For
the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country,
who
called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
And
unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one;
to
every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
Then
he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same,
and
made them other five talents.
And
likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
But
he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's
money.
After
a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
And
so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents,
saying,
Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents:
behold,
I have gained beside them five talents more.
His
lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant:
thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter
thou into the joy of thy lord.
He
also that had received two talents came and said,
Lord,
thou deliveredst unto me two talents:
behold,
I have gained two other talents beside them.
His
lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant;
thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Then
he which had received the one talent came and said,
Lord,
I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown,
and
gathering where thou hast not strawed:
And
I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth:
lo,
there thou hast that is thine.
His
lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant,
thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not,
and gather where I have not strawed:
Thou
oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers,
and
then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Take
therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
For
unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance:
but
from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
And
cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness:
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In Matthew 25, Jesus continued
to teach His disciples about the reckoning at the end of the world which He declared
to them in chapter 24. The first imagery
He used was with the 10 Virgins, and the importance of faithful endurance in
waiting for His return. The second is
this parable of the stewards, and the importance of working faithfully with the
gifts He has given them in the course of their lives. Each steward or servant of God is given life,
and into that life is poured many blessings and abilities which can be used
either to His glory or wasted elsewhere.
When the Lord returns to review accounts with His disciples, each person
will return to God what they have been given and what they accomplished with
those gifts. To those who worked faithfully
and multiplied the positive investment of God in their lives, they will be rewarded
with greater gifts in the world to come.
But to those who squander their lives and their gifts from God in
selfish and slothful unbelief, even their lives will be taken from them as they
are cast into hell at the final judgment.
In terms of Jesus
preaching the Law, this is a terrifying image of accountability that no one can
escape. The Lord of Glory gives each
person life, and each person is accountable to God for how they use the life
they are given. But lest pride and
narrow vision blunt the impact of Jesus’ admonition, we must not lose sight of
how many minutes, hours, and days we have been given by God, and how many of
those we may spend in sloth, selfishness, and unbelief. Who can look on their own life, and honestly
conclude that not a moment was wasted or poorly used? Who can take an honest inventory of their
powers of mind and body, and declare that every power given to them has been
properly used according to God’s design and direction? Who can measure every resource ever poured
out into their lives, of money and material and care from others, and account
for every penny, every tool, every property, every kindness they ever received
as used righteously? The Law of Sinai
and the Law of Love dictate that we should be always and everywhere loving God
above and beyond all things, and loving our neighbors as ourselves, in accordance
with His Word and Spirit which enliven, guide, and sustain all creation. And yet, there is no person who can rightly
claim to have used every power and every resource they are given virtuously, in
even one particular day, let alone a lifetime.
In truth, there is no way
for any servant of God to claim for himself the mantle of good and faithful,
nor be self-justified in the reward to enter into the joy of thy Lord. What Jesus is describing at the final
judgment is not a salvation by works to be accomplished by those who follow
Him, but a salvation by grace received with a faith that cannot help but work actively
in love. St. Paul and St. James would
later agree that faith as some kind of empty intellectual exercise or boastful acclamation
is nothing before God, but that a living faith which cannot help but be at work
in accomplishing the will of God is the saving faith which receives saving
grace. The first two stewards in the
parable above are not saved because they doubled their Lord’s investment, but
because they trusted in their Lord to live and strive in His service, surprised
at what the Lord was able to accomplish through them. Likewise, the last servant is not damned because
he made a poor return on his Lord’s investment, but because he did not trust
his Lord, and rather repudiated the One from whom he had received everything…
including his own life and intellect, free to embrace the insanity of rejecting
his own Creator. The parable of the
stewards is not about the relative worthiness of the stewards, but of the
gratuitous grace of God.
As we near the end of the
church year, Jesus’ words ring out to remind us that every person is a
beneficiary of grace just by being alive.
To live and move and have our being in this world is not a reward for our
worthiness, but an act of creative and sustaining love that gives to every
person the dignity and opportunity to exist and work in the Creator’s universe. That grace alone is marvelous, but added to
that wonderful reality is the grace which calls all people to live in Him by
faith and thus to abide with Him forever.
The grace of existence is magnified by the grace of salvation from sin,
death, hell, and the devil—from the final judgment of our own unworthiness
before the intractable Law of God—through the satisfaction made for us in the
Cross of Jesus Christ. In Jesus, our
lost moments, days, and years are absolved, and we are given faith to believe
and work and accomplish His will in the moments, days, and years yet ahead. In Jesus, our squandered resources are
forgiven, and we are given faith to use the resources of each new day to His
glory and the care of His people. In
Jesus, our due condemnation as unfaithful and lazy servants is transformed into
His good and faithful service, that by faith in Him we might enter in the joy
of our Master, united to His life, death, and resurrection. In Jesus, our tepid and empty faith is born
from above into a faith that works in the power of the Holy Spirit, to
accomplish all the good works He has ordained for His servants to do from the before
the foundation of the world.
Hear the Word of the Lord
Jesus Christ today, that His Spirit might breathe into you an honest repentance
for all the squandered gifts you have been given by His unfathomable grace, and
raise you up in the joy of His Gospel to live in love and service as He has
made you to live. Let go the vanities of
this modern selfish age, and believe again in the God from whom all good gifts
flow, and to whom all will one day give account. Trust the only God who showed His inestimable
love and compassion for you through the Cross of His Son, and be raised up in
His resurrection that holds no fear of death nor judgment. And by the power of His Holy Spirit, go forth
into the darkness of this world in a living faith that casts down every
artifice of evil, to reveal the Savior who seeks and saves the lost. Soli Deo Gloria! Amen.
