In this sermon Brad Keller preached on the Parable of the Talents found on Matthew 25:14-30.

Click here to listen to the sermon audio.

Summary
God gives us resources according to our abilities. He doesn’t give us more than we can handle. In fact, He gives generously, providing more than enough for us to work with. In the parable, the men received huge sums of money. The ones that received 5 and 2 talents used this money wisely, doubling it. These two took risks with this money in order to make more money. There is always an element of risk when we endeavor to make money. In the same way Christians experience risk as we attempt to use our resources for God’s kingdom. However, God is pleased with those who take these risks, walking by faith and not by sight. In contrast the third servant failed to take risks and do something with his talent. He chose the safety of hiding his talent rather than risk.

God is instructing us and the apostles to not be lazy but diligent to use all that the Lord has given us for his glory. God has given us gifts and he expects us to use them even at great risk to ourselves for His glory and the extension of his kingdom. The men who risked everything and gained more were rewarded and the man who risked nothing was punished.

Conclusion
The lack of taking risks is the leading cause of pathetic Christianity. No one is willing to take any risks.  We as Christians are so afraid of everything that we do nothing.  Fear is our driving motivation.  Fear to fail, fear of man, fear of success, etc.  We are so afraid that like the guy with the one talent we bury it.  I am convinced that God wants to move in the hearts of many in this generation.  There is only one way that we will find out.  We have to try.  We can not afford to be apathetic.  We must be faithful with what God has given us right now.  We must not wait until tomorrow.  We simply have no time.  Time is short, our days are numbers and this world will pass us by very quickly.  If we really want to make an impact for Christ we must start today. 

Did you notice that both the men who were willing to risk their talents to get more both succeeded?  Yes, everyone is a success who risks for the Lord.  What we do may fail but the blessing is in being faithful to God not the result.  Plus God blesses faithfulness.  God will bless you as you are faithful to carry out his mission on earth. 

God has given us gifts and he expects us to use them even at great risk to ourselves for His glory and the extension of his kingdom.  Based on this passage I believe we should respond in three ways.

1.  Get behind Veritas. I know Veritas is a risk, we together at the church must continue to move Veritas forward for his glory.  God works through his church and Veritas is his church.  We can not afford for any of you to sit on the sidelines.  We need you involved with your time, talent and treasure.  We must all work together for the gospel in our part of God’s creation. 

2.  Be risky for God.  William Wallace in the movie Braveheart said, every man dies but not every man really lives.  In a sense this statement is very true.  We are all going to die and we should all want to get to heaven and hear our master say well done good and faithful servant.  If we are going to hear that then we must take risks for God.  We must be willing to go outside of our comforts zone for the glory of Christ. 

3.  Do big things for God.  If want to do big things for God then do little things for him everyday.  Every person that has lived a life that has had a lasting impact for Christ in the world was simply faithful one day at a time.  We must be faithful with what God has given us one day at a time.

I also think it is interesting in the Parable of the talents that they lazy servants view of the master is false.

I did not get to mention this because I was short on time.  The lazy servant viewed the master as harsh and reaping where he did not sow.  The master does not even rebuke his wrong view but rather holds him to his false view.  If you knew that I was harsh why didn’t you do something.  The man was giving an excuse for his fear and yet the master simply held him accountable for his false belief. 

Is is also noteworthy that the Master did not call him a fearful servant but lazy.  The servant said he was afraid but the master called him lazy.  Therefore, fear seemed to the servant to be his driving motivation but maybe at the core it was because he was lazy.  I don’t think we know for sure but it is interesting. 

In Christ
Brad

Brad Keller - 10 November 2009 08:40 PM

The lazy servant viewed the master as harsh and reaping where he did not sow.

I always wondered about that description of the master, especially if you consider the master in the parable representing God or Jesus. I had always though that the master in the parable only loosly represents God; and the character of being harsh is simply the realism that Jesus inserted to make it more real to life. But I can certainly see how there is something more to be gleaned from the behavior of the wicked and lazy servant.

I read over James Boice’s sermon on this passage, he gleans an incredible amount form this parable and I wish I could share all of it here; but to be brief he pointed out that there is a fundamental difference in the way the servant related to the master in comparison to the other two.

William Hendriksen has tried to capture the tone of the conversations in this parable. I think he is right that the decisive matter is the way in which the two good servants and the one bad servant related to the master. The faithful servants served well because they loved him and wanted to please him, while the wicked servant failed to serve well because he actually hated and resented his master. (Boice, The Gospel of Matthew, 532)

New American Commentary points out that this view of God as a harsh master is not uncommon.

Such a view of God proliferated among ancient religions and unfortunately recurs far too often among Christians as well. (Blomberg, The New American Commentary, 373)

Spurgeon is simply awesome; he points out:

There is a narrow path between indifference and morbid sensibility. Some men seem to feel no holy anxiety: they place their Master’s talent in the earth, leave it there, and take their pleasure and their ease without a moment’s compunction. Others profess to be so anxious to be right that they come to the conclusion that they can never be so, and fall under a horror of God, viewing his service as a drudgery, and himself as a hard master-though probably they never say so. Between these two lines there is a path, narrow as a razor’s edge, which only the grace of God can enable us to trace; it is free alike from carelessness and from bondage, and consists in a sense of responsibility bravely borne by the help of the Holy Spirit. (Spurgeon, Vol. 26: Spurgeon’s Sermons, Sermon 1541)

I voted in the poll that I felt like I had 2 talents and I’m still working on making 2 more! If I think of myself on a minute by minute basis there are times when I act more like the lazy servant and God forbid! What a severe warning and admonition we have in this passage. We should be continually evaluating ourselves and discerning whether we are being good and faithful, or fearful, wicked and lazy. And if we are doing the later, it is time to repent and get to work.