"Well Done!"

His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21,23)

When this passage is preached or read, people usually think of a future time when they wait in a long line to appear before God’s throne of judgment. They hope the moment they stand before God will find them having worked tirelessly, and finally at the end, earning their heavenly Father’s commendation.

This passage is often preached when church members are urged to donate. In such cases, this passage is abused, turning divine grace into human religious performance. The idea that we must work and work and work and then wait, on pins and needles, for the final judgment of God (hoping that God will accept us) violates and corrupts the gospel of Jesus Christ!

In the parable of the talents, Jesus portrayed a wealthy master calling three servants together before he took a long trip (Matthew 25:14-30). The master took eight talents – the financial resources he decided to provide – and divided them among the servants.

The master then left, and while he was gone, two of the servants gained more talents – doubling the amount they were given. The third servant dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. The master then returned from his journey and settled accounts with the servants.

The master responded to the first two servants in the same way: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”

The third servant completely misunderstood his master. He didn’t perceive his master as loving and generous, but unforgiving and vindictive. The third servant was like many within Christianity today who perceive God as a harsh and stern taskmaster. They therefore fear God like the third servant feared his master. The master has no words of praise of the third servant, but rather calls the servant wicked and lazy and worthless.

Let me share 5 keys which can guide our thinking as we consider the meaning of the parable of the talents:

#1 – The master gave the talents – the servants did not earn or deserve them. The talents were a gift, a sacred deposit of God’s very own grace, which cannot be earned by human effort.

#2 – The master did not give each of the servants the same degree or amount. They all received his grace – they all received his generosity, but in different quantities. The parable doesn’t say that he was making this award based on their prior performance – it was simply a decision he decided to make.

#3 – The master expected the gifts he gave to be used. The gifts he gave were to be shared, circulated, broadcast, and distributed. He intended that these talents be spread around.

#4 – This parable all comes back to the master’s generosity and his determination to share what was his to begin with. The master gave them grace and he wanted to see his grace used and shared. The servants weren’t expected to produce more grace – no human can produce such a spiritual gift. The servants were (and are) simply asked to share his grace, because God’s grace is dynamic – it grows as it is shared and passed on. The master merely asked that his servants become conduits and vehicles of his grace. The master didn’t want his grace returned (as the third servant thought) – he wanted it shared!

#5 – There are at least two ways to read this passage: Is it about ME, or is it about JESUS? Is the parable about what God expects me to do, or is it about what Jesus has done?

With these keys in mind, let’s consider the phrase: “well done” What is the master communicating in saying “well done”? He is saying, “Well done, you have trusted me. Well done, you have accepted me.” The central message of the parable is faithfulness. The first two servants accepted the master’s faithfulness, which in turn empowered them to be a vehicle of his faithfulness.

The message of grace is that we are all held in God’s eternal embrace of love because of and through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. We are already forgiven. We are already saved. We are already invited to his eternal banquet. We are already infinitely and eternally loved. Because of Jesus, God already says, “well done” to us.

When the master, our heavenly Father says, “well done” He is choosing to see the obedience of Jesus, which he has given to us by His grace, in our lives. If our faithfulness depended on our obedience, God would never say, “well done” to any human, for we are not capable of achieving such a result, apart from him.

Our relationship with God is one of Father-child, rather than taskmaster-slave. The significance of the parable of the talents is often twisted and distorted. Performance-based religion abuses this parable, offering it as an example of how humans are saved by grace, but rewarded by works. But such an interpretation completely misses the point – of both the parable and the gospel! The parable does not specifically say that either one of the two servants whose gifts doubled did so as a result of their own efforts. The issue in this parable is faithfulness – trusting in God rather than human efforts.

We are not the end user of God’s gifts. God’s grace, specifically, cannot be bottled up and buried so that we and we alone may enjoy and profit from it. God’s grace is dynamic – it defies anyone or any group who will try to hoard it for themselves. By virtue of accepting God’s grace we realize that God will use us as a vehicle to freely distribute His grace. God doesn’t expect us to return His grace – He wants us to be His instruments in passing on His grace!

The third servant didn’t share God’s grace with anyone – not even a bank! Truly, God alone is faithful, and He alone can make us faithful by the indwelling Jesus Christ.

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