Pastor Tom Johnson, November 15, 2020
Jesus’ parable of the talents is a story of a master who goes away on a long journey. He leaves his three slaves behind. Each of them is given bags of money. A talent of silver would have been worth millions—a talent of gold tens of millions. We should remember that these are slaves. Jesus’ parable does not legitimize slavery as an institution. But it helps us understand the uniqueness of this particular master. He entrusts these slaves with wealth that would take lifetimes to earn. He goes on a long journey. When he returns, he calls them to account. The one he knew he could entrust the most yielded the most. The one who he could entrust the least yielded nothing.
There was no stock market—no way to multiply wealth like this without creativity, ingenuity, and hard work. They would have purchased a business or started one up from scratch. The would have sown seeds, baked bread, mended tents, constructed boats—anything to earn money. When the master finally returns, those who invested, worked, and doubled the master’s wealth show their healthy pride and joy in faithfully serving their master. “Look, master, I made double of what you gave me!”
But there is the one slave who did nothing. He was the one entrusted with the least. The master knew his ability and character and lack thereof. And, yet, the master still is generous and entrusts a vast amount of wealth to him. But he merely buries this huge bag of gold in the ground. What if he died before his master’s return? His investment would be lost. He does not purchase a field, hire workers, or yield a harvest. He does not buy cedar from Lebanon to build homes. The only work he does is to dig a hole in the ground. He is indeed lazy.
He is indeed wicked. What is his defense when he is called to account? “Master, I knew you to be 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. Take what is yours.” It’s not unlike humanity’s fall into sin when God shows up after they ate the forbidden fruit. Adam says, “The woman you gave me, O Lord…” Adam blames his disobedience on God and his wife! So the slave puts the blame on the master! That is what happens when we believe a lie—our actions—our inaction—flow from our unbelief and a lack of trust in the Master. He calls the master harsh. And, yet, we know the master was remarkably trusting and generous toward his slaves.
He accuses the master of reaping where he did not sow. But where did the funds to purchase the field and the seed come from? Where did the money to pay the laborers who reaped come from? The master. He is the source of all this goodness. “So I was afraid,” says the lazy slave. Again, we see that the opposite of faith is not unbelief but fear. The slave should have trusted in the goodness of the master. Instead he is paralyzed by fear—fear based on a lie that maligned the master.
I believe Jesus’ parable teaches us that character matters, integrity matters. What we do when think no one is watching matters. What we fail to do before Jesus comes back again matters. Scripture says, “Each of us will give an account” (Rom 14:12). Here is an alarming truth: there will be no faithfulness or productivity if we believe Christ our Master is harsh, greedy, and unfair. Bad works flow from a bad theology. You’ll remember the Reformer Martin Luther was so overwhelmed by his belief in a wrathful, demanding God that he said he hated God. We too will be paralyzed by fear… We will justify our laziness… We will blame God and not ourselves for our wickedness… IF we have a wrong view of God...if our view of the Lord Jesus, our Master is twisted and skewed...if we let fear overcome our faith...we will be held captive to our flawed imagination of God.
God’s gifts are there all along. The slave could have dug up the bag of gold at any time. He cheated himself out of participating in the rich work of the master’s kingdom. He could have taken the risk to act—to invest—to take a step of faith. God gave him riches to grow and bring him and the master greater joy. He accuses the master of being harsh, greedy, and unfair. But he just witnessed how the master treated his faithful slaves. He said, “You have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.”
These are astounding words that describe the hope of our Lord’s return. God has invested millions—tens of millions of riches and grace into our lives. He calls them “a few things” compared to the “many things” of the life of the world to come. We will be rewarded exponentially for our faithfulness to God’s gifts by many more of God’s gifts. Our Master is not harsh but exceedingly and eternally generous. Our courage to overcome our fears to utilize the gifts God has given us come from our confidence in his goodness and his faith in us. Our Master reaps what he sows through us—just as Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth” (1 Cor 3:6). He says to the faithful slaves, “Enter the joy of your master.” These are not words of a master to a slave—treated as property. These are words of affection and adoption. The Master treats them as heirs—as sons.
So God invites us into the joys of our Master Jesus as children. Our Master was filled with joy even when he suffered and died for us to purchase the riches of forgiveness and eternal life for us. Scripture says it was “the joy that was set before him that he endured the cross” (Heb 12:2). Yes, we are accountable to God. But it’s not to paralyze us but energize us. We may need to dig up some of those gifts we have squandered and neglected. And then we invest the riches he has given us—trusting his goodness, love, and generosity. We live our lives in our baptismal adoption as children of God. The joy of the Master is always with us and eternally before us. We enter the joy of the Master when we participate in his Kingdom here with his riches. It is but a foretaste of the surpassing joy of the world to come—“what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). When our Master returns, we will enter his joy once again—not at slaves but as his beloved daughters and sons as he welcomes us into his eternal home.
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