St. Matthew 25:14-30
Dearly beloved,
We are reminded again today that the end is near. We await Christ's
return. Today's parable is parallel to the parable from last week's
gospel lection. With today's reading, the setting is the same as last
week. Jesus is sitting atop the Mount of Olives. He teaches the
disciples privately and this parable is in response to the disciples'
question: "What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the
age?"
The end times interests a great many people. Not even Jesus knows
exactly when the end will come. Only the heavenly Father knows this.
This is why the disciples are being exhorted and encouraged through
this parable. Just as last week's parable tells the church that the
Bridegroom delayed in coming, this parable tells us that the man
travels to a far country, and so delivered his goods to his servants.
This man, we are told, is taking a long journey. The servants are
delivered the man's goods, so they are to take care of them
faithfully. They are to guard them, protect them, and even perhaps
generate more of these precious goods. These servants who are
delivered the goods, are symbolic of the disciples who will soon be
apostles. The goods that are delivered to them represent the gospel.
The man who journeys is Jesus Christ. The way this parable unfolds
bears great import for the church. One servant is given five talents,
another servant is given two, and a third servant is given one talent.
We are told that each was given according to his ability. The one
with five makes five more, the one with two makes two more, but the
one given the single talent hides and buries his in the ground.
The two who increase the talents are in the end praised and blessed.
The one who hides his talent is punished and cast into outer darkness,
the realm of hell. Jesus is teaching these soon-to-be apostles about
the apostolic office of preaching, teaching, and administering the
sacraments. One can see from this parable that they are given
according to their ability. Some have great ability to handle more of
the goods given, while others are not able to handle as much.
But Jesus gives accordingly, which is a blessing. He doesn't give
more than a person can handle. St. Paul speaks of this to the Romans:
"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among
you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but
to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of
faith"(Romans 12:6). While Christ's parable is telling the disciples
to be diligent with the gospel that is given to them for the sake of
the apostolic ministry and for the church, this also bears itself out
in your lives.
The entire church is made up of many members of the body of Christ.
You are all part of Christ's body. We can see in these words of
Christ that we are to be diligent in this Christian faith. St. Paul
tells the Thessalonians something that sounds very contemporary.
They, too, were pondering the end times and St. Paul responds by
saying, "you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
comes as a thief in the night. For when they say 'peace and safety!'
then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a
pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
"But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should
overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the
day. We are not of the night or the darkness. Therefore let us not
sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober"(1 Thessalonians
5:2-6). On the broader perspective of the parable, how many of us are
guilty of not doing anything with the spiritual goods that Jesus has
left for our use?
I find it rather interesting that the servant who was given the one
talent says what he does to his master. "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." How
unfortunate that this servant did not rightly know his Lord.
The church can learn something from this. Most people do not want to
get to close to God and the church, because they feel as though they
cannot live up to God's requirements. They do not want to see their
sins and their failed attempts to be holy and god-pleasing. They do
not rightly understand the Lord. But, who can live up to God's
requirements? No one, with the exception of Jesus Christ. So, there
is a barrier that needs to be broken down when the church and the
saints encounter those who do not believe. The barrier is what we see
with the one servant–not understanding Jesus correctly.
This is why the gospels are preached on in the Divine Service with
holy communion. We do not need talks on how to live better lives. We
need to see, ponder and hear Jesus. Who is Jesus? What is He doing?
And Why is He doing it? The Christian existence, in being sacramental,
is to be in fellowship with Jesus. We gather to hear His words of
forgiveness and to learn just how forgiving He is. This poor servant
did not understand his Lord.
It is true, of course, that if we live in unrepentant sin, then we
should rightly be afraid of Jesus. Perhaps this one servant who hid
the talent was envious of all that his master had. We must remember
that if we are not worried about sinning, then we should be afraid.
But, if we continually study and ponder Jesus' life and His teachings,
then we should know that we have been joined together with a loving
and merciful Lord. Where there is repentance for sins, Jesus is quick
to forgive. Remember Jesus' words elsewhere in St. Matthew where He
says, "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not
sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance."
So, if you feel like you are the chief of sinners, then get in line
with the rest of us, because we would all be guilty before God. But
the Jesus Christ of the scriptures will supply you with faith through
the use of the gospel. His encouragement for us is that we faithfully
tend to God's word and learn it. Jesus gave the gospel to His
servants so that we can get closer to Him. Through the gospel and its
proclamation, we come to know Jesus better, more intimately, and we
come to the realization that His blood atoned for our sins and we are
forgiven.
And in this discipline of attending to the gospel, we are then better
able to understand ourselves. We see the sinful world as it really
is. This often means seeing our sins, but this leads us to rejoice in
our salvation through Christ alone and in the forgiveness of sins.
Studying Jesus is not just an intellectual endeavor, nor is it a
one-time thing. Christ crucified is to be preached continually in our
churches because we continually need to ponder how it is that God
would descend from heaven, become a man, fulfill the law, and die on
our behalf.
Just learning this intellectually one time is not enough. Each time
we ponder this, we are drawn in to Him, into His love, and you see
over and over again that no matter how great your sin is, Jesus loves
you still. As long as the gospel rings forth in your midst, you know
that Jesus is forgiving you and making you stronger until He comes
again, to bring you to heaven. Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
www.frchadius.blogspot.com
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
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