Talents, Trust, Anger, and Abundance - Stewardship

Matthew 25:14–30 NRSV

14 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 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.’ 21 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.’ 22 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.’ 23 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.’ 24 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; 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 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? 27 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. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29 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. 30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Talents

A talent is a measurement of a large sum of money, used in the ancient world. We use this word differently today, but the modern understanding of our talents, the gifts we possess, the skills we’ve mastered and can share, is relatively similar. We are blessed with talents, not just in the gifted sense, but also with financial and material possessions, to use in the world.

Before diving in, it’s important to note that this parable is not told in the context of a capitalist society. This can read like it’s a description of the Return on Investment that a wealthy man is concerned about. If you read closely, this isn’t even about the Master hoping for a return at all, but rather, it’s about the use and trust, something much deeper than capitalist investment.

To receive a talent is to be given a gift. In this case, it is monetary, and that’s important for us to see. But we also need to hear this as the talents, resources, assets, strengths, skills, etc. that we possess by the grace of God. How we use these gifts is deeply important.

Some are given very little. Some of us experience being poor financially, while being rich in the skills and gifts we have to give away. Some of us have less to work with, but we each possess something that God has designed us to share with in the world. God loves us each so dearly that God blesses us with the abilities to make and do beautiful things in the world, just out of who we are.

And so when we think of the Master, we should think not of them being shrewd or calculating, though there is definitely some of that here that is valid and critical to the lesson. But rather, we can think of the Master as having intentions to bless and cultivate, grow, these servants, by entrusting them with these talents.

What have you been entrusted with? What has been freely given to you that you must use well?

Trust

We are given these gifts in trust that we will use them well.

My grandfather taught me years ago about giving and receiving gifts. Fortunate to have done well in his career as a dentist, he has learned how to be generous with his resources. And he shared with me something important he has learned. It can be very easy to give what we have. People want us to support their cause or give to their organization. So the giving, while it is a sacrifice, is actually quite easy, in that it is welcomed. But the more difficult part is to be the recipient, he taught me. How you receive a gift and what you do with it matters. When we receive a gift, we are trusted by the giver to make good use of it. To not squander it, to respect it and return the blessing by blessing others.

But that’s easy to say and can be very difficult to do. Maybe we don’t think we have been entrusted with what we possess and, rather, we’ve pulled ourselves up by our own bootstraps and never relied on anyone else. That line of thinking is false, especially as we follow Jesus and believe that every good and perfect gift (all that we have been given) comes from our loving Creator God. I own nothing but for the providence of God.

And so it is with this trust that the gift is given. The owner of the property is putting his trust in his servants — use what I am giving you well. We may have been given the full five talents. Or perhaps we received less, because that is the capacity and amount we are able to work with. The question is not about the size of the gift, but rather our ability to take the trust we’ve been offered and use it well.

This is what stewardship means. We steward, direct, utilize the resources we have been given. We steward those resources unto something. Always. And we don’t need to say much more for any of us to understand what it looks like to use those resources well, for the flourishing of humanity and to the glory of God. And what it looks like to squander them, to hoard or misuse what we have been blessed with.

I was talking with one of the pastors at the conference I was at last week about a mutual friend of ours. This friend had been on staff with me back in my college ministry days. And I happened to give him an old road bicycle years ago, something I wasn’t using any longer. This mutual friend shared with me that that guy still rides the bike, uses it to commute and ride around Seattle with his family. I was so surprised, and happy. He was still using a simple gift I’d given…probably even making it better than when he received it. Joy. This is what I mean, we have to learn how to use the gifts we are given well, so much so as the giver can look and be joyous to know that the gift blessed the recipient.

Anger

And here, on the opposite end, is where we realize the justification the master had for his anger upon returning.

Two of the servants used what they were given wisely, making profits and stewarding the resources well. But the third…didn’t.

Would you be angry to know that something you’d given away in hope was turned into nothing, destroyed, hidden away? I mean, we all know what it’s like to get a gift we really don’t want…but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Do you feel anger with the master — that this servant not only didn’t use the talent he was given, but he hid it away out of fear. Sure, the master is shrewd. Sure, he’ll take credit for some of the work the servants do in his name. But isn’t he justified in his wrath at this great affront of the third servant — you didn’t even try? he wonders!! You buried it in the dirt. Come on!

We prefer to be polite about these things. We would never admonish someone who misspent a gift we gave them, would we? We’d keep quiet and be annoyed and probably think twice about offering something to that person in the future.

But what’s being offered to us here is a clear place where anger is justified. We receive a gift and we waste it. That is not stewardship.

Here is another place where the modern use of the word ‘stewardship’ is helpful. We talk about land stewardship when we talk about taking care of the natural resources God has blessed us with. And here is also a space for deep righteous anger — when we let the land suffer and degrade, we are being poor stewards. And this is cause for anger and admonishment.

The same goes for how we use the resources God has blessed us with.

Abundance

The reality is that this Master seemingly has extensive resources that allow him to go off and travel, while also entrusting his servants with some of these assets to keep things going back on the farm.

If the master is justified in his anger, if God is justified in wrath when we squander what we are given…then it is because it comes from a place of abundance.

Again, we need to detach this parable from a strict capitalist reading. Instead, think about it: the master gives lavishly, a large sum of money, to each of these servants. And the sense is this is really not a burden upon the master to pass on these sums. It’s given freely, out of plenty. The master isn’t really even harmed by the third servant’s ineptitude. The master has enough and the other two more than secured enough to cover the loss from the third servant.

But the point here is that the Master gives with generosity out of abundance because they believe in the servants and their ability to make something of it. They didn’t earn it, it is given to them in spite of their position and power.

We have to recognize that God is, also, about abundance. God abundantly blesses each of us, according to our capacity and ability, with immense gifts. Our of God’s complete lack of need, God blesses us with resources, creation, and gifts to share.

The question before, then, is this: If God gives out of abundance, will we use it well? Will we, in turn, act out of abundance, trusting in the source of all we have?

This is such a challenge for us, but it is what stewardship is about. We must steward the resources we have well. And part of that is in how we give what we have away.

Friends, this is the season in our life together that we are asking you to give some of what you have away, back to God. You have talents. You have resources. The charge is to do something with them, for the glory of God.

As much or as little as you are able to, we ask that you direct your financial resources to the work God is doing among us here at St. James. How much? Well, again, that is according to what we each have been given. The ancient tradition of our faith has encouraged giving away 10% of what we have. Other ways we hear this spoken of in the Scriptures is to give away the first fruits of our labor. This comes from farming imagery, but can be helpful. Do you have an abundant yield of your crop? Give away a box of it, not only the gleanings from the end of the harvest, but the best stuff from the beginning. The firsts.

We are, together, gathering up the first fruits and abundance that God has blessed our community with. This involves us sharing our financial resources. It involves that trust, that being good recipients of a gift. And we, your church, we are responsible to be good users of those gifts.

And here, also, is the space for some righteous anger. Have we held back our abundant gifts? Do we have skills to offer, but we just don’t? Are we fortunate to have wealth, but bury it rather than leveraging it and giving it away and stewarding it?

In this season of stewardship, I want to invite you into the practice of reflecting on the gifts God has given you AND then, finding a way to give it back, give it away.

Please fill out your stewardship packet and get it back to us this week, if possible. Grab a fresh copy of one in the back as you leave, if you lost yours. And let’s practice abundance and generosity with all we have been so fortunate to have been given.

I’ll close with a quick example, an aside that connects to all of this. I really like to write. I like writing my sermons, I like writing for fun, for letters, emails, whatever. I like to write.

And you know what — a lot of time…I waste away not writing. Not because I don’t like it. But because I have some perfectionist tendencies that keep me from starting. And this, this is me squandering my gift and love. It is a waste when I hold it back. And when I do start, when I do write, I find that I have so many more ideas and directions and words to give. The hoarding, the perfectionism, it was wrong. It was poor stewardship.

So, what do you have to give? And what is getting in your way? May we be faithful stewards of God’s abundant blessings, here, now, together.

Amen.