The Parable of the Talents

Yesterday's sermon was so incredible and encouraging that I thought I'd share it with all of you beautiful people! It was done by Steve Brown, the brilliant voice of the Key Life radio show (http://www.keylife.org).

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. ¹⁵To 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. ¹⁶The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. ¹⁷So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸But 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. ²⁰The 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. ²⁵So 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? ²⁷Well 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. ²⁹For 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. ³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Ok, so that was a lot to read, but here's what Steve Brown had to say about it:

First, remember, that Jesus was, is, and will always be the only one who can be good and faithful. God knows this and this parable is NOT saying that we need to be good and faithful, because that's not possible. The only thing that we can do is know Jesus and just learn to be more like him.

1. It is impossible to serve a hard master and do anything but dig holes to protect your stuff (Matt. 25:24-25)
This parable is for the religious leaders and Pharisees. Jesus is saying, "You teach, talk, say what you're supposed to... but you are stone cold dead!" They, like the servant with one talent, think that they are serving a "hard master." They couldn't be more wrong! Our God is a sovereign Lord, yes, but He is also filled with love and compassion!

2. It is impossible to dig holes and dance at the same time (Matt. 25: 25)
So I can't remember who said this, but here's a cool quote, "I keep walking and I stumble and fall. I get up and I stumble and fall. Then, I get up and I start dancing." We serve a compassionate master who forgives us every time we fall, so why not take a chance? We don't have anything to protect. The master gave all of the servants talents and the last servant thought that he needed to dig holes to protect his one. The master was angry with this servant because he didn't take a risk and do anything with the talent that the master gave him! We really don't have anything to protect! God wants us to go out there and just do something with what He's given us! He knows that sometimes we'll completely mess up, but at least we did SOMETHING!

3. It is impossible to play poker or live a full life without risk (Matt. 25:27)
We are covered. We are forgiven. So... we NEED to take risks! We can afford to lose a few hands in our poker game of a life, because God's got us covered! So now God challenges us by saying, "What are you going to do with the freedom I just gave you?"