A sermon on 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 sown 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.’
In the name of Jesus, the giver of all good gifts, dear fellow redeemed,
This week, with the celebration of Thanksgiving,
we should all take a look at our lives and count our blessings. We should
recognize everything the Lord has given to us and thank him. Everything we have
is a gift from his hand. It all comes from his “Fatherly divine goodness and
mercy, without any merit or worthiness” in any one of us.
Those blessings are all wrapped up
in this parable about talents today. When we hear the word “talent” we think of
its English meaning, a special skill or ability someone has. In a strange twist
of linguistics, our English word “talent” comes from this parable. In Greek, a
talent was a measure of weight. One talent is about seventy-five pounds. So
when the Lord in this story is giving out talents, he’s giving out huge weights
of cash. Someone did the math based on the current value of gold and one talent
is worth around $2.3 million dollars. That gives you an idea of how much money
we’re talking about in this parable.
So, the talents Jesus is speaking of
here includes both meanings of the word “talent”. Your “talents” in this sense
not only your money and your skills, but everything God has blessed you with;
your family, relationships, time, and everything you have.
Now there’s a reason that the
different servants were given different amounts. Jesus says that they were
given five, two, or one talent according to their ability. So we see it today. We
all have received gifts from the Lord, but not everyone receives gifts the same
way. Some receive more and others less. Some receive gifts of one kind, and some
receive gifts of another kind. One person is blessed with lots of money to be
generous. Another person is blessed with a large family to raise in the faith. Another
person is given lots of time to serve. All are given something, but that something
is not always the same.
So what do we do when we see that
someone has been given more than us in one area? We shouldn’t be jealous. We
fall into that trap sometimes and it is obviously wrong. Instead, we should
thank God that he has given that gift to that person just as we are thankful
that we have been given the gifts that we receive.
To that end, who are we that we
should receive these great gifts? Here the clue comes in the relationship. The
word for servant really ought to be translated “slave”. It’s the same word Paul
uses to describe himself in Romans 1:1 “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus.” This is
good news! If we, like Paul, are slaves of Jesus Christ, that means that Jesus
has paid the price to have us. We know made us his own “not with gold or
silver, but with his holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.”
This good news is the greatest treasure we have received. It’s one that doesn’t
shrink when it is shared, it only grows and grows.
On the cross Jesus shed his blood to
make us his own. Now that he has risen from the dead, he claimed us in the waters
of baptism, just as he did for Lainie today. She received a great treasure—the greatest
she’ll ever receive. Remember the words of our opening hymn:
God’s own child I gladly say it: I
am baptized into Christ!
He because I could not pay it, gave
my full redemption price.
Do I need earth’s treasures many? I
have one worth more than any!
That brought me salvation free
lasting to eternity. [i]
We
belong to him. Jesus gets to call the shots. We live our whole life in service
to him. That’s why he has entrusted these things to us.
There’s
something Jesus doesn’t mention in the parable but it totally true. We can take
what God has given us and use it together with what God has given to others and
have even more that way. This is certainly one of the blessings of marriage. A
husband and a wife combine their “talents”, their blessings from the Lord, and
the Lord blesses them even more. Certainly, the blessings a husband and wife
have together are more than twice what they would each have alone.
The
same thing is true for our life together as a congregation. With our resources,
our time, and our skills combined there is very little that our congregation is
unable to do. Imagine then, what would have happened if the servant who
received just one talent had instead taken it to the servant with five talents
or two talents and asked to work together with them. You can bet he would have
come out better at the end of this parable for sure!
God
has given us so many different resources, people, skills, and other things. I
am personally convinced that if we want to find our place in the story, Holy
Cross is definitely the servant who received five talents. Look at the
children, the projects we’ve accomplished, the people we have who give time,
and so many other things. This parable shows us that with great blessings comes
a great responsibility. We have to do something with this. We have to put our
blessings to use. That’s part of the reason we brought on a Director of
Christian Education this year. You could see his job as simply helping our
congregation use the blessings we’ve been given and using them together.
Look
at what happens to the talents the Lord gives his servants. This should give us
hope! The one who was given five talents brings back five more! The one who has
given two talents brings back to two more! The Lord blesses the blessings we’ve
been given and make them even more of a blessing. The gifts grow not because
the servants are so great, but because the master is so generous and blesses so
much. Jesus provides everything we need to do the work he’s called us to do. Notice
that the servants are commended, not for their accomplishments but for their
faithfulness. “Well done good and faithful servant.” Again, “You have been
faithful over a little; I will set you over much.”
So
it is the relationship with the master and his goodness that gives the
blessing. That’s why the servant who only receives one gets the response he
does. This servant is wrong about the Lord. Is he a hard man to be feared when
he has given you millions of dollars and an open invitation to be creative? No!
The Lord is gracious and kind. He wants to see his servants try. But this servant
did the one thing that he shouldn’t have done—stick the money in a hole and
forget about it. Had he done anything with it, the Lord would have blessed it
more than he could imagine.
This
parable is a description of the time between Jesus’ Ascension (the man going
away on a journey) and his return in judgement (the Lord returning and settling
accounts with the servants). In other words, this time right now. God has entrusted
his work to us. He has given us everything we need to carry out his work.
In
the Lord’s Prayer we pray “Thy Kingdom Come”. That’s an interesting thing Jesus
asks us to pray. Certainly, God isn’t waiting for anything from us for Jesus to
return and for his Kingdom to come in all it’s glory. Even now God reigns in
the world whether we pray for it or not. God is going to do his work. His Word
is going to go out. As his Word goes out the Holy Spirit is going to convict
people of their sins and then bring faith in Jesus as their Savior. This love
is going to be reflected in the lives of the people who hear it. This is going
to happen. It is necessary.
Jesus asks us to ask this so that we
would be included in God’s work. We pray that God’s Kingdom would come among us
also. If we don’t do God’s Work, it will be done somewhere else. Let’s not lose
the opportunity to be part of this work.
If
we don’t use our talents, the same thing will happen to them as happens to a muscle
that doesn’t get used. Gradually it will waste away. An unused talent will be
given to someone else, just as we see happening in this story.[ii]
We cannot let this happen to us. Everything
we have personally, in our families, and in our congregation is a gift from the
Lord. Those are our “talents”. The Lord has graciously entrusted them to us to
be used for his purposes.
If
you drive around Washington County Illinois, you’ll find Hahlen Church Road
about five miles southwest of Nashville. The road is named for St. Peter’s
Lutheran Church which used to be out there. It’s quite a bit like the Flora community
out by Alma. St. Peter’s began in 1858 and the congregation lasted for 110 ten
years, closing its doors for the last time in 1968. At that time, the twenty-five
remaining members joined the church in Nashville which they helped start.
Now,
over the course of those 110 years, St. Peter’s Hahlen sent ten men into the
ministry. What would have happened is those ten men had stayed in the community,
raised families, and served there? It’s plausible that this congregation could
still be in existence today.
So,
we could ask the question, did St. Peter’s Lutheran Church on Hahlen Road fail?
No, they didn’t. They were faithful with what they had been given, sending
workers into the harvest and then joining with other Christians to continue to
work together. They certainly weren’t taking what they were given and sticking
it in the ground. Their faithfulness did not look like the world’s version of
success. That’s often the way it goes in the kingdom of God.[iii]
This
parable should make us think about the ways we’re using our talents here. How
are we investing them? We’re not giving so that someone would get a bigger
house or another jet. We’re giving and working so that kids can go to Lutheran
schools, and that seminaries would provide pastors so other congregations can
hear the Word of God clearly. We’re giving so that missionaries can be in the
field bring God’s Word to people. We’re giving so that the Bible can be
translated into other languages and God’s Word can be spread over the airwaves
and internet to people who would not be able to hear. We’re giving so that
works of mercy would be done throughout the world and in our own community.
God
makes a great promise about his Word in Isaiah 55. His Word going out is going
to be like the rain and snow that comes down from heaven. It doesn’t return
without doing what God sent it to do—watering the ground to give people food.
In the same way, as his Word goes out, it will accomplish the purpose God sent
it to do. There will be a gracious return as we support God’s Word. God
promises it and it will happen. Amen.
[i]
LSB 594 “God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It” verse 1
[ii]
See Albrecht, People’s Bible Commentary: Matthew p. 364-365
[iii]
See Mueller, Our God our Help in Ages Past p. 91
