Readings: Proverbs 31:10-13; 19-20, 30-31; Psalm 128; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30
Grace and peace to you my dear family of God’s people. Today, we are reading from Matthew 25. This chapter has three parables and they are all about how we prepare for the Lord’s coming. Verses 1-13 are about the Ten Bridesmaids; verses 14-30 are the parable of the Talents and the parable of the Great Separation (sheep from goat) – verses 31-46.
I will not repeat the parable of today because we all heard it. It is a parable with many powerful blessings. I will point out some lessons from the parable but my message today will be on the errors of the servant with the one talent.
Let’s begin by looking at five powerful lessons from this parable.
I. God gives us talents, responsibilities, blessings and crosses according to the abilities, strength and the graces that He has given to us. Hence, there is no need to be envious, to compare, to complain or be angry with others because of what they have. God gives us only what we can handle.
II. Every one of us has received from God and what God has given us (the material goods, spiritual gifts, opportunities, life, time, relationship, family and friends), He expects us to use well, to be accountable for and to use profitably. Everything we have has come from God and belongs to God; even the gains of the servants belong to the Master. The Master may delay but He will come and we will have to render an account.
III. The Master looks for goodness and faithfulness in all of us. Whatever He has entrusted to us, He looks for, and rewards goodness and faithfulness.
IV. Everyone will be judged individually and not collectively. The master gave 8 talents in all and collectively they returned 15 talents but the judgment was personal not collective. Everyone will answer for himself or herself. No one will hide under the piety or faithfulness of another.
V. The master was kind, merciful and compassionate to his servants but the one who was lazy, arrogant, and obstinate in wickedness, was thrown into the outer darkness. God is merciful and kind but also just. He loves, forgives and shows mercy but some will still end up in outer darkness, cast away from His presence forever because they have rejected Him and were obstinate in their impenitence. Those who choose to live in the dark and reject the light (Second Reading) may end up spending eternity in the dark.
Having highlighted this, let us reflect on four mistakes of the servant with the one talent, with a view to learn from these.
I. Fear: He couldn’t use the talent he was given because he was afraid. He was afraid of taking risks and failing and so he decided to do nothing. Let us not allow fear to cripple us. The fear of failure, which cripples one from action, is failure itself. Some are also afraid of success and the responsibilities it brings. Fear has kept many people from success, from becoming a blessing, from being productive and fulfilling their mission in life. Do not be ruled by fear.
II. Hearsay: He acted based on what he had heard about the master. He said, “I had heard you were a hard man…” Ironically, from the way the master treated the first two servants, we know that he wasn’t a wicked man; he was a kind, good and generous man. However, the third servant got the side of the master he deserved. Let us be careful on acting based on what we have heard without making an effort to search for truth. Let us not be unkind to anyone based on what we have heard. A single narrative can be dangerously misleading.
III. Blamer tendency: He was not sorry for what he did; he didn’t take responsibility. Instead, he blamed the master. Sometimes we are like this. We blame everyone else for everything that is wrong – for our wrong choices and the consequences of our actions. We even blame God. We must learn to accept responsibility, to be humble enough to admit when we are wrong and be willing to change.
IV. Laziness: The master called him lazy and wicked. No wonder he was given one talent; because the master knew his character. While others were working, he was wasting in idleness.
Let us not forget that laziness or idleness (sloth) is a sin, a capital sin at that.
The First Reading includes hard work as one of the qualities of a good wife/person. How hardworking are we? What do we do with our time? What are we doing with our talents and opportunities? Do we just procrastinate, give excuses to be lazy, leave things undone, ask others for help, just love to sleep, eat, and leave things scattered, disordered and disorganised while we just waste time?
(Here are some Bible references on laziness – Proverbs 6:6-11, 10:4, 13:4, 20:4, 24:30-34; Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12).
Dear friends, God judges laziness. He has called us all to be productive, hardworking and responsible stewards of our time, and the talents and opportunities we have.
Let us pray today that we may be grateful for what God has entrusted to us and understand that all we have belongs to Him. Let us pray that we may not receive grace in vain or envy others but use what we have fruitfully and for His glory, so that at last we may be counted among the good and faithful servants who will enter into the joy of their Master.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on November 19, 2023