The Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Today’s Gospel is a parable that ends with a warning that you and I and every Christian will do well to take to heart: “To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
So are you a Have or a Have Not? Asked another way, will you be welcomed “into the joy of your master,” or will you join this parable’s “worthless servant” in “the outer darkness… [where] there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”? Do not rush into your answer! Dear Christian friends, Today’s Gospel does not ask you to question whether you have been given God’s fabulously rich gift of salvation. You are the baptized of Christ. In your Baptism, Christ Jesus Himself poured out upon you all the rich benefits of His salvation, earned for you by His cross and death. Stated another way, Christ in your Baptism give to you a rich treasure that far exceeds those gifts that were given to the three men in today’s Gospel. They were only given money! You have been given forgiveness of sins, and with it, eternal life! Today’s Gospel does not ask you to question whether you have been given God’s fabulously rich gift of salvation. Today’s parable asks you to think about what you have done with the gift of salvation God has given. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Jesus tells you these Words so that you will examine yourself. Jesus wants you to question yourself, saying, “Forget about the talents of gold these men received! What have I done with the far richer gifts—the baptismal gifts of forgiveness and salvation—that I have been given? Have I made good use of my Lord’s grace and generosity, or have I lived in fear? At this point, a little honesty would go a long way. As much as you would undoubtedly like to say you have done well with your master’s rich gifts, you know better than to lie to Jesus. Your position might not be so extreme as the third guy in today’s Gospel, the one who “dug in the ground and hid his master’s money,” but you have not doubled the investment, either. Everyone present here is so far away from these first two servants in this Gospel—both of whom made fantastic use of the gifts they had been given—everyone present here is so far away from these first two servants in this Gospel, that we would be wise, each of us, to evaluate our lives and make some major changes. Praise be to God! Alleluia! Jesus is speaking today’s Gospel to us TODAY, while it is still daylight and before the night comes, when no one can work (John 9:4). Jesus is speaking today’s Gospel to us today, so that we have time to make our changes of life and to do better than that “worthless servant… [who] dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.” Your position might not be so extreme as the “worthless servant” in today’s Gospel, but that guy will nevertheless help you understand why you have failed to double the investment, so to speak; that is, why you have not done better with the rich and immeasurable gift of grace and salvation that your God has given to you. The servant who hid his master’s money tells his entire story with these words: “I was afraid.” Listen to again this servant’s self-defense. For the most part, it is a pile of excuses and accusations the master, as if the master had done this servant wrong in giving the gift: He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” Doesn’t this manure pile of excuses sound very similar to the way our forefather Adam likewise attempted to defend and excuse his own sin while still in Eden? “The woman whom YOU gave to be with me, SHE gave me the fruit of the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12). The only words that really mattered in the world’s first confession of sin are these: “And I ate.” The rest of Adam’s words were merely evasion and smoke. In the same way, when this “worthless servant” explains himself in today’s Gospel, he blows a lot of smoke and gas: He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” In this dung heap, only three words matter: “I was afraid.” With these Words, God has written into His Bible the explanation why you and I likewise have failed to do well with the rich gifts God that has given to us. You were afraid and I was afraid. · Why do you lack generosity? You are afraid that, if you give something away, you will not have it any more. · Why do I lack courage? I am afraid of what you might think of me. · Why are you slow to forgive? You are afraid your neighbor might get away with something, or he might not get punished unless you do it. · Why do I lack faith? I always want to feel like I am in control. · Why do you fail to do good works toward others? You are afraid that you might be forgotten, exploited, or those others will not return with good works done toward you. · Why do I feel insecure about myself and my future? I do not fear, love and trust in God anywhere near as much as I should and I could. · Why do we bury God’s gifts in the ground, so to speak, acting as though we have never received anything good from Him? We are afraid. We fear that our God might prove to be less gracious, less merciful, less constantly attentive, less generous, and less faithful than He claims to be. Shame on me. Shame on you. Return with me to today’s Gospel. Look again and relearn the immense gift that your heavenly Father has given to you through His Son Jesus! · “It will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants.” Mark it well! Jesus does not say here that the man called some of his servants or a few of his servants or only his most trustworthy servants. Jesus simply says, “A man… who called his servants.” Every servant in the house was given a share of the property. This is good new from God because it means none of us here have been overlooked. When you were baptized into Christ, you were given your share of your master’s rich gifts along with everyone else. Stated another way, forgiveness is yours, given personally to you by your Lord and Master, in the same way that this man in today’s Gospel called not a few of his servants, but ALL of them. · “… and entrusted to them his property.” (This is poorly translated! I hate to criticize the words you read in God’s Bible, but our ESV translation should have done better here.) This man did not entrust his property to his servants, as if he expected to get it back. This man GAVE his property to his servants. He handed property over to his servants (GK: paradidoken) in the same way that Pilate handed our Lord Jesus over to be crucified. Pilate did not entrust Jesus to the executioner (Matthew 27:26). Pilate handed Jesus over and he did not expect to get Jesus back. In the same way, the man in today’s Gospel did not entrust anyone with his property. He handed his property over. Forgiveness of sins, life, salvation: What God has given to you is yours and He has no desire to call in the note, so to speak, or demand it back from you. If you bury God’s gift in the ground and pretend you never received it—don’t worry, God will take back your gift and give it to others. Nevertheless, God has given forgiveness and salvation to you. His gifts are yours, not as a trust, but as a gift to be loved and enjoyed without fear. · “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.” Again, a picture of God’s grace! It may seem to you that the servant who was given only one talent did not receive very much. Yet one talent was still a ridiculously large amount of money. It was certainly more than the servant needed to live out the rest of his life without want or need. So it is with each of you, the servants of Christ gathered here. Perhaps some Christians look as though they have been given more faith than you; perhaps some Christians seem to live easier lives than you; perhaps some Christians appear to be less afraid than you. “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!” (Psalm 136:1). “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.” Faith, hope and love: Even if it should seem as though I have received less than you, I still have MORE than enough—and so do you. · “… to each according to his ability.” This, too is good news: God your heavenly Father so intimately knows you—He keeps such careful track of you—that He knows exactly what you need. Like a finely tailored suit, or a hand-sewn glove, or a carefully measured prescription: God’s gifts to you are custom-tailored to you and for you. You shall never be without His gifts, and on account of His gifts, you have nothing to fear. Now let’s return to the original question: Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” So are you a Have or a Have Not? Asked another way, will you be welcomed “into the joy of your master,” or will you join this parable’s “worthless servant” in “the outer darkness… [where] there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”? Jesus wants you to know that you are a Have. Jesus knows that you are a Have because He has given everything to you. Jesus wants you to live as though you are a Have, and not a Have Not. Jesus also promises you that, in addition to what you have already been given, more shall yet come: “To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance.” Because of what you have been given, your Lord Jesus shall one day say also to you, “Enter into the joy of your master.” The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
