Sermon - 2014-11-16

Today's parable seems harsh.  It does not even seem Christian.  Aren't we suppose to care for those who are less fortunate?  Aren't we suppose to care and support one another?  When a person first reads through this parable, they may begin to wonder which person in the story are they?  The Master is almost certainly God, so you can’t be that one.  We then think, how much do we have? Do we have five talents? Two? Or are we the slave with one talent?  As we know the parable, we do not think that we are the person with five talents. Even as those of us who are humble begin to think, do I just have one talent?  Maybe I have two talents that I am able to use that God has given to me.  We don't want to be the slave who has only been given one talent.  Yet so often in our lives we think that we have only one talent, one ability that we are able to share with the world.

Now before we dive too far into the parable, let's back up.  Not just to the beginning, but to the part before the master even leaves.  The Master forms a relationship with each of the slaves and knows their abilities.  With each of them, he worked with them, teaching them about various parts and even how the Master works in the world.  When the Master gets ready to leave, he takes each of the slaves abilities into account.  We should be reminded of one very important thing.  The master gives the slaves the talents, the very things that they would need in order to succeed and grow. The Master gives to the slaves so that they can actually do everything that the Master is calling them to do.

The relationship that the slaves have with the master influences greatly what the slaves do with what has been given to them. The first two slaves, know and understand what the Master is calling them to do.  They work hard to use the talents that have been given to them and use them with others.  They understand that the Master would want the talents to be used to benefit and help others in the community around them.  When the Master gets to the final slave and receives the talent back, covered in dirt because the slave took the talent and did not share it with anyone.  The talent was taken and hid out of the world and not able to be used. This was against everything that the Master stood for and wanted the slaves to do.

Finally, when we look at the parable, we should also look at what the person thinks of the talents that has been given to them as it influences greatly what the person does with them.  When the last slave looked and saw that they only had one talent, they did not think that they had much to work with.  There was not enough to share with others, so he actually does nothing at all.

How often don't we feel this same way?  We do not think that we have enough talent or enough money to work with and worse, we know the Master's desire.  We simply do not do anything with it.  As we gather together and hear this parable, we begin to think of all the things that God has given to us.  We also begin to think of what the Master is calling us to do in the community around us.  Not to sit around and do nothing, but to get up and share all the love that God has given to us in His Own Son, and share that gift with others who we encounter.  We realize just how great a gift that we have been given by our Master.  We should also realize the work that the Master is calling us to do to share it with others and use that gift for the betterment of everyone in the community.

May we go forth knowing the great gift that the Master has given to us.  May we use our abilities to share that gift so when we see the Master again, we may know that we have fulfilled His Calling and Purpose.  Amen.