Some of Jesus' stories are simple and others are not.  This one may seem confusing but it makes more sense if we compare it to Jesus' more familiar story in Matthew 25:14-30.  There the master gives three of his servants talents: five, two and one talent.  Here the master gives ten of his servants each ten minas which equals about 1/5 of a talent.  But that equals 2-3 years average wage, so it's still a tidy sum.  Who of us wouldn't enjoy investing $100,000 of someone else's money?  The point of both stories is that during life, people are entrusted with riches from God that one day we'll have to account for.

          There is a true story about a man who lived in the same farmhouse he was born in for 88 years.  He never married and didn't change a thing.  There was no inside plumbing and only worn-out furniture.  He bought nothing new, and only cheap used stuff when the old wore out.  When he had to enter a nursing home, his nephew went through his house and found money stashed all over - in boxes, drawers and closets - nearly $100,000 in cash.  Besides this, they discovered the old man had taken $8,000 with him to the nursing home, and every day he counted those eighty $100 bills.  Not surprisingly, within a year or so, most of that money ended up going to the Nursing Home.

          Stash it and count it.  That's not what God has in mind when He gives us blessings.  Nor is spending it like water.  Jesus is telling us, first of all, that what we have comes from Him.  He is the Master who entrusts things to us - money, talents, skills, even time.  We don't get what we have by chance or cleverness.  God gives us the basics: life, breath, and a planet to live on.  All else we get is only on loan.  He wants us to know this and so to value what we have.  He wants us to use it for our own good, but He also wants us to use it for others.

          This story of Jesus gives us four principles to live by.  Let's look at each to see what they are:

          #1 - All we have comes from God.  People who live by this rule are rarely in want.  They might not have much, but they have enough.  I've never yet heard of anyone going bankrupt because they gave God credit for what they had.  I have heard of bankruptcies due to over spending and overextended credit, but never from too much faith in God.  All we have comes from God.

          #2 - God gives things to people as He chooses.  Some folks have much and others little.  This may frustrate our sense of fairness because we tend to think God should live by our rules, and one of those rules is that He should spread it around equally.  It's true that God loves us equally, but He doesn't bless us equally.  Actually, not one of us deserves any of the blessings we've been given.  And having too much can be just as much of a curse as having too little.  God knows how much we need, and when we trust Him, we will have it.  What we have may not match our expectations, but it will be all we need.

          #3 - We should do something good with what He gives us.  This is the main point of the story.  Stashing and counting our money like that old man will soon make it our God.  Satan knows how the human heart loves money and security.  St. Paul told Timothy, "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil," (1 Timothy 6:10) and he knew what he was talking about.  Satan tries to get us thinking about it all the time.  He knows that when we're obsessed with it, and always worried about it, money will run our lives.

          God gives us our blessings to take care of.  And if we take care of them rightly, they will take care of us.  God gives us our time and our talents, as well as our treasures.  Time needs to be managed and talents need to be discovered, and together they can also become a blessing to us and others.

          Back in the 1920s a Chicago newspaper fired an artist because they said he had "no good ideas."  He went to Kansas City but still could not sell his drawings, and some even told him he had no talent.  But the artist had a dream, so he set out to achieve it and also prove those people wrong.  He found a minister who paid him a small amount to draw advertising pictures and bulletins for his church.  The artist had no place to stay, so the minister let him sleep in a garage that also happened to have little rodents running around in it.  The artist nicknamed one of the mice, and later on drew him into a cartoon that eventually was made into a movie.  How satisfying it must have been for Walt Disney to remember sleeping in that garage, the days of his hard struggles and those who said he had "no talent."  God calls us to develop the gifts and talents He gives us, and to help others do the same.  That's what Jesus' story is all about - caring for God's blessings.

          Which brings me to #4 - We have been given so that we can give.  Giving of what we have is a part of caring for what we've been given.  We all know there are people who need our gifts.  What we forget is that we need to give.  Though we live in an affluent area, there are still many in need.  In a week or two we're going to suggest opportunities to help people with food - dinners for a family of four that we can give to the Task Force Food Bank.  We might even get some families whom we can help with Christmas gifts.  We'll have our Care Center Christmas tree again, but maybe also some specific local families we can help.

          I recently read in a church magazine a letter to the editor from a couple that years ago had decided to give God a percentage back of all they got.  They had studied the Bible about the tithe - 10% - and started by giving the Lord 1% and each year they hoped to increase it until they got up to 10%.  Well, they made it 10%, but they didn't stop there.  They were up to 17% at the writing and always said they had more than they ever needed.  That couple learned an important lesson: you can never outlive God.  Alfred LeTourneau manufactured huge earth moving equipment in the 1920s and 1930s and found out the same thing.  In the early years when his business was going under, he and his wife heard a sermon on tithing, and they decided to give God 5% of their gross income - they were losing money anyway.  That year they broke even for the first time.  They increased their giving and the next year made a profit.  When they gave 10%, he earned his first million, and when he got up to giving 75% - 3/4 of all he made - he earned his first billion.  You can never out give God!

          When I say give to the Lord, I don't just mean the church.  It's giving back to God through all kinds of charities.  Some we know about, and some we're not sure of.  But don't worry how they spend it, just that you give it.  Giving to the Lord takes many shapes.  It's buying butter braids or cookbooks.  It's helping Lutheran High or helping a neighbor.  It's giving your offerings here, or giving food there.  The important thing is to give, because we all need to.

          The telephone rang and a small boy answered it, but in a whisper.  "Hello."  "Hello," the voice on the phone said, "Is your mommy there?"  "Yes."  "Can I speak with her?"  "Nope, she's busy."  "Okay, is your daddy there?"  "Yes."  "Can I speak with him?"  "Nope, he's busy, too."  "Okay, is there anybody else in the house?" said the voice on the phone.  "There's a fireman," said the boy quietly.  "A fireman!  Can I speak to the fireman?"  "Nope, he's busy too."  "Well what are all these people busy doing?"  Said the small voice, "They're all looking for me."

          My friends, God is looking for us, because He wants to bless us.  Don't hide from God and don't hide what He gives you.  Love gives away, and God's love gives away the most.  He gave the world the greatest gifts - forgiveness of sins and eternal life through His only Son Jesus.  Jesus gave us His all on the cross for us, and now we, too, can give, that others might know Jesus.  Thanks be to God for all His blessings.  May we show our thankfulness by how we care for His blessings.  And may we care for His blessings by sharing them with others.  Amen

Copyright © 2004 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.