Perception

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It has often been said that "perception is reality." Basically, how I perceive things to be is how they really are. If I think someone is a jerk, so be it. He is a jerk. It does not matter what else he does in life. It does not matter what anyone else says. My perception is my reality. Of course, we know this is not always true. Perception is not always reality. I perceive the world to be flat, therefore the world is flat. I perceive that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, therefore the sun must surely revolve around the earth. You can certainly argue with me and tell me that the world is round and that we orbit the sun and so on, but my perception is my reality. I think you are wrong! Nowadays, we would just have to "agree to disagree." Truly, perception is not always reality.

Today's lesson is about using or losing your talents. Out of all the parables that Jesus taught, this particular parable would certainly not rate very high in terms of mystery or lack of clarity. We understand that the master in the parable is Jesus. We understand that Christ bestows on all of us differing talents and gifts, and that we are to use these gifts of time, talent, and treasures to the utmost of our ability.

So where exactly do these notions of perception and reality come into play? What does perception versus reality have to do with our lesson today? Turn your attention to verse 24. The lazy servant professes that he knew the master to be a hard and cut-throat sort of a man.

That was the servant's perception. However, just because he saw the master in this light, does it necessarily mean that the reality matched the perception? If you listen to the words of the master in verse 26, you can almost hear the angry disbelief in his voice: "You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scatter no seed?" Notice that the master's response is framed as a question. "You knew me to be this way? Your perception is reality? Really?!" We often assume that the servant is correct in his assessment. However, as you can begin to see, the servant could not have been more wrong. The servant did not know the master at all. His perception was reality, at least in his head.

This brings us to another point. Even if the servant's perception was reality – that is, even if the servant's perception of the master was right on the head (which it was not), did his actions match his beliefs? Did his practice match his doctrine? You see, this is where the servant really got into trouble. That is exactly what the master was getting at when he let loose on the wicked servant. If this guy truly believed in his heart that the master was all these terrible and ruthless things, then his actions should have matched his beliefs. If he truly believed what he confessed, he would have gone out and at least invested the money the master gave him so as to give the master what he thinks the master wants.

However, as the old saying goes, his actions did not match his words. His actions spoke far louder to what was truly in his heart than any words that came spilling out of his mouth. Instead of going out and putting forth any sort of pleasing effort, this lazy guy goes and buries the gift, out of sight and out of mind. He does not invest it; he does not spend it; he does not even put it on deposit somewhere. His actions showed clearly that he did not truly believe the master to be a harsh and greedy taskmaster. His actions showed that he truly did not care one iota about the master. He had other, far more important things to worry about.

One naturally has a tendency to focus quite a bit on the servant in this parable. In fact, when we hear this parable we automatically put ourselves into the shoes of one of the servants and fail to give any real thought to the words and actions of the master, other than his harsh condemnation at the end of the story. In a way, that is a good thing. Each of you here should be able to recognize your laziness and indifference to Christ and His mission in your actions; actions that basically seek to receive His gifts and talents here on Sunday morning and then promptly leave here seeking a good, safe hole to bury these gifts until next Sunday.

After all, you have things to do, bills to pay, and life to live. Let the other guy who has more to spare worry about these "churchly" things. Have you ever bothered to take a serious inventory of all the gifts God has given you? Have you ever bothered to ask yourself what Christ will (not "would") say to you when (not "if") you give an account of how you used all your time, talent, and treasures? Notice: The focus is on what Jesus Christ, the Master, says. He does not care about your excuses. Nobody—especially not God—cares about how you justify your mismanagement, laziness, and freeloading.

But that is just it! The conversation keeps going back to us! We care very much, sometimes even the most, about how we justify ourselves. Your sinful human nature loves to hear about all the good that you do, and you certainly love to hear about all the bad the other guy is doing. Where is the master in all this? Remember when I said that the servant's perception of the master was all wrong? Just what exactly did any of the servants do to deserve or merit the gifts that were entrusted to them by the master?

What have you done to deserve anything that God gives you—gives you for the sole purpose of serving Him and making disciples of all nations? You confess that He has made all things, He has given them all to you by grace, and He sustains and preserves them.

What have you done to deserve the air in your lungs and the ground under your feet, much less the money in your bank account, the groceries in your refrigerator, or your special ability to balance a check book or clean or teach or play music? Dear Christians: What have you done to deserve the absolutely free gifts of eternal life, forgiveness, and salvation that our heavenly Father has already given to you in faith?

Nothing! That is how deep the love and grace of our heavenly master runs. You have done absolutely nothing to deserve anything that God gives you; certainly you have not earned the absolutely free gift of eternal salvation. We all have differing gifts, talents, and resources available to use in making disciples of all nations. God has entrusted some of us with what looks like more, and He has also entrusted some of us with what looks like less. The amount does not matter though. What matters is the faithful use; the faithful stewardship of these gifts. Do your actions match your confession? Is your perception reality, or is it a perverted and distorted image of the reality of the life in Christ?

There is a lot of discussion out there about the talents. Is Jesus talking literally about the monetary unit, or more figuratively about your gifts, abilities, and desires? Does it matter? Not really. The point is, Jesus has given gifts, both to His Church corporately and to you individually. What becomes of His gifts is the question at hand.

Often, when we come to this season of the Church Year and this series of lessons are read from Matthew 25, the talk centers around the split between Christians and the other people, the faithful and the unbelieving. But notice that all three servants in this account received the Master's gifts. All three of them lived in the same household and answered to the same Lord. The question is: did they do anything with the gifts they were given? Did they put them to work, or did they hoard them for themselves?

Jesus Christ willingly gave up all of heaven to come down to earth to take on your sinful flesh, for the purpose of taking His flesh to the cross as an all-redeeming sacrifice for all the sins of the world—for you, for me, for everyone. It is this Gospel message alone that saves. It is this blessed message of Christ alone that brings the gift of eternal life to the darkness of sin and death that infects this world. This is the gift that the Master gives to the servants. The varying quantities do not matter; a mustard seed grows into a huge tree under the Master's care. Jesus came into your flesh in order to die your death, so that you may live His life. You are no longer what you once were.

You are forgiven of all your sins. You are washed clean of all your iniquities. You are released from bondage to sin, death, and the devil. You are freed from condemnation and the fear of hell. You are transformed from slaves of darkness into servants and beacons of light. So if you want to talk about you and these talents that the Lord gives, fine. We can talk about talents. And time, and treasure, and desire. We can talk about how you use the gifts that God gives to you.

The Master gives the gifts to His servants, and He expects them to be used. Not doubled, not buried – just used somehow. The Lord gives gifts to you, so that you will use them in service to His Church and to your neighbor. Sometimes the Lord's gifts are used to produce fruit in wild abundance – such as when a new congregation is planted and the unbelieving are converted. Sometimes the Lord's gifts are used and they produce fruit, but slowly and quietly – such as in the life of a community where the Church maintains her presence as a quiet but steadfast beacon of hope and grace. Sometimes the Lord's gifts are used, and they seem to produce no fruit at all – such as when a mission is started, but does not succeed, or when a congregation reaches the end of her lifespan. The success of the Church, the production of the fruits, is not up to the servants, but depends on the Lord who gives the gifts in the first place. They are His.

If it is up to you to make the Church grow, then it is of vital importance that you use your talents and gifts to the utmost. You must, as a matter of first importance, make sure that you are making wise investments of your time, effort, and resources. You must do only those things which generate the greatest return. Your perception of success is what matters – what the numbers show and what the return on the bottom line says.

However, if the gifts of God are given to you as a trust, that His work be done in His Church by His Word and Spirit, then it is a whole different matter entirely. Your perception is likely to be dead wrong. The work of the Holy Spirit is invisible; you cannot watch Him regenerate and transform the heart of another person. You may be able to see the fruits of that transformation, but you cannot see it happen. It may even happen long after you are gone. Who knows what the Lord will leave behind as a blessing for His people?

It is only through the eyes of saving faith that this heavenly reality becomes our faithful perception—our eternal reality. It is only the eyes of faith that see the freedom the Master has bestowed upon us – freedom from fear of His judgment, and freedom to use His gifts in service to our neighbors. It is only with the heart that you receive and perceive the transformation that God has worked in you, so that you can use His gifts for His purposes. It is not your perception that is reality – it is God's perception of you. And He sees you as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified and transformed by the Holy Spirit into His instrument for the good of your neighbor.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.