The 23rd Sunday After Pentecost
November 16, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline
Zephaniah
1:7-16 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Matthew 25:14-30
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these
words, “Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ, we are coming to the end of the church year, and as we get to the end
of the church year we focus on the end of this world, and the promised second
coming of Jesus. And that’s what our
text today is about as well – the coming of Jesus, and the judgment and reward
he brings with him.
And so today we
focus on the parable of the talents.
Don’t think that the word talents here means “things you can do well,”
such as “Gee, I can whistle real good.”
No the talents that our text mention are actually a unit of money which
totaled approximately 130 lbs. So if the
talent of treasure was in gold, one talent would equal $2.2 million in today's money. Imagine what you could do with that treasure,
especially if you were the one receiving 10 talents. $20 million!
How many times have you wanted such a glorious treasure in your bank
account? Oh that God would give you such a great treasure!
Well there’s the
catch isn’t it? You have a treasure even
more valuable. You have a gift even more
blessed, one that does not rust or mildew, one that cannot be lost in the stock
market or wasted away on foolish purchases.
You have the treasure of the kingdom of heaven. Yes, It is the kingdom of heaven that is the
treasure of talents in our parable. It
is more valuable than silver or gold. It
is the promise of forgiveness in the very holy precious blood, innocent
suffering and death of Jesus Christ. And
it belongs to you in your baptism.
The truth is God’s
treasures in Jesus grow and grow because of God’s work, unless you neglect and
bury it. They are fed not by your works
or prayers, but by the hearing of God’s Word, by the eating of Jesus’ body and
blood. The treasure God has given to you
increases all the time through the precious means of grace.
And that treasure
is yours. And the parable asks, what do
you do with the gift God has given to you?
Do you cherish it, and love it, and use it to care for the people around
you in a Christian fashion? Or do you
bury it? Do you hide it away? Do you complain about it? Do you act like its not really that important?
You know what I’m
asking. Do you go to bible study
regularly? Do you volunteer for church
boards and activities that need help? Do
you do so without grumbling? Do you
attend church because you are excited about the gifts of forgiveness, life, and
salvation? Or do you do so because your parents told you long ago that you have
to. Are you glad that Jesus has died for
your sins, or are you fairly indifferent, because after all, you still have
years to go before death looms? What do
you do with your treasure that god has given.
The truth is, most
of us are rather indifferent. Most of us
at work and school bury our faith. In
fact the real truth is, most of us, when we walk out the doors of this room, let
alone the building, hide the Kingdom of Heaven within us away, for no one to
ever see or to know. That’s the way our
sinful natures work, and its our fault this is the case. And in that sin, on the last day, when Christ
returns in judgment, he will say to us, “You wicked and lazy servant.” And we deserve
to be cast into the outer darkness of hell as described in our text.
Except that we do
have the kingdom of heaven within us through our baptism. God has given us a great treasure, and God
feeds it with word and sacrament. And
all of these gifts connect us to Jesus Christ, hanging on the cross, and dying
for all sin, guilt and shame – even yours.
And being connected to Jesus our great Judge and Lord, we need not fear
him. You have the treasure of heaven,
worth more than all the gold and silver this world has to offer. You have the
gift of kingdom of God, which lasts forever and ever without end. You have the promise of forgiveness of Jesus,
because you are washed in his blood and death.
And so when Jesus
does return, he will say to you, “Well done good and faithful servant, come and
share your master's happiness!” Not
because of anything you’ve done, or not done, but only because in Jesus you’ve
been given the treasure of great talents, the forgiveness that comes only
through Jesus Christ our Lord. In his
name. Amen.
