Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church     
 
Pastor Tim Janiszewski - "Ready to Risk"

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This Sunday
August 9, 2015



Sermon Title:
"Ready to Risk"


Scripture:
Matthew 25:14-30




Picture of Pastor Tim
August 7, 2015
 
Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:
 
When many people hear the word "talent," they quickly think of a special skill or ability with which someone is particularly gifted. Perhaps the TV show, America's Got Talent, springs to mind. It features people performing in song, dance, comedy, magic and other similar acts with the hope of winning the one million dollar grand prize and the opportunity to appear on stage in Las Vegas. Indeed, some of the talents demonstrated by these performers are pretty remarkable.
 
It is not unusual for preachers and teachers to transfer this common English language understanding of talent as a skill or ability to what is known as "The Parable of the Talents" found in Matthew 25:14-30. We may be challenged to consider how we are using our talent, our skill, and our ability to serve the Lord. Are we like the five talent and two talent servants who proved to apply their talents faithfully? Or are we like the one talent fellow who did nothing more than bury his talent in disuse and inactivity?
 
To be true to the parable, however, let's recognize that a talent was a measurement of weight for gold or silver or copper coins in Jesus' day. The value of a talent could vary widely. After all, a talent of gold was worth much more than a talent of silver, which was worth much more than a talent of copper. But to give a sense of the value, a talent of silver was rated at about 6,000 days of pay for a common day laborer. So, one talent would employ a worker for about twenty-four years. Two talents supplied wages to an employee for around forty-eight years. And five talents provided payment for about one hundred and twenty years. Put differently, the five talents could support one hundred and twenty day laborers for an entire year. We thus can conclude that the master was entrusting a substantial amount of capital to his servants--even to the man who was responsible for only one talent.
 
The point is that the master leaves all of his servants with important stewardship of his belongings. And what does the master want his servants to do with their stewardship? He wants them to grow his money. He looks for them to increase his investment. When he returns, he expects to see a good return on his finances, even as a person today might look with expectation for a stock broker or mutual funds manager or financial advisor to bring a healthy increase. This is why the master is so positive toward the five talent and two talent servants. They took action. They took risks. They operated to build the master's assets in a way that the master would have done if he had been present. And this also is why the master is so condemning of the one talent man. Though he knew that the master always operated in order to grow his capital, the servant buried the talent. It earned nothing. In fact, if there was inflation back then, it lost value!
 
So, what was the difference between the first two servants and the third servant? I suggest that the first two men took risks with their stewardship of the master's money. Perhaps not foolish risks, but risks nevertheless. After all, you don't double the value of an investment by just playing safe. These men went for it! And the master commended them for taking the wise risks that built his net worth. In contrast, the one talent servant took no risk whatsoever. He played it totally safe. And he did nothing to grow the master's money, even though he knew that was the master's way of operating.
 
I believe that Christ indicates through this parable that God calls us to be ready to risk in Him and for Him. After all, faith is central to our Christian faith. And faith requires us to take risks with and for God because we don't have all of the answers in hand. If we did know all of the answers, then there would be no need to exercise faith. So, God constantly calls us to go for it in small and great ways. We don't sit back and play safe all the time--not if we want to please our Lord and Master. 
 
So, when was the last time you took a risk for Jesus? When was the last time our church took a risk for Jesus? After all, He is calling us to be ready to risk--even to risk all--for Him.
 
Pastor Tim
 
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