Matthew 25:14-30
“What’s In Your Wallet?”
Associate Pastor Doug Forsberg
11/13/2005
The best known theologians of our day are Oprah and Dr. Phil. Everyday, Oprah and Dr. Phil proclaim who we are, why we are here, and how we will get to where we want to be. Theirs is a theology of human progress and goodness without need of a redeemer. In the theology presented to us by Oprah and Dr. Phil, we discover that the way anyone gets to heaven, regardless of what they have believed or not believed, is by dying. God is not a judge in these contemporary theologies; we simply experience a blinding light and lots of warm fuzzies as we are drawn into the presence of God at our deaths.
Perhaps that’s why it can be difficult for us to hear the Parable of the Talents that is before us this morning. This is a parable of judgment; there is a distinct division drawn between those who have been faithful to their master and those who have not. Those who have been faithful know their master’s happiness and those who have not are cast out into darkness. Since we have been saturated by the theologies proclaimed by Oprah and Dr. Phil, Jesus’ parable sounds harsh to us.
This story might remind us of the credit card commercials where the middle aged man comes home with a new sports car, new clothes, and a new set of golf clubs only to be met by his wife at the door. As she stares at this abundance of goods, hundreds of Vikings begin streaming into the neighborhood and yard, climbing over this poor couple’s house. The wife says, “Honey, you didn’t use that high interest rate credit card for all this did you?” The Vikings continue to press in on the couple and at the moment they are ready to attack, the husband says, “Of course not. I used the Capitol One card.” In a fit of disgust, the Vikings throw down their weapons. There will be no reckoning for Paul and Judy on this day, for they used their low interest credit card. A fierce Viking then stares into the face of every viewer and says, “What’s in your wallet?”
What’s in your wallet? Judgment is never a warm fuzzy kind of thing, and in the parable before us, Jesus forces his listeners to come to terms with judgment and he does so in a way that should make those who seek him take notice and act on his teaching. When you and I understand this story as a glimpse of the Kingdom of God, a picture of what is to come, we can receive it with joy and take to heart what is taught; we may also be driven to our knees in repentance, for we find in this parable that those who faithfully serve their master are rewarded while those who serve their master unfaithfully are punished.
This parable starts out simply enough. We’re told that the Kingdom of Heaven will be like a man who owns quite a bit of property. This man is going on a journey so he entrusts his property to his servants. He gives five talents to one servant, two to another, and one to another. The amount given to each servant corresponds to that servant’s ability to use that talent faithfully.
To understand this parable, we need to know what a talent is. Perhaps you’ve thought that this refers to a coin of a certain value, but in Palestine a talent was actually a measure of weight. We don’t know exactly what is weighed out in this story: gold, silver or copper, but we do know that one talent was very valuable. It is entirely possible that each one of these talents was worth 20 years wages to these servants.[1] If that’s the case, then this man gave out the equivalent of the value of 160 years of labor to these three servants, and he expected them to bring him a return on his investment.
We often misuse our money, so this parable hits us right at home, but God also entrusts us with many other gifts that we misuse. One commentator notes that, “Anything whereby we may glorify God is ‘a talent.’ Our gifts, our influence, our money, our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s Church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible – all, all are talents.”[2] As we think of what this parable means, we need to think in wider terms than Jesus saying, “What’s in your wallet?” We need to consider every gift we have been given and discern whether or not we use it in a manner worthy of our Master.
After the wealthy man goes on his journey, these three servants use the talents that have been entrusted to them in different ways. The servant with five talents and the servant with two talents put them to work in a manner that yields results. Talk about investment professionals! Both of these guys were the kind of professionals we’d all like to deal with; they brought back returns of 100 percent. Each found a way to grow the talents that had been entrusted to him. Each wanted to serve his master faithfully and eagerly awaited the master’s return. Who wouldn’t eagerly await their boss’s return knowing that they could show a 100 percent gain in productivity, efficiency or profit. These two servants had put their master’s talents to work; and while this may have been risky, they were more concerned with pleasing their master than with their own well being.
The third servant was different. He didn’t want anything to do with the talent that had been entrusted to him, so he dug a hole and buried that talent. He didn’t make any attempt to bring forth a return on his master’s investment. He put it where no one could see it and made sure that no one knew about it. He certainly didn’t want to lose that talent. One wonders if he thought that after his master was away long enough he might use that talent for himself. Who knows? Regardless, his master’s talent was useless as it lay in its pit.
Jesus goes on with his story. After a long period of time, the master returns and settles his accounts with these three servants. We might call this a day of reckoning for these servants. The servant with five talents and the servant with two talents both approach the master without fear for they have served him faithfully. Both say basically the same thing to the master, and if we were to translate it literally from the Greek it would be, “Master, five talents you gave me. See, five more have I gained.” Each servant begins with reference to the talents. They are brimming over with excitement. They want to please their master and a 100 percent return should bring plenty of pleasure. Notice that this is loving, gracious service that the servants have rendered to their master. It is with joy that these two servants hand over to their master not only the original talents they were given but also the talents they earned. Noting has been squandered.
The master is exuberant in his praise. “Excellent!” he says. “I will put you in charge of much. Come and share in my happiness.” Friends, this is a celebration. The master is overjoyed at his servants’ faithfulness, and his servants are basking in the glow of their master’s praise. I am encouraged by the fact that the praise is exactly the same for the servant who earned five talents and the servant who earned two. The master doesn’t care about the amount; he desires each servant’s faithfulness. I don’t know about you, but I want to be a part of that kind of day of reckoning.
The third servant was different. Surely, he saw what his fellow servants had accomplished and recognized his failure, but he tries to put on a good show for his master. Instead, he only digs a deeper hole for himself than the one he had already dug for his talent. First, he slanders his master, accusing him of being a hard man. Then he tries to make an excuse for himself, saying that fear led him to bury his talent.
Not surprisingly, the master sees right through these deceptions. After all, someone who entrusts 160 years worth of wages to servants really can’t be too hard of a man, and it is clear that this servant’s inactivity is more the result of laziness than fear. The third servant didn’t want to try; he didn’t want to risk anything, so he sat on his backside and buried his master’s talent. The master is furious with this servant, and he says that the least this servant could have done was to let the bankers use his talent and so earn interest for the master.
What Jesus wants his disciples to understand is that the third servant’s talent was not his to bury. The talent was his master’s, given to the servant for a time, to see what could be gained from it. In the end, we can only guess that this third servant hated his master, not trusting the master enough to put this talent to work like the other servants did, so this one talent was taken from him and given to the servant with ten talents. For the third servant, this day of reckoning has not turned out well at all. When the master asks, “What’s in your wallet?” his wallet betrays him, for it is empty, and he is shown to be a wicked, lazy servant.
This parable teaches many things to us. Let’s focus on two truths that help us understand how Jesus’ parable offers us a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. In verse 29 we’re told that everyone who has will be given more, even an abundance. Those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
This doesn’t really sound like Jesus. He never advocates taking from the poor and giving to the rich, does he? No, he doesn’t, but he is no longer talking about money here; he is expanding the idea of having way beyond monetary and material wealth. He is speaking of all the gifts we receive from the Lord. We know from Jesus’ teaching in this parable that every single person is given talents in relation to their abilities. These talents are not ours to do with as we please, for though we may possess them, God owns them.
In faithfulness some servants take the talents they have been given and freely share them with others and in so doing there is a return on our Master’s investment. Like the first two servants in the parable those who take what God has given them and make more with it experience the Master as a loving, gracious Lord who cares for them and wants them to succeed with what has been entrusted to them.
Perhaps you are wondering if, in this parable, Jesus is teaching that we are saved by what we do, or by works. Clearly, the servants are commended for getting a return for their master. Yet, scripture is clear that our works can never earn our salvation; they are instead, a result of faith at work in our hearts. In James’ letter we are told, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (14-17). So it is that faith does indeed come first, and then by that faith, through that faith, we are able to take the talents entrusted to us and bring a return to our Master.
The other side of this coin is that those who claim faith, but have no actions to accompany that faith are found wanting by their Master. Think of the third servant who by all accounts knew his master and understood his master’s desires. When he buried his talent, he revealed his real feelings for his master. So it is that some who cry out “Lord! Lord!” will be told, “Away from me you evil doers; I never knew you.” (Matt 7:23) If nothing else, this parable should make each one of us take care to look at our lives and to be sure that we are not burying our talents for they are the Lord’s and he has only entrusted them to us for a time.
Through this parable Jesus also teaches us that our Master will indeed return and demand a reckoning of the talents entrusted to us. Notice in verse 30 that the third servant is cast away from his master’s presence into a darkness that his master cannot inhabit. This is no Oprah and Dr. Phil warm fuzzy. This is hard, but Jesus is clear that this is the fate of those who are found wanting.
For the faithful, who have put the talents entrusted to them to work in their families, in their occupation, in their neighborhoods, and in their church, there is much joy. It is the faithful who upon the Master’s return are welcomed into his presence and invited to share in his happiness. Can you imagine the joy of meeting your Master in this way? Imagine the joy and honor of showing your Master the return brought forth from the talents he entrusted to you. Imagine your Master looking directly into your eyes and hearing him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!” To be a faithful servant is to be invited into a Kingdom of glory. So it is that faithful servants have no fear of their Master asking, “What’s in your wallet?”
In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] William Hendrickson, New Testament Commentary: An Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1973, 13th printing 2002, p. 879.
[2] John Ryle quoted in James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of Matthew: An Expositional Commentary: Volume 2, The Triumph of the King, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2001, p. 532.