Introduction
When
I started this ministry more than a year ago, I was very small-minded about how
I thought God might use it. I have to tell you that the last year has been an
extremely humbling experience as more and more readers access the site every
week from around the world. I keep a list of all the countries of the world on
my desk and I pray over them every week as I’m preparing my lessons. I pray
especially for those countries where accessing my lessons might cost someone
their liberty or their life. I have no idea who they are and they have no
allegiance to me except that I work hard to faithfully divide God’s word and
share the truth of Jesus Christ with them. God has provided me with this
opportunity to share the Scriptures with anyone and everyone who will listen as
I seek to be faithful to the stated Mission of this ministry.
I have
watched the images from various nations who are determined to kill anyone and
everyone necessary to advance their political or theocratic agenda. This is all
a result of not having or rejecting the hope found only in Jesus Christ. Murder
and terrorism will continue until the nations recognize and bow to the
authority of Jesus Christ. However, that won’t happen unless someone first
tells them that salvation is not found in establishing a utopian government or
a biblical theocracy. Salvation is not found in the blissful coexistence of
humanity living under the sovereign control of the state. Salvation is not
found in the radical obedience to a barbaric religion that prizes martyrdom in
the cause of killing people who aren’t of a like mind. Instead, “Salvation is
found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by
which we must be saved” except Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone (Acts 4:12).
I
don’t know about you but sometimes I want something so badly that I get kind of
neurotic about going after it. That neurosis served me well in my early years
of trying to win in athletics and in my later years of grinding through
graduate school. My neurosis is currently directed at something in particular
that Jesus said that is tied to the mission of this ministry (Mt. 28:18-20). It
has to do with Jesus’ teaching about the end of time. Jesus gives a litany of
signs that will point to the end of time, i.e. wars, natural disasters, false
prophets, etc. But Jesus says that these are all just signs of what is to come
like birth pains are the sign of an impending birth. No, there is one thing
that will signal the actual end of time—“And this gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will
come” (Mt. 24:14). Have you ever contemplated that possibility? Let me ask you
this: Have you ever considered that you have a role to play in that? What if I
told you that there are nearly three billion people in the world that have
never heard the gospel? Your first thought might be that that is an absolutely
overwhelming task to even think about. But what if I told you that there are
more than two billion Christians in the world? Ahhh! Now you’re thinking aren’t
you? That’s just one Christian telling just one or two other people who have
never heard the gospel in order to fulfill Jesus’ prophetic words about the end
of time. This would also mark the time of his return which is what we are all
looking forward to aren’t we? Now that the task doesn’t seem quite so daunting,
how do we go about accomplishing the task of preaching the gospel to the world?
Well, I think the answer lies in taking advantage of the opportunities that God
provides for us. In this vein, Jesus tells the story of the talents and that’s
the basis for this week’s lesson.
Subject
Text
Matthew 25:14-30
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called
his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two
talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went
on his journey. 16 The
man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work
and gained five more. 17 So
also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received
the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and
settled accounts with them. 20 The
man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he
said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘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 your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with the
two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents;
see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His
master replied, ‘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 your
master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then
the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that
you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you
have not scattered seed. 25 So
I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what
belongs to you.’ 26 “His
master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I
have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have
put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have
received it back with interest. 28
“‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten
talents. 29 For
everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever
does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Context
Our
subject text begins with “Again, it will be like” which clearly points to a
continuation of something Jesus said previously so if we want to understand the
full meaning of this parable, we need to go back to see what the parable is
intended to illustrate. We have to go all the way back to chapter 23 to see the
events that lead up to our subject text. There, Jesus condemns the actions of
the Pharisees and religious leaders who are constantly piling on religious
requirements on the people of Israel somehow believing that they could perfect
their behavior. Jesus, however, condemns their actions because going through
the motions of following the letter of the law without simultaneously
incorporating the spirit of the law which at its heart is justice, mercy and
faithfulness misses the entire point of the law and the heart of God. At the
end of chapter 23, Jesus grieves over Jerusalem and the fact that they have
refused all of God’s attempts to reach out to them first through the prophets
and now through him to see that all God really want is to be in a caring,
loving relationship not unlike a mother hen cares for her chicks and protects
them under her wings. Jesus is exasperated and proclaims that after he goes
away (after, his death, resurrection and ascension to heaven) they will not see
him again until he returns—this is what is known in Christianity as the “Second
Coming” which will inaugurate the end of time or this age as we know it.
This
brings us to chapter 24 where Jesus’ disciples ask Jesus when all this will
happen. At this point Jesus goes through a long litany of events that
foreshadow the end of time—a signal of sorts but only as a means to warn us
that the end is coming. Jesus does not say when the actual end will come. In
fact, Jesus specifically says that no one knows when the end will come except
the Father. Not even Jesus knows, at that point at least, when the end will
come. [Can I just say something at this point as an aside? Reject anyone and
everyone that says they know or are able to determine or calculate in some way
when Jesus will return.] Jesus says the end will be sudden like the days of
Noah and the flood. Until that time, we are to keep watch for his return and to
be faithful and wise servants caring for everything and everyone he has
entrusted to us. Jesus now tells a series of parables to illustrate what being
faithful and wise looks like during his absence. The final parable he tells is
our subject text which we can now look at in greater detail.
Text
Analysis
Jesus
begins the parable in v. 14 by describing a man who is going on a journey who
has called his servants together and has entrusted his property to them. The
“man” in the parable is Jesus, the “journey” is his ascension to heaven, his
“servants” are those who follow him and his “property” is his creation in its
entirety.
In v.
15 we see that the man in Jesus’ story gives three servants, five, two and one
talent respectively then leaves on his long journey. A “talent” during Jesus’
day was Greek coinage. It is difficult to define the precise value of a talent
because it was originally a measure of weight so its value varied based on
monetary fluctuations. “But it was a very large amount of money, here probably
silver coinage (cf. vv. 18, 27): one talent equaled 6,000 denarii (one denarius
was the equivalent of a day’s wages for a common laborer). The talent was thus
analogous to the modern ‘million.’”[1] It
is important to remember that this parable is not necessarily about money. The
parable is about all things entrusted to us, including but not limited to,
money. Not all are entrusted with the same gifts and resources. Instead, some
are given more while others are given less. The text is clear that God gives to
everyone according to their abilities. The issue is not the amount given, or even
what is given, but whether or not we are faithful with the things that have
been entrusted to us which includes the opportunities to share the Good News of
Jesus Christ.
In
vv. 16-18 we see that the first two servants immediately put their talents two
work doubling what their master had entrusted to them. The text implies that
they took a risk and it paid off with a 100% return on their respective
investments. The third servant, however, took no risk. Instead, out of fear, he
buried his talent and received nothing in return for what was entrusted to him
by his master. “Most people lacked capital, but those who had it could multiply
their investment fivefold or even tenfold; doubling one’s investment might be
regarded as a reasonable minimum return in the ancient economy. Burying money
kept the capital safe, but the money would have been no less safe with
bankers.”[2]
The
text in vv. 19-25 tells us that the master returns after a long time and
summons his servants to account for what they did with what the master
entrusted to them. Both the first and second servant report that they have
double what the master entrusted them with. In both cases, the master lavishes
his servants with praise as he says, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
But in addition, both servants are also rewarded with added responsibilities
because they “have been faithful with a few things.” It is important to note
that the master responds exactly the same to both servants irrespective of how
much was given to either. All that matters was that they were faithful with
what was entrusted to them. The servants are then invited to join in their
master’s happiness. Let’s step out of this parable long enough to remember that
Jesus is using the parable to point to something real; something greater;
something eternal! The parable connotes that our faithfulness in this life will
impact the level or our responsibilities in the life and Kingdom to come at the
end of the age. Furthermore, the invitation to share in the master’s happiness
is an invitation to the blessings of enjoying God for eternity. “Jesus’ ethical
principles are determined by his extraordinary affirmation that life, here and
hereafter, is to be lived in the presence of God. It is from that central claim
that all the statements about reward issue; God himself is the ultimate
reward.”[3]
The
celebratory tone quickly turns to one of disappointment and condemnation in vv.
24-27 as the final servant gives account of what was entrusted to him. The
servant reports with only the money that was given to him which he returns. He
comments about the character of the master that seems so odd in light the
previous verses. We just got finished looking at how the first two servants
double the money originally entrusted to them and without any reference to the
master’s character either positively or negatively. “This servant imagines his
master as unjust or capricious, likening him to a farmer who harvests fields he
did not plant. Such a view of God proliferated among ancient religions and
unfortunately recurs far too often among Christians as well.”[4]
(If this is your view of God, please refer to a previous post titled: Finding Punchinello; Label—Pastoral
Care; Date—2/15/12) The master has harsh words for the servant calling him
“wicked” and “lazy!” These are harsh words indeed but should shock us when we
step back out of the parable and realize again that Jesus is talking about some
of us! The text does not say whether or not the servant correctly characterizes
the master and his response does not help us make that determination. So the
focus should be on the actions of the servant as opposed to the character of
the master in this case. The servant could have deposited the money at the bank
without much effort and gained interest on the money. Failing to do so makes
him, at the very least, simply lazy. Being called “lazy” is one thing, but
“wicked” is quite another. Yet think about this for a moment. The text says
that the servant returned all of the master’s money. However, if you’re
familiar with finances, you’re familiar with the concept of “time value of
money” or “opportunity loss.” The concept assumes that there is always an
investment that is available (i. e. savings deposit, certificate of deposit,
etc.) with a relatively high degree of security even if the return is
relatively low. Here’s how it works: If you took $100 and buried in the ground
today, tomorrow it would be worth less than $100 effectively because the
opportunity to gain interest on that same money had it been safely invested is
lost while inflation erodes monetary value. Sorry if I got too deep in the
weeds with that explanation but my point is that the servant actually cost his
master money by burying it. Considering how simple it would have been to
deposit the money in the bank, this not only makes him lazy but wicked as well
for costing his master the time value of money and this is a significant contributing
factor to The Tragedy of a Buried Talent.
The
consequences of the first and third servant’s actions is announced in vv. 28-30
when the master orders that the one talent from the last servant be taken from
him and given to the one who now has ten talents with the proclamation that the
one who is faithful with what is entrusted to him will be entrusted with more
and the one who is unfaithful will lose what little he may have. Then the
master issues the final most dramatic order that the unfaithful servant be cast
out. Jesus uses the familiar idiom where those who are condemned be cast into
the “darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This idiom was
common and understood as the place of eternal punishment; hell! “Like the
wicked servant, those who fail to use the gifts God has given them for His
service will be punished by separation from God and all things good. This seems
appropriate both for those who are overtly hostile to God and his revelation
and for those who profess commitment to him but show no evidence in their lives
of the reality they profess.”[5]
Application
This
parable by Jesus is jarring for most of us here in America because we are
blessed with so many resources to use to advance God’s Kingdom and the Gospel
message. It is very important to remember that this parable is not primarily
about being good stewards of financial resources. While this is clearly one
area of responsibility, there are so many more where we must utilize the unique
gifts we have each been given. The question we must all ask ourselves is
whether or not we are holding anything back from advancing the message of Jesus
Christ—whether that is in our words or deeds. You might not be able to go to
another country to care for those in need but you can care for someone in your
own neighborhood. You might not be able to provide clean water to villagers in
Africa but you can give money to organizations that do. The point is that you
have at your disposal resources that you have been blessed with that are unique
to you. Are you using them to advance God’s Kingdom? I know some of you
consistently do everything you can to advance God’s Kingdom and I applaud you
for that even though I know you don’t want or expect applause. Some of you,
however, are stuck; you don’t know what to do; you might even be afraid to do
something. I’d like to challenge all of you to try something for at least the
next month.
At the beginning of this
lesson I told you that I have a list of all the countries on my desk that I
pray over every week. I also referenced my tendency for various neuroses. Well
my current ministry neurosis is to somehow get someone from every country to access
this ministry site. There are 203 countries in the world (183 sovereign
countries and 20 non-sovereign, separately administered territories). To date,
the site has been accessed by someone from 51 different countries. I can tell
you that I don’t know people in a majority of those countries. I don’t know
exactly how it came to be accessed in all those countries except that it was
passed along from one person to another to another. I have been tremendously
humbled to see some of the countries where the site is being accessed. We take
for granted in America that we can turn on our computer and browse and read
whatever we want. But in some parts of the world accessing Christian material
is a death sentence and this ministry has been accessed in some of those
places. That is something only God could have directed. So how, you might be
wondering, can we reach the other countries that have yet to access the site?
The only way I know to
expand access to this site is if you will share the site link with as many
people as you can. Part of our responsibility is to take advantage of the easy
opportunities that God provides for us along the way to spread the Good News of
Jesus Christ. I’ve already done the work so all you have to do is pass it on. Let
me first address a few objections I’m sure many of you will have to this
challenge. 1) Some of you are cynical and skeptical when you hear a pastor say
“bring your family, friends and neighbors” because your experience tells you that
what they were really interested in was building attendance that usually
translated into more financial resources for higher salaries, bigger staffs and
nicer facilities. Let me put your mind at ease in this respect. There’s nothing
in this for me financially because I make nothing from this ministry. All
ministry expenses come directly out of my own pocket funded by my carpentry
work. This site is not and will not be monetized. 2) If it is too dangerous to
share the site link because of the country you live in, you have my permission
to copy or print whatever you want and share it in whole or in part with
anyone. You don’t even have to give me credit. In fact, you can take all the
credit for yourself if you want. 3) If you don’t know the best way to share the
site link, I’ve made it really easy for you. At the end of each post you will
see the ability to share the site via numerous social networks such as
Facebook, Twitter, Email or g+1.
Let me conclude by saying
that I’m not above begging so if I have to beg then I beg you to share this
site with as many people as you can and ask them to do the same. I said earlier
that there’s nothing in this for me financially but I confess that one of the
things that motivates me is the possibility that I will stand before God one
day and He will say: “Well done good and faithful servant!” Will you hear those
words? Do you even care if you hear those words? “The NT teaches, as did
apocalyptic writers, that history is moving inexorably toward a telos, a goal which will not be reached
fully by historical processes. This goal-oriented view of history does not,
however, diminish the significance of the present age…On the contrary, this
present age is most significant as Christians proclaim and live out the good
news that brings about transformation in the lives of individuals and in the
world. Such faithful service during the master’s absence will elicit God’s
“well done” when the final reckoning takes place (cf. Mt. 25:23).”[6] Sharing
the link for this site is not one of those things that requires special
spiritual gifting. It requires that you push a few buttons and that’s it! It’s so
easy! Please do it for your own sake as if you had been entrusted with one
simple talent. Sharing this site link would be like investing that talent. Take
a risk and see how God might multiply that investment. At least when you’re
called to account, you won’t have to confess that you just buried the talent
entrusted to you and suffer the consequences that go with that. If you do
nothing, you might find yourself repeating The
Tragedy of a Buried Talent!
[1] Donald
A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28, Word Biblical
Commentary, (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1995), p. 734.
[2] Craig S.
Keener, Matthew, Downers Grove, IL:,
InterVarsity Press, 1997), pp. 358-359.
[3] Joel B.
Green, Scot McKnight, I. Howard Marshall, eds., Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1992), p. 216.
[4] Craig L.
Blomberg, Matthew, New American
Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992), p. 373.
[5]
Blomberg, Matthew, NAC, pp. 374-375.
[6] Joel B.
Green, et al, eds., Jesus and the Gospels,
p. 26.
