On August 24 in the year 79, the volcano Vesuvius erupted and entombed the city of Pompeii, Italy. The destruction began and ended in just few minutes, killing multitudes of people. The ash and gases of that volcano caught the residents city like a camera catches people in action. Some were running to the sea, some were hiding, some were looking for their wealth and others for their kids. And in a moment of time, many of them were entombed and mummified in mid-step by the ash. One was a Roman sentry who was apparently ordered to guard the gate of the city. He had every opportunity to be the first to the sea and possible safety. But do you know where archeologists found his body? He was at his post with his weapons in their proper position.
The man was faithful to his orders. The man showed responsibility and faithfulness; He displayed character. Unlike the last man in our Lord’s parable.
We will begin with some definitions and synonyms.
But first, notice that all three men are described as the Master’s “own servants.” They are not strangers or hirelings. They obviously knew their Employer and knew at least some of what He expected.
The first two servants were described as “faithful.” What do we mean by the word “faithfulness”? Looking it up in a thesaurus, we find synonyms like: loyalty, steadfastness, dedication, devotion and trust. And we see that sort of people in the Bible. There is Daniel, taken from his home and his people, but he remained faithful to his God. We have others like Job – “Though (the Lord) slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” A dozen scriptures tell us that the Lord Himself is faithful – “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.” Faithfulness is a good thing, and a lack of faithfulness is contrary to God – it is sin and will be judged.
And what do we mean by “responsibility?” Aren’t we talking about integrity? A responsible person is one who is trustworthy, dependable and reliable. There is another side to the word, which we are not directly considering tonight. A boy applied for a job which advertized for “A responsible young man.” He was asked, “How can we know that you are a responsible boy?” He replied, “You can be sure that I’m responsible, because all my life, when anything went wrong people said, ‘You’re responsible.’” To be guilty, chargeable or answerable for something is not the same as to show “responsibility.”
A responsible young man is honest and dependable, faithfully living up to what is expected of him. But here is the critical point: He is not honest because the law says that he must be honest, but because his heart demands honesty. If I had to guess, I would say that the ten talent servant in Jesus’ illustration was faithful and responsible because by God’s grace it had become his nature to be so, and the Lord rewarded him. It was probably also true of the second servant, but another servant may have invested his Master’s money wisely only because it was expected or because the first two did. The kind of responsibility and faithfulness the Lord seeks in us comes out of the new life which we have in Jesus Christ.
Conversely, even thought we may not think of this way, the person who lacks responsibility is “irresponsible.” I don’t know of a single person who wants to be called “irresponsible.” But we are surrounded by such people, AND that particular germ lives in our hearts like the shingles virus.
Jesus’ parable illustrates these two things.
Each of the three men was given his own talent or a set of talents. The talents were some form of money. “Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers.” I think the Lord would not be upset with us for using His “talents” to represent anything He has given us. They were certainly responsibilities which were given to the men. And we that there were different talents or different degrees of talents put into each of their hands. You may have more talents than I have, and I might have more than the next person. They all shared at least one talent, and two of them shared a couple more. And one had far more than the others. But each one was responsible for only those which had been given to him. Two were faithful to the investment which their Lord had given them, and one was neither faithful nor did he behave responsibly.
So, how many talents have you been given by God? How many children? How many friends? Do you have money? Do you have skills? The lesson of the illustration, we are accountable for each of them no matter what they might be. “Count your obligations, name them one by one. Count your obligations, see what God has begun. Count your obligations, name them one by one. And it will surprise you what you’ll be judged upon.”
One of those men didn’t USE his talent, excusing himself by saying he was fearful of losing it. Actually he did lose it, but not before his Master ordered him to produce it. The undeveloped gift which the Lord gave you years ago, is probably still in your possession. There is still time to develop it. But the man did eventually lose it, when his Lord took it from him. What did he loose? He lost the respect of his Master. He lost future privileges and rewards. He lost everything.
This parable reminds us that we must give an account for the Lord’s talents under our stewardship.
Webster once said, “The most important thought I ever had was that of my individual responsibility to God.” How much of what we possess today has been given to us by the grace of God? “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.” Everything worth investing – everything worth enjoying – is from the hand of our heavenly Father.
And for how much of that must we give an account? If we must give an account for every idle word, according to Matthew 12:36; what about every deliberate gift? Luke 12:48 – “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” Am I wrong to think that every breath given to us by the Lord will have to be accounted for? And is our accountability only going to be reckoned somewhere over the rainbow?
What are the blessings of living up to our responsibilities today?
Is there anything more blessed than a good testimony before the Lord? “We (shall) all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
Doesn’t it seem wrong or illogical that the single talent of the third servant should be taken from him and handed to the first servant? It doesn’t matter if it seems wrong or illogical to any of us; it was the will of the Master. But it illustrates another point – God’s current and future blessings are often heaped upon God’s previous or earlier blessings. And successfully carrying out our responsibilities today often mean higher and more important responsibilities later. “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Faithfulness and responsibility in things unseen by others, may be rewarded openly.
The parable teacher us that from time to time we need to test our faithfulness and responsibility.
Part of that test must be consistency. Consistency is at the very heart of faithfulness. Remember that a car that starts six times out of seven is not reliable. A refrigerator that quits working one day each month is not healthy. The bank will not smile on the man who misses a payment every year.
Part of the test of our faithfulness and character has to go beyond our exactitude to our attitude. Outward faithfulness may be hiding inner discontent. And the Lord knoweth what is in the heart.
Are you a 5 talent person, a 3 or a 1? That isn’t a particularly important question. The more important question is whether you are faithfully investing the Lord’s talent in your life.