The Parable of the Talents

I want to share with you today a story that touches my heart very deeply. Actually, the story I am going to share with you was one of the Parables that Jesus shared with His Disciples many years ago. As was His custom, Jesus would often tell stories that the hearers would be able to easily relate to that would illustrate a particular lesson or message that He felt was important for them to learn. And this particular story had a great lesson…not only for those He was speaking to then, but also for us today. I would ask you to please turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew, chapter 24 and read with me if you would beginning with verse 14:

“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. Therefore 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.’

I want to talk to you today about Stewardship and Relationship. You see…the Bible says these people were SERVANTS. To be a servant means that your whole duty in life is to fulfill the desires of your Master. The whole reason a servant wakes up in the morning is to do what pleases his Master…and if the servant serves his Master long enough, he begins to be able to sort of anticipate what His Master wants and how He likes to have things done, pretty much like an employee does with his/her employer, and the servant tries to do everything exactly how his Master desires so that his Master will be pleased.

What I want you to see in this story is that these servants KNEW their Master and their Master also KNEW them. He gave them talents according to what He knew they could handle. Verse 15 says that He gave the talents “to each according to his own ability”.

The Master knew the first servant well, and He knew that He could trust him to take care of a larger portion of his goods than the others, because that servant had been with Him for a while and he had a good relationship with his Master, and he had proven himself to be faithful in the past…so the scripture says He gave that servant a larger portion of His goods to manage, or 5 talents.

And the Master knew the second servant also, and while the Master understood that this servant had not grown or matured to the place that he could handle as much as the first servant yet, the Master knew that he could place some responsibility in his hands and that servant would also be faithful. So He gave him 2 talents

I want you to notice with both of these servants, when the Master saw that they had been faithful with the amount of responsibility that He had given to them, then He rewarded them with more responsibility, requiring more of the Master’s goods to fulfill. The servants were only required to be faithful…the Master is the one who supplied the need for the amount of responsibility that He gave to each. So what I hope you will see here is that if you have a desire for an increase in your ministry, then you must be faithful with what He has already entrusted to your care, and then…in His time, when your Master knows you are ready, He will give an increase. That is stewardship!

But the third servant…or the “unprofitable” servant as the Master called him… had a distorted view of his Master’s character, for he said to him “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…” He saw his Master as a hard man…a shrewd businessman and he was afraid of him. I wonder how many of us have a distorted view of God today. I wonder how many of us view God as a harsh taskmaster…how many of us think of God as some sort of a tyrant or a cold and heartless God. This “unprofitable” servant did not KNOW the true heart of his Master and he kept a safe distance from him, for he feared him and he was not willing to give his life completely to the Master's service. And because he did not truly KNOW the Master, as the others did, he was afraid of failure…and he was afraid to take a chance of losing what belonged to his Master. But the Master also knew this servant’s heart, for he called him “wicked and lazy”. And I want you to hear me today…it was because that Master KNEW his servant…it was because that Master knew the heart of his servant…and it was because he knew this servant would not be faithful…and that Master knew this servant did not have a right relationship with Him, and his view of his Master was a distorted and untruthful view…and the Master knew that he could not trust this servant with very much. He knew that this servant made a good show…He knew that this servant talked a good talk, but when it came to spending time with his Master…when it came time to finding out what was in his Master’s heart…when it came to making it his priority to fulfill the desires of his Master’s heart…he was a failure from the beginning! I am sure after he hid his Master’s money, he was always fearful of his Master’s return. And because of this, he was never confident of anything he did and he probably cowered in the background in every situation, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He knew in his heart of hearts that the day of reckoning would come and he would have to give an account for how he handled his Master’s money. And before long…that day of reckoning was upon him…and he had to admit that he had done nothing…he had taken his Master’s talent and buried it in the ground. He had nothing to offer to his Lord…he had no return for what his Master had given him…and once again…he had to admit failure.

Let me ask you something…what will you have to offer to your Master when He returns to ask an account for all He has given you? Do you ever think about the return of Christ and do you cringe at the thought of what it will be like? Have you hidden all the gifts He has given you in the ground, refusing to take a chance and invest your time, your talents and your treasures into the Kingdom of God? Will He consider you a profitable…or an unprofitable servant?

First of all, let me tell you that before you can ever be of any value to the Kingdom of God, you must have a RELATIONSHIP with the King of that Kingdom. If you have never met Jesus Christ or if you have met Him but you see a distorted view of who He is…then what you MUST do is build a relationship with Him. If you have never met Him…the first step for you is to repent…or turn away from your sins. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and then ask Him to help you live your life for Him. Then you need to spend time and make the effort to build a close relationship with Him. We do that through Bible study and prayer time…simply communicating with Him every day. That is how you get a correct view of His character. And thirdly, you must give your life in obedience to serving Him and Him alone. When you do this, He will begin to show you what to do and how to do it. He will teach you how to be a good and profitable servant. He will walk with you every day and He will lead and guide your life by His Holy Spirit.

So if you have never met Jesus, I want to help you to know Him and to start your relationship with Him right now. First you must know that you are a sinner. Romans 3:23 says it very simply, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” We are all sinners and we all need a Savior because God has declared the price or the penalty for sin. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The wages, or the penalty, for sin is death, and we were all doomed for hell. But God has given us a way out through Jesus Christ. John 3:16 is one of the most beloved scriptures. It says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The penalty for sin is death, we have all sinned, so we are all guilty, but Jesus came and lived on the earth a perfect life which qualified Him to pay the price of death for our sins. And because of this He offers us the free gift of eternal life. And all He asks of us is to repent or to turn away from our sins and trust in the price that Jesus paid on our behalf as payment for our sins.

So let me ask you…have you ever met Jesus Christ? And if you have, do you have a close personal relationship with Him? Do you know Him intimately and do you know His character. If you do, then you know that He is not a tyrant…but that He is loving and caring and He wants you to live with Him for all eternity. But if you have never met Jesus, then I would invite you to meet Him right now. He has done all He can do for you to have eternal life. The rest is up to you. If that is what you want to do…would you pray this prayer with me right now?

Father, I thank You for giving Your Son Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for the payment of my sins. I thank You Lord that He died on a cross on Calvary because the punishment or penalty for sin is death. I admit to You Lord that I am a sinner and I need a Savior. Right now I repent of my sins and I choose to live this day forward for You and You alone. Please give me power to change each day for the rest of my life so that I can be more and more like Jesus. I thank You Lord…in Jesus Name…Amen.

I want to congratulate you…if you have just received Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you are now a part of the Family of God. Now be sure to work and build on that relationship every single day by reading your Bible and praying to get to know your Heavenly Father. God bless you.