Message on The Parable of the Talents: Matthew 25:14-29
There once was a little church named Starview. It had never been a large church but it had been there in the rural village of Starview, Pennsylvania, for more than 100 years. The building was well kept, but it needed some updates. Bathrooms were located in the basement and weren't handicapped accessible. Most people who attended lived in the village or just outside the village.
The people who came to Starview were like a family. They had known each other all their lives. It was a loving church. The people liked to stay a while after worship to drink coffee and swap stories. They couldn’t imagine what church would be if they didn’t have their church. With fewer than 20 people left, and all of them retired, there wasn’t much money to pay a pastor. The church had little hope for growth because older folks were passing away and younger folks weren’t coming to fill in the gaps. Younger people who moved to the village, if they were churchgoers, were willing to drive a distance to attend a nondenominational church—one that offered programs for children, had numerous pastors on staff, a lively music ministry that sounded professional, and spacious, comfortable facilities.
Starview just couldn’t compete with that.
So one Thanksgiving, oh, about 10 years ago, they called the religion reporter at the local newspaper. That was me. Their denomination, the United Methodist Church, had told them that they would be closing by Christmas. They were sad, but they were determined to be a church for as long as they were together.
They were excited about their shoebox ministry. They wanted me to write a story. This was my first experience with Operation Christmas Child, a program of Franklin Graham's Samaritan’s Purse. This is the same ministry the youth of our church and Presbyterian Women decided to get involved with this year. Youth met Nov. 13 at First Lutheran in Renville to fill old shoeboxes with gifts of toys, mittens, school supplies and personal care items. The shoeboxes will be shipped to children living in poverty in this country and overseas.
Starview showed me their stack of boxes that a handful of elderly people had filled, using up all the money they had in their mission fund and adding a whole lot more of their own. The stack was more like a tower. We are talking more than 100 boxes filled with presents! Inside each one, they had tucked a signed Christmas card with a personal message for a child. Starview wanted to be found faithful serving the Lord right up until the end. They wanted Christ to say to them when He returns, “Well done, good and faithful servants. … Enter into the joy of your lord.”
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Our gospel lesson today is known as the Parable of the Talents. And it is one of the most confusing and misunderstood passages in Matthew. First of all, it is a parable or allegory, meaning we interpret the story symbolically and not literally. Second, the word Talent doesn’t mean how we use it today, such as being a talented actress or musician. A Talent was back then an extraordinary amount of money, equivalent to about 6,000 denarii, which would take 20 years for a day laborer to earn! In today’s language, then, if a laborer makes say $25,000 a year, then giving him a Talent would be like giving him half a million dollars.
Here’s what makes this parable even more confusing. The message isn’t about money at all. The message isn’t that we should work hard and "grow" our money or else what we have will be taken from us. No—that is certainly not the message of the gospel! Later in Matthew 25, Jesus will scold his disciples, “for I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me…. In as much as you did not do it to the least of these people, you did not do it to me.”
Jesus, in the Parable of the Talents, is just using the language of commerce to reach his audience. It’s what they know. Jesus is really talking about the more precious gifts that God has given us—gifts of grace, forgiveness, and love. These are gifts that we can’t possibly earn. They can’t be bought with any amount of money. The most precious of God’s gifts is the gift of eternal life through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
The lazy servant who buries his one Talent has turned his precious life-giving gift into a possession. He hides it and hoards it out of fear that he might lose what he has. He protects it out of fear of the one who has given it to him—when the one we serve is a God of lovingkindness, generosity, and mercy. This servant doesn’t even know whom it is he serves when he says, “Lord, I knew you to be a hard man… And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours!”
This parable is about what it means to be Christ’s disciples. We are bearers of the Good News. We have many spiritual gifts and material resources that God has given us. We are laborers for the harvest of souls until our Lord returns again. And here’s the thing. We don’t know when He is coming back. We just know that He is. And when He comes, we want Him to find us busy and faithful—like little Starview. They had every reason to whine, complain and hoard what little money they had.
But they didn’t. And know what?
Christmas came and went, and they kept on meeting in the church every Sunday. They kept on putting money in the offering basket and enjoying one another’s fellowship. The denomination never shut them down. They just kept right on going. And I have a feeling they are still filling shoeboxes to give to needy children.
Brothers and sisters-- let us join together in compassionate ministry. I urge you today—if you are just thinking about it—now is the time to share your gifts and creativity. May the Lord find us busy serving Him, using the gifts and resources He has given us. Let us be ready to hear Christ say those words we long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servants…Enter into the joy of your lord.” Amen.
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