What To Do ‘Til Jesus Comes!
Matthew 25:14-30
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
Introduction: The veteran guides at the tourist park in the Alps say they have seen it happen time and time again. The day almost always begins the same way. This old story is worth hearing again today.
A few dozen tourists sign up for a day of mountain climbing. The brochure promises a never to be forgotten experience. The hike will take several hours total—up and back. It will be rugged but do-able. Parts are steep, some even a bit dangerous if you don’t follow directions.
By the eight o’clock departure time about two dozen hearty climbers are on hand. The half dozen guides distribute the gear—water bottles, backpacks, walking sticks, and plenty of first aid kits. The group starts at a rather casual pace. Some of the younger hikers encourage the guides to go a bit faster. There is lots of talking and joking. Some even try to start up a song or two. By the beginning of the second hour, the mood changes with the terrain. The incline is steeper. Breathing in the thinning air becomes harder. There is less talk. All attempts at singing have long since stopped. No one calls for the guides to pick up the pace.
Into the third hour, everyone’s legs, except for the best conditioned, are starting to ache from the uphill trek. A couple hikers have skinned knees on the loose rocks. Finally, the group rounds a bend in the trail. A beautiful mountain vista opens before their eyes. But the most beautiful site is the midway station nestled at the edge of an alpine meadow. A few in the group almost run the last dozen yards or so to the benches. Backpacks are tossed aside. Water bottles are opened with gusto. It is always this way the guides say. But the real story is yet to take place.
After a leisurely lunch, the head guide gathers the group for a pep talk before they head out for the rest of the climb. “You’ve done well,” he tells them. “I know it’s been tough for some of you but you held in there and you stayed together. That’s good. We should make the summit in less than two hours. I guarantee you have never seen anything like it all day. It makes the whole climb worth the effort. But the next hour or so of the climb is the toughest part, even a bit dangerous in spots. Tour policy requires me to tell you that if anyone wants, he can stay here.”
After the brief speech, most of the climbers energetically shake their heads and insist that there is no way they are going to stop. But there are always others who gaze around sheepishly, look down at their stocking feet they have been rubbing, and then stare up at the steep trail and the tall mountain. After a few questions, maybe a dozen or so decide to stay. You can see the relief on their faces.
A few minutes later, the group heads up the mountain. The dozen who stay behind are in unusually good spirits. They send the climbers off with a fair amount of good cheer. But as soon as they are to themselves, they begin laughing and joking about how glad they are not to be back on the trail. Some even congratulate one another for making the smarter, safer choice. Most rest for a while.
Then after about an hour and half, someone calculates that the climbers should be nearing the summit. A few will gather on the uphill side of the shelter and look toward the peak. Binoculars are pulled out. Someone spots the climbers high up the mountain almost to the summit. The resting group passes the binoculars around. They watch for their friends as they reach the mountain peak. They can just barely see the hikers jumping up and down, patting each other on the back, and pointing to scenes in the distance. The guides who have stayed behind tell the same story. It is always the same, they say! . . .
Today we are looking at the second of three parables in Matthew 25. Jesus offered these parables as illustrations for an important principle found Matthew 24. He had just shocked his disciples by predicting a day when the great Jewish temple they had just left would be destroyed. Not one stone would be left standing on another. They immediately jumped to the conclusion that such a catastrophe could only happen if the world were coming to an end. They asked him three questions: When is this going to happen? What will be the signs of your coming and the end of the age?
They wanted a list of secret signals so they would know when they needed to start getting ready. Jesus refuses to play that game. He answers not with a list of signs but a series of warnings. The bottom line comes in verse 42: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Again in verse 44, “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
The first of three parables (the one we examined last week) emphasized the need to prepare for the long haul not just the short term. Jesus concluded that parable with the warning, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour” (25:13). This second parable continues the same theme. Someone has gone away but will return. Those left behind must wait. In the first parable, ten girls waited for the bridegroom. Five were ready. Five foolishly assumed the wait would be short so they came unprepared. Every believer then and now must look at following Jesus as a marathon not a sprint.
The first parable tells us how to get ready. This second tells us what to do until Jesus comes. The story divides into two acts. Act I describes the departure. A landowner goes on a trip, leaving his servants with his property. To one servant he gives five talents, to another two, and to the last only one. Note the reason for the differences. He gave to each according to his ability. Perhaps the servants differed in skill and experience. A wise master would know that. It wasn’t a matter of unfairness, but of treating them as the unique individuals that they were.
Each of the first two servants puts the talents to work, probably investing in some sort of business venture. Maybe they bought and sold cattle or sheep. It surely wasn’t hogs. First this is a Jewish story. Secondly, everybody knows you can’t make any money on hogs. Right! That’s Act I.
Act II, the owner returns and calls for an accounting of the money. The story doesn’t say how long he was gone. That’s unimportant. The first two servants had each doubled the investment. They are rewarded with a commendation from the owner, added responsibility, and an invitation to celebrate with the master.
Understanding this parable requires overcoming two big hurdles—a definition and the details. The definition involves the word “talent.” The word doesn’t mean to us what it did in this story. Today our word refers to a skill, special ability, or mental capacity. Then it was a unit of exchange or a form of currency or money. Originally a talent referred to a measure of weight (somewhere between 50 and 80 pounds). It then came to refer to that amount of gold, silver, or some other precious commodity. Eventually, the term was used for a coin or currency of that value. Scholars estimate a talent to have been worth about twenty year’s income for a common laborer. In today’s dollars that would be at least a half a million dollars.
The second hurdle is the details. One of the problems with parables is the ease with which we can get sidetracked. We can end up chasing the details and missing the main point. This parable presents a number of distractions. That word “talent” is one distraction. The differing rewards are another. I don’t think any of that really matters. It is just color added to make the story interesting.
The real lesson of Jesus’ parables often appears as an expected development or twist in the story line. The twist to this parable is the accounting of the third servant. Instead of a return, he offers an excuse. Instead of using the money to gain a profit, he hid it. He tries to blame the master for his irresponsibility. But the master gets the last word. He terms the servant wicked, lazy, and worthless. He takes the money and condemns the servant. As a reminder that this is a story about eternal consequences and not just investment strategies, the master doesn’t just fire the servant. He has him cast into “outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” That’s biblical imagery for hell.
So what’s the point? If we believe that someday we will be asked to give an account of what the Lord has entrusted to us, what should we do between now and then? What should we do until Jesus comes? Frankly, the story doesn’t really say. Rather it makes it very clear what not to do. The one response that will not wash is to do nothing, to try to play it safe.
The key to the parable is the third servant’s attitude toward his master. He knew what the master wanted. He wasn’t ignorant. His relationship was ruled by fear not faith. His fear of his master and his fear of failure led him to do the one thing guaranteed to bring the master’s anger. He did nothing!
Here lies our temptation. If we believe (as we should) that we will someday account for what we have done until Jesus comes, we might be tempted to look for the safest path. Do as little as possible so as to minimize the potential for mistakes. Maybe we could withdraw, live in a monastery or cave. No risks, no dangers! No risks, no dangers, no faith, no life!
Make no mistake about it. The first two servants took a risk. They could have failed. Hudson Taylor, the great man of faith who founded the China Inland Mission, said, “Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith.” Safe is always too concerned about self to risk investing for the master!
What should we do until Jesus comes? Two answers! The first answer is something! Anything that furthers his cause and extends his kingdom! We dare not try to play it safe by doing nothing. Safe believers never learn and grow and enjoy the blessings of faith. They never share their faith, their love, or their resources. They might fail.
If our fore fathers had played it safe, you and I would not be here today. Missionaries long ago risked crossing mountains and oceans and rivers to bring the gospel to our ancestors. Safe never started this congregation in 1879. Worrying about risk or possible failure never built this building eighty years ago. Safe never started a Bible college, a church camp, a children’s home, or fed the hungry and clothed the poor.
What should we do until Jesus comes? The second answer is—it all depends. It depends on what you can do. I depends on what abilities, gifts, or opportunities the Lord entrusts to you. This is not necessarily the same as somebody else. You are not responsible for doing what somebody else does. You are only responsible for what you can do. Nothing more. Nothing less.
What should we do until Jesus comes? Listen to the very practical and simple answer of 1 Peter 4. “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 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. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” (4:7-11)
Conclusion: . . . The guides say it is always the same. Those who stayed behind watch the others at the summit. Those who went the distance joyously celebrate what those who had played it safe and stayed behind will never experience. From this point on, there is no joking, not even much talking. Maybe some more talkative person will venture some speculation about how far one could see from the summit. A few dirty looks quickly shut down that line of conversation. The silence is thick.
Even after the climbers’ return and the journey down the mountain commences, few in the stay-behind-group say much. But the expressions on their faces tell everything. All they can think about it is what they have missed. But they chose the easier path. Now they will never know the feeling of standing on the mountain summit and seeing what the others saw. All they can do is listen to the stories and wish they had finished the climb. It is always that way, the guides say. There is something worse than failure—having all eternity to regret what might have been!
Perhaps Jesus was thinking about the lesson of this parable when he said, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Luke 9:24).
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College of the Bible, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
