Sermon - Pentecost 25 - Matthew 25:14-30

Matthew 25:14-30

Last week we heard Jesus tell the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.  The main point of that was an encouragement to be ready when the Bridegroom, that is Jesus, comes for the great marriage feast in the kingdom that has no end.  Be ready, by availing yourselves of the word and sacrament, and your lamp-oil will never run out.

On the heels of that parable, Jesus tells another – the Parable of the Talents.  Perhaps because it deals with money, at least on its face, this has often been used by churches for a Stewardship emphasis.  But there’s much more going on here than just the right use of money.  Here the end-times teaching is something like this:  Make good use of the time, the talents, and the treasures he gives you, because he will soon return.  Being a Christian is not just about sitting around and idly waiting.  Rather, God gives us work to do.  He expects us to put his gifts to use.  He expects our faith to be active in service to him and our neighbor, even as we await Christ’s return.

Perhaps the first notable, or even shocking point of the parable is that the Master generously, and trustingly, gives his servants charge of varying sums of money – but each of them receives quite a bit.  One talent alone is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of 6000 denarii.  Or another way of saying it is 20 years wages.  No small sum, even for one talent!  And some of the servants received more!

Take note, then, the generous character of the Master.  He gives his servants gifts – without any haggling or pleading from them.  There are really no strings attached, even.  I know people who give the cat sitter a 3 page itemized set of instructions.  This fellow just hands out his treasure like it’s candy and goes his merry way.

He gives them gifts in varying amounts, according to his good pleasure.  Of course God is the master, and he gives us out of his generosity.  And not just money.  He gives us all the gifts of this life – body and soul, eyes, ears and all my members, my reason and all my senses.  Food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have.  He gives us money to use to buy things we need, and the ability to work and earn money.  All of it is still his, but it is entrusted to us, his servants.  The very creation itself is placed under man’s dominion, to subdue it and rule over it – to care for it as a faithful steward.

Ah, but the problem is – we are not always so faithful with our talents.  We may think of some or all of these gifts as our own.  Mine to do with as I please, and only for my own benefit and selfish purposes.  Or, we are lazy and neglectful, burying the talent in the backyard, as it were.  Or, perhaps we pervert or twist or corrupt his good gifts in other ways – how we use our bodies, how we spend our time, yes, even our money.  In fact there is no good gift of God that man can’t find a way to misuse and abuse.  Even the Word of God itself – though often neglected, can be twisted and taught falsely, and believed wrongly. 

We sin so much, and in such a myriad of ways. 

But back to the parable anew.  Perhaps the greatest gift, the highest treasure, the shiniest talent he gives us – is the Gospel of Jesus Christ itself.  The good news that our sins are forgiven in him!  That he died for us and all of our misuses and abuses.  That for Christ’s sake we are saved from the wrath of a Master who would rightly send us off to the weeping and gnashing of teeth.  That when God looks at us he does not see the lazy, neglectful servant, he sees the one who was given much and invested well, earning even more.

And isn’t that what our Lord Jesus did?  He took his vast treasury of talents, his divine nature and sinless human life, and devoted himself fully, invested himself entirely, into our salvation!  He paid the price of our redemption, not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, and his innocent suffering and death. 

Oh, yes, and then he was buried, for a short rest in the tomb.  But unlike the talent that was buried, Jesus rose with a dividend beyond computation.  The firstborn of the dead rose to bring the joy of the Master to all who are in him.  Yes, by baptism, his death and resurrection become our own.  Buried with him, and raised with him, we enjoy everything that he has earned by his perfect life and death, and we will one day enjoy all the benefits of that resurrection in full, even as we have it now in part.  He who has begun this good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have the down payment on an eternal treasure.  What we have now is only a foretaste of the riches to come.  We are like those servants in this way – we wait.  We wait for the Master to return and settle accounts. 

And while we wait, we don’t only wait.  We don’t bury our talents in the yard, oh no.  We put them to work.  We live our lives.  We exercise our faith.  The treasure of the Gospel – we do what is right to do with it – we first of all receive it, and believe it.  Treasure it!  That’s what you do with a treasure.  But that’s not all.

We also share it.  For this treasure doesn’t become less when we do, but only ever more.  There’s no benefit or blessing in keeping the Gospel to ourselves (as if it belongs to us anyway!)  But it is a treasure meant for the very purpose of sharing, distributing, a wealth meant to be spread.  That’s part of the joy of it! 

We ought to do so wisely, of course.  Just as a shrewd investor doesn’t take on undue risk and lose his precious capital, so the Christian must know not to throw pearls before swine to be trampled.  We must consider our place in life, our various vocations.  We must make use of the opportunities that God places before us, and give answer for the hope that is within us.  But the Gospel isn’t a weapon with which to bludgeon the unbeliever.  It’s not a shoe-horn to force him in, or a crowbar to muscle him away from unbelief.  It’s a treasure, to be set forth, that by the Holy Spirit all might see it for the beauty that it is.  It’s an invitation, a call to believe. 

And along with that witness, is the witness of our love.  They may know we are Christians when we confess Christ with our words.  But they will also know we are Christians by our love.  That is to say, faith invests and abounds in love for our neighbor.  So again, whatever opportunities God places before us to love one another, to help and serve and be kind and encourage… all of these are a good use of the talents he has given us…. A good use of this life and everything in it.

See how broad is the application, then, of the Parable of the Talents. The gifts God gives are manifold.  They are physical and spiritual.  They are given freely and broadly, in different measure, according to God’s good pleasure.  But they are gifts not to be hoarded, nor squandered, but invested.  The Gospel believed is the gospel that is shared.  Faith itself works.  Life is lived.  And love received becomes love given to neighbor.  The opportunities to use the gifts God has given are as innumerable as the gifts themselves. 

So treasure and share the talents he gives, dear Christian, for the joy of it, until the Master returns and we enter his eternal joy, in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.