Video of the Divine Service is here. The sermon begins around the 28:05 mark.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When we hear this parable from Jesus, it is easy to start wondering about the difference between the servants. What’s the difference between the servants at the beginning of the parable? What’s the difference between the servants at the end? And there are differences. At the beginning, the master, the Lord, gives them a certain amount according to their abilities. He gives the first servant five talents, the second servant two talents, and the third servant one talent. These are not talents, like the things you’re good at. These are measurements of money. Apparently, a talent was, on average, about 20 years’ wages. So 100 years’ wages for the first servant, 40 years’ for the second servant, and 20 years’ for the third. And these are from the Lord’s possessions. They belong to the Lord and He entrusts them to the servants while He is gone.

But the difference at the beginning of the parable is not the same as the difference at the end. The first servant goes out and works and gains five more talents. The second servant goes out and works and gains two more talents. And the third goes and digs a hole and buries that single talent. So when the Lord returns, after a long time, the first servant has ten talents, the second has four, and the third still has one. But notice that there really is no significant difference between the first and second servants. They say the same words to the Lord, and the Lord says the same words to them: “Well done! Excellent! Good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a little; I will set you over a lot. Enter into the joy of your Lord!”

The third servant says, “I knew you were a hard man. You harvest where You did not sow, and You gather where You did not scatter. So I hid Your talent. Here, have what is Yours.” And the Lord says, “You wicked and lazy servant. You knew that I harvested where I did not sow, and gathered where I did not scatter? Then you should have taken My silver to the bankers, and then I would have back what is mine with interest. Take his talent and give it to the one who has ten. For the one who has, it will abound to him. But the one who does not have—even what he has will be taken from him. And thrown that worthless servant into the outside darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

What is the difference between the first two servants and the third? Is it the amount? No. The first and second start with different amounts, but end up with the same words from the Lord. Is it that they were more faithful, while the third was not faithful enough? No. It is not that the third servant was not faithful enough. He was not faithful at all. It’s not that he didn’t do enough. He did nothing at all. What is the difference, then? If the difference is in how faithful the servants are, why does the Lord welcome them with exactly the same words? We want to compare the servants, just like we want to compare ourselves and others. Well, maybe I haven’t done everything, but I’ve done more than that person. But faithfulness is an all-or-nothing proposition when it comes to being faithful before the Lord. Are we to think that those first two servants could not have made more? That they never wasted a moment? That they made perfect use of their Lord’s gifts? That they did not sin or fail?

And what of us? Have I ever wasted that with which the Lord has entrusted me? Have I ever wasted time, or money, or energy, all of which have been given to me by the Lord? Have you ever wasted a moment, or a dollar, or an effort? The third servant is thrown into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, which marks this as a parable about the end of this age, when Jesus appears, and comes to settle accounts. Will yours be in order? Will mine? Is your faithfulness the standard by which you want to risk His judgment? Is it not far more likely that “evil and lazy” would characterize us than “good and faithful”?

If there is a difference between the first two servants and the third servant, it is not going to be found in the servants themselves. And it is the words of the third servant that make that clear: I knew you were a hard man. You are a harsh judge, an exacting accountant. You take what is not Yours. So I made sure I didn’t lose a cent. Here, have what is Yours. And the Lord says, If I were like that—if that were really who I am—then at least you should have taken what is Mine to the bankers so I could have it back with interest. At the least.

Isn’t this what many people think God is like? That He is keeping track in an eternal, cosmic ledger, and if you miss a cent, or forget to carry a one, you’ll be zapped into eternal hellfire. That He takes what isn’t His, namely you. Notice that the third servant thinks that only the talent belongs to the Lord, and not his very life and self. He is not the Lord’s servant. He is his own servant. And the Lord can have what He’s given him, but nothing more. As if there was something that did not belong to the Lord.

No, the difference between the servants is actually in the Lord they believe they have. To the one who has, it will be multipled, and to the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. What is it that the first two have, that the third does not? It’s not the money. And it’s not that they’re all servants. The third servant is afraid, and views the Lord as a harsh judge. The first two take whatever the Lord has entrusted to them, and go to work. The first and second servants know that out of their Lord’s fullness they have received grace upon grace upon grace. It’s all pure gift, and they simply do what they have to do with what He’s given. The only thing they cannot do is bury the money, bury the gifts, bury the Word, bury their abilities and vocations in the ground, and do nothing.

Do not bury what the Lord has given you! Don’t pretend that you yourself, with everything you have and everything you are, do not belong to Him! And blessed, on that day, is the servant whom the Lord finds doing what He’s given to him to do! This Lord—the Lord you have—is the one who gives freely, who never runs out, who is not stingy with His gifts, and who probably has no idea what happened to the ledge—if there ever was a ledger. There are books, to be sure, but the only one that matters is the Lamb’s Book of Life. In that book, there are only a few words written: good, faithful, and joy. It is the Lamb’s Book, after all. And this Lamb is the Lamb that was slain. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God (Hebrews 12:2). That resurrection joy is the joy He has opened up to you, and not because you have been so faithful that He just has to give it to you, that you’ve earned your place in that joy, over and against the wicked, lazy, and worthless. No, He alone is good; He alone is faithful. But He is your good and faithful Lord, the one in whom you have put your trust. The faithful Son of the Father is the one who has earned the joy by His cross and resurrection. And faith trusts that faithful, resurrected one. And because He is raised from the dead, on that day when He comes to settle accounts, the only thing that matters is what kind of Lord you have. And the Lord you have is the one in whom you have done all your work, with everything the Lord has given you. And work done in Him will never be empty or worthless. The accounts are all filled, and He has counted it all joy for your sake.

It’s all gift, children of God. It’s the Lord’s life, the Lord’s gifts, the Lord’s Word; everything you have is because the Lord has given it: all the abilities, all the talents (in both senses), all the intellectual and physical and emotional gifts. Freely have you received, freely give. And on that day, you will find the Lord as He is, as you have believed Him. All abundance, all joy, all life and faithfulness in Him.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV). Amen.

– Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 11/18/23