Parable of the Talents

Firstly, I hope you all had a good holiday break and are still able to make the most of the last few weeks of the summer. We were away all the weekends after Christmas until the end of January and I got in more rounds of golf in a month than I have for about 25 years.

It’s been a good time of reflection, I wonder what the Lord has been saying to you over the Summer. For me, It’s brought to mind a few of the parables Jesus spoke especially related to the end times. About the narrow path, about perseverance, about the wise and foolish virgins and of what it means to be ready for his return.

Let’s read 

Matthew 25:14-30

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

We can understand this parable quite easily. Jesus is the man who gave his servants the talents and then travelled to a far country when he ascended into Heaven after his resurrection. We are the servants entrusted with his talents and he expects a return.

Faith needs to be put into action. Works follow grace just like the book of James teaches. If we do nothing with the grace we have been given, we are like the unprofitable servant.

There are 3 lessons that stand out and we can check our attitude, to see which servant we are most like. Are there any other lessons you can see?

1. Multiply what you’ve been given - money (and remember it’s not your money, physical, intellectual, creative etc)

He traded, he was active

The value was built up. 

⁃ Wasn’t necessarily notes and coins

⁃ Shares

⁃ Land & housing

⁃ Raw materials to finished goods

⁃ Inventory

⁃ Commodities

⁃ Loans for investments

Many of you will remember the 2006 story of Kyle MacDonald, who traded his way from a single red paper clip to a house in a series of fourteen online trades over the course of a year.

This is not about money, this is about using our talents.

It might not always appear you are trading up either. One of Kyle MacDonald’s trades was giving up a years free rent in Phoenix for an afternoon with Alice Cooper. And he came home with a snow globe. I don’t think he could have possibly had a wife at that stage. 

2. Don’t be afraid like the unprofitable servant. Be fearless, have courage with the talent you’ve been given, take a risk. The wicked servant did not have a healthy fear of the Lord. His fear paralysed him. He did not display any faith. He could not handle any responsibility. He was afraid of making a mistake thinking he would be punished for it. He did not love the Lord and didn’t want to do anything for him. 

3. Don’t be lazy. Don’t be dreaming and never doing. Work hard and work smart. Love for others is an antidote to laziness. No one obtains a better life without some sacrifices and hard work. 

He who is given much, much is expected. We should be excited if the Lord has given us a lot (but it’s not for us!)

Having talent is complex because we can easily lapse into prideful thinking and looking down on others. But that’s how it is in the Kingdom of God. I always laugh when I remember Keith Green’s teaching on Jesus disciples. Jesus called them and us his sheep. And Keith said a sheep is a pretty dumb animal. Jesus did not call us his german shepherds or his dolphins. If you look around the room today, you might agree 🤣

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

The Lord loves variety. We are impressed by the lions, the elephants and the tigers. But the Lord is also impressed with the ants! 

Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.

That’s good news for those who think I don’t have much, I’m not special. The Lord loves to see someone who does a lot with very little! Someone who appreciates their gift no matter how small. Remember, it’s the Lord decides who gets what. He is not being unfair in the way he chooses to gift.

Charles Spurgeon once said;

Now, most men quarrel with this. But mark, the thing that you complain of in God, is the very thing that you love in yourselves. Every man likes to feel that he has a right to do with his own as he pleases. We all like to be little sovereigns. You will give your money freely and liberally to the poor; but if any man should impertinently urge that he had a claim upon your charity, would you give unto him? Certainly not; and who shall impeach the greatness of your generosity in so doing? 

It’s very humbling to realise I don’t have anything of my own that’s of value in God’s Kingdom. Jesus said without me you can’t do a thing. The Master entrusted the servants with his talents according to their ability. The ability that he had given them in the first place.

The talent was not the divine spark within that needs to be awakened as the New Age falsely teaches. The talent was given by the Master to bring a return for him. It never belonged to the servant.

Ephesians 2:4-10

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Whatever talent we have is because God is rich in mercy and this shows how kind he is and not how good we are. Our talent is for the benefit of others and ultimately the Lord. Again, how humbling this is for us. 

PCC is a church which has as its foundations the using of our talents as a core value of the church. We are not a church who pays the super pastor to do all the work while the congregation cruises in the pews. We all have something to offer at PCC.

CORE VALUE

what’s most important to us

1. We emphasise the “Body of Christ” Ministry and Mission with Jesus Christ as the Head…..

1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:11-16

2. …..each member exercising individual spiritual gift/s for the building of the Body and the Communication of the Gospel

Matthew 22:36-40

Matthew 28:18-20

CORE PURPOSES

what we want to achieve

1. every member exercising their gift/s within the church and in the mission field

2. every member encouraged and affirmed to utilise their gifts

3. every ministry / mission led by a called leader/s

4. every ministry / mission fulfilling our Core Value (or part of it)

In the same way, how can we individually use what the Lord has given us to faithfully do his work. In the end the Master trusted the profitable servants with more.

But someone might say I don’t have any talents or my talent is too small to be useful. That is not true according to this parable. It also doesn’t matter if your talent is not appreciated in the same way that some others  talent might be. The parable teaches we will all be called to account. 

What we are seeing in the US right now is the removal of corrupt stewards who used the resources they were entrusted with to ultimately benefit themselves and not the American people. This happens in companies too when you don’t understand why certain decisions have been made only to find out later that it wasn’t for the benefit of the company but for the individual who made the decision. Jesus’s words in the Parable of the Talents ring true today. He will ultimately remove the ones who were unfaithful and entrust his wealth to those who have been faithful even in the small things. That is what we should keep on doing, being faithful servants. It’s not for us but for the Lord.

How can PCC as a church trade and increase the return for the Lord. As a Leadership Team, we believe that this year the church can multiply it’s work by working more closely with PACT, each ministry enhancing the work of the other. You will find us as a sponsor on the PACT website. Galien has joined us to facilitate the Lord’s work in the youth of our community. 

« To support the spiritual and social development of rangatahi in the Papatoetoe Community through faith-based mentorship, outreach, and targeted youth programmes. »

Each one of us should consider how we can support this work this year, whether it be through our hospitality, or availability.

But not for us, for the Lord.