We gave out backpack tags today and blessed the students, teachers, and administrators who return to school this week. It led me to create the final illustration of the sermon. It was part of the sermon, but also pointed to the blessing of the backpacks that we would do at the end of the worship service. In Sunday school, we studied this parable and the parallel parable in Luke. There are some significant differences between the two parables, but I did not spend a lot of time on those differences in this sermon.
“The Man Entrusts Property”; August 10, 2025; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Matthew 25: 14-30
14 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. At once 16 the one who had received the five talents went off and traded with them and made five more talents. 17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29 For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Move 1: This parable is a test.
a. the slaves in the story know it’s a test.
the master is going away and gives them varying amounts of money.
when the master inevitably returns, they know they will be judged by what they did with the money.
b. those listening to Jesus know this sory was a test.
when Jesus begins the story with, “a man going on a journey”
the listeners knows that they about to hear what is known as a departure story.
a departure story goes like this: the person who leaves, the master in this case, will return at the end and how the other characters acted while the master was gone determines how well they did on the test.
1. the listener is imagining what the servants will do while the master is away and how That will be judged.
2. The listeners probably shifts their focus from the slaves in the story to themselves, wondering, “how would I do if the master gave me 5, or, 3, or one talent.
3. Readers of this parable are invited to do the same - examine our own lives and see how we are doing.
If you were given one 5 talents, or 3 talents, or 1 talent to use while the master is away, what would you do?
Move 1: So what exactly is the test?
a. Given the context of the parable in Matthew, it appears the test is about how well the disciples will live their do as they wait for Christ’s return.
1. Jesus has just told a couple of other parables:
the story about 10 bridesmaids waiting for the groom to arrive - five took oil for their lamps and five did not. The five with oil were prepared to greet the bridegroom when arrives in the dark at midnight.
and the story about the owner returning when the servants did not expect it - the servant who is working when the master arrives is blessed.
2. So as we listen to this parable, the test is revealed to the listener and to us - how are you doing while you wait for the master,
how are we doing while we wait for Jesus to return?
3. In fact, the question may be even more important to us since Jesus had not quickly return as Matthew’s gospel seemed to expect.
4. Many years waiting for Jesus to return,
maybe many more.
How should his followers,
how should we spend our time.
b. Jesus gives us three examples in the story.
1. the first slave is given 5 talents;
the second is given 2 talents;
the third is given 1 talent.
2. by the way, a talent is a sum of money.
We have come to interpret this parable to mean any gifts or abilities that God has given to a person, but in the original story it is about a sum of money.
indeed, a very large sum of money.
a talent was one of the largest values of money in the Greek world;
one talent would have been about 6,000 days worth of pay for a day laborer, so it is a ridiculous sum of money.
Perhaps the exaggeration speaks to the great riches the master has to give,
the great riches God has in store for us.
2. The final exam takes place when the master returns.
3. What have the slaves done while waiting?
4. As we all know, the one given five talents and the one given two talents doubled their money.
a cynic might say, “the rich get richer.”
5. But, the one given the least, just one talent, buried the talent.
in fairness, burying the talent is not a bad option.
in ancient times, that’s how you kept money safe (Scott, 227, Hear Then the Parable)
you buried it to ensure that it was there when you needed it.
6. But the master has a higher expectation than safeguarding the money.
the master is judging the slaves by how they used the time and the money to grow,
and expand,
and build while he was away.
7. the first two slaves pass the test with flying colors and are given more responsibility and opportunities.
the third slave fails and suffers the consequences.
Beware to the listeners!
Beware to us!
Are you ready to be tested on how well you are doing while waiting for the master to return?
Move 2: A couple of clues for taking the test.
a. Recognize that the kingdom of God is built on the abundance God has for us.
1. In Mediterranean world, there was an economic theory of limited goods.
If someone used their five talents to produce five more talents, those extra five talents had to come from someone else.
they understood the pie only had so many slices, so if one person gets more slices, it means another person gets fewer slices.
2. how would you describe the operative economic theory in our world?
Maybe that is not just a mindset of the ancient world.
3. it seems to me that we often operate as if we are competing for God’s blessings,
acting as if there is a finite amount of God’s love and God’s gifts, so we better grab what we can before God’s abundance runs our and we find ourselves lacking.
4. As Jesus tells the story, we see his vision for the kingdom of God - a place of abundance.
the slave with five talents can find five more talents and the slave with two talents can find two more talents,
even if that is a crazy amount
because God’s abundance knows no bounds.
and the third slave, who is so worried about what might happen to his talent,
so worried that he buries it for safekeeping,
so worried that he does not trust in God’ abundance,
so worried that he misses out on the abundance God has for him
the abundance e God has for us.
as we take the test of what to do while waiting for Christ to return,
remember we worship and follow a God of abundance
and act accordingly.
b. Second clue - in the kingdom of God,
a life of discipleship is risky
1. The third slave takes the safest route possible and ends up nowhere he wants to be, ultimately outside of the kingdom.
2. But the other two slaves risk their talents to grow more.
3. Somehow, they recognize that the master’s desire for them in his absence was to risk what they had and grow in new ways.
4. I don’t know about you, but when I read this parable I always have the sinking feeling that my own tendencies are to be like the third slave:
play it safe.
Follow Jesus, but stick to the established parameters.
No risky discipleship.
Do not rock the boat, even when the call of Jesus seems to demand something new,
or different,
or a clean break from the way the world seems to be going.
5. Maybe it’s about trust, or a lack of trust.
If we knew for sure things would turn out ok if we speak or act as we feel called, maybe we would be riskier.
6. Or, maybe if things did not seem so impossibly difficult to solve, we could risk more.
if there were easy solutions to starving people in Gaza,
or war in Ukraine,
or immigration issues in the United States,
or deadly shootings in our country and even in our downtown,
if it were easy, maybe we would take on the challenge.
But, it’s usually easier to go along with the way things are instead of following the call to change our own lives,
and work to change the world.
6. If you Google the most popular and most preached parables, Google will direct you to an article in which the author says the parable of the talents is the most popular parable Jesus told because it is the easiest one to use to justify our greed,
as if we should only care about doubling our money.
But I don’t think Jesus cares about the money, it’s just part of a good story
Jesus cares about the discipleship of those who will soon be waiting for his return.
He cares about his disciples choosing to take risks in the assurance of God’s abundance,
about choosing to take risks for the sake of the gospel.
conclusion: On this day we bless the backpacks as we send students and teachers and administrators back to school,
as we remind ourselves that all of us are sent into the world to live out our discipleship,
listen to this story, maybe even parable.
A school superintendent comes to a teacher and a couple of students with backpacks for them to use as the semester begins.
the teacher’s backpack is full of, well full of lots ofteacher stuff.
the students’ backpacks are full of the items on the supply lists.
Each backpack also has a bag tag attached which reads, “Lead me, guide me, walk beside me.”
As the superintendent gives each of them their backpack, the superintendent says, “I will be back at the end of the semester to see how things went.”
At the end of the semester, the superintendent returns and asks, “how did the things go?”
the teacher says, “i looked at my bag tag every morning and tried to let Jesus Guide me and lead me. I kept looking for and kept feeling the Holy Spirit beside me. It has been a challenging semester, but I have been able to help several kids through difficult times in their families. Being their teacher became more than just teaching the, facts. I have gotten frustrated at times, but I also have worked to show compassion for students who just needed to be loved.”
To which the superintendent replied, “Well done, you have been a faithful servant using the backpack to guide you in being a disciples of Christ.”
The superintendent asked the first student how their semester went. The student replied, “it has been a hard semester, but I looked at my bag tag every day and tried to see how God was guiding me and where God was leading me. Several days at lunch, I have gone over and sat with kids who were sitting alone in the cafeteria. it didn’t always work out, but i made a friend or two. I stood up for my friend when someone was telling bad rumors about her. I’m not sure I always followed Christ in what I did, but I tried.”
to which the person replied, ““Well done, you have been a faithful servant using the backpack to guide you in being a disciples of Jesus.”
The superintendent asked the second student how things went. The second student said, “I looked at the bag tag and could not believe that God would really be there to guide me, lead me, or walk beside me.” I did not try anything new because I did not want to fail. I did not try to make any new friends because I was afraid they would not like me. I kept my head down, went to school, and did my thing.”
to which the superintendent replied, “My child. how could you not know that I was there guiding you, leading you, and standing beside you. You have not risked to follow, so you have not lived as I have called you to live. I wish you would have believed in the God to whom your bag tag points.”
what are you doing with your backpack?
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