Focus:
Using our gifts and talents
Function:
To warn people to be doing Kingdom work.
Form:
GOK
Intro:
When the word “Talent”
shows up in the original copies of the Bible, it always refers to a
unit of measure. Most often, it refers to a measurement of weight.
The
Roman talent weighed approximately 60 pounds.
As of 5:00 PM, last
night, the price of gold per ounce was $1723. That is $22,399 per
pound. Multiply that by 60, the weight of a talent, and you get
$1,343,940 per talent.
The first servant at 5
talents was given $5,343,940, the second servant, with 2 talents was
given $2,687,880 and of course, the lazy servant was given only
$1,343,940.
All three of them were
given a treasure. All three of them were given something of great
value from the master.
I know that you all
understand that the term “talent” here does refer to a unit of
measurement.
Of course, if you had
no biblical background, and you hear the word “talent,” you
don't think of it as a measurement of gold, or a specific weight, but
you think of it as a gift, an ability.
It is interesting to
note that the according to Merriam-Webster
dictionary,
the change in the meaning of the word “talent” from a unit of
measurement, primarily a unit used to measure gold, changed in the
English language to an ability or a gift. And the change occurred
solely on the basis of this parable in the New Testament.
This parable changed
the meaning of a word in the English language. It is an important
parable.
What talents do we give
to God?
What do we hold back?
If this passage is
speaking only about money, then what do we give to God and what do we
hold back?
I had this deacon
couple who lived right down road from the Church. They lived right
off of the interstate. And they never, ever locked their house.
If my car wasn't
working, I would just walk down to their house, grab the keys to one
of their spare cars, leave a note saying that I was the one who
borrowed it and return it when I was done.
When someone asked them
how they could be so trusting, gently and generous, they simply
answered “God owns it all anyway.”
These talents,
everything we have, is a gift to us from God and God wants us to be
good stewards of the gifts.
Now the parable is
about the faithfulness of three men.
Two men are better
qualified than the third. The first man was better qualified than the
second.
The first man is given
this 5 million dollar amount to invest and he does well and makes
another 5 million with it. His reward is simple: “Enter into the
joy of the Master.”
The second man does
likewise and is given the same reward.
But the third man does
nothing with the money except explain to the master that he has kept
it safe.
The third man merely
played it safe.
Do we do that?
One of my Bible
professors cautioned us to not read too much into a parable. He said:
“a parable is meant to teach one point and you cannot take all the
situations out of a parable and use it do define a whole bunch of
theology.”
For example, the master
in this parable is reported as being shady, or unethical. But that
doesn't mean that God does unethical business deals.
The point of this
parable is that God has gifted every believer and He expects us to be
using our gifts and talents when He returns.
The warning is that too
many believers merely “play it safe.”
There are three
possible ways that the man tried to excuse himself from using his
talents. The first is, he wanted to play it safe.
This third man says to
himself “the master is wicked and evil, he isn't fair, and if I
mess up, he is really going to get me.”
Now the other two men
don't say that about the master.
But the servant tells
the master that the master is not to be trusted. That is a pretty big
insult to a man who has trusted you with over a million dollars worth
of gold. So, he played it safe.
That is one of the
excuses that we use to justify not using our talents. How many times
do we say to ourselves, “what if we mess up? I don't want to
mis-represent God.”
And it is true, God is
misrepresented every day. If one watches many of the televangelists,
one would come to the false belief that the goal of salvation is to
get rich, to obtain health, to have an easy life, that God is some
sort of genie in a bottle or that God cares more for us, in the US
than He does for people in Mexico, Palestine, Iran, Russia or
anywhere that is not here.
We don't want to be
guilty of mis-representing God. So we bury out talent.
This parable isn't
about the fairness of God. This parable is about us using our gifts
for the glory of God.
I used to wonder about
the metaphor of the one who had much was given more, and the one who
had little had even that taken away from him.
Did that mean that
somehow in a Christian, or Biblical economy that the rich are indeed
allowed to get richer while the poor get poorer?
That certainly isn't
democratic. The social contract of our democracy is a level playing
field with laws that ensure everyone has an equal and fair chance.
And we know from
hundreds of passages of scripture that God is on the side of the poor
and the oppressed.
One might wonder of the
man with the one talent thought to himself “the master thinks less
of me than ol' Fred over there, I'll mess it up. I'll play it safe
and bury my talent.”
The second possible
excuse people use is that the job should go to someone who is better
qualified.
Have you ever said to
yourself: “let someone else do it, they are much more gifted than
me!” Let the preacher do it, he is trained for this kind of work.
Let someone else go visit that person who is suffering, I am afraid,
or embarrassed in the place of someone else's pain.
Listen, there is always
going to be somebody with more talent than you, and there is always
going to be somebody with less talent than you.
Our Christian life
isn't measured by our successes compared to others, God wants us to
be faithful with what He has given us.
Don't worry about how
well, or how poorly someone else is doing. They have to answer to God
for themselves. If you can encourage, even provoke them to good
works, then so be it. But comparing ourselves with others never gets
us anywhere.
There is a terrible
warning in this passage: If we bury our talents, there isn't going to
be a good enough excuse.
When God gave talents
to us, He believed in us.
If the talent was
indeed gold, the man with the one talent still had 1.3 million
dollars worth to invest.
That isn't chump
change.
It wasn't that the
master didn't believe in this man.
God believes in you as
well. After all, He is the one who gives the gifts.
With many gifts and
talents, or with a few, God believes in you.
God has invested
Himself in you.
The biggest reason, the
one specifically spelled out in the parable is the tendency we have
to be selfish and lazy.
The one with only one
talent used this as his excuse: “I was afraid...”
And that excuse didn't
and won't cut it with God.
Remember, there are
three main sins in the Old Testament. 1), Idolatry. 2). Lack of
concern for the poor and 3). a refusal to trust God at His word.
He used the excuse: “I
was afraid.”
But what was the
master's response?
You are wicked and
lazy.
You know, I find that
excuse: “I am afraid” as a cover up for, either the form of
wickedness that says: “I can't be bothered. If I use my talents,
for God, then it is less time for me. I think I am going to use my
talents for me and for my pleasure.”
And that, dear brothers
and sisters, is wickedness.
When God blessed
Abraham and told him he would have so many descendants they couldn't
be counted and that he would make him wealthy God said, I will bless
you so that you can be a blessing to the rest of the world. (Genesis
12:1-2)
God gives us talents,
abilities, gifts, children and even money and financial blessings so
that we can bless others. Remember, it belongs to God, not us.
To use our gifts,
talents, blessings, money for self interest is wickedness.
The
one
with
one
talent
was
afraid.
But
the
master
calls
him
wicked
and
lazy.
The second aspect of
the condemnation is laziness.
Maybe the one with only
one talent justified his laziness by calling the master wicked and
unfair.
That goes on a lot when
someone has to work for someone else, so instead of giving their
employer an honest day's work, they slack off.
But here is the thing.
It is God we are working for, not some imperfect human being.
And the thing is this,
even the smallest gift is a treasure.
I believe that the two
faithful stewards had fun, or at least a sense of reward, when they
took a risk instead of playing it safe and invested God's talents.
This treasure we have
isn't mere money, gold or silver. This treasure we have comes
directly from God, by His Holy Spirit.
When we use our
talents, we enjoy the reward of being partners with God.
You cannot outgive God.
You cannot exhaust the gift inside of you.
If you stop playing it
safe, I promise you that you will find a great adventure, working
with God, doing His kingdom business.
You will live a life
that makes a difference.
