Matthew 25:14-30

The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost | 19 November 2023 | Matthew 25:14-30 | Brad Everett |

Today’s gospel text is the next of Jesus’ parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven as recorded in St. Matthew’s gospel.

Jesus told these to his disciples, in his last week with them, so there is a noticeable sense of urgency. He knows the time is short so these parables are designed to be memorable, to stick with the hearers (both then and now)  so this word will continue to speak to them in the days, weeks and years to come. As such, these parables have an edge to them which can cause discomfort in those who read or hear them. Which by the way was our Lord’s intention—discomfort is not a bad thing. It’s a necessity in our life of faith—to help keep us alert and aware of where we are and what we are doing. So when you find texts making you uneasy, don’t skip over them, or worse try to squeeze a happier meaning of them. Rather, prayerfully sit with them, and ask God to show you what is putting you off and why—and he graciously will that you might grow in your knowledge and love of him.

Unlike some of Jesus’ parables, this one is pretty clear as to who is who. The landowner is our Lord, the servants are his followers, or more accurately, those who would be his followers.

But let’s consider a few things that often get overlooked.

First of all, the level of trust the landowner has in his slaves. He’s leaving for a journey, for an undetermined amount of time, and he entrusts his property to those in his employ. There is no list of dos and don’ts for them to follow, the landowner simply trusts they will not just care for his property, but make use of it. This suggests a certain level of relationship and confidence, he is giving them an opportunity to “do something” they may never otherwise have had.

Which brings us to the next point, the property wasn’t distributed randomly—rather it was portioned out to each according to his ability. This too shows care on the part of the landowner. And before we get into the mire of “it doesn’t seem fair the talents weren’t evenly divided among the three slaves” remember it was according to their abilities. That’s the most generous thing he could do. He’s not trying to set them up for failure, but success, intentionally giving each what he thought they could do their best with.

We see that in his comments to the first two slaves upon his return. He doesn’t praise the first one because he made more, rather his comments for them are identical—“well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been faithful in a few things, I will put in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” There is the sense he is genuinely pleased with their success, and not just because his property increased, but because they made the most of what they had been given.

So far this landowner is presented as generous and thoughtful—that is until the last slave speaks. He did nothing with the talent given to him—but just buried it and then blames his inaction on his master’s greed and harshness i.e. better to have done nothing than risk losing what he had been given.

The landowner trusted this slave enough to give him a portion of his property, and after assessing the situation gave him what he believed the slave could best handle. The master gave him every opportunity for success. And the slave’s response is not simply to ignore this gift of trust and property by burying it, but then to return it with personal insult­—“I knew you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed”, or in other words I knew you were mean, and ruthless, taking what wasn’t yours.  It makes one wonder if he is even talking about the same master who the first two slaves serve?

No wonder the master reacts as he does—casting him out is simply a formality, as this slave ceased to truly serve him long ago in any meaningful way. The master did everything possible for all three slaves to benefit, and the first two accepted the gifts they had been given and acting boldly, put those gifts to work for the sake of the one who gave them. The third however, repays his master’s trust with distrust, treats the gift with disdain, and then blames his actions on the one who has given him nothing but blessing. By his own words and actions he has declared he isn’t part of this household nor does he have any desire to be.

As with everyone of our Lord’s parables, we hear them differently depending on the season of our life. We can hear this parable and feel uneasy. And more often than not it’s because we know, or at least have the sense, that God has given us gifts to use and but we are busy coming up with excuses and rationalizations for our lack of action.

I won’t bother you with a list of examples—if you are honest with yourselves you can recall your old stand-bys—various pretexts for not taking advantage of all God has given for his sake. And if this is you today, take that unease with great seriousness. I’m not saying that your salvation is necessarily in jeopardy, but remember, individuals rarely turn from God in one fell swoop, it’s by degrees, one small turning at a time. If you don’t trust God’s graciousness to allow you to use his gifts (that he gave you knowing you better than you know yourself) and risk failure or for that matter success (and seriously aren’t such judgements best left to our Lord?) then how are you trusting him for salvation? We can’t earn God’s grace, it is a gift, a gift for us to use for his glory and the blessing of our neighbours.

And to be honest God expects more failure from us than we do of ourselves. That’s not an excuse for recklessness, or carelessness with what we have been given, but a reminder that we don’t and we can’t secure it by doing enough “good things” or achieving a certain level of  “success” (whatever that might be). We need to be aware of our sinful tendencies to want to earn our salvation, and somehow become our own saviours. Our trust must be in Christ and not ourselves.

Then there are times we can hear this and be comforted and encouraged. The talents we have, the material blessings we enjoy are not the result of anything in particular we have done, but are gifts of God. Gifts given for us to make use of for the sake of our neighbour and the glory of God. Gifts given according to our ability that we might make the best use of them. Gifts given without a requirement that we achieve a particular degree of success, but given that we simply might use them.

This parable can be freeing, especially when we are about to dare something new, to step outside our comfort zone, or give what we think might be beyond our means but feel God leading us to do so. It reminds us God desires us simply to use our gifts for his sake—whether it is a success or failure is up to Him to decide. Because this isn’t about us earning HIs favour—we already have that. But about living in the fullness of the grace given to us out of His steadfast love.

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Brad Everett

everettsts@gmail.com

Ascension Lutheran Church

Calgary, AB, Canada