Talents                                                    Matthew25:14-30

When you read through chapters 24 and 25 of Mathews Gospel you see he devotes them to Jesus second coming. In these chapters Jesus uses several parables to explain about his return and this is one of them, the one known as the “Parable of the Talents.”

“…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 he gave two bags, and to another, one bag, each according to his ability.”

So the first thing is to clarify something. One of my Bible’s uses the word “talent” and the other says “bags of gold.” A talent is a measure of money, and it’s no little sum of money. A talent equals about half a million dollars in today’s money, an amount very few if any of Jesus listeners could comprehend. And he does this to point us to who the parable is about.

This man basically has everything, can get anything that exists. He is the master of all he sees. This man is a representation of Jesus. Jesus is God, master of all that exists.

 In the parable this man is going on a journey, someplace where his servants will not see him but they will still work for him even when he is away. Jesus is telling the world that he is going away, and even though we as his followers cannot see him, we are expected to continue to work for him.

One of the first things in the story to notice is that the man made each of his servants responsible for managing a portion of his estate. Each of them was given a different amount to take care of, but it all still belongs to the master.

When we have our collection I usually say that everything we have comes from God. This parable is one place where we see this spelled out. God gives us all; believers and non-believers, bounty and gifts in our lives. And as we look around we see different people get a different amount of blessing; some are wealthy beyond their needs while others struggle to get by. And whether we have a lot or a little, this parable teaches us the principle of stewardship. Each of us is given gifts, skills and abilities, but ultimately they belong to God. “Each according to his ability.” This shows us that it is God’s plan that we are all different, that we each have different skills.

Verse 19, “After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.” It has been over two thousand years since Jesus left, but eventually he will return and we will have to account for what we did, account for how we used God’s gifts to further his kingdom.

Jesus tells how the man given five talents and the one given two talents each doubled their master’s money and he was well pleased. In fact he tells them both to “…come and share your master’s happiness.” This always seemed like an odd invitation but Jesus parable is meant to show people that in him in place of God’s wrath and judgment being directed at us, God is filled with joy and happiness over us and through Christ we get to share this happiness with God.

This reminds me of Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid little flock, for your Father has been well pleased to give you the kingdom.” Us going to heaven is not just a promise God gave and now has to keep, it truly makes him happy to have us there with him.

And Luke 12:32 points me to Romans 8:17, “…we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” When I die, what I have will be my son’s, he is my heir, and by the words of my will it cannot be taken away from him. We don’t just get to go to heaven, as children of God we are his heirs, we are given heaven and by his word, it can never be taken from us.

Now, what about the servant that was given one bag of gold and hid it. Verse 24, “Master…I know you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.”

This sounds like another parable that Matthew records. In Matthew 13 we have the “Parable of the Sower, “the farmer who scatters seed on different types of soil; some germinated some did not.

Here Jesus is saying that the talents are the lessons he teaches, and we as his servants are to bring it to others so it can be used. But the talents can also represent men. The first two servants gathered more for God, increasing his kingdom. The third did not.

Verse 28, “His mastered replied, ’You wicked, lazy servant!’” Why would the master get angry, after all the servant was simply afraid of losing his money? The servant let fear move him to inaction. When we accept Jesus part of the deal is we are to give our life to him and the kingdom. To many times we let fear dictate our actions in regard to God. Do we share our faith or do we stay silent because we’re afraid of ridicule or rejection? Do we let others know Jesus is the center of our lives? Do we say our faith is private, we have our faith and they have theirs?

Now this is not the unpardonable sin and our salvation will not be lost, but the result of our inaction is explained in James 2:14, “What good is it…if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?” Our salvation is based on faith not deeds but if we hide our faith, hide God, we don’t understand our faith for God tells us to love our fellowmen and to care for them and part of caring for them is to share God, spread the seed and give the Holy Spirit fertile ground to work in so the Kingdom of God will expand.

This brings us to verse 29, “For whoever has will be given more and they will have abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

Again this does not mean we will lose our salvation. What it does mean is that the joy, the happiness, the love and satisfaction; the peace we gain from knowing we work for God among our fellow men; that will be taken. Our lives will be empty and we will as scripture says, weep and gnash our teeth because we will see a peace and inner joy in others that we cannot understand nor obtain.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:4, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.” God gives each of us different abilities, gifts and blessings and when we accept and believe in Christ God expects us to use what he has given us to work for his kingdom through our personal ministries.

God has given each of you a ministry. Ministry is not just standing up here. Whether you’re a teacher or an accountant or a cashier in a store; you have a ministry. In the course of your work, your interactions with others, you can shine a light, plant a seed, share the truth of the Gospel and work for God. We must remember and believe that all our health, money, time and abilities come from God and we are tasked with using them to the benefit of his kingdom.

Jesus tells us in this parable that the truth is he will return to us. Are we ready for that day? When we see God it will not be enough to say, “Lord, I didn’t waste what you gave me.” God will want to know how you used his gifts to work for his kingdom and how you lifted up your fellow men.

Don’t live in fear, be a risk taker for God and enter into and share in his happiness.                             

Amen.