(Matthew 25: 14-30)
When I left the Houston Police Department in 1989, after 12 years, they gave me back what I had contributed towards my city retirement. It wasn’t much, probably enough to buy a nice pick-up truck or a shiny bass boat. Luckily for me, my lieutenant steered me towards an investment consultant who showed us the wisdom and benefit of investing a little for a long-term gain. And, I am happy to say that over the last thirty years it has grown appreciably. In fact, we were able to take some of it and put it into another investment vehicle which seems to be working out well enough to keep us in beans and bacon for quite a while. I’m not telling you this to brag about my financial acumen, of which there is little, but to point out the importance of investing in your kingdom, for a life after retirement.
And, investing in the kingdom is what Jesus is talking about in our scripture reading for this morning. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells the parable of the loaned money. He starts out the parable by saying that there was a man going on a journey who called three of his servants together entrusting his property to them. Apparently, he was going to be gone for a while, not knowing for sure when he would return, and wanted to make sure his estate was taken care of while he was gone. So, he gave one servant five talents, a second two talents and the third one talent. Just to let you know what kind of money we’re talking about, a talent was a large sum of money, about six thousand denarii. A denarius represented the day’s wage for a typical working man. We’re talking some serious coin here. And, we are told the master gave the money to each servant according to their ability. No one received more or less than he could handle. If he failed in his assignment, his excuse could not be that he was overwhelmed. After the man departed on his journey the servant who had received five talents went at once and put the money to work and gained five more talents, doubling his investment. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
We are told that after a long time the master of the servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five and said; “Master, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.” To which the master replied; Well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! The man with the two talents also came and reported that he had been entrusted with two talents and had doubled his investment gaining two more talents. The master replied; Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!
So then, the man who had received one talent came forward saying; “Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” His master replied; You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Wow! Imagine that you are one of Jesus’ disciples hearing this parable from his own lips. Imagine the tone in his voice, his inflections and the look in his eyes as he leaned forward and said to throw the worthless servant outside into the darkness. Apparently, Jesus is pretty serious about this service to others business. He’s already told them he would be going away, and he’s already predicted his death and his return. We’re his servants, he must be talking about us. I guess I’d better pay attention.
Yes, this parable was not only for the disciples sitting at his feet that day, but for the countless disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world that were to follow up to his return at a date and time nobody knew. The talents represent any kind of resource we are given. God gives us time, gifts, and other resources according to our abilities, and he expects us to invest them wisely until he returns. We are responsible to use what God has given us and the issue is not how much we have, but how well we use what we do have. The first two servants received the same reward even though they had received different amounts of money. The reward they received was based on faithfulness, not on the size of the responsibilities. The smallest of tasks in God’s work may receive a great reward if we are faithful in performing it. We are to use our time, talents, and treasures diligently in order to serve God completely in whatever we do. For most of us, it means doing our daily work out of love for God and the service to others will naturally and effortlessly pour out.
I see this more and more in our church as we respond to the challenges presented to us by the pandemic. Before the Corona Virus hit, we were already working hard to address the issues of hunger and homelessness in our community. And, with the doors to our church technically being closed we have stepped up our game to not only continue to meet those needs but to address the new issues as they arise. Those that can still give financially continue to support our church and our missions as we distribute money to non-profits that are struggling to meet the needs of those who come to them for services. The gifts we receive come in the forms of the food you buy for our food pantry and the warm clothes you donate for our clothes closet. The talents you employ are in the making of soup mix, fire starters, knit hats and scarves. This “closed” church is a beehive of activity as we take what our master has given us and we work to double his investment in the kingdom.
Unlike the lazy servant, we must not make excuses to avoid doing what God calls us to do. We can’t be too important, too wealthy, too busy, too stove up, too poor or too old as long as there is life in our bodies and a servant’s attitude in our hearts. Our time, abilities, and money aren’t ours in the first place. We can’t take them with us. We are caretakers, not owners, doing the best we can to take advantage of these investment opportunities for our master.
Please pray with me.
Living for Jesus a life that is true, striving to please him in all that I do, yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free, this is the pathway of blessing for me. Yes, dear Lord, how we want to serve you in any way we possibly can. Doing your work and your will is as pleasing to you as it is to us when we do what we can with what we have. Through the gift of your Holy Spirit help us to recognize those opportunities for service whether great or small. We pray that we are good stewards of the resources that you provide us as we work to be the answer to the prayers of the least, the last and the lost. We pray that the investment you made in us through your sacrifice for our sins is more than doubled to the great joy of the Master. O Jesus, Lord and Savior, we give ourselves to you, for thou, in thy atonement didst give thyself for us. We own no other master, our hearts shall be thy throne, our lives we give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for thee alone. Amen.