(Matthew 25:14-25)
The Rev. Dr. Cleophus J. LaRue
In the passage we have before us, there are three people on the receiving end of money. It says "talent," but as you can see a "talent" was a measure of money: one received five, another received two, a third person received one. One "talent" according to some estimates was the equivalent of fifteen years of a labourer’s wages. So you can see all three had been given a substantial sum of money for the purpose of trading with it profitably in their master’s absence. So the one who had been given five talents, he went immediately to put his lord’s money to work, and the one who had been given two talents went immediately to put his lord’s money to work, but the one who had been given one talent, he dug a hole and buried his lord’s money in the ground. After a while, the lord of those servants returned and in the three parables that form this cluster right here in Matthew, there is an absent but returning lord at the centre of all three. So, after a while the lord of those servants returned and called them to give an account of what they had done with what they had been given, as one day God shall certainly do for all of us. And, when you have done your best with what God has given, you don’t mind making your report. The one who had been given five talents, he readily stepped up to the plate and he said, "You gave me five and I took that money and put it to work and today I am happy to report that I have increased it to ten." "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." I can only quote the King James because that’s what I learned as a child. "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many."
So, the one who had been given two talents said, "I didn’t have as much as the first person but what you gave me I took and I put it to work and today I am happy to report that I have increased it to four." "Well done, good and faithful servant." But the one that had been given one talent, he started scratching where he was not itching, grinning and nothing was funny. "Well, I knew what kind of person you were and because of the kind of person you are, I didn’t do anything with what you gave me. Here it is, just like you gave it to me with a little dirt on it." Wow! No "well done," no "good and faithful servant," but a word of judgement.
Now, fear caused this person with one talent to act irresponsibly with that which had been entrusted to him. Fear immobilized him and caused him not to act with dispatch in using that which God had given unto him for a season. And we look at this person with one talent and we say, "Oh how silly, how foolish, how irrational, how illogical for him to be afraid simply because he had only one talent. But before we pronounce judgement upon this man, I need to tell us something. Our Lord told us this parable because he wants us to recognize that this person with one talent is us and we are that person. For the truth of the matter is that we are all afraid of something just like this person in the text. I know we want say, I know that given human nature, we want to say, "Oh, I’m like that person with five, the Bible is talking about me, God has been good to me and I’ve used ....." No, no, no that’s not why Jesus told this parable. And some of you will say, "Well, I don’t have as much as others, but I’m like that person with two. I have taken what God has given and I have used it to the best of my ability." But, no that’s not why the Lord told this parable. He told this parable because he wants us to know that this person with one talent is us and we are that person because we are all afraid of something, just like this person in the text. It may yet to be revealed, it may yet reside in the inner recesses of our heart, but we are all afraid of something. Something that keeps us from coming to full maturity in the faith, something that keeps us from being all that God would have us to be. We are all afraid of something.
What are we afraid of? What are we afraid of? Some of us are afraid of the past. There is some unfortunate incident, some grave error, some miscalculation in judgement, some skeleton in the closet that we have pushed back and we live in fear of the past, that the mistakes of the past will ever see the light of day. May I say here parenthetically, as you can tell I like that word, I don’t even know if it’s a word. May I say here, don’t be too hard on people when skeletons are exposed in their closets, or as the poet has reminded us, "We all live in haunted houses and we never know when a ghost from our past is coming home to haunt us." So, don’t be too hard on other people when skeletons are exposed in their closets. Well, some of us live in fear of the past, that something bad will eventually catch up with us.
Some people live in fear of the present. This is true of people who have come up the rough side of the mountain, who have borne their burdens in the heat of the day. People for whom life have not been easy. If they are not careful they will find themselves living in fear of the present. "I have had such a hard time getting to where I am in life, I just have this uneasy feeling that something is going to break out in an area of my life, where I am least able to handle it." They live in fear of right now. That’s not hard to do in terms of this day and age where there are so many lay-offs and cut-backs and reductions in force and pink slips and job insecurity; you never know from one day to the next. It is possible to live in fear of right now!
And then some people live in fear of tomorrow. Ahhh, this is especially true of senior citizens. Even though they have trusted God all of their lives, all of their pilgrimage, when they come to the twilight of their years if they are not careful, they will find themselves living in fear of what tomorrow may bring. "O God, will my health hold out? Will I be able to stay in my right mind? Will I become a burden to my children? Will they have to put me in a nursing home? O God, what shall my end be?" If not careful, sometimes we can find ourselves living in fear of what tomorrow may bring. We’re all afraid of something, in the past, in the present, in the future of tomorrow. We’re all afraid of something. We fear loneliness, we fear exposure, we fear sickness, we fear disease, we fear death, we are all afraid of something. John Calvin, the Protestant reformer says, "Our minds are factories of fear." Our minds just crank out stuff for us to worry about. It is attributed to Mark Twain, I do not know if it is the case but it is said, that Mark Twain said, "Ninety percent of the stuff we worry about never happens." Ninety percent of the stuff we worry about never happens. Of course, Cleo LaRue says "the ten per-cent that does happen is enough to kill you, so worry about that." Ninety percent that we worry about never happens, but we’re all afraid of something and just like this person in the text whatever we fear eventually manifests itself in our lives in some kind of way.
Whatever we are afraid of here, it eventually will manifest in our life in some kind of way. Sometimes what we fear shows up in our lives as a loss of direction. "God, I want to try this but I’m afraid if I go this way, it might not work out." "I would like to try my hand at this but if I try in this direction I might meet with failure." "I would like to try to move forward on this but I have this uneasy feeling that I will be let down if I go in this direction." So, sometimes what we fear shows up in our lives as a loss of direction, just like this person in the text. The one with five talents went this way, and the one with two talents went this way, but the person who had been given one talent, because of fear he went this way. He went down! Sometimes we complain about life being hard and we’re our own worst enemy. Sometimes we’re down because we’re headed down. He went down while the others went to work. Sometimes what we fear shows up in our lives as a loss of direction. Don’t know which way to go because of what we fear.
And sometimes what we fear shows up in our lives as a loss of verve and vitality. All the gusto in life is gone! Gusto is not just for beer drinkers and I’m not opposed to beer drinkers, but God wants his children to have gusto, verve and vitality, but when we are afraid all of the verve and vitality go from life. There is no "can do" spirit, there is no fire in the belly. Our "get and go" has gotten up and gone. We are afraid! We say "every time I try to move forward and better my condition, it seems that the dead hand of the past slaps me back, so I find myself in a rut, not knowing which way to go." Martin Marty talked about Mahalia Jackson, the most famous gospel singer out of Chicago, and Mahalia Jackson made a song famous and it was titled, "Standing Here Wondering Which Way to Go, with So Much Confusion in this World Below." When we are afraid we lose our verve and vitality for life and we don’t know which way to go.
And sometimes what we fear shows up in our lives as an overwhelming sense of inadequacy. God, when I look around at others. How you have blessed them, the many gifts that they bring. When I look at my own life I say, "God, I feel like you cheated me." I feel like I don’t have what it takes to do what is before me. You have blessed others so abundantly and they bring so many gifts, and I look at my little meagre offerings and I feel so inadequate. I feel as if God has cheated me. And feelings of inadequacy eventually lead to feelings of jealousy and envy, because a jealous person is one who is so inadequate that he thinks he’s going to lose what he has. And an envious person is one who is so inadequate that he thinks he ought to have what you have. That is the reason why it is so difficult for an envious person to pay you a compliment because they think they ought to have what you have. And so while all others are congratulating you on the new job, she’s wondering why you got it and she didn’t. Or when they are congratulating you on how you look, she’s wondering why they are saying it to you and not to her. And when an envious person finally finds it within themselves to pay you a compliment, they always wrap a little insult around it. "Oh well, I guess you do look nice in that dress. How many pounds did you have to lose to get in it?" Always, a little insult because of the inadequacy within. Oh, just like this person in the text. Whatever we fear eventually manifests itself in our lives some kind of way as a loss of direction, a loss of verve and vitality or an overwhelming sense of inadequacy. I’ve outlined some problems with fear, let me take just a moment to point you in the direction of possible solutions. I do not have all of the answers, but let me point you in the direction of good news.
Let me say to us first that, whenever we begin to think of ourselves as little and insignificant we are headed down "mess-up road." This person with one talent, I suppose he was alright until he kept on thinking about the fact that there was a person out there with twice as much, and it just kept eating at him. And I need not tell you how he felt when he remembered that there was a person out there with five times as much. Uhhh, might as well hang it up! I will never have what some others have, and I will never be able to accomplish, and I will never be able to do what some others have done! Whenever we start to think of ourselves as little and insignificant, we are headed down "mess-up road." There is not a person living to whom God has not given something. You may not be able to sing like an angel and you may not be able to preach like Paul, but God has given you something to function with in this life and God is looking to you to make your contribution to the human situation. And there is one thing no one can beat you doing and that is your best! When you have done your best, that is all God requires. You have only to look at nature to understand that God never gives anything, everything. Look at nature. God never gives anything, everything. Look at the peacock, strutting in full plumage, with that sun-crowned head and that beautiful, colourful tail span, strutting around. You could say, "My God, look at that peacock. God gave the peacock everything." Not really, just keep on looking. Look past the sun-crowned head, look past the colourful tail span and look down at the peacock’s feet and there you will find some of the dirtiest, most rusted, scratched up feet you have ever seen in your life and when you look at those feet you’ll say, "Oh no, God didn’t give the peacock everything." God saves something for you and for me. Look at nature and realize that God never gives anything, everything. God always saves some for the rest of the created order. I think we could come to such peace and such tranquillity in our lives if we could stop comparing, stop trying to measure up and just come to some peace in our lives that I’m where I am supposed to be and that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. May not be where you are, may not be what you’re doing, but I am where I’m supposed to be and I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.
There was a boy in the country (this is a story!), there was a boy and he lived out in the country and his father took him to the edge of the field one morning and he said, "Son, I want you to chop weeds in this edge of the field. You stay right here and chop these weeds in this edge of the field." He said, "Yes father." Across the way, there were some businessmen who were developing some land just out from the city and in the process of marking off the land, they got turned around and got confused about how to get back to the city. They saw this boy chopping weeds at the edge of this field and they walked over and said, "Boy, which way back to the city?" And the boy said, "Oh, the city is that way." And the businessmen started walking and the boy said, "Whoa, wait, wait, I’m sorry, the city is that way!" And they started walking and he said, "Wait, come back, I"m sorry, the city is that way!" And finally, one of the businessmen said, "Why don’t you all let that fool alone. Can’t you tell he’s lost." And the boy said, "I’m not lost. I’m where I’m supposed to be. My father told me to work this part of the field. I’m where I’m supposed to be." But the businessman said, "You don’t even know how to get to town." The boy said, "That’s because I’m not going to town."
So, who’s lost? We could come to such peace and tranquillity in our lives if we could just recognize that I am where I’m supposed to be and I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing with what God has given me. May I say to us, that this person with one talent focussed too much on what he didn’t have and not enough on what had been granted. He focussed too much on what he did not have and not enough gratitude for what had been granted! Ohh, can’t you hear him, "Oh, if I didn’t have to be in this environment, if I didn’t have to be in this milieu, if I could be in a different place where there were people more like me, I wouldn’t mind working. If I didn’t have to be around people who had so much, people who were so gifted, people who were so talented, I wouldn’t mind. If I just had a different set of circumstances! I wouldn’t mind this limited capacity that I have!" But let me say to us, there will never come a time in life when everything is just like you would want it to be. If you are waiting for a time in life when everything is just right before you use what God has granted, you never will use it. When I was a pastor at my first charge in Texas, and we were having a Saturday program for children, there was a man, I never knew his name, he would drive by the church just about every Saturday and he would honk his horn and he would say, "Reverend LaRue, I’m coming to Church just as soon as the Church gets right!" One Saturday I yelled back, "You never will get here." Because there never will be a time when everything is just like we like for it to be. In life, we must learn to play the hand that life deals us. I hope you don’t mind this card playing analogy. We have to learn to play the hand that life deals us. I don’t know about Canadian Baptists but American Baptists are all hung up on "we have to play the hand that life deals us." Yes, we’d all like a hand full of jokers, aces, kings and queens and jacks, we’d all like a hand full of those, but the truth of the matter is that somebody has to have some threes and fours and fives. And when you get a bad hand, learn how to keep a straight face. Some of you, we don’t have to ask you how things are going in your life. We can tell when you walk down that aisle, ohhh....down, like all your kin folk just died. When you get a bad hand learn how to keep a straight face. Because this is what you need to know, that the God you serve is in charge of the shuffle and if you could just hold out until tomorrow, God is going to deal you a better hand. That is my belief, that tomorrow will bring a brighter day. Learn to keep a straight face.
And then may I say to us, that all unreasonable fear indicates a mistrust of God. All unreasonable fear indicates a mistrust of God. It’s alright to be afraid, but you ought not be so afraid that you cannot trust God. It’s alright to talk about who has more and who has less, as long as you understand that the God you serve shall supply your every need according to His riches and glory. It’s alright as long as you know that what God has given you, God is looking for you to go to work right now before the hour is too late, to use what God has given. In spite of all circumstances to the contrary be at work with what God has granted and when it gets too much for you, it’ll be just right for God. Ahhh, this is another story. A man told me yesterday, "You didn’t tell any stories." I said, "You wait till Tuesday, I’ll give you some stories." There was this old lady way out in the woods, keeping her grandson because his parents couldn’t look after him. One day the grandson got sick, so sick that she thought he was going to die. And the lady didn’t know what to do, and she sent for the old country doctor and the doctor came and the doctor said to her, "You’re way out here in the far reaches. This child has a fever and I need some ice." And the old lady said, "I’m way out here, I don’t have access to ice in the dead of summer." The doctor said, "I need some ice if this child is going to live." And the old lady said, "Okay, I’ll be right back." And she went out onto the porch and she looked up to heaven, and she said to God, "I have done the best I know to do with what you have given me, now my grandchild is sick and this doctor tells me I need some ice. No other help I know: Father, I stretch my hands to Thee." And she went back in the house and the doctor said, "Where’s the ice?" And the old lady said, "It’s coming." And when God saw that woman’s faith and when God saw the faith of that woman, God called a cold wind from the north and told that cold wind to meet up over that old lady’s house and God called a warm wind from the south and told that warm wind to meet up over that old lady’s house and when that cold wind from the north met that warm wind from the south, a hail storm broke out and ice fell all around. I said this is a story. I try to give you some sense of how we believe that in the end God will provide!
When we have done the best we know to do with what has been given, our trust, our utter trust is in almighty God. I have come to say to you today, what has God given you? If you have buried what God has given to you, go now and dig it up before it’s everlasting too late. Lift up your heads and lift up your hearts and go forward with the work God has called you to do with that which God has given you and do not complain. See every obstacle as an opportunity and look upon every challenge as a chance to put to work right now what God has given you. I say to you, go now, go at once, go as you are, go back to your churches and go back to your charges and go back to your ministries, re-invigorated with a renewed faith that what God has given, God is expecting us to be put to work right now before the hour is too late. What are you afraid of and how has it affected your ministry? Amen!