The Joy of Your Master – October 22, 2023
Jeremiah 31:7-14, Matthew 25:14-30
October 22, 2023
This is a great parable of Jesus! And as we look at it today, I’d like to remind you of a couple of things. For one thing, Jesus made up these parables. He didn’t take existing stories and use them to make a point. We who are lesser story tellers than Jesus, (Which includes just about everybody!) are resigned to doing just that. We tell other people’s stories.
Jesus, on the other hand, made these stories up. And yes, it’s probably safe to assume he drew from some traditional ideas and characters, but he made these stories up in his mind. And he certainly drew from the people’s lives and experiences, and by doing so, he drew them into these stories! He was the master! And then, as he drew them in, he often gave them some unexpected “twists” and conclusions in his stories that really gave them pause to think!
I think this story has all of that. As he told what each of these characters did, how they acted with the money they were given, I think the people hung on his every word! I’m sure they were thinking, “Wow, that first guy really did well! He doubled his master’s money!” And then then maybe, when they heard what the last servant did, a hush fell over them. “Oh no! What’s the master gonna do to this guy?” I think they were right there with Jesus as he told this parable!
I want you to think about that last guy for a minute. What was with him? I was thinking this week that maybe he was upset that the master didn’t give him anything that was actually his! It was, after all, the master’s money. As the first servant said, “You have delivered to me five talents, and I have made five talents more.” He was glad to work with those talents. But did the master give any of them anything? It seems not. Jesus told us, “He called his servants and entrusted to them his property.” He was giving them “stewardship” of his wealth. (There’s the operative word for this month!)
So it was the master’s wealth. Or was it? At the end, the master said, “Take the talent from the third man and give it to him who has ten talents.” Now whose talents does it sound like they were? It sounds a little bit nebulous to me.
Well, whoever’s talents they were, whoever’s wealth it was, the first two servants – the first two “stewards” – were glad to work with what they were “entrusted with” and to do what they saw as the work of the master. The last guy was bitter and resentful because all he could think about was that the master hadn’t really given him anything. In other words, anything that was actually his. He said, “I knew you were a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, etc… so I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, have what is yours.”
That’s the way he saw it. And can you imagine the people’s reaction? “What’s the master gonna do?” Well, the master did exactly what the people would have expected. He cut the man off. And not because he didn’t safeguard his money! Not because he didn’t protect it! He did! It was because of his attitude towards that money! “You wicked and slothful servant!” the master said. “You knew – you thought – that I was one who reaped where he did not sow.” “All you thought about was that you got nothing of your own. All you thought about was that I was only “entrusting to you” what was really mine.”
And you know what? The others knew that, too! They knew it wasn’t their money. And so did the people listening! And yet, these two men were happy to do what they did. They were joyful about what they did. At the end they were told, “Enter into the joy of your master.” Well, you know what? They were already in the joy of the master! That joy started as they were entrusted with his property! The joy started when they did the work of the master!
Well, our joy begins as we too work for the master – if we choose it. The joy is not something we get as a reward at the end! Remember, Paul didn’t tell the Corinthians, “God gives joy to the giver.” He told them, “God loves a joyful giver.” (II Corinthians 9:6-7) And I know Paul uses “cheerful” there, but I think you’ll agree it’s the same idea. And as we work for the kingdom we have that joy. We work for the kingdom, as Paul said, “not reluctantly, or under compulsion, but joyfully!”
We can be joyful when we are clear that everything we have is God’s anyway. We’ve just been “entrusted” with it. Think about everything you have. And remember the words of the old hymn, “We give thee but thine own, what e’er the gift may be. All that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from thee.” If we know that, if we focus on that, there is joy. If we focus on the self, as the third man did, we won’t have that same joy. And you know a lot of people who have that focus, don’t you!
I believe that joy was the focus of this parable. This is about “the joy of your master.” It comes as part of several statements in Matthew about the coming of God’s kingdom. At the beginning of chapter 24, Jesus and his disciples were at the Temple in Jerusalem, and they were remarking about the beauty of the Temple and it’s surrounding buildings. And Jesus said to them, in a sense, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” And he told them how it was all going to be destroyed – which it was, some 40 years later. But more than that, he was trying to give them an eternal perspective. Everything we have will someday be for naught. It will be God’s kingdom that matters in the end. That’s what he was telling them. And now he’s telling them it will be a joyful kingdom. And if we see that, it will be joyful all along! And all that we have here in this life will not be so important.
I say that because you may remember my take on this story. I’ve said before that I think the most interesting person in this parable is the second man. Jesus could easily have made this a parable about two men with their opposing attitudes toward the master and what he entrusted them with. But he didn’t. Jesus made this story about three men! And the second man in the story was given less than the first. And yet, his attitude was the same, his joy was no less. And I think that’s huge in thinking about our place in the kingdom. I think we often find ourselves in the position of the second servant.
I felt like the second man last week! I was with a friend who is pastor in a big church – a wealthy church. And I was telling him about our recent bequests, and what a joy it was to be improving what God has given us here at Eddington. And he started in telling me about some recent bequests that came to his church and what they were able to do – like a modern, restaurant quality kitchen. And I remember thinking, “But you always have enough to do that stuff!” “We don’t have that like you do!” “You’ve got the five talents, man!” I didn’t say those things. But I thought them!
It’s easy to think that way. And I wonder if there was any temptation in the second man to think that way, too. The way Jesus told the story, it seems he chose not to act that way, but he doesn’t say he didn’t think it. Because that’s a real temptation! And I believe Jesus was making a case for that by adding this second man to his story. I believe he was teaching us a very important lesson by having the master give different amounts of talents to each of these different people.
We don’t have what other ministries might have. We might not have their same resources – their same talents! But! We can have their same joy! And that’s so important! We may not have what others have, but we can still be “good and faithful servants.” And I believe God wants us to be “good and faithful servants!” I believe he wants for all of us to have that joy. His conclusion for all of us is the same as these first two servants. He wants you – every one of you – to have the joy of your master!
Prayer
Eternal God, help us to see the joy that you want for us, no matter what the circumstances of this life. Help us to see that we have your joy when we work for your kingdom and when we seek to know that joy. Give us the strength we need to be “good and faithful servants,” giving of ourselves in every way, to your glory and praise. For we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.