Message at Grace Church- by Lynette Schaefer

November 15, 2008

Take a Risk For Jesus-Live As A 5 Talent Servant

Matthew 25:14-30
Jesus said, "For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 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.' 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.' 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.' 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.' 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; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' 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? 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. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 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. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "
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Jesus uses money as the key symbol of our parable today. According to Wikipedia, a talent was equal to the weight of a small person, roughly 75 pounds. Since the price of gold closed at 742.40 an oz on Friday, one talent would equal about $890, 880.00. Let's round it to 900K.

The popular interpretation of the parable of the talents is often about our financial assets and expertise. According to that interpretation, God will hold us accountable for how we use our material resources. He will reward us for expanding them. So if making money is our gift, we should make money like mad! We should multiply assets and property as fast as possible! After all, if we don't, Jesus will take what we didn't grow and give it to someone who already has more than enough! But that is more like venture capitalist analysis than Christian understanding.

When Jesus told stories, He spoke about things in a way that people could understand and relate to. The actual objects in a parable were not the literal point that Jesus was making. Jesus used everyday symbols to craft stories with deeper meanings. We don't say the parable of the Sower means Christians should actually lug bags of grain around and throw handfuls everywhere we go. The parable of the lost sheep doesn't really mean we should all raise sheep. And the parable of the Prodigal Son doesn't instruct us to grab our inheritance and spend it in wild partying so that God will accept us. Now we know the story of the Good Samaritan DOES show us the behavior Jesus wants us to imitate because He ends that message with these words, "Go and do likewise."

Back to this parable, one surprising part to 21st century people is that the master didn't give each of the servants the same amount. He gave 5 talents, about 4.5 million to one servant. He gave 2 talents or $180K to another. The third servant only got 1 talent; 75 pounds of gold; only a measly $900 thousand dollars. We might have a tendency to say that it's not fair. But this master knows his servants and so he gives to each of them, as verse 15 says, "according to his ability."

The Lord gives each of us a unique blend of abilities and gifts. We are not identical. God loves diversity and has made each of us a unique mixture. And He has a special place in His Kingdom for each of us to serve in a special way. Not all of us will sing like Mariah Carey, but we can all raise our voices in praise. Not everyone will be able to toss a football with the accuracy of Tony Romo but we can each throw in our lot with the Lord. And few of us will ever be able to serve a tennis ball like Martina Navratilova, but we can all serve Jesus will all we have.

If he had given only 1 talent to the 5-talent man, it would not have been the best use of his abilities. If he had given 5 talents to the 1-talent man, the 1-talent man would never have been able to handle it. It would have been too much and overwhelmed him. But because the master knew his servants, he gave each one what he knew they could handle, and then he left on his journey.

That's the way often God works. He gives us His gifts and then He steps back and lets us be faithful in the way we manage them. He isn't glaring over our shoulder waiting for us to make mistakes. He doesn't force us. He gives, and then He leaves it in our hands.

Sometimes He opens doors of opportunity but then waits for us to walk through them. Other times God gives us visions and dreams so that we can see just a little bit of what might be. Then He waits for us to put to use the tools He has given us. We aren't even always guaranteed success in all our ventures. In fact, God often uses our failures to teach us more than we could ever learn by our successes. That is because the Lord is more concerned about growing us over time to be His person than He is about our short-term successes. The test isn't whether we make millions the real test that the Lord gives us is to see if we will be faithful.

The master comes back. Just to show you the difference between a parable and real life, God never leaves us alone or ignores us for years. In real life, He wants us to look to Him for direction and integrity. In our lives, we may move away from Him but He is always close by, always ready to listen and help. But to illustrate this story, Jesus has this master leave the scene for a long time.

Now the 5-talent man had immediately gone out and worked to bring more money for the master. He got a huge surprise when he told the boss that he had doubled his money. The owner not only gave him the extra money he had made but also blessed him with the original 5 talents. This guy had almost 9 million bucks because he was faithful with his abilities.

The 2-talent man came in and laid 4 talents of gold, 300 lbs at the master's table. He said, "Look, master, I have taken the 2 talents you gave me and I invested them. Now I have 4." So the master begins to grumble at him and say, "Why can't you be like the other guy? Your friend over there made over 4 million bucks while you goofed off and only made 2 mil!" I don't think so. The master recognized that this servant made 100%, just like the other servant had done. He had gone and served the master with all he had. And all he had really belonged to the master. The boss could have said, "Thanks for the all the work. I can use this money to buy my grandchildren Christmas presents." But he doesn't. It's time for another blessing. The owner says, "Well done, good and faithful servant," he said. "Because you have been faithful over a few things, I'll make you a ruler over many."

About this time the last guy must have been thinking, "I'm rich! He's going to let me keep my money!" Then he starts his speech. By the way, have you ever rehearsed your excuses? Sometimes you can tell the professional liars and excuse makers by their rehearsals. A 2 year old might say, "Um, well you see, mom, I, ah really didn't um mean to take those cookies. The er jar just fell off the um shelf and when I um caught the jar the (cough) cookies just fell into my hands." The 16 year old who is a practiced hand says, "Car? Did I take your car? When did you and dad get a car? Honestly, I wasn't even aware that you owned a car. And keys? Do you actually start a car by using keys? I didn't know that."

The quick lesson, when it's time to confess don't try to bluff the Lord. He has heard and seen it all before. In fact Jesus is wearing that sin on His back. Just fall on your knees and repent.

Then the 1-talent man came in with his practiced excuses. He said, "Lord, I knew that you were a hard master, and that you harvest things you haven't even planted. So rather than risking your money and getting you mad, I buried your gold in the ground. Here it is. No scratches. No mildew. I've cleaned it up. It's all shiny, exactly the way you gave it to me."

The master called him wicked and lazy! Then he gives the gold to the guy who already is rolling in talents and tosses servant #3 out into the darkness where there's crying and suffering.

It's a tough parable, isn't it? We might say that the master was a mean spirited jerk except he gave 15 times as much gold away. It wasn't the amount that impressed the boss. It was the faithfulness and the effort he rewarded. It can bother us, because we can identify the times that we have been like the 1-talent man.

He didn't steal it or embezzle it. He did something that wasn't all that smart. He just did nothing. Then when the master came back, he presented it to him just the way he had received it.

Let me ask you some hypothetical questions. "What if the 5-talent man had buried his 5 talents in the back yard?" You know the answer. They would have all been taken away from him, and he would have been considered wicked, lazy, and worthless, just like the 1 talent servant.

Or what if the 1-talent man had invested his 1 talent? You know the answer. When the master came back, he would have been given more talents. He would have been considered a faithful servant, too.

Let me ask another hypothetical question. "What if the 1-talent man had invested his talent and lost it?" But that idea isn't even suggested. Why?

Because God's Word never commands us to be successful. I've never found a place where God says, "If you try and fail, I will condemn you." God's Word only commands faithfulness. He will provide the increase at His time and in His way.

So what's the point of the parable? The talent in this story is not just money. It's not just the different abilities or personal talents God has given each of us. The talents represent all we have and all we are. It includes our finances, it includes our spiritual gifts, it includes our physical and mental abilities, it includes how we serve Him, it includes how we love those who have less. And it also represents our FAITH, our prayer life and our daily walk with Jesus.

The early church thought the parable meant that Jesus, like the nobleman, was going away. When He returned He would judge us on how we multiplied His Kingdom. The church used this story to warn believers who had reached a certain level of maturity in their Christian faith and became self-satisfied and complacent. They decided they didn't need to grow anymore, or pray anymore, or study anymore. And they started dying spiritually because they buried their talents.

You don't lose talents by investing them. You lose talents by burying them. When you invest them for Him, God will always honor the investment. After all, where do our talents come from? They come from God. They are His. Where does our faith come from? Romans 10:17 tells us, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."

The message of the parable has not changed. God is still the master. He is still the giver of all good things. Without His generosity we would have nothing. God's principles are clear. All the way through Scripture Jesus is constantly challenging us to invest again and again in His Kingdom. And He always honors the investment. I want His honor. But He will never honor those who are afraid and who bury their talents in the back yard.

The meaning of the parable is clear: those who invest, multiply and invest in His Kingdom will be given more. So He says, "Give me back what I have given you and see what will happen."

A great Bible teacher, Ray Steadman wrote this, "What is the final message of Jesus in telling this story? It is: Step out! Risk! Live dangerously! Take constant chances with your life and goods for his name's sake. Don't try to bottle up your life so as to hang on to it at all costs. If you do that you will surely lose it. But surrender yourself to His cause, again and again. That is the way to find life. That is the way to watch for His coming. Having risked yourself to become a Christian, now risk yourself again and again as opportunities arise. Live dangerously! Or that also could be written, love dangerously! To live for Christ is to love men with his love."

Don't play it safe and be a 1-talent servant. Take a risk for Jesus. Live dangerously, love dangerously for Christ! AMEN

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