We come to
the Parable of the Talents, Round III.
We have looked at the first two servants and the acronym TURN.
Trusted—each of the three servants was
trusted by his master. They were
entrusted with money in accordance with their ability.
Urgency—the first two servants acted
at once and put their master’s money to work.
We noted that they were the master in their relationship with this
money. They put it to work and it did
not get a day off.
Return on Investment (ROI)—the first
two knew that their master was demanding and expected a return. They were wise and demanding with their
investments and produced a fantastic return for him.
No Fear—while fear is real and risk is
real, the servants were not immobilized by fear. Wisdom, not fear governed what they did with
their master’s money.
We have
looked at how fear governed the decisions of the third servant. He tried to blame his master for his
decisions, but it was very simply his fear that impacted a terrible decision to
bury his master’s money in the ground.
He was a
trusted servant at the beginning of the parable. His master knew that he could manage and
produce a return on one talent of money.
He was not being set up to fail, he was trusted and expected to succeed,
even if success was only putting the money into a savings account. Fear
governed his actions.
The end
result was that two servants were deemed to be good and faithful and invited to
share their master’s happiness and one was labeled wicked and lazy and given
the boot.
At the heart
of this parable is what I have been describing as Tom’s Tweet on the Parable of
the Talents. It is the question never
asked but answered by all three servants.
It is the question always before us as disciples of Jesus Christ and a
generous God who is in the gift-giving business.
What did we do with
what God gave us?
If you made
it through rounds I & II you know that acting with urgency and producing a
return are essential. You know that fear
offers nothing good in the way of return on investment. You understand that what we are given by God
is a trust.
You also
understand that love precedes trust. We
do not do our best with what God gave us to earn his love. We already have his love. His love for us was poured out in the blood
of Jesus. Love preceded trust.
It is now
time to go fully into application mode. So
what do we do? Most of the time, we are
not handed bags of money, but we are trusted with much—very much. What do we do?
For this
third homily on the parable, I want to look at what we do with what we are
given in these areas: time, talents (or
gifts), treasure, and the gospel.
Let’s start
with time. Believe it or not, we all
receive the same amount of time each day.
We have 1440 minutes in each day.
Whether you count your day from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. or midnight to
midnight, the math comes out the same.
Now if you
are staring at the microwave for the last 45 seconds of you breakfast burrito,
that single minute seems like an eternity.
If you are in the middle of doing twenty things and making good progress
on all of them and look at the clock, you might think, “Where did my day go?”
We have the
same amount of time but to some, time drags on and to others it is so fleeting.
Why do some
people get so much accomplished and some seem to get nothing done with the time
trusted to them? Is it motivation? Is it force of personality? Is it heredity? Is it our socialization? Is it an incentive program? What is it?
I will
suggest to you that it is purpose. It is
plain and simple purpose that produces results.
It is purpose that puts our time to good use. Much as the first two servants were the
master in their relationship with their master’s money; we are master with the
time given to us.
Understand
we are not gridlocked by our calendar, but we budget our time to important
things—things that God has purposed us to accomplish. That means that we can say “no” to many, many
other things. We decide—wisely
decide—what to do with each minute of our lives.
The psalmist declares to the Lord, “Teach us to number our
days.” This was not a request to switch
to Julian dates.
It is a request for wisdom that values our time in these vessels of
clay. Every minute counts.
I spent time
as a counselor in prison and can tell you that some count minutes but don’t
make their minutes count. Some count
days but don’t make their days count. I sent
many an inmate client out of my office in a bewildered state because in the
middle of his story, I said, “Time’s up,” and sent him on his way.
Some, after
a time, learned to talk about the things that were important instead of just
running their stories over and over again.
Sadly, people who just count minutes instead of making minutes count are
not all in prison.
We have a
world of people ignorant that our time on this earth is so fleeting. James would say that we are but a mist, here for a moment and then gone. But we are to be numbered among the wise.
Our time
matters and we desire to use it to produce a return for our Master. So do we pack our calendars as full as
possible? No, we live every moment with
purpose.
If we jam
pack every day with activities, we might miss out on some very essential things
that God purposed us to do. You might
get your kids to soccer and ballet and baseball and FFA and even to the
lock-in, but are you just meeting the schedule or bringing them up in the way
they should go.
You made it
to the gym and then paid all the bills and worked in the oil change on the
car. Put the clothes in the dryer before
you left the house. It seems like the
washer and drier are always running. The truck can wait until next month for
service. You even updated your
Facebook.
Wow! Thirty birthdays in one day seems like a
lot. You don’t even remember who most of
these people are. You’re getting a lot
done but are they the things God made you to do?
Purpose is
more important than scheduling.
Next, we
look at talents or gifts. These are the
raw materials that God gave us and expects us to refine into skills that
produce a return. I think the first two
servants were better gifted than the third with some raw ability, but they
still had to put these talents or gifts to use to produce some skill.
Some gifts are
intellectual. Some are athletic. Some are artistic. God packed a whole lot into us and as we work
out our salvation, we should discover what these gifts and talents are and put
them to work.
We put these
gifts and talents to work. We put them
to work. Much as the first two servants
put their master’s money to work, we put our talents to work. Have you ever noticed that when you put your
gifts to work, it’s not like we are working?
When we do the things that God hard-wired us to do, it
doesn’t seem like work, like labor. We
are putting what God gave us to work. We
leverage these talents and produce a good return.
Now we might break a sweat or have some sore muscles at the
end of the day or our brains might get tired if you work in an intellectually
challenging environment, but if it is what God made us to do, we are very much
putting our talents to work. These gifts
and talents labor for us.
Not everyone
has the same package of gifts and talents.
Some are better wired to work with small children. Some can see music in a financial
spreadsheet. Others can listen to the
conversations of twenty people and find and share the common thread. Some find great joy being locked into a
laboratory for weeks searching for a cure for cancer or the common cold.
But some
talents are never tapped. They are never
leveraged to produce great things. They
are safely tucked away inside of us.
Oliver
Wendell Holmes Sr. once said, “Many people die with their music still in them.
Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know
it time runs out.”
That’s a
quote that hits both time and talents.
The term for
what Justice Holmes described is called tragedy. All the potential is there but is never put
to work. We are people who use what God
packed inside of us to produce a good return.
We put our gifts and talents to use and our Master is pleased.
We put our
gifts and talents to work at once, and quite often work doesn’t seem like work.
Let me touch
briefly on Spiritual Gifts. We who have
professed Jesus as Lord and have received the Holy Spirit also received special
gifts. These gifts when put to use
produce extraordinary returns. Many of
these gifts are named in the Bible, but we don’t view these lists as all
inclusive. The biblical enumerations
were not meant to say “these and no others.”
Surely
pastor, teacher, evangelist, and prophet fit the bill, but it is likely that
God gifted some with gifts such as music or leadership or writing or even
listening. God put something in you—or
called it to life—when you received the Holy Spirit. This is a gift that goes beyond your God-give
talents that were there from your human birth.
These are gifts that have be given to you are called into service since
your spiritual birth.
Here’s the
thing. Whether it is a God-given talent
that we were born with and honed over the years or a Spiritual Gift that
manifested itself when we were baptized by the Holy Spirit, we are to put these
gifts and talents to work to produce a return for our Master. We are to
put them to work at once.
Let’s talk
treasure. Not all of us are trusted with
bags of gold, but most of us are. We
don’t carry it in bags but we have this thing called an income. It might be because we work or because we
invested wisely or it might be because somebody said you get paid just for
breathing.
In this
country, you might get paid because you have a job or you might get paid
because you don’t. Compared to the rest
of the world, what income we have—wherever it comes from—is like a bag of gold.
But, I’ve
got bills! I get that. You are probably going to have bills next
month too, and very likely the month after as well.
But, you
also have a trust. You have some income
and what you have is a trust. We could
talk about the tithe and how that is trusting God back with a tenth of what he
is trusting you with, but that’s really all I’m going to say about that. If you missed the money sermon last year, then read it online.
that what we have been given in money or property or stuff is a trust. We still are called to answer the same question. What did I do—or will I do—with what God gave
me.
Sometimes we
use money to produce a monetary return.
We start a business. We invest
wisely in other businesses and industries.
We put our money into a very low risk account. We stick our monetary necks out a little on
something with a little more risk but potential for a greater payoff.
Whatever we
do with our treasure should be governed by wisdom and not fear. Not all investments of our treasure produce a
monetary return. I will be very up front
with you here. We are not going to make
any money on that playground for which some of you made special offerings.
We are not
going to sell day passes or season passes.
It is not going to make any money but it will pay a dividend.
We are not
going to sell lunch tickets for Chewy Tuesdays or Pop Tarts and Peanut
Butter. We spend money on food and spend
time in preparation and delivery, but we don’t make one cent in profit. We do produce a fantastic return on
investment.
We take some
treasure—mostly money but also some in-kind donations—and we invest it in meals
for kids. Our return on that investment
is in smiles, hugs, and an affirmation that along the way something reached
these children and they know God’s love by our actions.
We used our
treasure to let our light shine before men so that people could see God’s love
in action and in so doing, bring glory to God.
That’s paying a good dividend!
But we won’t
make a cent on the whole deal. That
said, it is a fantastic investment of our treasure.
Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and
steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.
Don’t bury
your treasure in the ground thinking it will be safe. The only way that treasure is safe is when it
is put to use in this world so our account is credited in the age to come.
That doesn’t
mean that you should not have a savings account or an IRA or some cash or gold
in a safe place. It doesn’t mean that
you should not have money for emergencies.
It doesn’t mean that a little buffer in your checking account is not a
wise thing.
It means
that you are the master of your money and you tell it where to go. If you do this wisely, you will fare well in
this world and have treasure in the age to come. You are master over you treasure and you put
it to work in accordance with the God-given purpose that you are living.
We consider
the treasure that we have a trust from God and we wisely put it to use.
That covers
the standard time, talents, and treasure framework that typically you will find
attached to this parable or attached to a Stewardship Month or series. It’s good to know and good to apply, and it is
just part of the equation. I would say that’s the warm up part. We are just getting warmed up.
What’s
left? Our commission and the gospel,
that’s what.
Of all the
things that God has trusted to us—from the macro level, that being the earth,
to things such as time and talents and treasure—nothing really compares to our
commission and the gospel.
Am I saying
that the gospel is a greater trust than the stewardship of the earth? That’s a pretty big trust.
Yes. That is what I am saying. Heaven and earth will pass away. We are told that God will give us a new
heaven and a new earth. That’s no excuse
for bad stewardship of the planet entrusted to us, but we must understand that the
gospel is an invitation to eternity.
Our commission to take this gospel across the
street and across the planet is bigger than 5 bags of gold. This is the biggest trust that God has placed
in us.
If one day
someone comes up to you and says on
behalf of the Lord, I am giving you these five big bags of gold; I want you
to respond: “Thank you very much. I will
put them to work at once. This is the
second biggest trust that I have been given.”
Our
commission and the gospel are the biggest trust we have been given. Remember that a commission is not just a command. It comes with authority. In this case, God-given authority.
Then Jesus came to them and said,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
If we do a
really good job at putting our time, talents, and treasures to use and bury our
commission in the ground, what have we done?
Should we
expect to hear a Well done, good and
faithful servant from our Master.
Our time, talent, and treasures are sort of like practice for putting
our commission into effect.
These are
the few things that we have done well
with and produced a good return. The
gospel is something greater that we have been trusted with to put to work—to
bring to a blind and broken world.
Our
commission and the gospel makes us partners with our Master. In the parable, the master said, now come and share my happiness. Come and be a part of what I am all about.
Jesus called
his disciples friends because they would be about his Father’s business. They were family now. So are we.
We are on the friends and family plan.
We should be
wise and produce a return for our Master with the time, talents, and treasures
that he has entrusted to us. We should
produce a good return with what we have been given. Sometimes those returns last a lifetime.
But putting
the gospel to work is playing in the big leagues. That’s where we produce returns that last for
eternity. That’s where our hearts should
desire to hear, Well done good and
faithful servant more than anywhere else.
We conclude
where we began some time ago, with the question that is never asked in the
parable but was answered by all three servants.
What did you do with what I gave you?
My rewording
to make it applicable to us is, what did
we do with what God gave us? I hope
that each of us is living in such a way that we will receive a well
done for what we did with our time, talents, and treasures.
Most of all,
I pray that we hear well done good and faithful servant with what we did with the
ultimate trust given to us—the gospel.
More than
all the bags of gold that we could manage, the good news that God really does
love us is news that we are called to put to work at once.
When we
answer the question, what did we do with what God gave us,
I pray that we can say we produced a good return on the time, talents, and
treasures that he gave us; and that we put everything that we had into our
commission and never gave the gospel a day off.
Amen.