Sermon - 24th Sunday after Pentecost - Matthew 25:14-30

November 15, 2020

“Making Use of the Gifts”

Last week we heard an end-times parable of Jesus about the 10 virgins, and the theme was “watchfulness”.  Next Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year, we will hear from Jesus about the Sheep and the Goats – and how at the end he will separate believer from unbeliever.  Today’s end-times parable is that of the Talents.  Jesus sets these three one right after another in Matthew’s Gospel, and so we do the same in the church year.  You might read them in summary as follows.  Christ is coming back.  Be watchful.  Make good use of your gifts.  And at the end he will bring you into his fold.

In that context we come to this parable.  A man, a master, a king, is going on a long journey.  But he will surely come back – sometime.  This, of course is Jesus.  And he gives to his servants, before he leaves, talents.  Now here we have to clarify what a talent is.  In Jesus’ day a talent was a large sum of money – like thousands of dollars’ worth.  Not the day’s wage like a denarius, or even the 30 pieces of silver – the price of a slave. A talent was more money than most people would see in their lives.  And for a master to hand it over for safe keeping to his servants while he goes away – without any seeming checks or balances, without any seeming rules or instructions, makes us stop and think.  Who does such a thing?

Jesus, of course.  He’s the master.  He knew he was going away, and yet someday returning.  It’s the whole topic of this chapter.  And so he teaches them as he does with a parable about it.  He is leaving his servants, at least in a sense, though he will return again to settle accounts.  Now the focus shifts to what happens in the meantime.

But before we get to ourselves in the parable, let’s take a moment and consider the character of the Master.  That he would entrust something so valuable to mere servants is itself a striking thing.  But this is Jesus, after all, the giver of good gifts.  And he, along with his Father and the Spirit, graciously gives us all good things.  So what exactly is the talent?

Perhaps the best understanding is that the talent is “all the gifts of God”.  Every good thing.  But certainly not just our money and possessions.  As we sing “All that we have is thine alone, a trust oh Lord, from thee”.

When we speak of Christian Stewardship – which is a common topic for churches in these last Sundays of the church year – we might define stewardship just this way.  That we aren’t owners, but simply managers, trustees of the gifts of God.  He gives us this life and everything in it – on loan – but he will someday settle accounts.  Life will end.  The world will end.  And we want to make sure that we’ve done well with God’s stuff.

But the character of the master is an important point in this parable.  What kind of man is he?  Generous or hard?  Kind to his servants, or harsh?  Well it seems you’d get a different answer from the first two servants than the third.  And so it is with the spiritual reality.  You might say that we see here two different approaches to God himself – a gospel based faith, and a law-based works righteousness. 

The Christian sees God not as harsh and stern but as loving, kind, generous, gracious.  We seem him first as the giver of all good things.  We are thankful for the blessings he’s entrusted to our care.  And this, in turn motivates us to use the gifts for his glory and the benefit of our neighbor.  To invest with confidence, knowing that we rest secure in his good graces, and to do our good works not out of fear, but faith.  This is how it ought to be.

But if you see the master as a hard man, reaping where he did not sow, gathering where he scattered no seed – then perhaps you’re not seeing the seed he has in fact sown!  Perhaps you’re misjudging the character of the master – and seeing him only as a judge and not as a loving provider.  This view of the master can only lead us a place of fear.  And fear does not lend itself to good works, self-sacrifice, and love of neighbor.  For the man in the parable his gift was no good to him or the master – he buried it.  And such a faith that is buried and not exercised is no faith at all – it is dead.  And people bury things that are considered dead. Gifts of God that aren’t used for his good purposes become rather a curse. 

Take money, for example.  A good gift of God.  Something he gives us to use and manage well.  But if we don’t order this part of our lives in faith, we can only fail.  We will never give enough, or be selfless enough, or be able to remain free of greed and covetousness and misuse of money.  The law won’t let us off the hook.  But according to faith – we have great freedom to use the gifts he freely gives us without fear.  We are free to give generously, with a clean conscience, knowing the true character of the giver – and thus reflecting that character in how we manage the gifts.  Free to give to support his work, free to give to help our neighbor in need.

But money is just one kind of gift.  Even faith itself is a gift to be managed and exercised for his good purposes.  A gift to be shared, not buried.  A gift to be invested and grown. 

The unbeliever, much like the third man, he doesn’t see God clearly.  He might even criticize a view of God that demands something of us – as if God is an unjust god.  As if it’s unfair of him to expect us to be perfect as he is perfect, to follow his commandments, to avoid and remain free of sin.  And holy can a just God expect me to be free of sin when each of us is born into sin?  Or, the person thinks they ARE a good person, they HAVE done good works, they DO deserve God’s favor, when their talent is covered with dirt and doesn’t impress the master at all.  It’s really not about the talent, then, is it, after all?

But with the faithful, the master isn’t so concerned with the amount of growth, or the talents at all, but with the servant’s faithfulness.  He’s not concerned about the good works, except that they are evidence of faith.  For these servants, like all servants of the master, like you and me too – are saved only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and not in any good works of our own.  No amount of generosity or kindness is enough.  No shrewd dealings or careful investment of our resources will avail.  No keeping of the rules, following the commands, fulfilling of the law will cause the master to finally judge us worthy.  Instead, we can only stand before his final judgment cleansed and pardoned by the blood of Jesus Christ, crucified for sinners.

As Jesus turns his eye toward his return in glory, he knows he goes away, and he knows he will return. So he prepares his disciples, and also us.  He encourages us to be faithful, mindful of his gifts and goodness, and to do all that we do out of love and not fear.

And here’s a wonderful promise, too.  The faithful servants will hear these wonderful words:  “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

For the faithful, there awaits joy.  The joy of an eternity with the master.  For the faithful over little, they are set over much.  The best this world has to offer pales in comparison to the glory that is to be revealed.  The wonders of a blessed eternity that Christ is even now preparing in the mansions of heaven.

So be watchful, Christian, yes.  But also be faithful.  Trust the good master who will return to settle his accounts.  Trust his promises to all who are in him.  And you will be commended by him, and invited into the joy of the master.