Hidden Talents: Psalm 123; Matt. 25: 14-30
For years people have read this Parable of the Talents as condemning the third servant. After all, he was given a substantial sum of money. A talent was worth approximately 15-16 years of wages. When the master gave five, two, and one talent, it was indeed a huge sum of money. While two of the servants invest and do well with the money, the third servant hides it away then returns it as is with nothing more to gain. It would seem on the surface like this servant was a complete failure. He did nothing with the talent given to him, increased it in no way, and did no work to help out and invest for his master.
It would be easy to condemn him and pass him off as wicked and lazy having done nothing of substance. And many of us, I daresay, would say that his somewhat hateful reply to the master and his total lack of work and motivation justify him being thrown into the outer darkness and enduring a little weeping and gnashing of teeth. Serves him right, doesn’t it? The man should have done something, right?
Maybe, though, today we can consider this parable in a slightly different way looking both at the shortcomings of the servant as well as the problems with the master, for neither one is wholly innocent in this story. There are two questions for us to consider with this parable. First, what are we investing in God’s people and God’s kingdom? Secondly, what gifts or abilities do we inspire in or bring out in others for the glory of God?
Let’s look at this first question: what are we investing in God’s people and God’s kingdom? The gospel parable tells us that a master went on a long trip and gave his three servants bags of talents or money based on his belief in their abilities. One got 5 talents, one got two talents, and one got only 1 talent. The one who received only one talent hid it away in a hole and returned it with a rather abrupt condemnation of the master. The other two doubled their investment.
God calls us to invest our gifts or talents in the kingdom and in God’s people around us. We typically invest in something to get a return on the money we have invested. God has done the same for us. Christ invested himself in us on the cross, so that the return for God was our salvation. So, what does a return look like? Let’s say you take a new friend out to lunch. It may cost you $15 or $20 at the outset, but you may end up with a a close friend, a relationship, or something wonderful as a result.
Living for God requires that we give a little from ourselves to God. Look at the third servant. He went to all the hard work of digging a hole, burying the talents, keeping track of them, then digging them back up. With even less time and energy, he could have invested the talents more properly in a bank for a small return. We should be joyfully willing to work for God’s kingdom because there is a huge return on the investment. Provide food and help today, and you may save a family from starvation. Tell someone the good news, and you may save a soul. Pray over the sick and hurting, and you may bring comfort in someone’s dying hour. Live for Christ in this world, and you can inherit an eternal reward for your faith.
I realize it’s not easy, and you will be required to give or sacrifice up front hoping for the best. But investing in God’s kingdom and God’s people will sometimes bring highs and lows. Sometimes we will feel defeated, like our time and talent was wasted, or we may feel that the cost of investing is too high. But look at what the gospel says was the reply to the servants willing to risk an investment: “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master.” The third servant wasn’t wicked or lazy, exactly. He was misguided on where he should invest and work. We work for God’s kingdom to heal, help, and save in whatever small way we can. We invest in God’s people because we may be the only way they see the love of Christ.
So, we ask our next question: what gifts or abilities do we bring out in others? Here is why I think the third servant is not wholly at fault. The master is described thusly: “Master, [said the third servant], 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.” Here we find out the master is mean, a thief, a cheat, and possibly cruel to this servant. No wonder the servant failed, for the master provided a hideous example to him.
What do we bring out in others for the glory of God? I love being able, as a pastor, to tap on people and ask, “Will you serve here; will you lead there; can you step up for this in the church?” I get to watch you all pray, plan, and grow in your own abilities and in your work for God’s kingdom. There is nothing more powerful that watching the church you serve with grow deeper in God’s love and their strength of faith as well as seeing them put that faith into action. The master clearly did that for the first two servants. They were inspired to trade and invest until they had doubled what the master gave them.
But something went wrong with the third servant. He was scared, misguided, and unmotivated. Working in and for God’s kingdom and God’s people may be tiring and may be tough work, but at the end we should see God’s people grow. As a church, our main goal should be to bring to Christ those who need his grace. But we cannot stop there, for in other parables Jesus teaches that faith must take root and grow. What do we bring out in others for the glory of God’s kingdom? Or for that matter, how do we challenge ourselves to grow for God’s kingdom? How does our faith increase and draw us closer into that wonder-working relationship with God who loves us and saves us?
An old saying I’ve told you before asks, are we following Christ with joy and hope, or are we stuck sitting on the pew of do nothing singing, “glory, hallelujah, I shall not be moved.” I wonder how things would have gone if the master had added, “Here is one talent. Don’t bury it or be afraid of taking a risk. Go out and invest this talent, use it, be creative and do something with it, but don’t ever, ever bury it, for that is the most disappointing. You may come back with a hundred talents, or you may come back broke, but either way it won’t be wasted.”
The kingdom of heaven is like a man, going on a journey, who summons his servants and entrusts his property to them. The man is God, the servants are us, and the work of God’s kingdom is in our hands. Some receive many talents, and some are given few. But the biggest question, when the master returns for an accounting, is not how much we can produce. Instead, to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” the question is this: have we dared to do anything at all with the talents we are given?
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