If you say to someone, This is the parable of the talents what might they think you are talking about?
A parable about great athletes?
A parable about a great musician?
A parable about a great businessman
I could go on with others. The fact is that the word talent is derived from the word that in ancient Israel was a unit of measure. It’s value depended on whether it was copper, silver, gold or what ever. Today we use the word talent to describe someone with a great aptitude or gift. A talent can be and should be considered a gift from God.
But this parable is clearly about money. right? Verse 15. To one he gave Five talents of money. So why am I talking about the talents we think of today. Jesus spoke in parables so that “He had had eyes would see and that he who had ears would hear.” The parables were a way of teaching the disciples of ancient Israel as well as the disciples of modern times. So you say “Well then tell us what is the point of this parable?” The point of this parable is crystal clear. God gives us many unique abilities that are to be improved and invested in the building of his kingdom through ministry and service to our fellow human beings.
Now you say “Ok, explain to us why you think that.” Ok I will. The declaration of independence says that All men are created equal. It is what many call a western way of thinking. But what does that mean? We all have the same body temperature 37.6. Our blood is red. We all have a brain. There has never ever been a brain transplant ever performed. But not two people have the same fingerprints. Not even twins. We all also have different abilities.
Now listen again to verse fifteen. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. Listen again EACH ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY. Who knows better than the person that created you what your abilities or your talents are? Who, not you, no one knows better than God. He gives each according to his or her ability. Does that mean that if you are not able then God does not bless you? Absolutely not.
I can’t sing. I try but I just don’t sound good. There are many people in here that sing so wonderfully they brighten the day.
Now, the last part of the verse. Then he went on his journey. God gives us gifts according to our ability and then he leaves us alone. NO he does not abandon us. He is always there to guide us and put us back on the path if we ask. BUT ONLY IF WE ASK.
He could if he wanted to, he could exercise his ability to have total control in micro managing our lives. As parents we could if we wanted to, have total control in managing our children’s lives. But we slowly and gradually relinquish control so that our children will share in the joy of learning responsibility.
God is wonderful enough to entrust us with our own lives. We have total control of our lives. We must invest our abilities and enjoy the reward of living productive lives. Ok, he gives us abilities and leaves but in verse 19. We find that the master returns. Folks who has come and will come again? Jesus Christ our Lord. The triune God has created, he has come to save, he has given us talents and, he helps us to invest them, and he will come again to settle accounts with us.
Let me ask you this. Do you want to be the person that buried your ability?
God trusts us with so much responsibility. So what do we do? We say ok God, but show us the way. This is ok to start, but in many cases he has already given us enough guidance already for our role as faithful stewards. We keep looking for God to just write it in the sky or make it happen for us.
You might very reasonably ask “Well how do I know what God wants me to do?” The answer is quite simple “Pray” But you just said that we want the answer given to us plainly. “Yes.” Pray about it. Wait for his reply. When you get it, do not fight it. It may not be what you want to hear but it will be what God knows you are capable of doing. Please excuse me for using myself as an example here, but I feel it is very appropriate. For a long time, I kept thinking to myself. I don’t like the way my job is going, I need a change. Then a thought would pop into my head “Become a Pastor.” I would laugh at first and say “I can’t do that. That is for really good Christians and I am not a really good Christian. I much preferred to miss church then miss the State of origin. I felt that church should work around football. The thought became more frequent and it became what we refer to as a gut feeling. I had a gut feeling that I would one day be a Pastor. I had no idea how. I mean you have to go back to school for that sort of thing. And don’t pastors have some sort of special connection to God. I certainly did not have a special connection.
Well folks, first off Pastors do not have a special connection to God. I am sure I am not the only one that ever thought that. One day Iam Craig Fenton, the next you know I may be Pastor Craig Fenton. What changed in me to make the title change? Absolutely nothing. God said I have given you a talent. Now invest it and bring me a return on investment. What is the return? Winning people to Christ. I answered God’s call.
Let me also tell you this and then I will get off my personal story. It is not easy. There are times when I just want to say “God I know you want me to do this, but this is not easy.” But then God says “ I never said it would be easy.”
We are constantly looking for easy. Water flows to the path of least resistance because it has no other choice. It is a natural occurrence. Humans flow to the path of least resistance because it is easy. We have a choice. We choose the easy way out. The man with the lone talent chose the easy way out. He buried the coin and waited for his master to return.
This story seems to focus on the one man. The one man that did not use his talent but buried it. But why did the man with the five talents and the man with the two talents invest it? They had faith. If we have faith in God, he will not let us fail. We may have failures along the way, but ultimately if we believe in him to help, we will not fail. If we invest our talents, we could run into trouble or we could lose a great deal. John Doe doesn’t want to sing in the choir because the guys at work will think he is weird. Jane Doe doesn’t want to be chairman of the trustees, even though she is a good handyperson, because a man usually holds that position. We may not do what we think others would not want us to do, but if we do what God wants us to do, we will be rewarded by God. What reward will we get from others if we do not do what they would not have us do?
But now let’s focus on the man with the one talent. Why might someone in our time bury his or her talent?
There are far more people with one talent then there are with two or five. While the world and even the church notices, applauds, and richly rewards those blessed with extraordinary gifts, they tend to ignore those whose talents are not so remarkable. Consequently one talent people fall prey to a special danger: The lessened value of the significance of the gift that they have. They are outshone by the two or five talent people. They find it easier to bury there talent than risk humiliation by trying to use it.
They turn their ultimate resentment into bitterness toward God. The unfaithful servant says that he was afraid of the master. The master replies you were lazy and wicked. How can we get wickedness from something not done. The wickedness lies not in the evil done but by the good left undone.
Because there was no one at the crisis center to answer the phone, a woman leaped to her death. Because the talent was buried, a teen grew up without a caring mentor or a mission hospital was not built.
Can you imagine what this world might be like if Martin Luther King would have buried his talent?
What if Billy Graham would have remained a dairy farmer instead of going against his father’s wish to become a preacher.
But those are individual accounts. The fact is that it takes many many individuals to make a church run, a community thrive, a kingdom grow.
The architect draws up plans for a church. A mason lays the concrete foundation, a carpenter builds the walls, The plumber installs water lines, the electrician runs the wiring. a decorator picks out carpeting and arrangement of the alter and pulpit. The evangelist draws people in, The organist plays wonderful music, The pastor leads the service, the Janitor cleans up when all leave.
Without the architect there is no need for a pastor. Without the janitor the place gets messy, without the electrician, we would be left in the dark.
Each person contributes his or her own talent to create a portal to the kingdom of God.
Then in the church congregation, we have trustees, treasurers, administrators, worship committee members, finance committee members, Sunday school teachers, laity, secretaries, baby sitters, and the list goes on. Everyone a steward for Christ. Each one, no matter how insignificant they may think their talent is, is so important to God.
You may only give a glass of water to a thirsty child, but that if you do it in the name of Christ, you have done it well.
God gave us all abilities and talents when we were born, even before we were born. God told Jeremiah that he called him before he was even conceived. God wants us to invest our talents so that others will come to know him. God does not want us to have wasted talents. He wants us to use it to the best of our ability. We will all some day face him and give an account of what we did in our lives. Let’s not tell him that we wasted the gifts he gave us. Remember no matter how insignificant or how un-important your talent is, it is supremely important to God.
I remember a story my first pastor told, Pastor Glen Scott one of the best friends I have ever had. A man was walking along a beach one day and saw a young man picking up starfish that had washed ashore and he was throwing them all back into the sea. The man saw thousands of starfish and asked the boy why he was doing it. He told the boy that there were so many starfish in the sea and why did he think throwing one more back in would make a difference. No one would notice he said. The young boy looked up at the man as he threw another starfish and said, "It sure made a difference for that one."
