Teens Preach: The Parable of the Talents

Yesterday, nine of our Youth Group kids helped deliver the sermon as part of our Youth Lead service. An excerpt is below, and the complete sermon follows after the jump. (Click here for background on the parable of the talents and here for pictures depicting the Youth Group’s “creative process.”)

The master in this story may be greedy, but at least he’s honest. When the slave who got one talent comes back with nothing gained, it was because he knew that the master is a greedy man who “reaps where he does not sow.” But the master pushes back against his somewhat lazy actions by saying, basically, “I know that I reap where I do not sow, so you could at least have tried to make more from what you had. Either way, I’m still a greedy person and you’re still a slave. Burying your problems in the ground doesn’t solve that.”

A lot of times, I feel the same way as that slave, don’t you also? There are probably countless times in your day when you are tired and don’t feel like doing something, like listening to a group of random teenagers talk about a passage from Matthew…

Youth Minister

“You wicked and lazy slave! You ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest! For to all who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance! And from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away!”

So says the master in today’s parable from Matthew. The Parable of the Talents.

Is this the voice of God? It sounds kind of harsh.

“You wicked and lazy slave! You ought to have invested my money with the bankers and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest! For to all who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance! And from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away!”

Is that God talking?

As the Youth Group considered this passage during their sleepover here about a week ago, in preparation for preaching this morning, the kids couldn’t help feeling sympathy for the slave with the one talent. They could really relate to that slave’s decision to bury the talent in the ground and not to do the work and take the risks necessary to invest that talent and make more from it—as do the other two slaves with the talents they are given.

In fact, when discussing those other two slaves, the Youth Group kids seemed get downright annoyed. They really are such teacher’s pet types.

So we talked about the sorts of things they had that were precious and hard to let go of, even if there might be a significant return on the investment. I asked them: what do you have that you’d sometimes prefer to bury in the ground for safe-keeping rather than give up in hopes of receiving back something greater.

And almost all of them thought of their time and energy. Time and energy. These kids do so much—with school, sports, music, church, jobs, family, friends. Any spare time and energy they might have can feel like something rare and precious, something they’d like to hold on to and never let go.

But time and energy is slippery stuff. You can’t hold onto it. You certainly cannot bury it underground and dig it up later. You have to simply use it… or lose it.

“You wicked and lazy slave! …For to all who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance. And from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

Alec Drobac

The master in this story maybe be greedy, but at least he’s honest. When the slave who got one talent comes back with nothing gained, it was because he knew that the master is a greedy man who “reaps where he does not sow.” But the master pushes back against his somewhat lazy actions by saying, basically, “I know that I reap where I do not sow, so you could at least have tried to make more from what you had. Either way, I’m still a greedy person and you’re still a slave. Burying your problems in the ground doesn’t solve that.”

A lot of times, I feel the same way as that slave, don’t you also? There are probably countless times in your day when you are tired and don’t feel like doing something, like listening to a group of random teenagers talk about a passage from Matthew. But, regardless of what you decide to do, you’re still tired, so you might as well be tired while doing something worthwhile. So even though your aches and pains might seem to make a valid argument to not do something, just do it. Period. You’ll feel better. Trust me.
Olivia Stork

Part of me feels bad for the man with the one talent. He does exactly as his master commands, and yet, when his overachieving co-workers return with double the money, he seems by comparison someone who is, what? poor? terrible? average? underachieving? a non-risk-taker?

The master implies that he should have invested the money and got more from it. But this does not guarantee a gain. The master would have been FURIOUS if the slave had lost the talent or come back with a debt he could not pay. Our current economic crisis stems from risky loans like that.

In a hypothetical sense, I probably would recommend taking a risk, living a little, because life is short and it will be boring if all your time and money and skills are hoarded away in the ground of your life. But with something as valuable as a talent at stake, maybe a risk is not advisable. The pleasure that comes from owning something—it could be anything at all–can be more than enough for some people. But you may get something more or something different in return, if you let go of what you have. Then again, you may lose everything. After all, for the first two slaves to double their money, someone must have lost what they gained. But if you don’t take a risk, you’ll never know.

Bruno Geoly

An experience in which I invest a lot of myself is basketball. I could just run around doing nothing during games. I could even walk. Instead, I run around, getting open, blocking my man, making passes, trying to make things happen.

Like the first two slaves in this passage, I try to get energized and work hard to earn something, to find something more. All that running around during a basketball game may not always lead to more points for my team but there’s no way we’ll win if we don’t try and actually do SOMETHING. I have to do something if I expect to earn anything worthwhile.

Riley Munks

There are a lot of times when I don’t want to do anything at all. My life is very busy with school, sports and church. Every day, I have to get up early. During the week, I have to get up early for school. And on the weekends, I have to get up early to go to sports. There are times in life when you want to curl up in bed, but you have to commit. And it pays off because you learn and have fun.
Haley Ebert

In fifth grade, I had to do community service. Although it was with my friends, I thought it would be a drag. When I got there and started to do stuff, I didn’t think it was that bad. We made cards and wrapped presents for poor people across the US. It was nice knowing that we were helping people, especially knowing that there were people out there who were not going to get any presents for Christmas.

After a couple of weeks, I went back to clean up all of the extra presents that were not sent, and sorted them into different groups. Also, we sorted clothes to be sent to people who could use them. It felt really good and I’m glad I did it, rather than just watching more TV.

Catie Ross

A very valuable thing to me is my free time. Free time is something that, as I’m getting older, I find that I continually have less and less of. With so many things to do, such as homework, sports and other after school activities, it’s difficult to find time to yourself and just relax.

There’s two ways to look at this though. I’m giving up my own time to do something worthwhile or I’m giving up my free time for nothing. Daily, I have this debate with myself. When I get up in the morning, do I really want to be using up my time at school? Or would I rather stay home and just relax? I know that learning at school will be better for me and more useful in the future, but the idea of staying home and not doing much is quite tempting.

I face the same sort of question after school ends every day, when I normally go to swim practice for two hours. I knot that going to swim practice is good for me and will help me improve, but thinking about how tired I will be makes me not want to go at all.

In the end though, I know all my hard work pays off, and it makes me happy to see myself become a better and better swimmer. I can tell it’s a good investment of my time.

Jane Ross

From this reading, I have realized how much time I waste doing things that don’t matter as much as others. Just by doing one thing, someone can make so much more of a difference in the world.

For example, when the Youth Group went to Rosebud, I noticed how when I helped those people at the reservation Co-op, or the kids at the reservation’s elementary school, or when I helped with construction on someone’s house, it was really helpful for the people involved. They were getting clothes or food or help with school or a better house. For me, personally, I also had a wonderful time meeting some great people. Friends that I wouldn’t have ever met if I just stayed home.

This was a life-changing experience for me. It felt like I did so much with my time, and inside I feel so good about it.

Virginia Knight

The Rosebud trip was something I went on because my parents told me I had to. Personally, work every day and getting up at 6 am is not my idea of vacation. Spending it with forty strangers too? This did not excite me.

We joined the trip a day late and missed out on an entertainment show and dinner. Then, after making a 6-hour road trip to the Rosebud reservation, we discovered that we were staying in a tiny green cabin. The twenty-two girls on the trip had to sleep in what looked like a giant pink mouth full of bunk beds, which was plagued by the cold and various insects.

Each morning, we rose at six, grabbed lunches, and spent six hours working—building houses or running a store, our choice.

Leaving was harder than I had imagined. Who knew? I made some great friends there. One day after work we attended a sweat lodge ceremony. I smashed everybody in mini-putt golf. We ate bison and venison. I went canoeing for the first time.

That’s a lot of memories for a week I thought I’d rather not attend.

Matthew Schwab

There are a lot of different examples of things I’d like to hoard–just like that third slave hoards the one talent–but the one thing that comes most to mind is my energy. A lot of times, I want to hoard my energy, keep it to myself and just lie there. But I know if I get up and make the most of my energy, that I will somehow become better; that I will make more of myself by doing something, rather than just sitting around.

For example, if I had had to wake up for school and I really didn’t want to, so I just sat there and slept and hoarded my energy, I know it wouldn’t better me. But if I get up and go to school and learn, I know it will be good for me in the long run. Even just one day of school could affect the rest of my life. There could be a lecture on something I have never heard of, and I might end up taking a big interest in it. Who knows? The investment of that one day of showing up at school could give me back something very valuable for the rest of my life.

Youth Minister

“For to all who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance! And from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away!”

It’s so hard for me to believe that the master of this parable is somehow a stand in for God. What happened to the great eschatological reversal—that the last shall be first and the first last, that those who are poor will inhabit the Kingdom of Heaven and that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

But I don’t think this parable is really about money or financial investments. I think it is ultimately about those most precious of commodities, those two things that our Youth Group prizes above all things: time and energy. After all, they’re still kids and they don’t have much or any money. They don’t have to worry about all that as of yet.

And so they are able to see more clearly that what we really have to invest during this life is ourselves through our use of our time and our energy. And for to all who have time and energy, to all who make the time and find the energy, more will be given, and they will have an abundance! And from those who say they have little time, that they are low on energy, even what they have will be taken away!”

Don’t you see, you wicked and lazy slaves!

It sounds harsh. And I suppose it is a hard lesson to learn—that if we don’t give of ourselves to live our lives to the fullest, God will, in a sense, take away what little life we have. But in our hearts, I think we all know it to be true.

It’s lesson we learn when we’re still quite young.