"Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. "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. So 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.' Matthew 25:13-30 NKJV
In light of what many believers feel is the nearness of the rapture of the Church on God’s calendar, I would hope our thoughts would turn to the question “are we truly ready to stand before the throne to give an account of our service?” I suppose I could be best described as an extremely conservative investor. As far as my money goes, no risk is the best risk. Your first thought when reading this parable could be that it's a story of different approaches to investing, but as we have come to learn, there is usually much more than the obvious when studying God’s Word.
As always, context is the key to understanding any portion of scripture. Here, Jesus is teaching His disciples about the importance of watching for the coming of His kingdom. At that point in time they thought that it was about to occur not understanding Jesus had yet to die, so Jesus illustrates that fact by telling this story. The master was going on a journey which would require him to be absent for some time, and during his absence, his servants would be required to administer his estate. In hindsight, we as a Church can see Jesus was painting a picture of the future in that He was going to leave this earth for a time and his disciples, as well as future believers would have the responsibility to administer His talents.
I think the first point we should consider here is that the servants were investing their masters talents, not their own. The message we as believers share is that of God’s grace to mankind and the love He has for us all in that He sent His only Son to die for our sins. Secondly, it is important to notice that the master knew his servants abilities, and as such, he only gave them what he knew they were equipped to handle. In other words, no task or responsibilities were asked of his servants that they would be unable to perform. He did not set them up to fail, but rather gave them everything they needed to succeed.
Eventually we find the master returns, and immediately he calls his servants to "settle accounts" with them. He was not content to just return to his estate and pick up where he left off, but rather wanted to examine the performance of his servants to see if they had fulfilled their responsibilities well. So I believe the third, and maybe the most important point is that if these servants knew their master, they should have known that they would be held accountable for their performance. I wouldn’t think they were at all surprised that he wanted to see how they had done in his absence.
Well, as we read, two of the servants performed up to their masters expectations. They "immediately" went to work with what they had been given, and were faithful to perform their duties. As a result, their investments produced results which according to their master, were not only acceptable, but worth a great reward. It is interesting to note as well that although the two were given different degrees of responsibility, their rewards were the same. The only thing the master required was "faithfulness".
Now we look at the third servant. By his own admission, he was afraid to do anything but hide the talent. But what was he afraid of? His own master? Quite obviously it appears that the master did not agree with this excuse for he certainly chooses to spell out what he thinks of his servant. "Wicked and lazy"! What a combination. These two words used together in the Greek describe someone who, by his very nature, is unwilling to put forth the effort to complete a task. So we have someone who not only is lazy, but tries to excuse his lack of effort by blaming someone else and making excuses. This servant receives his "reward" by having what he does possess taken away, and then he is cast out with others of his kind.
The message Jesus is giving us here is not too difficult to understand. Jesus is our master, and He has gone away to "prepare a place for us" and will soon return. In His absence, we have all, as believers, been entrusted with administering His estate. How do we do that? Most scholars agree that the "talents" are opportunities to share the gospel with an unbelieving world. Some of us are given more, some less according to our abilities, but the one thing He makes clear in this parable is that the only thing He requires of us is to be "faithful”. We are expected to take every opportunity He gives us to share the good news, and when He returns, there will be an "accounting".
The only "risk" involved with this kind of "investing" is the failure to try. The results are up to God, not us. God will not put us in a position to fail by asking us to do more than we are able. The opportunities we experience are given by God, and well within our capabilities. If Jesus' return is as close as we think, maybe we should pay even more attention to the opportunities we find as we watch for His coming. When He returns and calls us for our accounting, will we hear the words "well done thou good and faithful servant"?
When I read this parable, I am immediately reminded of my experiences as a youth when it was time for the “accounting” we all received periodically at school. I don't know about you, but I was one of those students who normally was absolutely terrified when the time arrived to receive my report card. I think some of my best work as a student revolved around constructing logical and convincing arguments for abolishing report cards, none of which bore any kind of fruit whatsoever. That said, there is a perfect example of Jesus giving out report cards and it is found in the letters written to the seven churches in Revelation.
"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, 'These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens": "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” Revelation 3:7-8 NKJV
The seven letters to the churches of Revelation is exactly that, a report card of their success or failure to do God's will. The church in Philadelphia was the only church in Revelation that Jesus had no complaint against. In other words, they got a passing grade! Why was that, and what exactly were they doing that the other churches were not? I think we as believers should not only ask that question, but imitate what they were doing so that we won’t be placed in a position like the unfaithful servant in trying to make excuses for our unfaithfulness.
" I know your works". The first thing Jesus tells them is that He knows of their works. The one thing a report card shows is what you are doing right, and what you are doing wrong. By mentioning their "works" first, I believe Jesus is telling them that this is the most important part of their success, and everything else follows as a result.
"I have set before you an open door".The second thing Jesus says is that He has opened a door for them to walk through. As a youth pastor for many years, the one question I probably heard more than any other is "how do I know what God's will for my life is"? What I have told so many kids is this; in order to know what God's will for your life is, you need to be busy "doing" in order to find the open doors. So many believers simply sit still in one place waiting for something to happen before they take a step, when the key to finding an open door is to walk!
"For you have a little strength". How strong do we need to be in order to be used of God? The Greek word for “little” used here is "mikros", which is where we get the word micro. An excuse I have heard a lot, and unfortunately used myself, is "I'm not strong enough to do that". We as believers tend to think that the greatest accomplishments have to be performed by those with the greatest strength. I would argue that in this phrase we are told that is certainly not the case at all. It's obviously not our strength that matters, rather God's strength that carries the day. What is required of us is to have just enough strength to "do", and God then opens the doors and does the heavy lifting.
"have kept My word, and have not denied My name". I think what this phrase is telling us is that everything that is occurring in this church is a result of their faithfulness. They are busy "doing" with what little strength that they have, and remaining "faithful" to keep God's word and to give Him the glory. In some ways many believers might argue that what we are called to do, and what these verses teach, is really rather simplistic. The truth is, when I was young I knew what it would take to get a good grade on my report card. The problem was I had little interest in doing the work it would take to accomplish that. The believers in Philadelphia were willing to do the work and were commended for that.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 NKJV
If we are as close to the rapture of the Church as so many believe, don’t you think our thoughts should be on the accounting we are about to receive? Before we even made the choice to believe, God knew that we would and prepared “works” especially for us and we will all stand before God and answer for how we managed His accounts with us. Just as in the parable above, there is no excuse we can give Him which will He will accept. While the Word of God makes it clear that no one will lose their salvation, we should all desire to receive the words “well done thou good and faithful servant”.
Of course, to be a faithful servant one must be a part of the Church, the body of Christ, and have accepted the gift of eternal life with Him afforded by His sacrifice in dying for our sins. If you have never made the decision to accept that free gift I encourage you to do so today. Simply ask God to forgive you of your sin based on your belief that Jesus died to pay the price for your sin, and turn over control of your life to Him. You can do that right now by praying a prayer just like this one;
Dear Father in heaven, I believe in your son Jesus. I believe that He died on the cross for my sins, that He rose up from the grave, and that my sins are forgiven. Forgive me of my sin, help me to walk with you, and thank you for saving me. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
If you have made the choice to accept His gift, look for any opportunity to share that good news when God gives you the opportunity to do so. In that way you can be assured you will hear the words “well done”.
Keep watching.
