“Investment, Kingdom-style”

Meditation on Matthew 25:14-30
Nov. 16, 2014
Here's the video link to this sermon:
http://vimeo.com/112069526

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    ‘For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then 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.” His 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.” And 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.” His 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.” Then 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; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But 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? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For 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. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

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    I am always so touched by our congregation’s compassionate response to families mourning the loss of their loved ones.  At yesterday’s funeral, attended by more than 250 people, I felt in awe of my church family! Our gentle sister, Karen Polfliet, who had battled cancer for nearly 4 years, went home to be with the Lord Monday night.

    Funerals are a good demonstration of our church’s need for people with a variety of spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities who are willing to serve. In a small church like ours, especially, we need everyone! We need those who are willing, sometimes on short notice, to whip up a hot dish and call, visit, and comfort the grieving family. We need folks to plan the funeral reception, order and shop for the food, notify work groups and delegate jobs to the kitchen volunteers. We need someone to give the church a thorough cleaning, move chairs and tables, lock and unlock the doors, turn up and turn down the heat and lights. We need ushers, readers, musicians and soloists. We need someone to make funeral bulletins, and someone to take care of the sound. And sometimes, like we did this week, we also need people to clear away snow from our walkways, driveways, and parking lot.

    I feel very honored to have served the Lord alongside you this week. You were, truly, God’s hands and feet. Watching you serve with love, kindness and cheerfulness ministered to me!

      I just want to say, thank you all! And as Jesus says in Matthew 25, “Well done, trustworthy servants!...Well done!”

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     In today’s gospel, Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents. Let me begin this discussion by saying that this is a difficult passage! Even the scholars can’t agree on what it all means. It’s complicated.

    As a parable, this is a story with layers of meaning and the characters, action and dialogue lead us to spiritual lessons. But this is not like the Prodigal Son in Luke, a parable we can easily comprehend and find so many applications and connections for today. We can confidently say in the Prodigal Son that the loving father in the story is our gracious Heavenly Father and the youngest son represents us—sinful, ungrateful humanity.

    We can’t do this kind of interpretation with the Parable of the Talents. Specifically we are cautioned not to interpret the characters and actions as symbolizing the interactions between God and God’s people. The “harsh” master in the story, friends, is not our Lord, despite the references to what sounds like heaven—“enter into the joy of your master” and hell—“throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

   But before we get to that discussion, what is a “talent”? If you guessed money, you were right, but how much? A “talent” or talenton in Greek was equal to the wages a worker could earn in 6,000 days of labor or between 15 and 20 years! So, going back to the passage, we read that the third slave received “only” 1 talent, but this was still a great deal of money—15 to 20 years’ worth of wages! The second slave received 2 talents—twice what the third slave received and as much money as one might earn working 30 or 40 years! The first slave received a whopping 5 talents, which would be an enormous amount of money today, perhaps a lifetime of earnings or more.

     Are you wondering why the man entrusted his money to slaves while he went away? I wondered that, too. But this wasn’t as unusual as we might think. For example in Genesis, Joseph, Jacob’s son, was sold into slavery and ended up in a position of great responsibility, managing the household of Potiphar, the captain of the palace guard. But Joseph was still a slave.

     Also, did you catch why the man gave a different amount of money to each slave? Verse 15 tells us the man gave “to each according to his ability.” The one, therefore, who received 5 talents must have already shown himself to be trustworthy and skilled at investing. The one who received 2 talents could also be trusted to do as the master asked, though the second slave was not as skilled as the first. Both the first and second slaves receive identical praise for their wise and reward for their faithful service.

     He tells each one, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave (or servant as some translations say). You have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”

     And then there’s the slave who receives “only” 1 talent who is severely punished at the end. Why? He didn’t steal, waste, or lose the money. He didn’t act in an obviously sinful, rebellious way—not like the son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. But fear of his master kept him from investing the money he was given, though surely he knew that this would displease his master, whom he calls “harsh.” Could the claim of “fear” just be an excuse to hoard the money that had been entrusted to him? The slave could not bring himself to risk investing it; he buried it in a hole for safekeeping.

      The master punishes the third slave, calling him wicked, worthless and lazy. Why? Because it is a matter of trust. He simply didn’t do what he was expected to do with the master’s money. The slave who was given 1 talent has it taken away; the talent is given to the one who invested 5 talents—and now has 11! The master orders that the disobedient slave be thrown into the “outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

      And Jesus sums up the lesson of this difficult parable in verse 29, saying, “For 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.”

           

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    I get to the end of this passage and I am not completely clear on how we might interpret and apply the lessons of this parable to our lives today. But it is important to remember that the “harsh” man in the story is not the Lord, though truly, his generosity with his slaves and the language of the reward—entering into their master’s joy and being entrusted with more responsibility, seems much more kind than harsh. It is the punishments that we grapple with as they seem too severe for the slave who struggles with fear. Or maybe it is because we, also, struggle with fear and anxiety sometimes when we come face to face with one of our master’s commands, such as love our enemies and make disciples of all the nations. When we would rather not have to talk to strangers—or even people we know sometimes—about our faith. When we are reluctant to give our time and money to help strangers in need.

      Bible teachers advise that we not get too carried away with trying to understand the allegory and symbolism but, instead, stick with the main message, which is this—that all that we are and all that we have are God’s gift to us to use for His glory—and to build up His church.

      Now that’s investment—Kingdom-style!

      For sure, this passage teaches us that fear will and does get in the way of ministry. It paralyzes us and keeps us from choosing to be obedient to God. It is fear that leads the third slave to be unfaithful, to bury his 1 talent in a hole in the ground. And what happened when he didn’t use the 1 gift that he had been given? Even that was taken away!

      But to the one who is given much—and is faithful to serve the Lord with what he has been given—and invest in the Kingdom—the Lord will give more and more!

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the many gifts and blessings you have given us! Thank you for inviting us to be partners with you in your Kingdom work—when and for providing the right gifts and abilities—all the treasures that we need to do your will. But Lord, sometimes fear gets in the way—not fear of you, perhaps, but fear of the tasks you call us to do, fear that we will not be able to do them. Lord help us to be faithful and obedient, to seek you each day for strength and wisdom. Lead us to forgive one another and love one another, to shine your light in the darkness and reach out to the lost and lonely and claim them for Jesus Christ. One day may we all hear your praise, “Well done, trustworthy slave. Well done!” In Christ we pray. Amen.