Twenty-Fifth Sunday After Pentecost November 14-15, 2026
“How Much Do You Have?” Matthew 25:14-30
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
Have you ever played the Lottery? Mega Millions? Powerball? Now, maybe you know that whatever money you waste on that ticket is money you’ll never see again. The odds of taking home the hundreds of millions, or even a billion dollars and more, are just about as likely as the Colorado Rockies ever winning a World Series.
But if you beat the odds and bought a ticket and it was the big winner, what would you do? Get a new house? New car? New wife? New husband? Or give the money away except for the first $100,000,000.00 that you can’t live without.
Jesus gave us a parable about 3 folks who had won the lottery, so to speak, in Jerusalem. Jesus is giving us a parable, a story, about what the reign of God is like for us on earth and also when we die and when we get to enjoy God forever in heaven. “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability.” (Matthew 25:14-15)
This was the lottery, without having to buy a ticket, and without making a promise to God about how you’re going to use all that money wisely. A talent had nothing to do with having an ability, rather, a talent was a measure of money. One talent was equivalent to how much a person made for 6,000 days of wages. That is, about 20 years of work. If you made $100,000.00 for 20 years you would have $2,000.000.00. Two million!! One guy got 2 million. The next guy got two talents – 4 million. The guy given 5 talents got about 10 million. Not bad for a gift you are to take care of.
So the story tells us that the master of these three guys gives each a gift and then leaves on a trip. A long time later he returns and calls the three in. The first guy with ten million doubles what he was given. “Master, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.” (Matthew 25:20) The one with two talents? “Master, you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.” (25:22) The master, just as he had spoken to the other guy with the five talents says to the one with two talents of money, “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.” (25:23)
But the story of the fellow who was given one talent is much different. “But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” (25:18)
He had to come face to face with his master, and he had some explaining to do. The conversation went like this, “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master’, he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scatted seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” (25:24-25)
Do you know the problem this man, the one I just read about, had? The problem wasn’t that he was lazy, or that he hid the money. His problem is that he didn’t know his master. To him, his master was an evil man. He was a cheat. He had no virtues. He described him as a man, “Harvesting where he had not sown and gathering where he had not scattered seed.” This man thought his master was greedy and stole what others had worked so hard to produce.
Too many people do not have a right knowledge of God. They think God doesn’t have their good in mind. To some He is cruel. Vengeful. He spends His time getting even with them. “I knew you to be a hard man.” “I was afraid and hid your talent in the ground.” The perception that people have of God limits their faith. You can’t have trust in someone who you think is evil. This parable is about a person who didn’t know his master.
But the parable has a few more lessons, as well. How much do you have? Money. Goods. Stuff. Things. How much do you have? But not only that, how about the stuff that really matters? Peace. Joy. Inner strength. How much of that stuff do you have?
In this parable we are told that not everyone got the same amount. One guy got one. The next guy got two. The last guy got five. Now that’s a problem for many of us. Especially if we got the least amount.
Why do they have more than me? Why can’t my life be like theirs? Why can’t I have all the nice things that they have? I’d be happy if I could just have a little more.
Ingratitude, envy and jealousy have ruined the lives of many people. God gave two commandments against such a heart – the ninth and tenth. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his cattle, or anything that is his.” (Exodus 20:17) These commandments tell us that our problems lie in our heart, not just in our hand. Stealing is wrong, it is the sin of our hand. But it starts with coveting, the sin of the heart, the sin of an unhealthy desire.
How much do you have? Not enough? Do you know Psalm 23? Sure, you do. “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the still waters, he restores my soul…my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (portions of Psalm 23)
How much do you have? We all have differing amounts – but whatever we have we are to use for good. Don’t bury what God gives you. You know Him. He knows you. This parable is not just about how much you have; it is about what you do with what God has given you. Romans 12 says, “We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is in contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” (Verses 6-8) In I Corinthians St. Paul adds, “All these are the work of the one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”
How much do you have? A lot. In John 15 John says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (Verses 4-5)
You have His word. His promise. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) You have His word. His promises. “God so loved the world that he gave his One and Only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) You have His word. “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5) You have His word. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)
The one guy given that one talent never knew the goodness of his master. He lived without faith and his life had no fruit. The other guys in our story knew his goodness and served him. The words spoken to them by their master were precious, “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!” (Matthew 25:23)
How much do you have? One of the folks in a former congregation named Irene Klauz told me a story that her father spoke to her. Picture life as waking up every day and walking into a beautifully decorated room and it is filled with packages, gifts, wonderfully wrapped, and you get to pick a gift every day. Every day you enter that room. Every day you are overwhelmed with what you see. Every day your name is written on the package. The treasures of life are gifts from God to you.
How much do you have? Your cup overflows. Amen!!
