Dr. Ron Sumners
August 14, 2005
Matthew 25:14-30
The people to whom Jesus first spoke these words were very familiar with a practice of this sort. In those days, wealthy people fell into two groups: merchants and rulers. The merchants had to journey to other places to secure their goods, some going as far as India and parts of Southern Europe; and the provincial rulers in the system of the Roman Empire, mostly tax collectors, were summoned to Rome from time to time. Before departing on long journeys, merchants and rulers turned their property over to trusted slaves. Because travel was so uncertain back then, there was no way of knowing how long they would be gone or if they would come back at all.
One example of this scenario involved the son of Herod the Great, a man named Archelaus. In 4 B. C., a shift in imperial power occurred, and he had to return to Rome to secure his right to continue to be ruler of Judea and Samaria. In the custom of the day, he called his most trusted lieutenants and made each one of them responsible for certain parts of his holdings. He would have charged them to do what they had seen him doing and be ready to give an account when he returned.
Not only is such an image reflective of the way things were done in that era, but it also describes accurately the way the Hebrews understood the relation of God to history and to human beings. Creation was an act of divine generosity: the Holy One set out to enable creatures in His own image to experience the kind of joy that was uniquely God's. This meant that such beings would necessarily possess three characteristics if the divine goal was to be achieved. They would need power - the ability to do things, to make things happen. They would need freedom. And they would need the spark of the Holy Spirit.
Geddes Macgregor has written a little book entitled He Who Lets Us Be. His premise is that God shows his love for us as much in what he does not do for us as in what he does do! He says if our understanding is one in which God always hovers over us like a mother over an infant, then we are only seeing one aspect of God's reality. He says, "Creation was the moment when God ceased to be everything so we humans could become something."
For human beings to develop fully, God must back away from us and allow us to move on our own. How would a baby ever learn to walk if the parents continued to carry her everywhere? By putting the child down and moving away, the possibility for personal growth begins. Thus, God's self-distancing from us is not a sign of abandonment, but an expression of a love that will let us grow.
This is how the Hebrew understood the dynamics of creation, and it corresponds beautifully with Jesus' analogy of a rich man handing over certain powers and freedoms and then going away. When God ceased to be the sole actor on the stage of history, our chance was born. It is God's plan that we grow up under a loving eye but not under a domineering thumb. This is the framework Jesus sets forth in the parable to describe God's relation to us and our relation to God.
The story unfolds. One slave was given five talents, another two talents, and the third only one, each according to his ability. A talent was simply a measurement, a weight, usually of silver. But the case can be made that it could mean any talent or ability that God has entrusted to us. Look at the three individuals whom Jesus identifies in this story. There is a sense in which they are all alike, in that each received the opportunity because of the action of another. None of these individuals possessed anything on their own. What they had was given by the owner.
In the same way, each one of them was given the same mandate; they were to imitate what they had seen the master doing while he was with them. They were to perpetuate the process that he had set in motion. Each one was told that the owner would be back, and they would be accountable for what was entrusted to them. In these ways all were exactly alike. And that is true of all of us here today.
Every one of us was given our chance to live as a gift of God. We did not engineer our birth into the world. It was a gift - a sheer, total, and unmerited gift. We were all given the same mandate as well: to do with our gifts and powers what God does with His. That accountability applies to each of us. God is not an irresponsible or indifferent giver; God is going to want to know at the end of our journey what we have done with all we were given through the abundance of His generosity. It is in these ways that we are all alike!
At the same time, these three men are also markedly different from each other: one had responsibility for five talents, another for two, and another for only one. This is an accurate reflection of our human situation: while we are alike in our relation and our dependency on God, we are very different in our talents and capabilities. We are not equal in this regard.
How did the three slaves respond to the challenge? The one who was given five talents went out and put those resources to work, just as the master had always done. Before long, he had turned the five talents into ten. The slave who had received the two talents did the same, but the slave who had received only one talent responded differently. He dug a hole in the ground and buried the master's money.
The landowner eventually returned to settle all accounts. He said to the slave who presented to him the ten talents, ''Well done, good and trusted slave! You have been faithful in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." The man who presented him with the four talents received the same praise.
When the last slave reported in, it was a different story. "Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so, I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here is what is yours."
At this, the master exploded, "You wicked and lazy slave! You ought to have invested my money with bankers, and on my return, I would have received my own plus interest." He took the one talent from him and gave it to the slave with ten and banished the man from his sight.
What are we to make of these images? I think they confirm the fact that we are made in the image of a dynamic and creative God, and that we do taste true joy when we do what God has taught us to do. The two slaves who were energetic and creative with their gifts modeled what God had in mind for creation from the very first. This universe is full of mystery, but I think you can count on the fact that it is finally a fair and faithful place when you follow the example of the Creator described so beautifully in Genesis. God freely used His power to delight himself and to bless all that he touched, and this is the pattern we are meant to follow as well.
This does not mean we will, at every moment, get exactly what we think we want. It does mean that there is always faithfulness between what we sow and what we reap. You will get from life what you invest your life in! In other words, you reap what you sow.
In this parable, the owner is not as interested in the quantity of what each was given as in their faithfulness to be creative and fruitful with their opportunities. God is not going to ask for the same results from each one of us because we have not all been given the same opportunities or abilities. What will be asked of us is, ''What have you done with what you were given?"
There is a wonderful old parable that describes when one comes before the judgment seat of God. God will not ask, ''Why weren't you Abraham" or ''Why weren’t you Moses?" What God will want to know is, ''Were you yourself? Did you do the best with the 'you' I made you to be?"
Remember that the sole purpose of existence is for us to have fellowship with God and enjoy Him forever. The only way you can do that is by being the best "You" that you can possibly be.
It is interesting to note that the slave with one talent did not abuse the gift given by the master. He did not go out and waste it with wild living or in a foolish venture. He simply did nothing with it. God's condemnation of inertia in scripture is severe. The Church at Laodicea was condemned for being "lukewarm", neither hot nor cold. The sin of under-utilizing is just as serious as the sin of abuse. Sin is a matter of trying to be either more or less than we ought to be, and either way, "we fall short of the glory of God," as Paul said in Romans 3:23.
Maybe the slave felt that since his talent was so small it didn't matter what he did with it. I believe that in God's creation, there is nothing that is insignificant. It is a mistake to confuse size with value.
Nashville music publisher Bob Benson recognized this fact clearly. He tells about his son being given a bit part in an elementary school play. The boy had hoped for a bigger part, but he had only two lines close to the end of the play. The performance took place on a hot, May evening, and this is what Benson wrote in his journal that night:
"Mike was not a star, by any means, but he waited faithfully, and when his moment came, he was ready. He said his lines, and he said them well - not too soon, not too late, not too loud, not too soft, but just right." Then Benson went on to reflect:
"I am just a bit player too, not a star in any sense of the word, but God gave me a line or two in the pageant of life, and when the curtain falls and the drama ends and the stage is vacant at last, I do not ask for the critics rave or fame in any amount. My only hope is this - that I can hear the voice of God saying, 'He said his lines and he said them well - not too soon, not too late, not too loud, and not too soft. He said his lines and he said them well."'
There is nothing insignificant that comes from the hand of God. I cannot help but wonder if that one-talent slave failed to recognize the incredible significance of the tiny thing that was given to him. I wonder if you yet recognize the eternal significance of the gifts that God has placed in your hands!
God won't ask me, in that day of accounting, why I wasn't Billy Graham or the Apostle Paul. He will ask what I did with the few gifts I was given. He will ask me if I was the best Ron Sumners I could be. And I want to be able to hear Him say, "you said your lines and you said them well, not too late, not too soon, not too soft, not too loud. You played your part, and you did it well."
I pray that for you also.
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