So I embark on this sermon with a bit of trepidation - what have we heard before, what are we willing to hear today? Can I do this parable justice?

It's rather ironic that I have experienced a bit of fear about this parable,
Because ultimately the parable is about just that - Fear.
Fear, and faith, and perception.

Its not really about hiding our abilities, per se -
Although that can be an outcome of the same thing -

Its about two persons who had the courage to step out,
And one who didn't.

Let's look at the context of the passage.

A few chapters ago, in this book of Matthew, Jesus' disciples asked him to explain what signs to look for at the end of all things. In that discourse, Jesus
told them a story - another parable -

About 10 wise maidens, and 10 foolish ones, who went out the meet the bridegroom.
They weren't sure when the bridegroom was coming,
They knew just that they were to wait for him.

The wise ones brought their oil with them, to make sure their lamps stayed lit in the darkness.
The foolish ones brought the lamps, but forgot the oil.

I can relate -
Its like those times when we have lots of things to do,
But forget to take care of ourselves in ways that sustain us through our tasks-
In this sense, they forgot the oil that represents the Holy Spirit working within them.
It is after Jesus tells this story that he tells the parable of the talents -
It is a parable of the end times - of judgment.
And it has an edge to it.
After all, what the master says to the third slave
Isn't nice at all.
Rather brutal, really.

And if we look at what he wrote about his master,
We can understand why he would be afraid to
Step out and invest his master's money.
He described his master as someone quite scary….
Master, I knew you were a hard man…

Why would anyone want to work overtime for someone like that?
If someone is that much of a jerk, maybe hiding is money is the right thing to do.

But was the master really like that,
Or did the servant's fear
Create a perception of the master that mirrored the servant's own interior dis-ease?

In telling the parable, Jesus never gave a description of the master at all.
We have only the master's actions to go by.
To one servant, he gave five talents.
To another two, and another one.

A talent was an enormous sum of money -
Worth something like 3000 denarii
A denarius was a day's wage -
A day's wage times 3000
- you do the math -

Even to the person who had one talent, this was a formidable act of trust on the part of the master.
He entrusted this money to his servants, according to what he understood to be their level of ability, or level of faithfulness. And when he came back,
The first and second had doubled their money.
And the third?
He buried it. Gave it back safe and sound.
But it went nowhere.

No growth.
No advancement.
Nothing new.

Master, I knew that you were a hard man….
And I was afraid.
We don't know why this servant was afraid of his master.
Fear is always elusive.
But it was his fear that stopped him from taking the risk he was entrusted with.

In this world of investment portfolios, we probably don't have the same fear about investing our money as this person did.

But this parable isn't about investing our own money for our own needs -
It is about investing what has been given to us on behalf of another.

With what have we been entrusted?
And to whom does it belong?

Like the servants in the parable,
We have been entrusted with things by God.
Money, relationships, time, yes, and talent.
That idea of talking about one's own abilities as talents
Came along in the medieval period, and it has stuck.
We look at our natural gifts, or our trained gifts as talents.
It's a direct reference to this parable
And it reflects the action of the master -
Like the servants in the parable,
We servants of God have been trusted with quite a lot.

Its how we perceive that trust that makes a difference.

Do we, like the first servants, have the faith to invest what we have been given to further the work of God's kingdom?
Do we work out of a paradigm of faith and abundance?
Or do we, like the third servant, fear to invest too much,
And live in a paradigm of scarcity and fear?

This is a question we all must ask ourselves.
What is our perception of the master, our God?
What is our perception of God's trust in us?
How can we best further that trust,
And live a life of faithfulness with all that we have been given?

Harry Emerson Fosdick, a preacher in the early part of the 20th century, once wrote:

Fear imprisons; faith liberates; fear paralyzes; faith empowers; fear disheartens; faith encourages; fear sickens; faith heals; fear makes useless; faith makes serviceable.

Which shall we choose?