November 19, 2023 Sermon
Sermon title: "The Parable of the Talents"
Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30
(Other lectionary suggestions include Judges 4:1-7, Psalm 123, and I Thessalonians 5:1-11.)
Matthew 25:14-30
The Parable of the Talents
14“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 19After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
This sermon has all the makings of a very short sermon, but I'm not going to succumb to the temptation! Pastor Steve Lacey, formerly of this church but now pastoring a church in Orange County, has even commented to me about my short sermons, but NOT as a criticism, you understand, but as a compliment! In fact, he told me he's even trying to preach shorter sermons now!
In any case, why could this sermon be so short, even after the LONG Scripture reading? Because Jesus is really taking it to the scribes and Pharisees. They are the ones who were given the ONE talent, but instead of trying to improve upon it, they wanted to keep it exactly as it was, and so they dug a hole and buried it in the ground! The two other folks who were given 5 and 2 talents, respectively, did something with what they were given, and they get rewarded when the master comes back. Those first two faithful servants don't really matter much, as far as this parable is concerned, other than they took what they were given and did something with it. The smaller point of this parable may be that we all are given something, some more than others, that's for sure. But we all can do SOMETHING with what we were given. The third person in the story, representing the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of the people, did not want ANY change to occur. They had their religion, and they liked what they had. NO WAY were they going to let in any outside light, even GOD's light. THAT was why Jesus singled them out.
The TALENT, by the way, was a WEIGHT in Jesus's time. As time went by, that weight acquired value, and so today we think of a talent as a valuable gift from God. Doesn't really matter; what DOES matter is that whatever a talent was or is, it was a gift from God, and one reading of the parable is that we should use whatever gifts God gave us to the best of our ability. The scribes and Pharisees did NOTHING with what God had given them, as far as Jesus was concerned, and so they deserve to be thrown out into the outer darkness, where, we are told, “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” End of sermon! (Not really!)
Let me quote the Scottish scholar William Barclay. In his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew he says, “The whole aim of the scribes and Pharisees was to keep the law exactly as it was. In their own phrase, they sought ‘to build a fence around the law.’ Any change, any development, any alteration, anything new was to them anathema. Their method involved the paralysis of religious truth. Like the man with the {ONE} talent, they desired to keep things exactly as they were -and it is for that that they are condemned. In this parable, Jesus tells us that there can be no religion without adventure, and that God can find no use for the shut mind.”
Isn't that great insight by William Barclay? And I would add that if we believe in a LIVING God, we have to think like Jesus thinks in that parable! You have heard me say before that I like what Jesus says are the two greatest commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your MIND and all your strength and all your heart - and the second is like unto the first: Love your neighbor as yourself.
What does this mean for how we read the Constitution of the United States, for example? It was written by WHITE MEN and NO WOMEN, and it allowed for slavery! Was that right then? Maybe it was, but is that right NOW? You KNOW the answer is NO! So, I would suggest to you that any interpretation that does not allow for the Spirit of the LIVING God to move among us is a form of idolatry! WHITE MEN who owned slaves wrote that document. Have you noticed? In America today there are more than WHITE MEN walking around! We have women and people of color! Do we shut those people out because they didn't get to participate in the writing of the Constitution? You know the answer is NO!
Too political for the Sunday before Thanksgiving? Maybe, but I don't think so! How do you listen to a parable like what we heard today and not let it move you to see the little idols you may be carrying around in your head?
Back to Barclay and the Bible: God gives each of us different gifts, and I think I have said that already. We humans may not be equal in talent, but we can be equal in effort! Whatever talent we have is to be used in service to God.
Did you notice? The two who made something with what they were given were given more work to do. We don't get to sit on our laurels! God may have more work for us to do.
Another point of this parable is that those who are punished are the ones who won't even try. How often have we said, “I'm only one person. What can I possibly do?” I like what Edward Everett Hale said: “I am only one person. But I AM one. What can I do to help?”
A final point of the parable is, “Use it or lose it.” In the parable, the two who did something with their talents were given more. And the guy who buried his talent had it taken away from him. Again, William Barclay: It is “true of playing golf or playing the piano, or singing songs or writing sermons, or carving wood or thinking out ideas. It is the lesson of life that the only way to keep a gift is to use it in the service of God and in the service of our neighbours.”
I'll close with this story about Antonio Stradivarius. He was an ordinary Italian boy, as I understand the story. But what he could do was whittle. He could take a piece of wood and create just about anything. One thing he gave the world was stringed instruments, and today a Stradivarius-made violin is worth millions. Even with all of the technological advances we have made since his time, we still can't make an instrument that sounds as good as a Strad! Thank you, Tony, for taking your God-given talent and giving the world such beauty. Amen.
Pastor Skip
