Talent on Loan from God - A Passion for Faithfulness

By: Dr. Robert Petterson

Mar 02, 2008

This parable of Jesus is both chilling and encouraging. God has given us resources, but they all belong to him. We are accountable to Him for how we use his gifts. Life stewardship is a passion to invest his resources wisely, courageously and joyfully with certainty that he will reward our faithfulness.

Sermon Text:

[Text: Matthew 25:14-30 ]

Most of us are too comfortable with Jesus. Many of us met him in Sunday school as a one-dimensional cutout figure that our teacher stuck up on the flannel graph board. We sang "Jesus loves me" and associated him with Kool-Aid, sugar cookies, and gold stars for good attendance.

I remember a portrait of Jesus that hung on a cinder block wall of our little church in Soap Lake, Washington. He looked more like a Norwegian than a Palestinian; his skin milky-white and cheeks colored with a hint of rouge; long, wavy, golden-brown hair cascading to his thin shoulders; his face exquisite to the point of being feminine (except for the beard); and a long white robe like a dress. He seemed so gentle, meek and mild with that lamb in his arms and the glowing halo over his head.

The Jesus of my childhood was comforting, but never masculine. He was okay for church ladies, and Sunday school girls in frilly dresses and patent leather shoes. But my heroes were Sir Lancelot, the Lone Ranger, and "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier."

In his book, The Jesus I Never knew, Philip Yancey talks about the bedtime stories about Jesus that Charles Dickens wrote for his children:

"…the portrait (of Jesus) emerges of a sweet Victorian nanny who pats the heads of boys and girls and offers such advice as, ‘Now children, you must be nice to your mummy and daddy." With a start, I recalled the Sunday school image of Jesus that I grew up with; someone kind and reassuring, with no sharp edges at all—a Mister Rogers before the age of children's television…"

The Jesus of Sunday school is comforting. But the Jesus of the Bible is more often disturbing: the Lion of a man who roars and the seas calm; the Sovereign Lord before whom terrorized demons cringe; the angry reformer who drives money-changers from the Temple; the fiery revolutionary who topples empires; the crucified Savior who descends into hell to redeem a lost world; the Conqueror who comes again on a great warhorse, eyes blazing like fire and a sword flashing out of his mouth, to destroy the nations; and the King of kings who sits enthroned in awful majesty to judge every angel and person who has ever lived.

C.S. Lewis' picture of Jesus is radically different from Charles Dickens'. In his children's books, The Chronicles of Narnia, Jesus is Aslan, a ferocious lion whose roar shatters the forests. When little Lucy asks Mrs. Beaver if he's safe, she replies, "No dear, he isn't safe. But he is good."

This morning I ask you to put aside the comfortable Jesus of childhood and allow the real Jesus to disturb you. Let him drive you on a journey of painful discovery into the hidden places of your soul. He knows how easy it is to fool ourselves that all is well when it really isn't.

It has often been said, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Deception in this life will give us little comfort when we stand exposed at the Last Judgment. Jesus wants us to wrestle with disturbing questions now, while there is still time to change things. In this morning's Bible passage Jesus tells us that the way we use our material resources is a sure measure of our spiritual condition. Here's the lesson from Matthew 25:

What we do with the gifts he gives us,
exposes our relationship to the Gift-Giver.

Most of us are familiar with the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. A man goes on a journey. Before he leaves, he divides his money between three servants to invest for him while he's gone. Jesus uses the word talents in this parable. We often misunderstand this because our English word for talents has come to mean natural abilities: "she has a talent for teaching…he has musical talents…she has a way with people…he is a talented preacher." But in ancient times a talent was a weight of precious metal like gold or silver. This man is leaving his monetary assets in the hands of servants. Verse 15 says that he parcels them out to each "according to his ability." The talents themselves have nothing to do with abilities, but are material assets put in the hands of people according to their abilities to invest them.

But Jesus is giving more than an investment seminar. If that's all this Parable of the Talents was about, we could take it or leave it. But this parable is all about eternity and our final judgment. This is serious stuff designed to disturb us. Notice this is at the last of a set of three parables, and these three little stories are framed on each side by a disturbing truth. In fact, Jesus uses these parables to connect those two truths:

1) Jesus is days away from his death, burial, resurrection and ascension to heaven. But someday he's coming back. His return will be so sudden that people will be caught unprepared. Jesus warns us all in Matthew 24:47, "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."

2) When he does return there will be a day of accounting. He warns us in Matthew 25:32, "All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." The sheep will live in glory and the goats will be "cast into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…" (Mt. 25:40)

Any thinking person has to be disturbed, wondering if he will be ready when our King returns. And, more importantly, will he be judged a sheep or a goat? So Jesus slips in three parables between these two frightening truths. The first is at the end of Matthew 24. It tells the story of a master of a house who goes on a trip and leaves his place in the care of servants. After awhile they figure that he's never coming back. So they break out the booze, throw a drunken party, and abuse the lesser servants. But, when the house is in a state of uproar, the master suddenly shows up. Jesus is warning us that he is coming back when we least expect it, and we had better be ready.

In Matthew 25, he tells a second parable about ten virgins who wait with on the side of the road with lamps to guide the groom to the wedding party. But he's late, and they all fall asleep. When he finally arrives, they awake with a start. But half the lamps have burned out, so five of the virgins are left in the dark because they didn't bring extra oil. Jesus is saying again that we need to be prepared for his return. We can't be caught napping.

Now he comes to a third parable: it too is about a master who goes away. In all of these parables Jesus is the master who leaves us in charge. He's given us resources to take care of his business while he is away. But he will return and ask for an accounting of what we did with what he gave us. How we use these resources will expose whether we are sheep or goats. Today we will focus on the Parable of the Talents. In it are four compelling truths:

1. The placement of the parable: Eternity hangs on what we do with the gifts he gives us. Remember, these three parables connect the two truths on either side: 1) Jesus is coming when we least expect it; and 2) He will judge us according to what we have done with what he has left us. This Parable of the Talents is the third and final link of the bridge between those two truths. It is most dramatic because it leads directly to the separation of sheep and goats. I want you to notice several critical facts about this parable:

Its focus is on what we do with our material possessions. A talent in this parable is money. Notice a something else here: the master gives his money to the servants. Though they possess it and use it, those material resources never cease to belong to him. This is a profound fact: what is ours never ceases to be his. Psalm 24:1 declares it: "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live on it." I remember the sign at the entrance to a famous televangelist's cattle ranch: "Our cattle belong to the Lord." But if they are our cattle, how can they be his? Better to say, "His cattle are ours for a moment to be invested in his glory for eternity."

Notice also that he doesn't give the same resources to everyone. One gets five talents, another gets two, and a third gets one. The Master decides who he will bless, and with how much. We may not like the fact that others get more stuff, but the Master knows best. Verse 15 says that each was given "according to his own ability." God strategically invests. Not all of us can handle wealth wisely. The issue is never how much God gives us, but what we do with it. Verse 16 says, "The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work…" The one with two talents did the same. The key is never equal giving, but equal sacrifice.

Notice that the parable never tells us how those first two servants invested their money. None of us have a right to judge how our brothers and sisters invest their resources in Jesus' work. Some may invest in foreign missions, others in bricks and mortar, someone else in a soup kitchen, or someone in the higher education of young people. Every servant is accountable to his Master, not other servants. I hope that many of you will invest significantly in our capital campaign, but I am more concerned that you spend time in prayer with the Master to discover his will for how you invest material resources. But, you have to invest it somewhere in the Master's work.

Notice too that though the first two servants had different amounts to invest, they both had identical results in their investments. It's as if Jesus is saying that we will not be judged on the returns on our investments as much as the faithfulness with which we invested. In Verses 21&25 the Master replies to each of those two servants: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your Master's happiness!" Notice that he doesn't judge them on their success. He uses two words: good and faithful. But he uses faithful twice. Remember Hebrews 11:6: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

2 The proof of the pudding: our use of gifts reveals our spiritual state. Now the third servant comes carrying the one talent that he had buried in the ground. Note carefully that he was given the least capital to invest. Often the rich have a difficult time parting with resources, the poor often find it even harder. Our temptation is to lose faith when funds run low. It requires far more sacrifice to give when there will be less left over. That's why Jesus was so amazed when the poor widow put her last penny in the Temple offering box. In verse 24&25, this servant reveals the poverty of his heart: "Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground."

Notice the fatal flaw in this man: he has no faith. He has no faith in the goodness of his master: "You are a hard man!" He has no faith his Master's commitment to him. "You harvest where you have not sown, and gather where you have not planted seed." In other words, his master can get a return in impossible places. Indeed, Jesus does invest in the impossible, and he always gets a return. He tells us to invest in places where no one else would think there could be a return. Later, in Matthew 25, he tells us to invest in the hungry, thirsty, naked, prisoner, stranger, sick and other kinds of folks where most people wouldn't believe that good could happen.

But, like this third servant, we are afraid to scatter seed in impossible places because we have lost our faith in the God who gives impossible returns. So, like the third servant, we hold back. He also lost faith in himself. "I was afraid." We are so afraid of our own failure that we refuse to take risks. He even lost faith in others. In verse 27 his Master says that he should have at least put it in a bank to get some interest. But he was even afraid that the bank might fail. Fear is a terrible thing. It causes us to dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it. But 1 John 4:18 says, "Perfect love drives out fear." But there's no faith; no hope; no joy; no charity; no perseverance; none of the fruit of the Spirit in this man's life. In short, he doesn't belong to Jesus, and it's proven by what he does with his single talent. We are saved by grace alone, by trusting in the finished work of Christ alone. But, the reality of our faith is proven by two things:

1) Do we know Jesus? Jesus defines this servant in two words in verse 26: "…wicked and lazy…" In verses 21&23 he defines the other two servants with two opposite words: "…good and faithful…: I believe that the word lazy and faithful have to do with how well we really know Jesus. Are we lazy, or have we taken the trouble really to know him. We can only see him through the eyes of faith. In Matthew 7: 21 Jesus disturbs us with another reality: "Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven." A lot of religious folks will get the surprise of their lives on Judgment Day. They will cry out, "But Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name and in your name drive out many demons and perform many miracles?" (Mt. 7:22) But Matthew 7:23 says that Jesus will reply to those shell-shocked servants, "I never knew you…" It all hinges on a personal relationship with Jesus. He knows us, and we know him. He says to the faithful servants in Matthew 25: 21&23, "Come share in the joy of your master's happiness." It's about sharing intimacy and joy with our Master. In Matthew 25:30 the third servant is thrown out into darkness. But he has always been in the dark when it came to the master. What he gets in eternity is what he lived in this life. Do you understand that what we do with what he has given us says everything about our relationship to the Gift-Giver?

2) Do we serve Jesus? He also calls his servant wicked. In Matthew 7: 23, Jesus says to the surprised folk on Judgment Day, "I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers." What is wickedness? It is to refuse to do what Jesus asks us to do. The wicked servant disobeyed his master. He said, "Invest your talent." The servant hid it in the ground. Not only did he not know the master's heart, he didn't do the master's will. Jesus is telling us that obedience is not an option. Our very eternity hangs on it. Again, we do not earn eternity with our obedience. Jesus alone earns our eternity with his obedience. But if we really belong to the Master, then he will be our Master. His vision becomes our vision. His priorities become our priorities. His passion becomes our passion. If he was a servant then we must be servants. If he gave up everything to win the world, then so must we. It is of eternal importance what we do with the things he has given us.

3. The pursuit of passion: is his passion our passion? In verse 24 the wicked and lazy servant says, "I knew that you are a hard man." He totally misread the master. He was saying that he was a harsh man. But the Greek word for hard here really means a person who is "driven" or "passionate" or "strategic" or "focused" or "tough-minded" or "without compromise." This describes the Master. In fact, he challenges the third servant in verse 26: If you knew all these things about me, why didn't you take this seriously. We cannot be lazy about obeying a Master who is so passionate about his investments. Do you want to see the hardness or passion of Jesus about this world? Look at Matthew 25:31-46. He tells about the day of Judgment when he will separate the sheep from the goats (the true believers from the pretenders). How will he measure them? He will do by how well they invested the talents (or material resources) in those he cares most about? Verses 35&36 say, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." And, in verse 44, the good and faithful servants ask, "When did we see you hungry… or thirsty…or a stranger…or needing clothes…or sick…or in prison (and do something about it?)" And Jesus replies in verse 40, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these you did for me." This isn't an exhaustive list. Jesus could have said, "I was a nonbeliever, and you shared the gospel with me" or "I was a child and you taught my Sunday school class" or "I was a forgotten old person, warehoused away in some institution, and you came to visit me."

Here's the key: Jesus is so passionately involved in reaching a world that he loves, that he fully identifies with it. He invests everything he has. And when you invest in those that he identifies with, you are directly investing in him. Your returns are his returns. You cannot be connected to Jesus unless you are passionate about that which drives his passion. There are so many people and ministries that Jesus is passionate about. You will find Jesus in so many places. So where do you invest your resources? Ask him to reveal the answer to you. And where he gives you a passion, invest with all your heart all that you possess. You need to do so for one last reason:

4) The purpose in our passion: every minute today carries the weight of eternity. Jesus is never safe. He doesn't want us to comfortable in our faith. He wants to disturb us with these parables. He doesn't want us to take anything for granted. St. Paul said, "Let a man examine himself." The wicked servant ended up in eternal darkness. But he was already in darkness on this earth: the darkness of unbelief, doubt, fear, laziness, and disobedience. He never understood the Master's great heart for a lost world (and I say the Master because he was never his Master).

But Jesus also wants to excite us with passion. He wants us to know that there is a joy to be had when he returns and says to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You will be put in charge of many things. Come and share in the joy of your master's happiness." I'll bet though, that these first two servants receive in eternity what they had already begun to experience on earth. There is a joy in pleasing our Master today. There is an excitement in seeing our investment bearing fruit even now on this earth. When we know his heart, and share in it through investing his resources in those he loves most, there is a joy unspeakable. Heaven can't wait to show us all that our faithful investments have accomplished for eternity. Jesus isn't safe. Neither will our investments in him be without risk and sacrifice. But Jesus is good, and so will be the results of lives well invested in that which brings passion to our Lord.

Copyright 2008-2012, All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced without permission from Dr. Robert Petterson, Pastor Trent Casto or Covenant Presbyterian Church of Naples.