painting up for auction and it fetched $15.4 million. (cbsnews.com) They must have been excited to find such a buried treasure. But my question is why did the father hide the painting? Aren’t paintings, especially good ones, meant to be displayed so that they can be looked at and admired?
According to our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus warns each one of us from doing what that father did. No, you probably don’t have an expensive painting hidden behind a false wall, but we are often guilty of failing to faithfully use the gifts and talents our Lord has given to us. Instead, we think that these gifts belong to us so we can do with them whatever we want—even bury them. But today Jesus urges us: put God’s buried treasures to work. Do so faithfully, joyfully, and immediately. Listen to our text.
Jesus spoke this parable on the Tuesday of Holy Week. He was continuing to teach his disciples how to prepare for the end of the world. Jesus spoke about a rich man who was going on a journey. Before he left, he called in three of his servants and entrusted to each some of his wealth. Now the NIV translation which I read earlier said that he gave his servants “bags of gold.” The original text says that he gave out “talents.” A talent is a unit of money worth around $1.2 million today. To one servant he gave five talents ($6 million), to another two talents ($2.4 million), and to the last servant he gave one talent ($1.2 million). Even the servant with only one talent had a big responsibility...and opportunity.
But shouldn’t the rich man have entrusted his talents to a professional financial advisor if he wanted to ensure a profit on his return? Or shouldn’t he have at least left them in the care of a close family member? By entrusting these talents to his servants, what was the master saying to them? He was making the point: “I trust you. And I want to partner with you. I look forward to seeing what you will do with my money.”
Accordingly, the first servant immediately, without any delay, put the five talents to work so that by the time the master returned, he had earned five more. The servant with two talents did the same, and also realized a 100% profit, earning two more talents. The master said to each of these servants: “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!” (Matthew 25:21, 23)
The servant who had been entrusted with one talent however buried it. He then reported: “Master, 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 gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” (Matthew 25:24-25). What do you think about this servant’s action and explanation? Well, at least he hadn’t lost the money, nor had he run off with it and squandered it in wild living like the younger son did in that parable about the prodigal (Lk. 15). In his mind he thought he was still a decent servant.
But there’s something that should make you question this servant’s motives for not having done anything with his master’s money. The servant accused his master of being a hard man who took advantage of others when he harvested where he had not planted. For that reason, said the servant, he was afraid of the master and decided not to take any risks with his money. But if the servant really was afraid of his master, shouldn’t he have worked especially hard to ensure the master was happy with him when he returned? If your boss tells you that the bathrooms better be cleaned by the time he returns, you don’t lean on your mop all afternoon doing nothing and then claim you were too afraid of the boss to do what he asked. No, you clean the bathrooms because if you don’t, you’ll have a reason to be afraid! Likewise, the one-talent servant should have put the talent to work even if that only meant depositing it in the bank to earn interest!
The real problem was that the one-talent servant despised his master. He saw him as a slave driver who enjoyed making others do what he wanted them to do. Well, that servant wasn’t going to play his master’s little game. Instead of putting the money to work, he was just going to bury it as if it was a dead skunk that he couldn’t wait to get rid of.
Could we be following in that servant’s footsteps? The talents in the parable represent how everything that we have—our time, our abilities, and our responsibilities—are a gift from God to be used in faithful service to him and not to enrich ourselves. OK, so you may not be using your intellect to build computer code that steals money from online bank accounts. And you may not be using your strength to bully other kids at school. But are you using your talents to their full potential and to God’s glory? Or are you a five-talent servant content with the results a two-talent servant can achieve? Students, what might that look like for you? Perhaps you’re smart enough to read through your study notes once and get a B+ on a test. But you wouldn’t be using your gifts faithfully if you were content with that. Instead, as a faithful servant, you’d want to spend the extra time studying so you get an A+ just as God has made you capable of doing. You see, not using God’s gifts to their full potential is as evil as living a riotous life. That’s why the master called the one-talent servant wicked and lazy.
On the other hand, are you a one-talent servant who is using your gift faithfully but you’ve become upset that no one else seems to be as serious as you about serving the Master? The service that you provide is no longer a joy but has become a burden. If so, you’re not much different than the older brother in the prodigal parable who stuck around to serve dad only because “he had to.” And anyway, don’t worry about what others are doing or not doing. The Master will take care of the lazy servants. He will ensure that none of his gifts are wasted—even if that means taking away the lazy servant’s talent and giving it to a faithful servant.
The truth is, we’re guilty of being both lazy and bitter servants. But making excuses for our laziness and bitterness is a failure to repent of these sins. And a failure to repent will cause our Master to send us away from his loving presence just as the one-talent servant in the parable was sent out to the darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth—the kind of emotions you go through when your favorite team throws away the big game, or when you realize that you just lost thousands of dollars because you fell for an online scam. Because your Lord and Savior doesn’t want you to end up in that state of forever-sadness, pain, and regret, he begs you to listen closely to what he is saying this morning.
Let’s learn again why we have every reason to want to faithfully and joyfully serve our Lord and Master. Sure, the one-talent servant had accused his master of being a hard man. But he was wrong. Look again at the master’s response to the faithful servants. He said: “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matt. 25:25) Can’t you hear how the master loved his employees? He had entrusted them with his money not because he was too lazy to invest the money himself, but because he wanted his servants to share in the joy of ruling with him! It’s like the father who takes his children on a difficult hike. He doesn’t do so to punish them, but so that they can share in the joy of tackling a mountain and experience the thrill of standing on the summit together. And anyway, no good father would make his kids trek in bare feet and without snacks. Neither does your Heavenly Father.
But Satan doesn’t want you to believe this about God. He wants you to see him as the one-talent servant did: a taskmaster only in it for himself. But how can we say such a thing about our God? After all, he sent a ten-talent servant in the person of Jesus who used every one of his gifts for us rather than to carve out a comfortable life for himself here. Jesus used his talents to heal the sick, to preach to the stubborn, to wash the feet of his disciples, to raise the dead, and most importantly, like a billionaire who spends himself poor using all his money to develop a cure for cancer, Jesus gave all he had—his life and his relationship with this heavenly Father—so that we would have forgiveness and the promise of eternal life! A taskmaster? No. He’s the life-giving and all-loving God, a true treasure-giver. When Master Jesus now calls us to be faithful husbands and wives, to be obedient children, patient grandparents, chaste young people, and self-controlled adults, how can we respond with a what’s-in-it-for-me type of obedience? How can we not, instead, be thrilled to work for and with the King?
This same Jesus now shares even more riches with us than forgiveness and eternal life. He gives you your abilities and he also has placed you in a field of responsibility where he wants you to use these talents. It’s true, he hasn’t given us all the same number of abilities or responsibilities. But since he, who has infinite wisdom, is the one handing out these talents, there is no room for any of us to feel inferior or superior toward others. For example, I might wish that I could play the violin or any instrument as Mr. Chelpka does, but I haven’t been given that ability. I do rejoice that Richard uses his gift here faithfully and joyfully. Have you considered how he might rather be playing his violin on the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York City? What serious musician wouldn’t! But look at how Richard benefits us week after week with his humble, faithful service because this is where his Master Jesus has placed him right now.
In what fields of responsibility has Master Jesus placed you? There might be several: wife, mother, full-time worker, church volunteer, confidant to many. Are you feeling overwhelmed by it all? Grab hold of this truth from our text—that the master gave talents to his servants “each according to his ability” (Matt. 25:15). What that means is that God matches the responsibility he’s entrusted to you with the ability he’s also given. Keep going back to him for the strength to serve faithfully and joyfully. Keep spending time in his Word so that your faith is energized by the Holy Spirit to serve Jesus and others around you.
But what if he hasn’t given you so much to do? What if you’re “just a husband,” “just a retiree,” or “just a child”? At least one talent or ability you might have then is your availability. Jesus can put you to use to pray for, to listen to, and to encourage those harried five-talent servants! He’s also given you friends and family that don’t know the truth about salvation. What can you do to share God’s Word with them? Even if only one person should come to faith as a result of your witness, consider how there is much rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.
Don’t wait to act on this truth, Friends. Like the faithful servants in the parable, get to work immediately. Don’t say: “Oh, I’ll get serious about serving when I graduate…when the kids are gone...when I retire…” The time to act is now, for the Master will return and demand an accounting of how we used his gifts. This is of course the same Master who became your servant—who longs for you to share in the joy of his gracious reign. So put God’s buried treasures to work and serve faithfully and joyfully. Amen.
CHILDREN’S DEVOTION
Needed: a table, 3 pieces of paper, a box of crayons, three volunteers – one of the three (the 1-crayon volunteer) should be in on the script – preferably a confirmation student or adult who is willing to ham it up.
Pastor
Good morning! I need three volunteers who like to draw. (Pick three volunteers including your helper – see above. Your special helper could ham it up, raising his/her hand above everyone else’s. Pleading: “Oh, pick me!”)
(Spoken to the three volunteers.) Come stand behind this table. On the table you’ll find a blank sheet of paper. I want you to draw something to represent God’s love or his promises. For example, you might draw a rainbow.
Before you can do that, I’ll need to give you something to draw with.
(Proceed to give one volunteer 5 crayons, another volunteer 2 crayons, and then to your helper-volunteer give 1 crayon.)
OK, start drawing. I’ll give you 90 seconds.
(The 1-crayon volunteer should look incredulous as if to say without words: “I only get 1 crayon, while these other volunteers got more crayons?!?” Show disgust with facial features and hand gestures like counting on his/her fingers how you only have 1 crayon while the other kids have more. The volunteer should continue to display this kind of disgust as the other volunteers are drawing.
Eventually, with obvious gestures, the 1-crayon volunteer should stick the crayon in his/her pocket or behind his/her ear, then fold arms and pout while the others continue to draw. The volunteer can even plop down on the floor.)
While this is happening, the pastor can make small talk with the other children (the ones not volunteering) by asking what they would draw to represent God’s love. The pastor should not respond or react to any of the antics of the 1-crayon volunteer.)
“OK, your time is up.” (Start with the 5-crayon volunteer.) “What did you draw? Oh that’s great. I love how you…(give appropriate response regarding the picture drawn). Since you were faithful in using your talents, here are five more crayons. I can’t wait to see what you’ll draw next.”
(Proceed to say the same to the 2-crayon volunteer – and give him/her two more crayons.)
1-Crayon Volunteer
When the pastor gets to the 1-crayon volunteer he/she should say: “Um, here’s your crayon back. I took good care of it. I didn’t lose it or break off the tip. It’s in the same condition as you when you gave it to me.”
Pastor
“OK, but why didn’t you draw anything with it like I asked?”
1-Crayon Volunteer
“Well, the other volunteers got more crayons than I did. How was I supposed to draw like they did? And anyway, I know that you can be mean. Why, just a couple of weeks ago I heard you were pushing around one of the volunteers during another children’s devotion. I didn’t want you to laugh at the picture I drew. So I thought it was better to do nothing.”
Pastor
(Turning to the other children.) “What do you think of what our 1-crayon volunteer is saying? Does it seem unfair that he only received one crayon while the other volunteers received more? Maybe. Still, couldn’t he/she have drawn a picture? He/she might not have been able to draw a multi-colored rainbow, but he/she could easily have drawn a cross, or could have drawn a picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. I’ve seen really good drawings like that done with only a pencil.
It sounds like the 1-crayon volunteer is blaming me for his/her lack of effort and now his/her grumpiness.
(Turning back to the 1-crayon volunteer.) I’m sorry you feel that way about me and about my gift to you. Please give me the crayon back. I want to give it to someone who will appreciate it and use it faithfully. (Give the crayon to the 5-crayon volunteer. Then dismiss volunteers and continue…)
In our sermon today, Jesus tells a similar story. Only the servants received bags of money, not crayons. Two servants were faithful in using that money to make more for the master. But the servant with the one bag just buried it in the ground and then blamed the master for his laziness.
Today, Jesus is teaching us that God has given us each different gifts. Some of you are good at math. Others can draw well. Still others can play sports really well. Some of you can do all of these things. No matter how many or how few gifts we have, Jesus wants us to know that they come from a loving God. He wants us to use those gifts faithfully and to honor him. In so doing we will learn what a joy it is to serve King Jesus.
So if you’re good at drawing, keep working at getting better and use that gift to serve others – like making hand-crafted cards to cheer others up.
At least one gift we all have is faith in Jesus. Yet sometimes we can be grumpy with this gift. We say things like: “We have to go to church again?” “I have to memorize Bible passages for confirmation class?” But our faith in Jesus gives us eternal life. Why wouldn’t we want to continue to strengthen our faith here in church and by studying the Bible? Don’t bury this gift of faith! You just might end up losing it as the 1-crayon servant lost his crayon. That of course isn’t what Jesus wants to happen.
There’s so much more I want to tell you about this parable by Jesus, but I’ll save it for the sermon. Thanks for listening, you may go back to your seats.
SERMON NOTES
(pre-service warmup) Ever dream of discovering buried treasure? Who hasn’t! What would you do with the money if you discovered a treasure worth millions?
Jesus told a parable about a rich man who entrusted his money to his servants. What was his unspoken message to them? How is this rich man like our God?
Two servants were faithful with the master’s money and put it to work. The one-talent servant, however, buried the money entrusted to him. What made this so wicked?
Five-talent servants are sometimes content with the results a two-talent servant can achieve. The sermon shared one example. What was it? Then for homework, think of another example.
There are many one-talent servants who do serve their Lord faithfully. What sin do they need to guard against?
What reasons do we have for faithfully and joyfully serving our Lord and Master?
How does our sermon text teach that there is no room for any of us to feel inferior or superior toward others.
When you are feeling overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) by the responsibilities God has given you, what truth is worth remembering from our sermon text?
Why will we want to put God’s buried treasures to work immediately and without delay?
