Sermon Tone Analysis

Subject: TALENT

Complement: Talent can be a blessing or a curse.

Use it for God’s glory.

Idea: How to make use of the talents God gave us?

Be productive, Work with what talent you have, each one has different talents, watch personal motives, recognize accountability, never despise heaven’s gifts.

Introduction:

Growing up as a kid in the church, I greatly admired those church members who are talented and who actively participated in the church programs.

Particularly, I got stuck on those who sing admirably to a point of chalking or pentel penning their names on the walls of our house.

If the name is of a girl, I engraved it on the wooden jamb of our house using a nail to conceal it from sight.

Of course, carefulness is there because, if my parents or sisters happen to read the name, they might suspect I got a crush on her.

I had their names chalked, penned or engraved because I wanted to sing comparably well as them or be admired like them.

Unfortunately, some of them left the church or are no longer alive because of some ill-fortune that happened to them.

Some of them chose to use their talent in worldly pursuit.

Some had stopped using it for God’s glory.

That house where I had there names penned and engraved had been since broken down.

The thought to relate or be admired like them broke down with it, too.

Today, I still respect or sometimes get stock-on those who have admirable talents.

However, I realized that God is the source of these talents and gives each individual a talent/talents according to his/her ability.

This/these talent/s may be a blessing or a curse.

To become a blessing, it must be used for God’s glory.

The title of our message is: Talent: a blessing and a curse, use it for God’s glory.

Our focus is on Matthew 25:14-30.

Matthew 25:14–30 (ESV)

“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.’

AN EXTENDED METAPHOR: A PARABLE

The passage is an extended metaphor, also called a parable.

It refers to a man who went on a journey.

The parable does not state where he went, what is his purpose, and how long he would be away.

What is implied is that the man would go to a far away place and would take sometime before he would be back.

Before he left, he ascertained to transfer his power and authority to someone to care of and administer the affairs of his property while he is gone.

His property is sizable that it just cannot be entrusted to only one person.

Or, most probably, he was acting equitably towards his servants giving them proportionate opportunity to perform according to their ability.

As a wise man, he divided his “royal fortune into portions of five talents (vv.

15, 16, 20 bis), two talents (vv.

15, 22 bis), and one talent (vv.

24, 25, 28)” to his three servants.

[Horst Robert Balz and Gerhard Schneider, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1990–), 332.]

A talent is a measure of weight which is equivalent to 25-36 kgs.

The value depends on the metal involved, like gold, silver or copper, and on various times and places.

In this parable, the amount distributed is not a small change.

The NIV translated the word “talent” as a bag of gold.

That means that a bag of gold is equivalent to 25-36 kgs of gold.

I recently checked the price of gold in the Philippines.

If the talent is given today, 1 gram of gold is worth php2,983.20.

That means that a kilo of gold is worth php2,983,195.34.

This amount is close to two years worth of fulltime PhD studies.

If one talent is equal to 26kgs, multiply it to php2,983,195.34, it is worth to php77,563,078.84.

If the one servant was given 5 talents, that is worth a whopping php387,815,394.20.

If the amount is doubled, not a small change indeed!

Even during Jesus’s time, it still meant a lot of money!

By the way, the rest of the calculation, please do it yourself.

I am now actually dizzy thinking about this amount of money.

Well, the treasurers eyes would lighten if they indeed have this amount of money in their hands.

At least they can sleep for a month not thinking of where to get money to pay for the salary of their employees and expenditures of their company.

MVC can also send at least 60 faculty for a four-year doctorate studies.

Well, with this sizable amount of talent, the master will never permit the talents get squandered or wasted.

Instead, he expects that while he is gone, his servants will do well in their responsibilities - to care and administer the talents entrusted to them.

So he left on a journey.

Immediately, the two servants engaged in financial enterprise.

With intelligence and diligence, they engaged in business and traded with the talents entrusted to them.

Unfortunately, the one who is entrusted with one portion foolishly hid it in the ground.

Hiding treasures in the ground during Jesus's time was a common occurrence.

However, as Jesus pointed out in his teachings, hiding talents in the ground is not the best way to keep it.

The metals may get rusty and lose its value.

Or, others may find it and get lost.

Hiding the talent means negligence and irresponsibility.

Alas, after a long time of absence, the master arrived from his journey .

It seems like yesterday he’s gone but now he's around.

First things first after his arrival was to settle the account for the talents he entrusted to his servants.

He found out that two had their portions doubled (vv.

20, 22, 28).

Thus, they were commended with the sweetest blessings, Εὖ, δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστέ, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

They were also given greater responsibilites compared to the talents entrusted to them.

But the other one had his portion neglected because of fear, irresponsibility and slothfulness.

He thought only of his own convenience and was unwilling “to make even a safe choice to earn interest on the money” entrusted to him.

These disqualifications made him an unworthy servant.

Predictably, the master’s assessment was immediate and severe.