Talented Waiting

November 15, 2020
24th Sunday after Pentecost, Second to Last of the Church Year


Gospel Lesson: Matthew 25:14–30 [The Parable of the Talents.]
“For it [the Kingdom of God] 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.’”

Waiting is hard sometimes. Sometimes I hate to wait, but sometimes I enjoy it. I have found ways to enjoy waiting. For example, every other month I go to the eye doctor, and sometimes I have to wait for an hour. So, I always take something to read with me: a book, a novel, a newsletter. I enjoy the quiet time that I can read something I enjoy. I notice that other people while waiting either watch the big screen TV or the small screen smart phone. When I lived in Tokyo, I often had a one-hour commute by train. I read many pocket book novels and I even read through the New Testament in Greek! Time spent waiting can be valuable time for learning and working.

Today Jesus speaks about what to do while waiting. In the Parable of the Talents, a rich man went on a journey. While his servants were waiting for his return, he gave them work to do. He gave them money to invest, “to each according to his ability.” The currency was called a “talent,” equal to 6000 denarii, and @ one denarius being a day’s wage of a worker, one talent would be about 20 years of wages. And so it was a lot of money that he entrusted to his servants. He trusted that they would invest it well. And the first two did, they doubled their master’s money. The master was happy and said, ‘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.’

But to the servant who was afraid of his master and had dug a hole in the ground and safely guarded his master’s one talent, the master said, ‘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.’ The servent is not just a coward, he is not just slothful or lazy, he is wicked. Wicked is evil. Evil is doing harm. Putting the money in the bank would have brought at least some interest. But if he hides the money, because of inflation and currency rate fluctuation, the value of the one talent might have gone down, causing a loss to the master. And so the servant was wicked, harmful, evil. And so the master said, “Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

This is a parable and Jesus is telling us how to live while we wait for his Second Coming at the End of the World. We are not to be wicked and slothful servants, but servants who wisely use the talents that God has given us. Some of us have many talents and skills and abilities, some have fewer, but no one has none. In the parable the master gave everyone something, even if small, but, as the parable says, “according to his ability.” And God wants us to use those talents according to our ability. In this way God blesses the whole world.

What is/are your talent/s? You can be talented in many ways: in cooking, carpentry, craftsmanship, creativity, conversation; playing the piano, playing sports, playing the market, playing games. And Jesus is very happy when those talents help other people. Next week is the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. The King will bless those who use their god-given talents to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, give hospitality to the stranger, clothe the naked, take care of the sick, and visit those in prison. To those the King will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” To the slothful and wicked that did not use their talents to feed the hungry, etc., he will say, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” (Mt. 25:41-43).

These words are a warning to us. This time of waiting for Jesus to return is important. We have work to do. We are not saved by that work, because we are saved by the work that Jesus has done for us on the cross. But our faith is shown in works of love. When there are no works of love, it is a sign that there is no faith. Jesus calls that wicked and harmful.

When Jesus lived on this earth, he had many talents. He could turn water in to wine, feed 5000 people, walk on the water, still the storm, heal the sick, and raise the dead. But his greatest talent was to forgive sin. For example, Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven" (Mt. 9:2, Mk.6:7), and to show that Jesus had that authority, he healed him. But greater than that, on the cross he took the sin of the world upon himself and forgave it. And to show that Jesus had that authority, on the third day he rose from the dead. The value of that talent has multiplied to bring salvation and peace and love and forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus has the talent to hear and answer our prayers. And he comes to us in Word and Sacrament.

In faith we rejoice because he says to us, ‘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.’

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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マイケル・ニアフッド、牧師
沖縄ルーテル教会


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