Talents

November 16, 2008
Matthew 25:14-30

GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 25:14?30
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no seed? 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. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 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. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Jesus told this parable the week before he died on the cross. Jesus died on the cross, then rose on the third day, then ascended into heaven. He foretold that he would come again at the end of the world. That day would be the Day of Judgment: like separating the sheep from the goats, like opening the accounting books. Since Jesus would be ascending into heaven and be physically absent from his disciples, we understand that this parable is talking about Jesus. Jesus said, For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. Jesus has entrusted his property, the Saving Gospel, into the hands of his servants, the disciples and all who believe in him. Yes, we too have received, have been entrusted with the property of Jesus. We have been entrusted with the Gospel message. It is not our personal property; it is entrusted with us to be used in service to the Kingdom of God.

In the parable, two of the servants traded and invested the money and made a profit. This would be like Christians who share their faith, who invite people to church, who work and serve in the church, who live their Christian morals and ethics in society, in the home, and in the workplace. In other words, they are living as Christians with the talents and gifts that God has given them to do his work. They are good and faithful servants. They give joy to the Lord. The third servant makes the Lord angry. He dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. He hid his faith. His faith did no service to himself or to others, or even to God. His talent was wasted. He is called a wicked and slothful servant. He is not called an incompetent servant, but a wicked servant. He did harm in the master’s service. Each servant was given talents, to each according to his ability. If the third servant had tried, he too could have utilized his gift for the good of his master. But he did not. He refused to. He was disobedient. Therefore he is called wicked.

The Lord God has given to all us various talents. St. Paul called them gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts or talents are for doing the work of God in his Kingdom on this earth. These talents can be used not only in the church but everywhere. Even so-called secular talents can often be used well in the church, too. Like carpentry and business skills. And since God loves the whole world, he loves even those unbelievers who are not in church; God blesses them too with skills and talents for taking care of the world. Many unbelievers have great god-given talents which would be a great blessing if used in his kingdom.

Today, the focus is on the servant who had only one talent, and he hid it and did not use it. He was afraid of his master. Maybe he was afraid of losing the money in the stock market or in a bad business deal, and then get punished for it. But the parable tells us that the master gave talents to his servants according to their ability, 5, 2, or 1. And so, even the one talent was given with the knowledge that the servant could use it wisely. He could at least save it in the bank with interest. He could at least let others manage his talent for him. The point is: he refused to do the work of his master. It is not a matter of how many talents we have. It is a matter of using it. I do not think that faith itself is a talent. Faith however recognizes that any gift we may have comes from God. Then in thankfulness, it accepts the gift and uses it in a god-pleasing way.

What gift have you been given? What if we do not know what our gift is? If we do not know what our talent is, then we may have to search for it. Maybe the process of searching is what we are supposed to do. Then we will find that the Holy Spirit works as God’s Talent Scout. We pray that the Holy Spirit would guide us and give us wisdom.

I think that Jesus was the most talented person on earth. He was wise. He could speak well in public. He could do miracles. And yet, the Bible tells us that when he came to earth, he put off that heavenly glory. He did not use all his divine talent to escape death on the cross. Rather he died. And that is when he brought out his hidden talent and confronted the devil. He destroyed the eternal power of the devil. He overcame death and arose on the third day. That Resurrection show that his Heavenly Father says, Well done, good and faithful servant. Jesus gave authority to the disciples to preach the Gospel in all the world. The Holy Spirit came on Pentecost and gave them the Talent or gift of speech to proclaim the Gospel.

Today’s parable shows the love of God. God is infinitely rich. He does not care if we seem to lose a million dollars trying to do his work. He only wants us to be faithful. He does not want us to fear his wrath. For the kingdom of heaven is a gift, not something we get by how well our investments in the stock market do, or by how well we use the gifts (talents) of our mind or our work or our love. We trust that Jesus, who died for us, will always be merciful.

In our baptism we were summoned by Christ and entrusted with his kingdom. We now get to use it. We are given the chance, the opportunity to enjoy the gifts of God’s kingdom. Just like God, now we too get to be merciful and forgiving. We get to treasure people more than things. We now get to learn to treasure the people we love more than the things we buy. We may be tempted to run away from the responsibilities of the gifts and talents given us. Others may have trouble dealing with that duty. We get to “encourage one another and build up each other” (1 Thess. 5:11). For example, we get to take our talents of forgiveness and go off at once and invest that forgiveness in our neighbors (rather than purchasing retribution, revenge, anger, selfishness, prejudice, greed, and giving people what they deserve). The kingdom of heaven is to live, trusting that Jesus will say, “Enter into the joy of your master.” Jesus will say it for no reason on our part. Jesus will say it, not because of what we have done, but because he wants to say it to us, in the very same way he died for us. Jesus wants to say it to us because he was indeed the good and faithful Servant!

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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