Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, Nov. 19 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text is Matthew 25:14-30. Let’s look at the cultural context of our gospel. First, what is a talent? Doesn’t talent mean that someone can sing or dance or do stand-up comedy well? In Jesus’ time, a talent was not an ability, but rather a very large sum of money—between 75–96 pounds of silver. One talent was equal to 15 years of a laborer’s wages. Five talents would be more than a lifetime’s wages.            Not all disciples have the same amount of responsibility, as we see in this parable of the slaves. They were all given talents “according to their ability” (v. 15). As God’s children, we are obligated to participate in God’s mission “according to [our] ability” (v. 15).   The master called his slaves and “delivered over” or “gave over” his possessions to them. That’s the meaning in Greek of the word translated as “entrusted.” It seems to...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017. The text is Matthew 25:14-30.     Last week when the church council met, one of the topics we discussed was stewardship, since it is that time of year. Upon reading today ’ s gospel, my reaction was, “ Oh good! This is about stewardship! ” Well, the more I studied, the more I realized that stewardship, as we envision it, is not the thrust of what Matthew is saying to us.    Looking at the cultural context, let ’ s see if we can get a handle on what this parable is about. First of all, what is a talent? Doesn ’ t talent mean that someone can sing or dance or do stand - up comedy well? Isn ’ t that why we have shows like “ America ’ s Got Talent? ” In Jesus ’ time, a talent was not an ability, but rather a very large sum of money — between 75-96 pounds of silver. One talent was equal to 15 years of a laborer ’ s wages. Five talents would be more ...