OUR MISSION (Part 2)
Notes
Transcript
You and I are on a journey. It is a journey that began the first time we ever became aware of there being a creator God and it will not end until our time on this earth is finished. lt is a journey of faith.
Most people will tell you there are time when they feel like they have a lot of faith and times when they don’t even know what they believe. As we gather here this morning, we are all somewhere on that continuum. That’s a part of life.
Last week we got a glimpse of the final judgment from our reading in Matthew 25, Jesus comes in glory and separates the people like a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats - the sheep representing the righteous and the goats the unrighteous. To the sheep he “Come, you who are blessed...” To the goats, “Depart from me, you cursed...”
Jesus speaks of having been hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, and in prison. Both groups ask him, “When did we see you...” and his response to both is, "as you have done for the least of these...”
Interestingly, neither was aware of what they were or were not doing. The righteous apparently fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, etc. but not because it was Jesus, it was simply an outflow of their relationship with Him.
Today, our text is from Matthew 25, just prior to our text last week. Today, we will be looking at verses 14-30, the parable of the Talents.
Let’s hear the word of our Lord.
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
This is the word of our Lord.
Thanks be to God.
What’s a Talent?
What’s a Talent?
In New Testament times it was a unit of monetary reckoning, and the equivalent of about 20 years’ wages for a laborer.
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 18
In approximate modern equivalents, if a laborer earns $15 per hour, at 2,000 hours per year he would earn $30,000 per year, and a talent would equal $600,000 (USD).
So, when we’re talking 5 or 2, or 1 talent, in approximate modern equivalents we’d be talking, 3 Million dollars, 1.2 Million dollars, and $600,000. This property own is entrusting his servants with a fortune. Ironically he himself later refers to these as “little”.
To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
There is a remarkable trust that is indicated here. Millions of our dollars, decades of a laborers earnings are entrusted to these workers. And then we see what they do with what they’ve been entrusted.
He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.
So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.
But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.
Inevitably, the master returns. And we see each bring the master what they’d been entrusted with. In our reading we see that those entrusted with 5 talents, and 2 talents double what they’ve been given. The one who’d been given only one talent brings only the one talent back.
What’s more he seems to have misjudged his master:
He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’
OUCH!
This servant seems to have gotten it all wrong.
He makes a judgment on his master - You are a hard man. Reaping where you did not sow. That sounds like he’s accusing him of stealing. And gathering where you did not scatter seed - sounds like he’s calling him lazy.
It’s the pot calling the kettle black.
This servant has been given 20 years wages at one time! Rather than invest it, rather than work with it he does nothing with it. Why?
Look at verse 25 again:
so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’
His fear stopped him.
Contrast that with the other two:
He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.
The one with two did the same.
“Went at once and traded...and made…more”
vs.
“I was afraid, and I went and hid...”
The landowner might have been a man with high expectations. Could that be what the latter meant by the term, “a hard man?” He might have been difficult to work with. We don’t know. What is clear though is beyond his abundant wealth he was incredibly generous.
The three workers had received all at once 100 years wages, 40 years wages, and 20 years wages respectively. Imagine the opportunities that would afford. Yet due to his fear, one of the servants hides it.
His fear of losing it cost him the generosity he had received.
Now, as we know Jesus is telling a story in our passage today. This is not what really happened. It is a the third of three parables reminding us to be ready for His return.
There is much to learn here.
“...entrusted to them his property.” (v. 14)
All that we see around us, is not ours. It is God’s!
As Christians who believe in God as our Creator everything ( including ourselves) is His.
God is incredibly generous.
The fact that the amount is based on talent (20 years wages for the common laborer) signifies God as being most generous.
As a side thought, I wonder if these might have ben symbolic of their years to live? Regardless it is a strong reminder for us to consider how we are spending our time in this world.
To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
Our talents have been given to us each according to our ability. I found it interesting as I was preparing for this sermon when I used a translator to compare multiple languages to our word talent here, that:
The word talent when translated most often still sounds like and looks like the greek word “talent” used here.
The word is most often translated as an ability, skill, aptitude, and of course, talent. Makes one wonder if God did not have a hand in the way our languages developed.
Those who used their talents gained more talents.
Both he who had five and he who had two began trading with them at once. They used their talents, no doubt in forming some sort of a business. They didn’t hide them.
You and I have been entrusted with a lot by the worlds standards. How are you investing your time, talent and treasure in God’s Kingdom? Whether you have one, two, or five talents, are you using them? Or, are you hiding them.
Only those who used them were told that words I think we all would like as an epitaph, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Investment
Investment
Remember last week we spoke of the judgment. We realized that the righteous were doing the very things Jesus rewarded them for, but were unaware they were doing it. I believe this was because it was a natural outflow of their relationship with God - they simply did what they observed the Father doing.
I believe the same is true with our talents. The one servant who misjudged the master obviously did not know him very well. He judged him as hard, when he was generous; he said he was reaping where he did not sow, and gathering where he did not scatter seed instead of recognizing how the master was invested throughout his property and even in him.
God has invested in you. How are you putting God’s investment to use? Don’t misjudge our God. God created you and gave you talents according to your ability. You may not recognize the ability in yourself, but God has already recognized it in you.
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again,
There is no greater life that can be lived than the one you were created for.
There is no greater life that can be lived than the one you were created for.