What would you be doing right now if you weren’t afraid?
What would you be doing right now in your life if you weren’t afraid? What would you be doing in your church if you weren’t afraid? What kind of ability do you have buried in fear that could be useful to others if you weren’t afraid? What kind word would you speak, what phone call would you make, what offer would you extend, what contribution would you make – if you weren’t afraid?
Jesus tells a story in our Gospel reading for today that contains a dramatic warning for those who bury their talents in fear, but even more dramatically, this story of our Lord encourages us to focus on the generosity of God in our lives and live joyfully with his gifts.
Jesus’ story begins with the master leaving on a journey – much like Jesus himself who left this earth after his resurrection to return to his Father. The context of this story is the time we are living in right now – in between Jesus’ time on this earth and before he comes again. This is our time and this is our story.
Before he left the master gave money to three of his servants. The Greek word here means “entrusted.” Not an outright gift in terms of transferring ownership of one’s property, but rather a management of what legally belonged to the king. The talents belong to the master. And our gifts, our resources, OUR talents, belong to God, not to us. This is an important starting point for the management of our own lives and for understanding God’s goodness. God is the owner of all that we have and all that we are and he trusts us to take care of it for him. And God shows himself to be a generous giver.
In the story, the first servant received 5 talents, the second, 2 and the last one – 1. A talent in Bible times was a unit of measure – it referred to an amount of money. According to the estimates of biblical scholars, a talent was worth the salary for 3 years of labor. Interestingly enough, our English word, talent, which means a special ability, is derived from this word in this parable!
No where in the story do we hear the servants complaining about the inequality of the master’s distribution of the talents. The servant who got one talent did not grumble about the size of his gift. It was after all a large amount and a valuable piece of property! We are told they were each given according to their ability. And each one presumably understood the importance of their management. None took it lightly.
We each have been given resources of great value to put to work in God’s kingdom. No ability is too small. No person’s contribution is unimportant. Each must look seriously at the importance of managing the wealth of gifts that God has given us. Once again, God shows himself to be a generous giver.
Now comes the time of reckoning. Now the books are open and we see how each of the three servants managed his part of the property.
The first two respond with joy and eagerness to show their master what has happened to his investment. “Come and see!” They urge their master to look at the growth of his property much like a child begging a parent to come and look at his handiwork! The master is pleased. And the servants are invited to share in their master’s joy.
The last servant, however, has responded in fear and sees no growth in his talent. There is no joy either in reporting back to the master and there is no joy for the master in receiving the report.
Look closely at the words of the servants as they respond, for here is where we see the difference. The first two servants saw their master as a generous giver, “You entrusted to us!” they say. They come back to God saying, “God you gave this to us” and they respond with great joy!
But the last servant saw his master as harsh, “I knew you were a hard man.” Did he forget he had been given much? The last servant made a serious miscalculation by viewing his master as a harsh judge. So he buries his gift in fear. It all boiled down to how the servants knew their master. The first two servants see the master’s generosity and take risks for him. The last one sees his master’s judgment and fails in his stewardship.
Let me rephrase the question at the beginning of the sermon: What would you be doing right now if you knew God were a generous giver? See, everything we do in life – every decision we make — every risk we take — every step of faith – is directly related to how we see God. If we see him as harsh and unforgiving, as stingy and mean, then we will cower if fear. Then we will hold on to what we have. Then we will bury our talent.
But you know God is not like that. You know that because you know Jesus. And Scripture says, “he who did not spare his own Son, how will he not also freely give us all things?” God held nothing back; can you really look at him and say, “I knew you to be a harsh God?” You know God is a generous giver. You know God is a God of abundance. You know his love and mercy never run out and you know that YOU have been entrusted with much.
To bury, to hold on too tightly, to risk too cowardly is the response of fear. And to live this way is an affront to God and his generosity. There is no joy in this type of living. But there is great joy in using the gifts God has given – that really belong to him. There is great joy in keeping a loose grip on what we have so that it can freely leave our grasp and grow great things in the kingdom. There is great joy in stepping out and taking a risk for the sake of God’s kingdom. There is great joy for us – but it is really the master’s joy. There is joy in heaven when the servants prove good and faithful.
God is going to call us to do something we are afraid to do. Perhaps in our personal lives, perhaps in our church. You’ve got to expect that from a generous God who spares nothing for us. When he’s providing the resources from his generosity and entrusting them to US, we can expect that He will call us to do something that will stretch us and require risk. And then we will remember the cross and keep our focus on the goodness, the generosity, the GRACE of God.
