Preaching is challenging. Preaching done well is an art. Lives are changed little by moralizing (you should, we must, we need to….). I know what I ought to do, but I just can’t do it. Lives are changed by the renewal of our minds so that we are more and more focused on God. It is easy to identify things Christians ought to do–it is hard to do them without adequate foundations sunk deeply into the nature of God as revealed in his word. Preaching must be balanced–theological foundations and practical applications. The minister is a theological practitioner or a practical theologian. The first task is to say something about God–to clearly speak the word and will and way of God.
If preachers are to err on one side or the other, let us make certain our preaching is “long on God”. Seeing God clearly motivates faithfulness and develops worthiness. The one-talent man misunderstood God and missed faithfulness. Even worse, he missed worthiness–the text describes him as worthless. The text does not overtly say that the two-talent and five-talent men understood God’s nature, but the textual contrast implies such. The one-talent man thought he could please his master with a short-list of “oughts”, a risk-free response. The text not only applauds the faithfulness of the first two servants, it reveals why the one-talent man was not faithful, and suggests what are appropriate components of faithfulness. But perhaps the most significant lesson of the text is that the goal is not faithfulness but worthiness. The ultimate judgment was that the unfaithful servant was worthless. No value in being “faithful” if we are worthless. Faithful focuses on human actions–worthless focuses on God’s goals.
To think that frail, sinful human beings can be worth something to God is a great leap of faith, but the text suggests such. How can I be worthwhile to God? Let me suggest some goals from the text, ideas which are more focused in our being than in our doing. Let us….
- seek to become like God, understanding what God is like and imitating him
- be fully-devoted to the things that matter to God
- be partakers of the divine nature, those whose lives are consistent with the nature of the Master
- be those who reflect the Master’s nature and will.
Faithfulness often says “look at me”. Worth says “look at God.” Is who we are and what we are doing worthy of the great and glorious God we serve? Are we reflecting God? If we get the why right, the application is a lot easier and becomes a part of our nature, not something we have to be constantly reminded of.