{"id":3137,"date":"2008-11-16T15:13:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-16T20:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=3137"},"modified":"2020-12-21T15:14:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T20:14:33","slug":"i-was-made-for-this-sermon-talkback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/i-was-made-for-this-sermon-talkback\/","title":{"rendered":"I Was Made for This Sermon Talkback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Sermon Talkback<\/strong>\u2014November 16, 2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI Was Made for This,\u201d a sermon by Pastor Chris Otani<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matthew 25:14-30<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What\u2019s a Talent?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A \u201ctalent\u201d was the highest unit of measurement that existed in the ancient world. It would be the equivalent to what we might understand as the highest number we\u2019ve ever seen attached to a financial conversation\u2014a billion. For instance the $700 billion bail out package passed by Congress. This would mean, \u201cTo one slave he gave $5 billion.\u201d In any way one looks at this, the amounts of money given to each slave were staggering, unbelievable, more than anyone present has or will ever lay eyes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first two servants double their money; we are not told how. The third buries it. This is a prudent act. According to rabbinic sources, burying a deposit left in one\u2019s care is not only a sensible way to protect it, but doing so secures one from suit if the deposit is lost. In fact, the mistake of the third servant may be that he perceives the money as a deposit and not as investment money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One concern about this interpretation is that it sounds too much like Wall Street. Invest, and you will be rewarded (maybe not in our current economic woes). Save, without interest and you will be trashed. Thus endeth the lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Christian interpretation of this passage has led us to see \u201ctalents\u201d as non-monetary things given by God that we must use to God\u2019s glory and not allow selfishly to waste away. In the first Spiderman movie, Peter Parker\u2019s uncle says to him, \u201cWith great gifts come great responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Using Talents for God<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The context of this story is the coming judgment of the disciples of Jesus. Matthew is adamant that all human, including those who follow Jesus, will be judged strictly by their deeds. The Son of Man will demand an accounting of all \u201ctalents.\u201d Perhaps herein lies a key to the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the context of Matthew a talent cannot be money; it cannot even be \u201ctalent\u201d in the normal English sense. The Son of Man does not judge people by whether they used their talents or even their gifts from God well. The Son of Man judges by how we treat others. What makes you a good servant of Jesus is doing the Sermon on the Mount. As the Lord Prayer insists, we are forgiven to the extent we forgive others. The merciful will receive mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do we begin to use our talents given by God to carry out God\u2019s will in the world when no amount of talents is too small to be used? How are you using your talent at FCBC to extend hospitality, mercy, and love to others?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sermon Talkback\u2014November 16, 2008 \u201cI Was Made for This,\u201d a sermon by Pastor Chris Otani Matthew 25:14-30 What\u2019s a Talent? A \u201ctalent\u201d was the highest unit of measurement that existed<span class=\"more-button\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/i-was-made-for-this-sermon-talkback\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">I Was Made for This Sermon Talkback<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-3137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermon-talkbacks","tag-matthew"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3137"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3138,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137\/revisions\/3138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}