October 6, 2013

One of the responsibilities I have during the month of October is to lead our church in worship each Sunday. Our small church has a retired minister as our stated supply (Presbyterian term) who takes a sabbatical during October (a well deserved one I might add.) A few years ago he asked if I would speak in his absence and the rest, as they say, is history. I am going to attempt to post my sermons for this month here on this blog as I did last year.

Disclaimer: What I am going to post is going to be a rough attempt at a transcript of what I actually say. Now I am creating this transcript before I speak so it isn’t really a word for word transcript. Also, when I write a paper I try to use sentence structure and vocabulary and all those things you learned about in school correctly. I do try and speak professionally as well but my point is don’t grade this as a writing, but as a speech. Even then I hope you get the point of the message and don’t get caught up in the grammatical issues. Feel free to comment.

Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14-30

October 6, 2013

14 ‘For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; ¹⁵to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. ¹⁷In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. ¹⁸But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, “Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.” ²¹His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” ²²And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, “Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.”²³His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” ²⁴Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; ²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” ²⁶But his master replied, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. ²⁹For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ³⁰As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The Word of the Lord

(Thanks be to God)

Let us begin by looking at this parable from a literal standpoint. A talent during the time this parable was told by Jesus would have been worth 6000 denarii where one denarius was equal to about a day’s wage. So we have a master getting three of his servants together and then distributing these sums of money to each one. Notice the text says that each one was given according to his ability. Ability to do what? Perhaps it was each person’s ability to manage money. Maybe the first servant had proven over time to be someone who was able to handle many levels of responsibility. Knowing this the master decides to give him a greater share than the others. Another thing to keep in mind here is that the master is handing over his money. He is not paying these men for work already done or even advancing them a salary for work they are to do. They are slaves, servants after all. This money he is doling out is his and he naturally expects it to be taken care of so he is not going to give over more than each could handle. The first servant receives his share, five talents, then the second one gets two talents and the third one receives one talent. Now keep in mind that one talent is worth 6000 denarii so we are talking about a sum of money that would have taken an average worker about 20 years to earn. We could do the math here and try and figure out how much that would be in today’s dollars, but it really is not necessary in order to understand the point of the story.  The facts are that each one was given something of value and it was not an equal distribution of that value. One thought that came to mind while reading this passage is how did each one react when they were given their talents? Jesus never focuses on the reaction of the servants but it is worth considering how each one may have responded or at least how each one felt about what just took place. Some possible reactions from the first man might have been, “Wow! Look at how much I just got.” “See, I’m a better person than you two because he clearly likes me more.” Or maybe it was a more humble response like, “Wow! Are you sure you want me to take care of this much of your money?” By contrast let’s imagine how the third person might have reacted. Maybe his thought process went something like, “Wow! You’re giving him 5 talents and only giving me one?” Or “So, I’m only worth one talent while these two are worth more?” Or maybe his tone could have been more along the lines of, “I don’t really even deserve one talent so (as he turns to one of the other slaves) do you think you could help me out so I don’t mess this up?” And finally, what about the man in the middle? He might have been thinking, “Well, I’m not the favorite but at least I rank higher than that guy.” Regardless of how each of them responded, remember their immediate response is not recorded in the parable, what they do following receiving these talents tells a whole lot about their character.

Verse 16 states that “The one who received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents.” He recognized the incredible opportunity he had to please his master and reward his trust so he went at once to take advantage of the opportunity. I guess in today’s world he might have logged on to E-trade and took advantage of all the resources that little baby tells us about every year during the Super Bowl. Or maybe he just adopted a buy low and sell high method of doing business while his master was away so that he could increase the amount of money he was trusted with. There is no reason to think that this increase was obtained in an illegal or unethical way. He simply went out and doubled his money. Now the result may be simple in theory, but that does not mean it was easy to do. We are told that the master was gone for a long time. This was not some get rich quick, overnight scheme that this servant was able to get in on. The fact that it very well may have been difficult to accomplish this is an important point to consider. The second servant, we are told in verse 17, “in the same way” doubled the two talents he was given. I do not think it necessarily means that they both invested in the same exact way. He could have used Scottrade and taken the advice of that guy that flies around in the helicopter instead of the little baby. Either way, they both apparently went off and immediately began the task of investing their master’s money. When the master returns they are eager to greet him and show what they have done. Verse 20, “Master you handed me over five talents; see I have made five more talents.” “See,” you can almost hear the excitement in his voice. Similar to what a child might say as they bring home something they created in school or Sunday school, “Look Mommy, look what I did today!” And just like an approving parent might say, “Wow! That is a beautiful thing you have done.” The Master says to his slave, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The second slave does the same thing and gets the same response. Even though he started with less, the master is just as pleased with what the second slave has done as he was with the first slave. To me that is an important point to gather from this story. The master is not more pleased with the first one just because he made him more money. After all, he made five talents to the two talents the second one made. Remember, though, the beginning of the story. The master gave each servant talents according to their ability. In his wisdom he realized that entrusting him with more than two talents might put him in a position to fail. They were given an unequal amount of talents to start, but given an equal amount of praise at the end. This is similar to what I have to deal with on a daily basis as a teacher. We have a grading system in place, A, B…F, etc. I am just as proud of some of my students who make B’s as I am of others who make A’s. When people reach their fullest potential it is hard not to be pleased with those results.  It is when we do not reach our fullest potential that there is frustration and displeasure, which is what we get from the third servant. By his response we see that in his mind the master is a hard man to work for. Verse 24, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed.” Out of fear the third man just buried the one talent he was given in the ground and returned it as is to the master. To me, initially, that does not sound like too bad of an idea. At least the man did not lose anything. However, the master’s response to the third man is what really drives home the point of this parable. “You wicked and lazy slave!” Clearly by comparison to the two other slaves this guy really missed the boat. For him not to get in on the E-trade or Scottrade action was bad enough, but he was too lazy to even take the money down to the local Bank of America branch and just put it in a simple savings account. The .5% interest it could have been drawing is far better than the smell of earthworms from burying it in the ground. His punishment seams kind of harsh at first. All he has is taken from him and he is cast out while his talent is given as a reward to the other slave who was willing to work for the betterment of his master. This consequence for inaction points to how difficult it must have been for the other two slaves to make money. It is as if the master understands the commitment it takes and realizes the third slave does not have that commitment. But he did the worst thing he could do…nothing. Three men, a lot of money, and consequences for their actions; is this really all about the money?

The key word here is talent. In Biblical times talent would have unmistakably been used as a measurement. Our use of the word talent to mean the ability to do something adds a new significance to the meaning of the passage. Let’s take a moment to explore some possible additional meanings from this parable when we consider the English definition of the word talent. So what are some talents? According to Reverend Joseph Exell, time is a talent. Intellectual power is a talent. Moral capacity, religious opportunities, and relative influence can be considered talents. He goes on to say that the “secret of worldly success, is to set out at once to make best use of whatever we have” (573). Then we have the athletic, musical, speaking, writing, the ability to motivate people types of talent. We all have at least one talent. This parable sets before us a scenario where talents are distributed, but not equally. It gives us a Biblical example of how we are not all the same people with all the same abilities and responsibilities. Why do I think we all have at least one talent? Because I believe the Bible gives us guidance on how we are to live our lives. If there were going to be those of us who had not been given any talent, then I believe this parable would have had a fourth slave in it who would have been given nothing. The fact that each of them, representing all of God’s children, were given something with which to work, tells me we all start with one or more. As Exell also states, “If Christ has given you one talent, it is because at present He sees you cannot handle more” (574). We should never be envious of those who we perceive as having more talents than us. The stone and timber that was brought into Jerusalem for the temple was marked so before it started its journey toward Jerusalem the architect knew what place it should fit. Each stone and timber was an important part of the completed temple. We should not complain if we are not the foundation or the capstone in the temple God is building with our lives (Exell 575). Take what God has given you and develop it into more. Do not wish you had the talent to do something and since you do not, just sit around and do nothing. Our talent is like the acorn. It starts small but grows into a huge oak tree. It is better to have the one talent and use it for good than have five talents and use them for evil (Exell 575). If you are given only one talent, be grateful for the one talent but also be thankful that there are those that have been given five.

Just like an acorn does not become a tree overnight, talent development takes time. If you were going to compile a list of the greatest writers the world has ever known I think somewhere on that list would have to be Shakespeare. His ability to use words to paint pictures and illicit emotions is so impressive that students are still studying his works hundreds of years after his death. Recently a more contemporary writer, Tom Clancy passed away. His novels such as The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games were exceptional reads and were later turned into entertaining movies. You know what you and I have in common with those two authors as well as the countless others who have risen to the top of their professions? We all started by learning our A, B, C’s. We then learned how to use those letters to form words, then how to put those words into sentences, etc. They just took that talent to another level, one you and I have not reached as of yet. Perhaps some of you have been published or are writing something that one day will. The point is we have to be willing to take action, even risk, if we want to develop those talents we have been blessed with. One of my favorite movie lines comes from the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot. In a powerful scene in which he reminds his young sons what they have learned about shooting a rifle he asks, “What did I tell you fellas about shooting?” They respond, “Aim small, miss small.”  When we are given one or two talents, God doesn’t expect us to accomplish the same thing as those with five. When we aim beyond our means we tend to miss so badly that we end up doing more harm than good. So you want to save the world? Start here at home. Start small and develop the talent God has given you and you will see an increase in the opportunities to use that talent. Some interpret this parable as just that, opportunity. The talents we are given are not just the ability to do something special, but the talent is the opportunity to do something special for God. Some are given just the one opportunity to glorify God and they waste it. Others are given multiple opportunities and they take advantage of them all. How we use our opportunities is what leads to getting more. The opportunity the third slave had was taken from him and given to the other because the first proved the willingness to use that opportunity for good and not waste it. Aim small, miss small. Target the use of your talent so the possibility for success is greater. Then those small success stories begin to pile up and before you know it you have accomplished far more than you ever imagined from the beginning.

We’ve talked a lot about the first slave who was given five talents and the third slave who was given one. The second one does not get as much attention yet he may be the one we all most closely relate to (Exell 585). He represents the average man, the one in the middle. The other two really represent the extremes. When we look at this in terms of its original meaning, talents referring to money, I think we all relate more to the man in the middle. In our own congregation we have different levels of wealth. But when we really think about it, even the richest of us can think of someone who has more and even the poorest of us can think of someone who has less. When we extend our view to a more contemporary definition of talent we can all see ourselves somewhere in between those extremes of five talents and one talent. We are not called to compare our abilities to those of others. Even the slave who disappointed his master never said because you gave more to the others I will not work as hard as them. The other two never compared what they had with each other, they just took the opportunity they were given and glorified their master.

In closing, a very popular Bible verse is Joshua 24:15. It says, “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Many people use that verse to express their sentiment that they do not care what others do, but for me I am going to serve the Lord. That is the attitude I think we need to take with regard to our talents. We need to look around and say I do not care how many talents you have been given, more than me or less than me. I am not going to concern myself with what you do with however many talents you have been given, but as for me I will serve the Lord by using whatever I have been given to glorify my Master, my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let us pray.

Exell, Rev. Joseph S. The Biblical Illustrator. 23 vols. Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Book House, 1973. 572-590.