The Parable of the Talents

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Talents

For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.
For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?
For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.

This mini-parable is about Jesus’ teaching being like a lamp
- the light is the truth
  - What are you going to do with it? If you hide it, you won’t be given more light
- The light then, is Jesus’ revelation of himself
  - If we want more…
In other places Jesus said similar things:
- Parable of the house on the rock
- Parable of the 4 kinds of seeds—the disciples asked for more explanation and they were given more
So these millions of $ are the truths of Jesus’s teaching, the truths of the kindom
Now we all understand what it means to “invest in a relationship”
- If somebody tells you that in order to improve your marriage, you need to invest in it, what do thay mean??
  - (spent time with the person, effort, thoughtfulness)
- How would you “bury” a relationship? (ignore the person, be too busy to see them)
So, a definition of the talents:
- The talents are what Jesus has invested in his relationship with us
- The reward is actually Jesus himself “Enter into the joy of your master”
So explain passage:

Jesus says “who am I”
- Peter says “the Messiah”
- 6 days later, Jesus takes Peter and two others to witness his glory (why not the other way around?)
But what about this man at the end—are we at risk?
- Not once we have begun a relationship with Jesus
- He didn’t have a relationship—he didn’t like his master and so was too lazy to do anything with his master’s investments
- It’s an upward spiral—the more you have, the more you will want
- but this man was never a true believer, because believing is the first step
Have you ever wondered how Judas could have done what he did?
- having seen all the miracles
- heard all the teaching
  - he is an extreme example of the kind of man at the end of the story
So if you are not a follower of Jesus this morning,
- This message is an invitation
- Put what you know about Jesus into practice by trusting him
  - and you will receive much, much more

Just like any relationship: conversation, time, effort
- Acts of love are examples of following him
The way this parable is typically misunderstood could lead you to doing the opposite:
- Trying to earn God’s favour by performance
- not receiving the truth that you are already loved
- Abiding in him (vine and branches)
Now I want to say that the way that this parable is usually interpreted is not entirely false,
- It’s just that the teaching is not from this passage!
- What the Bible calls gifts are certainly to be used, especially for blessing one another
- Rom 12, 1 Cor 12, Eph 4 & 1 Peter 4 are all about using our gifts
- And gifts that we have can be used very effectively to advance the Kingdom of God
- But there is never a suggestion that if we use our gifts we will get more, or that God will judge us on how we used them.
Asking for prayer is not a weakness, but is a sign of strength
- That you are believing in Jesus’ power and willingness to hear you
Jesus is coming soon
- He will say “what have you done with the truth that I have given you?”
How do you use your talents this week?
- You trust him! receiving the truth of his love and acceptance
- You trust that if you step out in love, his power will flow into you
- You make the values of Jesus, the treasure on which you build your life
- Most of all you invest in your relationship with him
- He will be your reward!