From Worthless to Children of Light

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Date: Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Text: Matthew 25:14-30

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Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern
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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.
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And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the 25th chapter.
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Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.
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To one he gave five talents, to another two, another one, and each according to his ability. Then he went away.
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He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.
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But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
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And he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents.
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Here I have made five talents more. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little.
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I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also who had the two talents came forward saying,
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Master, you have delivered to me two talents. Here I have made two talents more. His master said to him,
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Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.
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Enter into the joy of your master. He also who had received the one talent came forward saying,
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Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, gathering where you scattered no seed.
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So I was afraid. And I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, have what is yours.
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But his master answered him, You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I have scattered no seed.
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Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.
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So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance.
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But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast that worthless servant into the outer darkness.
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In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus.
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Amen. All right, you all remember the Star Wars movies. Darth Vader had this terrible ability to kill people by choking them out.
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He didn't even have to touch them. He would just go like this. He could be like on a different Star Destroyer altogether, using a video feed of all things.
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He would use Zoom to kill people. You know, it was a terrible thing. Have you ever noticed that when Jesus pronounces a stern judgment and casts somebody into hell, that you have that nervous feeling about you, almost as if Darth Vader's special powers have squeezed around your neck, and you're a little at a loss for breath?
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Well, often that happens as a result of the fact that we all recognize that like this poor fellow who was cast into outer darkness, each and every one of us deserve the same fate.
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And so let's consider our text in light of that, but we're going to do a little bit of a word study. Jesus said these words at the tail end of our gospel message.
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Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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Now, worthlessness, if you do a little bit of a biblical study in the Old Testament, worthless is a word that comes up often.
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Worthless is a word that is often described, used as a scripture for those who are unbelievers, who are steeped in sin, enslaved to sin and unbelief.
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Think of it this way. If we were to kind of do a little bit of a study along these lines, we'll do a little Old Testament work here today. Proverbs 6 verses 12 through 15 says this, a worthless person, a wicked man goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart, devises evil, continually sowing discord, therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly, and in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
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Isn't that interesting? Proverbs 6, 12 through 15 parallels what Christ was saying, that worthless man, well, in a moment he was broken beyond healing and calamity came upon him, the calamity of hell.
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And so, in reading this description of worthless folks, yeah, well, if you're like me, have you ever woken up in the morning, not quite gotten out of bed, haven't decided to make that cup of coffee yet, but the thing going on in your head is you're planning something, and the thing you're planning is sin?
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Yeah, that's a common thing. And it proves something that scripture is right, that each and every one of us, well, our old
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Adam is worthless, and that's the state that we were born in. Consider then another description of worthlessness found in the
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Old Testament, 1 Samuel 2, talking about Eli, the high priest's sons,
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Hophni and Phinehas. These are fellows who were Levites and served as priests, wore the linen ephod, at the tabernacle of God, and scripture says of them in verse 12 of 1
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Samuel 2, the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the
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Lord, and that's the issue. They didn't know the Lord.
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They were worthless. In fact, their worthlessness is on display that even serving as priests, they were quite sinful in the way they treated and mistreated the people who had brought the sacrifices to the tabernacle.
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It says this, the custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling, and with a three -pronged fork in his hand, he would thrust it into the pan or the kettle or the cauldron or pot, and all the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself.
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Now here's the issue. The Mosaic Covenant clearly permits the priests to have a portion of the sacrifice for themselves to consume and to eat and also to take back to their family members.
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The priests made their living as priests. But these fellows, let's just say that they had a hankering for barbecued meat rather than boiled meat, and the requirements of the
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Mosaic Covenant was that they couldn't take the meat unless it was at a particular point. And so over, what ended up happening is that the text then says, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and then say to the man who was sacrificing, give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.
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And if the man would say to him, well, let them burn the fat first and then take as much as you wish, the servant would say, no, you must give it now, and if not,
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I will take it by force. Say what? That's no way for a priest to be behaving in the temple of God.
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So the text then says this, the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of Yahweh, for the men treated the offering, the sacrifice of the
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Lord, with contempt. So worthless fellows, enslaved to sin, enslaved to death, they don't know the
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Lord. And you can kind of think of it this way, another hallmark of those who are worthless is they treat the offering, the sacrifice of the
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Lord, with contempt. And the offering, the sacrifice of the Lord, is not some animal on an altar somewhere, it's
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Christ himself on the cross, who bled and died for our sins. And then we have the final oracle, the last words of King David recorded for us in 2
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Samuel 23, and in the last prophetic oracle that David gives, David addresses and talks about the concept of worthlessness.
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Here's what he says. In 2 Samuel 23, verses 1 to 7, it states, these are the last words of David, the oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, anointed of God, of the
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God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel. And here's the oracle. The spirit of the
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Lord speaks by me, his word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken, the rock of Israel has said to me, when one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
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For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure, for he will not cause to prosper all my help and my desire.
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But, and here's verse 6, worthless men. Worthless men are like thorns that are thrown away.
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They cannot be taken by the hand. But the man who touches them arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear, and then they are utterly consumed with fire.
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Worthless men are consumed with fire, David writes, the very last words of King David.
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So in order to rightly understand this parable, we must understand and come to grips with the fact that we were all numbered with the worthless.
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I know that there are preachers out there who say things that are ridiculous. Say things like, well the reason why
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Jesus died for you is because you were so worth it. You were so valuable.
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It's as if the Jesus they're describing had just got done walking on the beach in order that that poem,
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Footprints in the Sand, could be written, so he was still barefoot. And while he was heading back to his car, he tripped and fell on the ground, fell on the sand, and then looking back, he saw a treasure box, and the treasure box was you.
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This is how people talk. But scripture gives us a different picture altogether.
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Scripture says in Romans 3, also twice in Psalms, that none is righteous, not even one.
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No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside, and together they have become, and here's the phrase, worthless.
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Well, if we're worthless, then why did Jesus die for us? Because of his great love.
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Because of his compassion. Because of his mercy. Because of his pity for poor lost sinners like you and like me.
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So this is something we must embrace, and this is the reason why this parable, the end of it, when
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Christ sends that worthless fellow into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, it sounds to us like a thunderclap from heaven.
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It shocks us. It jolts us. Because each and every one of us recognize we don't want to suffer that same fate, and at the same time, if we're honest with ourselves, we recognize that we deserve that same fate.
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So then looking at this parable, the question I have to ask at the moment is, does this parable have any hope to offer us?
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Any good news to tell us? Or at the end of this, will we be left thinking, well, we better get busy.
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I mean, after all, Jesus is about to return, so we might as well keep our hands busy while we're awaiting the inevitable.
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Or else we'll suffer the same fate as him. But you're going to note, when we are tempted to think along those lines, getting busy and really working hard, all of a sudden, works righteousness has leered its ugly head yet again.
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Is this a parable that teaches us works righteousness? No, it does not. And so Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven will be like a man going on a journey.
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And Jesus is that man who has gone on a journey. He has ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God the
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Father. He has been given a kingdom. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. And he's, well, a little bit delayed in his coming back, so he has gone on a long journey.
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So he called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, another one, each according to his ability.
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Important to note here, we English speakers always get hung up on the word talent. We think that what Jesus is divvying out is, well, skills, skills that are useful at work or skills that are useful in sports.
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You know, Jesus was handing out talents like the ability to dunk a basketball, the ability to punt a football, or things like that.
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That's not what this is talking about. The Greek word is talantan, and a talantan is not that thing that Luke Skywalker was writing on Hoth.
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I'm just saying, okay? A talantan is a measurement of money.
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And a good way to think of it this way is, imagine if you would that you lived in the United Kingdom, that you were a citizen of the
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Commonwealth, and that Queen Elizabeth was your queen. This would be the equivalent of Queen Elizabeth knocking on your door and saying,
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I'm heading off to Australia for a bit of time, probably be delayed. While I'm gone,
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I'd like you to have the crown jewels, or at least portion of them, and see what you can do with them. Now that's a pretty tall order, and anybody receiving from Queen Elizabeth a portion of the crown jewels would immediately be a little bit trepidatious, but this is where the rub comes in.
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What's your relationship with Elizabeth? What do you think of her? Do you think she's evil? Do you think she's mean?
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Are you afraid that if you screw up, she's going to say, off with your head! What's your thinking regarding Elizabeth?
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What's your relationship to her? Do you like her? Do you hate her? Do you have faith in her? Do you think she's evil? Do you think she's good?
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Same way here. So Jesus is handed out large portions of money, and these are not insignificant amounts.
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Even the guy who gets one talent, one talanton, gets a lot. A talanton, it's like a hundred pounds of gold.
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If I had a hundred pounds of gold, I would no longer be more than a million dollars away from being a millionaire.
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You get the idea here. That's a lot of money. One fellow gets five, five hundred pounds of gold.
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What are you going to do with five hundred pounds of gold? I'd be nervous as all get out. It's not my gold, it's somebody else's.
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Some guy gets two, one guy gets one. Everybody gets a lot. And a good way to think of it is that these talents, these talantons, being the property of the one who has gone away, these are
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God's word and the sacraments, the proclamation, the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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What are you going to do with that? What are you going to do with those things? That's kind of the idea here. So the one who had received five hundred pounds of gold went at once and traded with them, and he made five talants more.
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That's a risky thing to do. I don't even like it when I borrow somebody's electric drill.
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I get nervous and want to give that thing back as soon as possible. But five hundred pounds of gold, and the guy sits there and goes, you know,
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I have a good idea. Let's engage in some risky business with this stuff. Let's go out and trade with it and see what happens.
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What if you lose the whole thing? Right? Well, he doesn't seem to care. He's confident that this master of his, that upon his return, even if he lost it all, he'd still be okay.
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That's the confidence, the faith, the trust that he has in the master. The guy who was given two hundred pounds of gold does the same thing.
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Crazy. He goes out and trades with him, does business, and here's what happens. The five talent guy, he makes five more.
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The two talent guy, he makes two more. But then you get to, well, this other fellow, the one who is worthless.
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And what does he do with it? He takes the talent, and he digs in the ground, and he hid his master's money.
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Why'd he go and do that? It has everything to do with how he viewed the master.
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So eventually the master came back to settle accounts with them. This is, by the way, part of the reason why
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I've never liked accountants. Never liked them. Okay? They always seem very grumpy to me.
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And there were two departments when I worked in the corporate world that I never really warmed up to, HR and accounting.
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HR always telling me, well, as a manager, you can't do this, you can't do that, you'd better do it this way, not that way, otherwise you're going to hurt somebody's feelings.
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And if you hurt somebody's feelings, well, you know, then we could have some kind of legal liability. It's like, what? Are you kidding me?
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So HR was always teaching me to walk on eggshells, drove me nuts. But then the accountants, it was terrible.
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I worked in marketing. My job was kind of like the jobs of these guys. My job was to make the company more money, get us more clients, and more stuff like this.
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But the accountants would sit there and look at me and say, listen, you marketing guy, you need to make us more money and you're not getting any money to do it.
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How is that possible? Right? This is the reason. I'm still working through this in therapy, but you get the idea here.
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Okay? So we all are nervous when it comes to the day of judgment because we know that there's going to be an accounting, right?
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And we think it's going to be like, well, HR or the accounting guys. It's not at all.
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It's not at all. Listen to this, this, this accounting, this settling of accounts. So he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more.
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And you could just see him going, bring in the carts, man. We've got a thousand pounds of gold here and I can't carry this myself.
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And you could just see him almost like sitting there going, look at all of this, look at all of this. Right? And what does he do? He says, master.
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And he's excited to see the master. Absolutely thrilled to see him master.
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You delivered to me five talents here. I've made five talents more.
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What's his relationship to this master? What's his relationship to Jesus? He thinks that Jesus is the bee's knees, the best thing ever.
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He totally trusted him, risked it all. And wouldn't you know, the whole thing doubled and he couldn't wait to share the good news with the master.
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And so his master says to him, well done, good and faithful servant. And then listen to these words.
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You've been faithful over a little, I'll set you over much. And here's a little bit of hint about this.
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Keep in mind, we're not saved by our works. And at the same time, Christ rewards them. Isn't that interesting?
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Isn't that interesting how Christ rewards our works? And so you can see here a little bit of a glimpse. Have you ever read in scripture where it talks about how those who are the saints will rule in reign with Christ?
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Hmm. All right. New earth. We who are having the faith now, who trust in Jesus now, apparently we're all going to be given really cushy government jobs.
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And how easy is that going to be? Could you imagine being a government official in a world without sin, without disasters, without criminals, without lawbreakers?
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What are you going to do every day? Well, I'm here to announce as the governor of so and such a territory.
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Well, it's all good news again. You know, it sounds like the best job ever, right?
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Ruling and reigning with Jesus in a world without sin. Yeah. Bend my arm a little bit more.
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Let me think about it. But that's kind of the idea. And so you'll note that there are rewards in heaven.
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The authority given here is as a result of what we do with what we've been given, each according to our ability.
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And you're going to note the same reward is given to the guy with two, all right?
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He had the ability to handle two. He was given two. And what happened? He went out and traded with two and made two more, right?
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And he gets the same treatment. And by the way, he was just as excited as the other guy.
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Have you ever had like one of those school things where you had to like give a presentation and you had to go after that person who like knocked it out of the park?
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You know, he said, oh man, I don't want to have to follow that. I always made sure I was the guy that people were saying that about.
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That's kind of how my wife and I rolled when we were in high school. But anyway, the whole point is, is that you're going to note.
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He doesn't sit there and go, oh man, I only have four. What am I going to do? No. Not at all. Because watch his relationship to the master.
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Master, master, you gave me two talents. You gave me two and look, I made two more. And what does Jesus say?
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Well done, good and faithful servant. Way to go. You've been faithful over a little. I will put you over much.
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Same reward. And you're going to note that. You're going to note the joy that these men have in reporting to the master.
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I've never had a meeting with the accounting department that went like this, that on the day of our accounting and things are settled with Jesus, it'll be a day of great joy for us who are in Christ.
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And then we get to this fellow, the worthless one. And so he would receive the one talent came forward saying, master,
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I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, gathering where you scattered no seed.
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So I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, have what's yours. You're afraid of Jesus?
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What? That's not the Jesus I know. What would you have to be afraid of Jesus?
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Jesus is the one who gladly laid down everything that he had in heaven.
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He is God, the son, second person of the Holy Trinity, and he humbled himself, taking on the form of a slave, bore your sin and mine on the cross so that we can be forgiven, pardoned, reconciled to God, all because of his great love, his great mercy, his great kindness for wretched sinners like you and like me.
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And you're afraid of Jesus? Who is this Jesus you're talking about?
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Because that's not the Jesus I know. It's not the Jesus I see revealed in scripture.
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And so you can see the problem here. This guy has no faith. He's steeped in sin. He holds with contempt the offering, the sacrifice of God.
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And that's the issue. He doesn't believe. And because he doesn't believe, he believes some crazy, false narrative about Jesus Christ that doesn't make any sense.
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So what does Jesus do? He decides to judge him using this man's own words. He says to him, you wicked and slothful servant.
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You knew that I reap where I have not sown, gather where I scattered no seed. Well then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and at my coming
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I should have received what was mine with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.
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Now, listen carefully to the next sentence because the question is what is being referred to.
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And here's what it says. Everyone who has will be given more.
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And the question I have to ask you is has what? Everyone who has will be given more.
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And he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, listen to this, even what he has will be taken away from him.
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So you'll note there's two reference there in the hases, all right? So you got to get your hases right, otherwise you're going to get this wrong.
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He who has what has faith. So you're going to note the last fellow, he has a talent, but he doesn't have or has faith, just to kind of keep it all consistent there, right?
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He doesn't has faith. So therefore, what he has was taken from him.
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To the one who has, more will be given and he will have an abundance. And the one who has not, even what he has will be taken from him.
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And that's the issue. What do you believe about Jesus? And then we hear those terrible words, cast that worthless servant into the outer darkness.
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In that place there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Hmm. So what do we make of this?
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Well, I think a good place to try to wrap up the point of this parable is that this is a parable really designed to, well, create a fear of God in those who do not believe in Jesus, while at the same time offering comfort to those who are in Christ.
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You'll note that last week there were five foolish virgins and there were five wise virgins.
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And so somebody sits there and goes, oh, so at the end of the world there's going to be only 50 % of humanity that's saved.
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And it doesn't work that way. Because you're going to note in this parable, two -thirds, two -thirds of the people saved are the ones who believe in Jesus.
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Two -thirds, only one -third end up in hell, so you can't kind of work it all out. But you'll note where two -thirds are receiving with joy the joy of their master and hearing well done, good and faithful servant.
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We ought to pay attention to that because everyone focuses on the last guy. But I'm assuming that if the reason why you're here, to hear the
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Word of God, to hear this gospel preached to you, it's because you, like those other two, have absolute faith and confidence in the mercy and the grace of Christ.
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And so consider our epistle text as we kind of wrap up this meditation on this gospel lesson.
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Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5, concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.
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You yourselves, you're fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Indeed it will.
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Indeed it will. But while people are saying there's peace and security, sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
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And here's the best part, but, but, you are not in darkness. Notice he doesn't say, you are potentially not in darkness.
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He says you are not in darkness, present tense. You are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
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You are in the know. Your master has let you know what to look for so that that doesn't sneak up on you so that you don't have to worry.
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For you are all now, presently, today, children of the light, children of the day.
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We are not of the night, nor are we of the darkness. So brothers and sisters, note then, you are already the children of light.
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Christ has made you his own. He's transferred you, as Paul says, from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of light, the kingdom of his beloved son, all because of his love and his grace for you.
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In the waters of baptism, your sins were washed away. Today you will feast on the body and blood of Christ. And here again, those amazing words take heed.
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This is my body given for you for the forgiveness of your sins. And so you'll note that God has qualified you.
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God has transferred you from darkness to light. God has adopted you. God has made you his children.
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And so we have nothing to fear. We have everything to be excited for at the return of Christ. So then, because of this, let us not sleep.
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Let us not go back to sleep in the sleep of sin as others do. But let us keep awake and be sober by anticipating, waiting for, anxiously watching for Christ to return.
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For those who sleep, they sleep at night. Those who get drunk, they get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, and we do, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for the helmet, the hope of salvation.
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Here Paul makes just a little fleeting reference to, well, the spiritual armor that was laid out for us in Ephesians chapter 6.
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And note, he references the breastplate of faith and love, but also then the helmet of the hope of salvation.
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Have you ever stopped to think that our hope of Christ's return, the anticipation, the excitement, the joy of thinking that Jesus will return in glory to judge the living and the dead, thinking about what it'll be like to be in a world without sin, death, and the devil, a place without disease or suffering, that that hope of our salvation is like a helmet that protects our faith from a mortal wound to our head.
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And so you can see here how hope is one of those things that is a vital part of our Christian faith.
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You see, and here's the reason why. Because God has not destined you for wrath, and he hasn't.
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He hasn't destined you for wrath. Instead, he has destined you to obtain salvation through our
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Lord Jesus Christ. And it is Christ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him.
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And then the text says, Therefore encourage one another, and build one another up, just as you are doing.
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So brothers and sisters, be encouraged. You are in Christ. You have nothing to fear from his return, even though it's coming like a thief in the night.
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Be excited for his return. And then, with joy, on the day when the books are settled and there's an accounting, you will stand before Christ and say,
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Master, look what you gave me, and look what I did with it.
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And you will hear from him on that great day. Well done, good and faithful servant.
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Enter into the joy of your master. In the name of Jesus, Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to 1 -877 -KUNGSVINGERLUTHERANCHURCH, 15950 470th
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Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744 And again that address is 1 -877 -KUNGSVINGERLUTHERANCHURCH, 15950 470th
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Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744 We thank you for your support.
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