Matthew 25: 14-30

The vacation must be on my mind. “Mommy,” said little Bobby, “why does the minister get a whole month’s vacation in the summer?” “Well, son,” answered his mother, “if he’s a good minister, he needs it. If he isn’t, the church needs it.” A family went to the beach for their vacation. The four-year-old son ran up to the mother, grabbed her hand, and led her to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. The little boy asked, “Mommy, what happened to him?” The mother replied, “He died and went to heaven.” The boy asked in response, “But why did God throw him back?” Finally, a school age girl traveled alone on a plane during a holiday weekend. A flight attendant noticed the girl wore a Medical Alert bracelet. The flight attendant asked her what the bracelet was for. The girl said, “I’m allergic to nuts and eggs.” The attendant asked, “Are you allergic to cats, too?” “I don’t know,” the girl responded. “I don’t eat cats.”

The master was away for a long time, maybe a long vacation. A man entrusted his property, his talents, to his slaves before he left on the journey. A talent was worth more than 15 years’ wages for a laborer. Five talents was 75 years of wages. Two talents was 30 years of wages. One talent was 15 years of wages.  The master didn’t leave directions or commands to his servants regarding the talents in this story. The money or property was to be active, obviously, and replicating itself and not merely dormant and safe. The trustworthy slaves took some risks and turned a profit.  One nephew of Deion Sanders’, the ex-football player, broadcaster and college football coach, was a little short of cash, so he wrote to his rich and famous uncle to ask for a short-term loan. The usually generous Sanders was annoyed that the young man would ask him for money, considering that they had not seen one another in years. The multi-talented athlete wrote a chilly note to his nephew, suggesting in blunt, simple terms that he earn the money through his own diligence. The young man promptly sold the letter for a thousand dollars. The faithful servants of the master lived while the master was away with the master in mind. He would be pleased if we turned a profit with what he left us.

The one with a solitary talent buried it because he was afraid of the master, reaping where he does not sow, gathering where he does not scatter seed. This servant knew what the master expected, and he was afraid  to risk what was given to him. This servant LIVED WITH HIMSELF AS THE FOCUS while the master was away. The servant’s intent was not to please the absent master but to protect himself. He returned back to the master what was his. Nothing was lost, but he was thrown into outer darkness as a result. No risk was taken, no work was done. There is an old adage that goes: “When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a very small package.”

When John Kennedy was campaigning for President in 1960, he visited a West Virginia coal mine. One of the workers confronted him and said, “I hear you’re the son of one of the richest men in the country. Is that right?” Kennedy said it was. The miner said, “I heard you got everything you ever wanted. Is that true?” Kennedy said, “Pretty much so.” The miner asked, “Is it true you’ve never done a day’s work with your hands in your entire life?” Kennedy said it was true. The miner said, “Let me tell you this, you haven’t missed a thing.”

The two examples from this parable of behavior while the master is away is, first, “I know my master and I’ll do what he expects to please him,” or, second, “I know my master, so I’ll put nothing at risk to please him.” The master is not God. We are not loved and saved by grace through faith by a God who is harsh, who reaps where he does not plant, and gathers where he does not sow. THIS DOES NOT ILLUSTRATE GOD. This is about what you’ve been given and doing what pleases the Lord. Knowing the Lord and doing nothing is obviously the worst thing. Again, the trustworthy servants lived WITH THE MASTER IN MIND. The untrustworthy servant lived WITH HIMSELF IN MIND. 

We’ve been entrusted with many things. I suggest to you today to consider three “talents (TREASURES)” the Lord has given us to work and invest. First, we’ve been granted revelation. This does not mean a book in the Bible. This refers to what reveals to us the heart, purpose and plan of God for all of us.  Jesus said in Luke 8: 10, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.” We’ve been shown in word and deed in the church and through the church to the world the heart of God in forgiveness, salvation and eternal peace through Christ Jesus given to us and to all who would come to believe. Jesus, himself, God made flesh, is the embodiment of revelation. He is Logos, he is Word. We know the revelation of the gospel to the world because we know Jesus Christ. What will you do to multiply what you’ve been given?

Second, we’ve been given the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the empowering nature of God in all who believe. It is by virtue of the Holy Spirit wooing us to believe in Christ as Lord we become followers at all. The Holy Spirit, the very breath of God, fills our lives with truth and grace as air fills our lungs so we may breathe and live. The Holy Spirit is the fire of God that sets us ablaze as the disciples were set ablaze on Pentecost to bear witness and give testimony of the truth of God in Jesus. That same Holy Spirit that filled Jesus, that filled the apostles, fills us to do his work of grace and power to find the lost and set the prisoner free. This we have been given. What will you do to multiply what you’ve been given?

Third, we’ve been granted opportunity. Time is that thing in life that proceeds along whether we embrace its existence or not. Ancient men and women may not have had wrist watches or chronometers informing them the hour or minute, but they knew seasons. They planted in the first season. They tended their crop in the next season. They harvested in the next and prepared to sow seeds again in the fourth season. Every season was an opportunity to participate in the wellbeing of their community. A neglected season might mean their community would starve. Every day, every season, every year is full of opportunity to plant seeds of revelation through word and deed in the hearts of those who cross our paths. Every hour, every week, every season is full of opportunity to bring hope and peace and joy by giving testimonies and manifesting the miraculous in the lives of those who need new life in the name of Jesus Christ. The Rev. Dr. Earle Ballou, a Congregational missionary who served in China for over 30 years, wrote many years ago: “In the language of China there is hardly a more suggestive or challenging word than ‘crisis’. It is made up of two characters ‘way’ and ‘gee’. Each of these is half a word, the first being ‘danger’ and the second being ‘opportunity’. Hence a ‘crisis’ is literally a ‘dangerous opportunity.'” This we have been given. What will we do to multiply what we’ve been given?

The trustworthy servants lived with their master in mind. The untrustworthy servant lived with himself in mind. Are we those who will hear, “You’ve been trustworthy in a few things. I’ll put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”

(Preached at St Mark United Methodist Church in Anniston, AL, 11-19-23)