A sermon by: The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, November 16, 2008
Proper 28 -- Zephaniah 1:7, 12 – 18; Psalm 90:1–8, 12; I Thessalonians 5:1–10; Matthew 25:14–15, 19–29
“For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property…”
Today’s reading follows directly on last week’s, where we heard the “Parable of the Wise and Foolish Maidens”.
That’s important for us to know, if we are to understand the context of today’s passage. “For it will be,”, we hear. What does “it” refer to?
The answer is (taken from the context of the preceding passages in Matthew’s Gospel account:[1] The return of the Son of Man.
The focus is on Jesus’ eventual return to earth. It is that time when the final sorting out will be accomplished, when the good and the bad are separated. This is one of Matthew’s major concerns.
But Matthew’s other concern has to do with the question, “What should we, as Christians, be doing until the Lord returns?” Matthew’s concern, you see, also lies with the everyday matters of Christian living.
Jesus’ parable, heard today, deals directly with the Christian’s daily walk with God, the everyday matters of living.
So, let’s turn now to this parable, and note (as we should always do) some of the features of it:
- Talents: A talent (usually measured in silver) was an enormous sum of money. One commentator says it is equal to 15 years’ wages for a common laborer in Jesus’ time. (As an aside, it’s worth noting that this parable is the vehicle for the word “talent” coming into our modern speech, where it has come to mean one’s abilities and gifts.) So, each of the three servants are entrusted with a large sum, a valuable asset.
- To each according to his ability: Notice (verse 15) that each servant is entrusted with a sum which is calculated to correspond to that servant’s ability. (The subtext here is that the man knew his servants quite well, just as they knew him quite well…..see the next point.)
- You reap where you do not sow, and gather where you have not winnowed: The wicked and lazy servant knew the master’s characteristics, that he was successful in all that his affairs. (Presumably, the other two servants knew, as well.)
- I hid your talent in the ground: In these uncertain economic times, hiding money in a mattress might seem to be a good move. During Biblical times, hiding money in the ground was the surest way to secure it (remember, there were no locks on doors at that time). If a person was entrusted with a sum of money and hid it in the ground, in the event that it was stolen, he would not be held accountable. The bottom line for this third servant, the wicked and lazy one, is that he followed the safe and acceptable path.
Now, notice the responses of the three servants: In verse 16 (not read as part of our Gospel today), we note that the one who had received five talents “went at once” and traded the five talents, so as to make five more. Likewise, the one who had received two, did the same. These two servants respond immediately to act on what they had been given. Perhaps the value of the talents motivated them. Perhaps the master’s nature – one who reaps where he does not sow and gathers where he does not winnow – provided the motivation.
But the third one takes the conventional, acceptable (and safe) route, hiding the talent in the ground.
You and I live in the timeframe of this parable. We are like the three servants, for we have been entrusted with the riches of the Lord.
What to do with this trust is the key question for us….
We could be like the third servant. We could take the safe and conventional route, content to simply “go along to get along” with God.
But, like the master in the parable, results and growth are expected. We are called to contribute to the increase of the kingdom of God by making wise uses of those things that God has given us to use for the benefit of His kingdom.
Each of us has been entrusted with the riches of God. To be sure, the amounts and the types of the gifts we have been trusted with differ according to our abilities to handle them. Are we living up to our full potential, spiritually?
