Like many of you, my sweeties and I have been watching the Olympic Games all week. Like always, there is much to be impressed by at the games this year, but for me, the most startling, stunning aspect of these games has been the amazing risk and danger of it all.Who are these people? Why does somebody go screaming down a mountainside at 90 miles an hour, quite literally risking everything, as we’ve seen painfully illustrated this year in particular? Monica made me laugh out loud at one point this week. We saw yet another outrageous picture of a snowboarder in mid air and she turned to me and said in all seriousness, “That’s not real, is it?”
No, sweetie, it is absolutely real. Some people aren’t interested in wandering through life doing only the minimum – some people are just not interested in playing things safe. Some people want to take their God-given talents for a ride…maybe even a wild and crazy ride! And because there are exciting folks like that in the world, all the rest of us get to reap the benefit.
We aren’t Olympic athletes, but what sorts of risks are we willing to take just to see the amazing things God might want us to accomplish? Are we willing to risk it all?
Is it fair of God to expect us to risk everything entrusted to us? Is this actually what God teaches us in His Word? Open your Bibles to Matthew 25. In our Scripture passage today, Jesus is describing the Kingdom of God and those who will be allowed to enjoy it. Just before sharing His very sobering teaching on the sheep and the goats, he talked about talents. While bags of money were used to illustrate the story, this teaching is not really about money. This passage is key to everything we believe about the generously Christian life. So listen closely.
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Is Jesus really saying what I think He’s saying? Is getting a good return on investment really this important to God? Are these really the stakes involved in any talent conversation?
Yup, they are! But I let’s not look at this story negatively as many do. Let’s not focus much on the creepy warning against faithlessness and fearful failure. Let’s just focus on four absolutely exhilarating, life-changing principles this story contains. What can we learn from these good and faithful servants? What does it mean to be good and faithful with our talents?
We Are Entrusted
It means, first of all, that we fully understand we have all been entrusted with whatever talents we’ve received. Every servant in the story got something. And every single servant clearly understood the Master was one day going to hold them accountable for how those talents were used. These talents were not a gift to be used, guarded or wasted away without consideration or eventual accountability. These servants were all given complete control over how the talents were used, but they all knew an accounting would one day come.
Our talents have been entrusted to us. God has also given us complete control over how they are used, but we will all be held accountable for the decisions we’ve made. To use them selfishly or, even worse, to do nothing at all with them will have consequences. The good and faithful servant understands the Master doesn’t invest His money bags full of talent for no good reason – what sort of silly investment strategy would that be? We are all entrusted.
We Risk Everything
Fully understanding this enormous trust, the wise and faithful servants in this story do something stunning. They risk everything. They don’t bury anything in the ground. Have you ever thought about that? They don’t put seventy-five percent of their talents to work and then bury the rest in the ground just in case they fail. They risk everything. They put it all to work. They take every ounce of talent the Master entrusted to them and they do something with it.
Isn’t that a great challenge? Do you know anyone who lives like that? I love being around people who even attempt to live this way. They are always a blast to be around.
We Are Fearless
But how and why would they do that? Why did the good and faithful servants in this story risk everything entrusted to them? I suspect it was because they were fearless.
Look for just a moment at the loser, one-talent failure in the story. Why did he fail? Why did he do what he did? Why was the Master so very angry and condemning of him?
The answers to those questions are obvious. First of all, the man was completely wrong about his Master. He thought the Master a hard man. He was wrong about the talent he had been given – probably bitter about being given less than the others, he felt the Master wanted more than was fair to ask. He felt the Master hadn’t given him enough to risk. And so he was afraid. He was afraid of the Master. He was afraid of failure. He was afraid of losing and, in the end, pursuing what he thought was a safe course, he ended up losing everything.
The good and faithful servants didn’t make those mistakes. They knew their Master was not a hard man, but a truly gracious and generous man. They were grateful for what they were given and anxious to see what they could produce with their talents. I think they were thrilled to give their final reports. They were completely unafraid of losing because they knew they had already won! The talents weren’t theirs anyway – the Master was expecting them to risk it all.
On Wednesday evening, Olympic snowboarder Shaun White won his gold medal on his very first run through the halfpipe. None of the other competitors, even with two attempts, could match the score he posted on his first attempt. And so Shaun could have taken it easy on his second run – but he didn’t. He did exactly the opposite. As Seattle Times writer Steve Kelley reported it, “The gold already was assured – he could have played it safe. He didn't need to drop his new toy, his new trick, at the end of his second and final run. He didn't need to throw his tired body into the air, rotate 3½ times, flip twice and land perfectly. He didn't need to do his Double McTwist 1260.” But he did it all anyway. He did the very same, very dangerous trick that almost took his head off at the XGames competition in January. He ended up scoring even higher on his second run, even though it was completely unnecessary to do so.
Why? Why attempt the trick when you’ve already won? Why risk it all like that? Because he had already won the race! Because he was fearless. Do you see? Because he knew his coach was already proud of him and all his talents were a trust. Because it was fun and possible to risk more and reach even higher. Because there are things in this world even more important and wonderful than gold medals. There is no fear when there is no losing!
With our Master, the only losing is not trying. So we can and should be fearless!
We Share Happiness
But there is a fourth and final truth in this story even more exciting than all the rest. If you forget everything else I’ve said today, don’t forget this last bit. Good and faithful servants fearlessly risk everything the Master entrusted to them because they understand something the fearfully faithless cowards do not. They understand the Master’s ultimate desire. Look again at what the Master says to both the five talent and two talent servants. His final words to both of them are exactly the same. They are praised, they are entrusted with even more talents to manage and then, they are invited to “come and share your Master’s happiness.”
Do you see? The whole point of this conversation is Almighty God’s profound desire for us all to share His happiness, both now and for all eternity! Isn’t this what God wants? God doesn’t entrust us with talents just so we can bury them in the ground and keep them safe for Him. God doesn’t need us to keep His stuff safe! How silly would that be? No – Almighty God wants to see us do all sorts of tricks in His halfpipe! He wants to see our sweat and hair flying and our smiling faces as we race down the mountain! He wants to see how fast and far we can go with whatever talents He’s given us. He wants to enjoy both this life and the next with us!
Don’t use your talents for God because you’re scared you might be horribly punished if you don’t. If that’s what we take away from this passage, we have completely missed the point of Jesus’ teaching. Fear is not what this story is about. A good and faithful servant fearlessly risks everything because that’s where all the best happiness is found. This whole thing is about fully and happily enjoying everything God uniquely created us to enjoy. Isn’t that wonderful?
We do all we do because we long to fully share in our Master’s happiness!
On Thursday morning, Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times reported exactly what Shaun White was thinking as he entered his crazy, final snowboard run Wednesday night, “I wanted a victory that would be remembered…I just felt like I didn't come all the way to Vancouver not to pull out the big guns. I put down the tricks I worked so hard on. It was the savvy thing to do. Saucy! Keep it weird. My coach at the top [of the hill before the second and final run] said, “Don't do this thing unless you're going to stomp it." Oh, yeah, he stomped it, dude!
Folks, let’s do something absolutely saucy, risky and outrageous with whatever large or small talents God has entrusted to us. Whether we are five, two or just one talent people, let’s not do this thing unless we’re going to stomp it!
Doesn’t that sound like just a whole lot more fun?
May God help us to trust Him enough to fearlessly and happily risk everything! May we all fully and completely share in our Master’s happiness!
Saucy! And amen.
