Matthew 24:14-30
The Rev. Dr. Robert S. Langworthy, preaching
May 3, 2026
Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life, says a lot of things that make a lot of sense to me.
One of them is that, when we on Judgment Day appear before God, He will put to us two fundamental questions: What did you do with my Son Jesus, and what did you do with the life I gave you?
God gave each of us the life we have and, for that life, certain talents and gifts by which we might spend it in trying to make the world better than we found it.
In this parable, Jesus’ next-to-last word in His long teaching on the End Times, the Master stands for God and the servants, us. To each servant, the Master entrusts to their management some of His vast riches.
The word “talent” has two meanings. We can think of it as an ability or gift we have to make a difference in this world. Of course, people have different sets of talents; but everyone has talents of great value.
This becomes clear when we consider the second meaning of the word “talent”. A talent is also an ancient unit of money, as determined by the weight of the currency used. A single talent of silver would be worth 40 thousand in today’s dollars; and a talent of gold, several million in today’s dollars. That means that even the servant in the parable who got but one talent got a lot with which to work.
This parable reflects real life. People have very different amounts of talent, in both senses of the word, and in both the quantity and the quality of their talents. But, while we might be envious of the talents someone else has, none of us has any ground to complain about our set of talents. For we’ve all have been given a lot, and the chance to make more of what we’ve already got.
It might seem unfair that some have much more talent to work with than others. But notice how the parable’s Master distributes His talents. Verse 14 says He gives “to each according to his ability”. Some are given more monetary talents because they have more talents in the other sense – and thus a greater capability to do more with what the Master has entrusted to them.
The distribution of the amount of monetary talent also tells us something about the Master’s priorities. If His prime concern were to get the greatest return on His money, He would’ve turned over all eight talents to the first servant, who has over twice as much ability as the second servant and five times as much as the third. Doesn’t His giving each one a share suggest the Master’s prime concern is, not to benefit Himself, but to bless each of His servants?
Being given significant responsibility is after all more a blessing than a burden. It gives us the privilege of working with substantial resources to make things better. The Master in the parable then is not seeking to use His servants to increase His wealth, but to give them an opportunity to increase the meaningfulness and the happiness of their life. That He delegates the management of His wealth to everyone is an expression of His love for them all!
In the parable, both the most talented servant and the second one work to make more money for their Master. Yet, though the first servant gives the Master a return over twice as great as that of the second, they receive exactly the same reward for their efforts. Since their returns on the Master’s money are proportionally the same, with both doubling His talents, they receive the same praise and promise. The Master says to each, “Well done, good and trustworthy servant…enter into the joy of your master.” What matters most is not how much God gives us, but how well we use, in His purposes, whatever He gives us.
That means that the third servant could’ve received everything the other two did if only he too had taken the risk and tried to increase the Master’s talents.
So, why doesn’t he? Because, the parable notes, he is “afraid”! And why is he afraid? Because he doesn’t trust the Master to do right by him! He sees the Master as a harsh, unjust, unfair man who exploits others, reaping where he does not sow and gathering where he does not scatter seed. So, because the third servant has no faith in the Master and half-expects Him to stiff him, he refuses to take any risk but plays it safe by burying the money in the ground.
For such a response, the Master calls this servant “wicked and lazy”. He is wicked because he disregards his duty to give the Master His due in active, risk-taking service, but does the bare minimum with it by just hiding the money to protect it against theft. He is lazy because he doesn’t even put himself out to put the money in a bank where it will earn some interest and thereby increase in value.
That servant will soon learn that the greatest risk is from trying to avoid all risk.
Danger is inherent in this world, and it comes in two basic forms: We can risk suffering great loss or we can risk missing out on great gain. Thus, just as it’s foolish to risk great loss in hopes of small gain, so it’s foolish to refuse to risk small loss in hopes of great gain.
Because of his false fear of this trustworthy Master, the third servant makes the latter mistake. If he had worked with his Master’s resources as much as the other two but had, by poor investing, lost the one talent entrusted to him, he would have lost only some time and energy in the effort and would have, I think, been invited to enter the joy of his Master because he made a good faith effort. But because he prioritizes playing it safe over giving his best to serve his Master, he misses out on the great gain the other two servants come to know.
As it turns out, the third servant both misses out on great gain and suffers great loss. What he had is taken from him; and, instead of entering into the joy of his Master, he’s thrown “into the outer darkness” where there’s “weeping and gnashing of teeth”.
There is great gain when we take the risks the Lord asks for. Jesus promises we will obtain a better life if for Him we lose our present life, and we will best serve our self-interest if we first serve Him and neighbors!
Are you ready to take the risk of faith that if you give Jesus your everything, He will give you His everything – and you’ll be way ahead in that deal?
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