Scripture Matthew 25: 14-30
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.
To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.
So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.
But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?
Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.
For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Sermon Extravagant Opportunity
The parable of the talents is one of Jesus’ best known parables and teachings. The word “talent” comes into the English language from this parable – in ancient times, a “talent” was an ancient unit of value – some historians believe the value of a talent in Jesus’ time was 13 years wages – other historians think it was worth double that – 26 years wages for a common laborer. A talent was a lot of money.
Because of this scripture passage, we have adjusted the meaning of talent to mean an aptitude – our talents are our athletic, creative, or artistic gifts. Some of our talents are naturally inherent in us, other talents are skills we have practiced and have become experts at over a course of time,
Although this parable is well-known, we can still be troubled by it. A master leaves his slaves in charge of his resources while he goes on a journey. One slave receives 5 talents, one slave receives 2 talents, and one slave receives one talent, each according to his abilities. Two of the slaves were good investors – they were able to double the value of the money while their master was away. But, the slave with the least abilities was scared – he buried his talent and it therefore did not increase in value. If they had inflation, the buried talent would have depreciated in value.
When the master returned, he was pleased with the slaves who doubled their money and angry with the slave who was afraid to invest his talent.
This is a parable, though, not an investment course. Jesus wasn’t teaching about money.
Instead, Jesus was talking about our relationship with God and our faith in God. God has given us each talents and gifts. We have also developed abilities and talents over the course of our lives. God wants us to use our talents and share our gifts in order to make the world a better place. We are called to follow Jesus and help make this world more and more into the kingdom God wants it to be. But, if we are like the last servant, and hide our gifts and talents for fear of losing them, or because we are scared to use them, or because we can’t be bothered to use them, we are ignoring the gifts we have been given by God and are not helping bring about God’s kingdom on earth.
We are all talented at different things, and some of us have worked diligently to learn other skills. When I was 7, I couldn’t sit down at the piano and make a song come out….but when I was 17, after 9 years of piano lessons, I could play a song or two. We don’t have to be innately talented at something in order to share our gift with others – some of the skills we have to share are things we have learned to do.
We are called to work to identify our skills and talents and then consider how we can “plug” them in and use them to support the work of God here on earth. A wonderful example of this was the many faithful members of Trinity who stepped up while I was on maternity leave and led worship and preached sermons. Our members and friends of the congregation were willing to do something most of us find difficult – lead worship, public speaking, write a sermon, speak from their hearts, and take on the unscripted things that happen during worship like the questions of our kids during the children’s sermon and the prayer requests during our joys and concerns. This is not easy. I have been ordained for almost 20 years and I get nervous every Sunday. But, our leaders were willing to exercise one of their talents, worship leadership, to help advance the kingdom of God and also help the rest of us have an opportunity to worship together weekly while I was on leave.
We all have things we are able to do to contribute to the work of God in the world. We are all able to pray for other people and for things happening in the world. We are all called to read the Bible and learn the teachings of God. We are all called to be evangelists, and to share the word of God and the call to discipleship with the people we encounter in our lives. And, we are also called to share our special talents – some of us are able to sing, some of us are able to preach, some of us are able to string Christmas lights, some of us are able to work with the tenacious volunteers at the Food Pantry, some of us are able to plan special events, some of us are able to teach, some of us are able to visit the sick, some of us are able to make investments on behalf of the church, some of us are able to cook meals for people who are recovering from medical procedures, some of us are able to help people find jobs, some of us are good listeners, some of us are supportive cheerleaders for people who are struggling. The opportunities are endless.
When I was a freshly minted pastor, there were many things that surprised me when I talked to my parishioners. There were a few people in my congregation who said things like – “Oh, I did that activity for the church when I was younger, so I don’t need to help anymore.” But, instead of adjusting and contributing in another way, they felt like they had crossed “sharing my talents” off of their lifetime “to-do” list. Servanthood is a life-long endeavor. We may not have the interest or energy to do something we did in the past, which is ok. But, we are called to figure out what we are going to do now. No matter our age, no matter our skillset, no matter our abilities, there is always work we can do to help bring about God’s kingdom here on earth.
On this weekend before the Thanksgiving, we are in the mode of thinking about the many things we are thankful for in our lives – despite the serious nature of the pandemic, we are all here to worship God. We have a beautiful and safe place to worship God. We have fellow church members we can turn to for support when we are in need. We have many other blessings in our lives.
As we consider those blessings, we are thankful to God for the many ways we benefit by being God’s children. Out of regard for those blessings, we are called use our talents and skills for the furtherance of God’s work in the world.
May we do so with love in our hearts today and all days.. Amen.