Text: Matthew 25:14-30 Proper 28A
SN: 0035 11/19/23
Joy in Faithful Service
In 2006, two young men made a startling discovery. They were going through their father’s house after he had passed away and noticed something strange. They discovered a false wall with a hidden passage behind it. When they opened this secret compartment, they found several valuable paintings, including a famous painting by Norman Rockwell worth five million dollars. They did not know why their father had hidden these paintings but were excited to own these valuable treasures now. It seems odd that someone would hide something like valuable paintings.
We could argue that this man was not a good steward of these paintings. They were meant to be viewed and enjoyed, but if they were hidden and locked away, no one could appreciate them, and if this man’s sons had not found the hidden passage, they would have had no value. This is the attitude Jesus warned us about in our Gospel lesson this morning. We have all been given valuable gifts and abilities from God. God requires us to use those gifts in faithful service to his kingdom. But do we always make the most of these blessings from God? Do we immediately put them to work and eagerly serve to the best of our abilities, or do we hide what we have been given? This morning, let us consider how to use our gifts and talents to serve our God and find joy in faithful service.
Our lesson this morning takes place during the events of Holy Week. Jesus left Jerusalem with his disciples and went up on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem. He has been instructing them about the signs that point toward the end of the world. The parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins that we heard about last Sunday shows us that we should be ready at any moment for our Lord’s return. The parable of the Talents illustrates the faithful service that God expects from his people as they await his glorious return.
In this parable, Jesus describes three different servants. All three serve a rich master who is going on a long journey. While he is away, he entrusts them with different amounts of his money according to their abilities. He gives each what they can handle with their different talents and abilities. The first two servants are faithful and immediately put the money to work and earn a return on what they had been given. The third servant takes the money he is given and hides it in a hole. He makes no effort whatsoever to serve his master faithfully. When the master returns, he is well pleased with the work of the first two servants and rewards them for their efforts. But he is enraged by the faithlessness of this wicked and lazy servant and has him cast out where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Dear friends, this parable allows us to consider our faithfulness in God’s kingdom. The Lord has given us all different gifts and abilities. Some of us have been blessed with great personal wealth; others have been blessed with the gifts of teaching and preaching God’s Word; others have been blessed with the gifts of leadership, or with, as the Irish say, “the gift of gab” (the ability to quickly and easily talk to and make friends with complete strangers); the list could go on and on. Each of us has been given unique blessings. God does not ask us to serve him in ways beyond our abilities. For example, I have a gift for public speaking, but I’m not the person you would ask to run a marathon or make a banner for the church. But God does ask us to use what he has given in faithful service to him.
How well have we done this? Have we made the most of our gifts and talents and faithfully served God to the best of our ability? Have we made the most of every opportunity to serve the Lord in his church, or have we hidden our gifts? Dear friends, we must all confess that we sometimes let our own selfish wants and desires take priority in our lives. We have not always used our blessings in service to God. We have not joyfully offered the Lord our first fruits but often give him what we have left over after doing what we want. We have not made the most of our time, and we have let opportunities to share our faith slip away.
Dear friends, we are all guilty of sins of omission. These are times when we know we should do good and serve others, but instead, we choose to serve ourselves. We have not been perfectly faithful with the great and numerous blessings that we have received. We have not always been
thankful and given credit to God, remembering that everything we have in our lives is a gift and trust from him. If we are honest, we should see ourselves as the wicked and lazy servant who hid his talent. We deserve to be thrown out to that place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Dear friends, we have not been faithful servants. We have failed to use our gifts and talents in faithful service to our God. If we needed to rely on our own works to earn our God's love and mercy, we would be lost. Praise God that we are not saved by our works but through faith in Christ alone. We have not been faithful, but Christ has been faithful. He never failed to do good. He used his gift and abilities perfectly in service to God. He taught the Word of God faithfully; he healed the sick, helped the poor, and loved his enemies. He did everything that God’s law required of him, and he did it for us. He did it so that he could take all our sins upon himself and give us his perfection in return.
The Apostle Paul beautifully describes this perfect faithfulness of Christ in Philippians 2, “Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” All this Christ did so that we could be his own. He sacrificed his life and endured the torments of hell so that we could be servants in his kingdom. He conquered the power of death by his resurrection and gave us the gift of eternal life with him.
Because of the sacrifice of Christ, we are members of God’s household. We have been given the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life. But if that was not enough, God also blesses us by giving us everything else in our lives. Everything we have is a gift from our Father in heaven. Because of this, we are like the two faithful servants in this parable and find joy in our faithful service. We do good works not to earn a place in heaven but because, as Christians, we cannot help but do good works. Martin Luther describes our faith in this way, “O, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done them and is constantly doing them. Whoever does not do such works, however, is an unbeliever.”
Each of us has been gifted in different ways. As believers, we are one body in Christ but many different parts. We each have unique gifts and abilities that help build up the church. Our service in God’s kingdom will look different, but everything we do is good and pleasing to God our Savior. This is why the Apostle Paul urges us to use our gifts in whatever way we have been blessed in service to God. Paul writes in Romans 12, “For we have many members in one body, and not all the members have the same function. In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. We have different gifts, according to the grace God has given us. If the gift is prophecy, do it in complete agreement with the faith. If it is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. If it is encouraging, then encourage. If it is contributing, be generous. If it is leadership, be diligent. If it is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.”
Dear brothers and sisters, using our gifts in faithful service to our God brings us joy. Using what we have been given to serve others is a blessing, and it pleases our heavenly Father. The two brothers found joy when they could take that Norman Rockwell painting out of hiding and share it with others. We have joy when we live in faithful service to our king. Because we are rooted in Christ and have been redeemed by his blood, we confidently serve our Lord. We know that he sees our good works and is pleased by them. What joy we will have on the last day when we stand before our Lord and hear those words of joy, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”