Trinity 23
Today’s readings are again of the Last Day and our Lord’s return in judgment to judge the living and the dead. If we take seriously this theme of the Last Day and the judgment—and where we will spend eternity soul and body, in either heaven or hell—we will want to be ready and prepared for it, for Jesus’ return in glory as Judge. In our OT reading we heard the Lord speaking through the prophet Zephaniah: At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, “The Lord will not do good, nor will He do ill.” Here is a picture of the hardness of hearts; the perversion of the heart. People at Zephaniah’s time—and today—say that God won’t keep either His threats or His promises. How many people today think that things will just keep continuing on as they have been? How many people think, act, and live as if there is no God and judgment—either at their death or on the Last Day? How many people reject the very notion that there is a Day of Judgment? For those, the warning at the end of our OT reading must be taken to heart: The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. There is no escaping that day, no hiding, no fighting it.
But, for us Christians, the danger is not so much the rejection of the fact that Jesus is returning in judgment and that there will be indeed a Last Day. We know that in our “heads”. But the danger is that we get lulled into complacency: “Yes, there is a Last Day; yes, Jesus is coming as Judge, but that’s not for now; that’s a long way off yet.” That’s what St. Paul warns about in the epistle: You yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Yes, we are sure of it; we know it in our heads; but there is the temptation for us to listen to the world around us that says: There is peace and security. But that is a misleading notion. The Lord can and will come at a time like a thief in the night. There is no room, time, or place for us to become complacent and to stop looking and expecting Jesus’ return. As we look for and long for Jesus’ return, we will strive to be in the holy Christian faith and living in that faith and living out that faith by a life of good works. The thing is, good works do not preserve faith but evil works do destroy faith. We know the suddenness of our Lord’s return to judge; we know that its time will be unexpected. That’s why we strive always to be alert and watching. That alertness and fervent longing and expectation give shape to our lives here on earth. It gives them meaning and focus. When the Lord comes we will want to be found in the faith and doing the works of faith.
Today’s Gospel is a parable of Jesus in which He again, like in last week’s, describes the outward, visible Church. Here Jesus compares it to three servants to whom the master had entrusted varying amounts of His property. And as we examine this parable we will see that the master rewards faithfulness. And that’s what Jesus, in grace, will reward His dear Christians for when He comes on the Last Day: Well done, good and faithful servant, You have been faithful over little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.
Our text begins: A man going on a journey…called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Of course, in interpreting this parable we see that master/ man going on a journey is Jesus, returning to heaven; the servants He entrusted with His goods are the Christians. A talent in Jesus’ day was a sum of money, a huge amount of money. One talent was worth about 6000 days wages. That huge sum of money given to each—even to the guy that got only one—represents God’s goodness and gifts bestowed on each of us. The crux of the parable for us is: what am I doing with that huge amount of God’s goodness and the gifts that He has given me? If we live our lives with our attention focused on Jesus’ return and the judgment, we will say: “A lot!” But if we live with our attention focused on the here and now, on ourselves, we, dear Christian will have to say: “Not much, if anything.” Here is a call to examine heart and life. Now is a time of grace the Lord is giving us before it is too late, before He comes in judgment.
Think about this parable: these servants got varying amounts of money, but each was very significant. In grace, the Lord has entrusted each one of us with His great goodness and gifts. What, dear Christian, was the great grace that the Lord has given to each of us/ that great goodness He has shown each of us? –Of course, it was the grace of conversion! He brought us to faith in Him. Left to ourselves and our own devices, we would have continued on the path of sin leading to death and damnation. But through His word and Baptism He has shown us great grace and given us the Holy Spirit who created faith in Him in our hearts; by creating this new spiritual life—faith—in us, He has brought us from spiritual death to spiritual life. We now know God rightly as our Savior and God; we are now filled with love of Him and our delight is to do His will. What did we do to deserve any of this? Absolutely nothing! It was all the Lord’s goodness and grace to us. On top of that, He has given each of us different and varying gifts to use in His Church. Each of us can serve the Lord—and others—by these gifts and in this way the Lord works in and through each of us to give His grace and goodness to others.
Our text: Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, “Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.” Notice a couple things here—first, the servant did not think these talents were his. He knew that they had been entrusted to him by the master; they were the gracious endowment of the Master. Just think of the great gift of faith that Jesus has entrusted to us. Let see and recognize our faith as our Lord’s great gift to us—something He entrusted us with. God Himself has bestowed on us His great goodness and gift—faith and the Holy Spirit. How then we want to treasure our faith and the Holy Spirit as a gift of God! We will want to avoid all that fights against and tries to destroy that gift of faith. We will follow the leading and promptings of the Holy Spirit as He leads us into a life of good works.
And the second thing we see in the parable is the joy of the servant: here I have made five talents more. His delight was in doing the will of his master. He was happy when his master was happy. That describes the Christian! We want to do the will of the one who saved us. It gives us a great joy to fight against sin. How happy we are when we are tempted and don’t sin; how sad we are when we realize our sin. When we do sin, we run to the Lord in confession for His forgiveness; and as He gives it to us in the absolution, what joy fills our hearts. This is what it means no longer to live for self—to satisfy our own sinful desires—but live for Him who loves us and gave Himself for us. This is the joy of what the Christian life is as we live our lives looking for and longing for Jesus’ return; as we keep awake and are sober, as St. Paul writes in today’s epistle. And as we live lives of repentance and faith, and as we make use of the gifts the Lord has given us with the gift of faith, we don’t regard it as burdensome or toilsome to live expectantly for Jesus’ return, to live a life of repentance, faith and good works. Instead, we see it as a privilege, not something done grudgingly. The first servants in the parable wanted to prove they were worthy of the trust the master showed them. We have great Christian joy as we remember all that the Lord has, in grace, entrusted to us. We want to be faithful to Him in whatever way we can.
And what is a grace upon grace is that the Lord rewards us for doing what we are supposed to, doing what He has entrusted us to do, doing what we as Christians want to do! His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will; set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Is it easy to live out our lives as Christians, to be vigilant and awake waiting expectantly for Jesus’ return and to live a life of faith and good works? Hardly! Because we have the gift of the Holy Spirit we now have that struggle against sin. It isn’t easy just to live our lives as Christians; it’s difficult even to keep that gift of the Holy Spirit. But the Lord doesn’t leave us alone to fend for ourselves. Instead He Himself strengthens and supports us. He Himself has promised us through St. Paul [Ph. 1.6]: being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself will strengthen and increase that gift of faith and the Holy Spirit He has given us. But He won’t do it/ He can’t do it, if we just sit there. But He can and does help and strengthen us to keep that gift of the Holy Spirit and faith if we cling to His word and promise and pray to Him for help and strength and abide in His goodness by faithfully making use of His holy word and Sacrament. That’s why it’s vital that we gather together around the pulpit and altar here at church to receive our Lord’s gifts to strengthen us. And you see what is happening—by us being faithful over what our Lord has entrusted to us, the Lord is increasing and making firm in us the gift of faith!
The more that we faithfully use what our Lord gives us—His holy Word and sacrament—the more we are given. So you see what is happening here—the faithful servants worked with the 5 or 2 talents they were given and they doubled the amount. Now, as Christians, led by the Holy Spirit we work together with Him, we cooperate with Him, with our salvation. Again St. Paul writes [Ph 2.12-13]: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. We follow the Spirit’s promptings in a life of faith and good works, knowing that evil works will destroy faith; and we want to and delight in God’s will. We follow the Holy Spirit as He leads us back to the word and Sacrament where He works to strengthen faith. As we faithfully use what God has entrusted to us for our salvation—as we are faithful in little things—we will be given more and greater treasures. As we keep going back to the word, we will be drawn into it and into deeper truths that support and undergird our faith and protect us from the devil’s lies; as we keep going back to the Blessed Sacrament, there we find Jesus and His gifts; there as we ponder and meditate upon what we are there receiving—Jesus, His body and blood, the forgiveness of sins and He coming to us—how we long for it even more! And as we make regular and frequent use of it, how our faith is strengthened! As we are faithful in little, the Lord, in grace, gives us more and greater gifts!
For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. Jesus gives a great promise! But if we are not faithful with what He has given us, Jesus warns: But from one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
As we are faithful in the little things—with the faith and gifts the Lord gives us, and which He rewards in faith—He in grace rewards us with heaven: Enter into the joy of your Master. Faithfulness in little things leads to great rewards of grace. INJ