Thomas J Parlette
The One About Money
Matthew 25: 14-30
11/15/26
Most museums are all about success. If you do something remarkable, or invent something ground-breaking – you will probably find your way into a museum somewhere. Whether it’s significant work of art, a milestone in technology or an important artifact from history, the best of the best is what makes it into a museum.
Most of the time, at least. Perhaps you’ve heard of The Museum of Failure. Some of the greatest flops in recent memory are preserved for people to marvel at or perhaps scoff at.
The museum of failure was the brainchild of Dr. Samuel West, a Swedish sociologist. The first exhibit was in Sweden, but then quickly became a traveling show. It has had stays in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, San Francisco, and in 2021-2022, it had a residency at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. Most recently it’s been in Paris and is scheduled to open in London in late 2026.
The Museum of Failure is filled with games, robots and other experiments – from Google Glass to the Segway, to the Ford Edsel.
If you get a chance to visit, you can see a model of the 17th century Swedish warship, Vasa, which sank just 1400 yards into its maiden voyage. The Vasa was a powerfully armed vessel, but she was dangerously unstable. With too much weight in her upper structure, she capsized after encountering a light wind.
You can also ponder the “Springblade” running shoe put out by adidas. The shoe had 16 curved blades that were supposed to make you feel “like you had springs under your feet.” Introduced in 2013, they were judged to be too heavy for serious runners, and they were recalled because the blades kept breaking.
There’s even an exhibit dedicated to CNN+ - a doomed streaming service that was cancelled after just three weeks, and a World War II aircraft carrier that was supposed to be built on top of a floating iceberg.
Every single one of them – a flop! Some worked – like the Segway - but they never delivered the life-altering changes that they promised. So, they were relegated to The Museum of Failure.
Even so, these failures have value. They are worth preserving because we can learn from them. Says Dr. West, “You have to take risks. If designers and inventors were less afraid of failure, or getting negatively judged by their peers, we’d see more great designs and inventions.” (1)
The value of taking risks would seem to be at the forefront of Jesus story for us today. Indeed, in the footnote of the recently released Westminster Study Bible, the comments on this parable say, “The point is to act faithfully and responsibly in view of the coming of the Son of Man.” (2) Otherwise, you might end up in the outer darkness surrounded by the sound of weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
This is one of those parables that we know perhaps too well. We know this story so well that we think we know all there is to know about it. A quick summary might be “Use it, or lose it.” Put your talents to good use or you risk having everything taken from you. Pretty straight-forward.
The problem with knowing a parable so well is that it’s very easy to overlook some important details. We make assumptions about what’s going on this story because we assume we already know the point of the story – right?
So, let’s take another listen to this well-known story and listen for some of the details and uncover some our assumptions.
An apparently very wealthy man is preparing to go away on a trip. So, he calls his servants together and entrusts his money to them.
Let’s stop right there. Notice that word, “entrust.” This wealthy man trusts those who serve him. He knows what they are capable of and he has great confidence in their abilities.
Ok- back to the story. This man gives each of his servants a different amount of money to manage, depending on their capabilities. The first one gets 5 talents, the second one gets 2 talents and the third one gets 1 talent.
Now, here is one of the assumptions we tend to make. We assume that the third servant is not as competent as the first two, that’s why he gets less. But consider that a “talent” was actually a huge amount of money – worth about 20 years of a typical workers wage. So, the one who receives 1 talent to manage still was entrusted with about $680,000. Sure, the other servants got more, but that’s not an insignificant amount of money. And he actually does something pretty common in Jesus’ day. He hides the money so it wouldn’t be stolen. He chooses the safest possible option. The one with 2 talents was trusted to manage about $1.3 million dollars and the most capable servant was put in charge of nearly $3.5 million. So, this shows just how much confidence this wealthy man had in his servants.
The wealthy man returns from his trip – we have no idea how long he was gone, but his staff has done pretty well with the money entrusted to them. The servants who were given the most to look after both doubled their boss’ money. “Well done, good and trustworthy servant!”
But the third servant who followed the safest possible strategy, he gets reprimanded and sent into the outer darkness, labeled as wicked and lazy.
Religion professor Daniel Ott says the message is clear, “to take the easy road, to be lukewarm, never to take a stand, really is not to live at all. Those who bury their treasure – be it money, skills, abilities or talents – will never gain anything at all. The one who is neither hot nor cold really has no temperature at all.” (3)
As Dr. Samuel West said about his Museum of Failure – “You have to take risks.”
“The mistake of the “lazy and wicked” servant is not in failing to trust the market,” says pastor Robert McClellan, “but in failing to trust the master. His poor management strategy is to operate out of fear rather than gratitude and faith.” Remember – from the beginning, the master, the wealthy man, had confidence in his servants, he trusted them. The one who hid everything and played it safe ignored that trust.
Earlier said that the Westminster Study Bible said that the point of this parable is to act faithfully and responsibly in view of the coming of the Son of Man. Too often, we make the assumption that “faithfully and responsibly” means safely and prudently. But in light of what happens in this story, perhaps Jesus meant to emphasize that we are too live boldly and without fear- secure in the knowledge that God knows what we can do with our gifts. God has confidence in us. God entrusts us with resources and abilities, skills and talents. And we are called to invest them – boldly and without fear.
Author R.N. Rodenmayer once wrote in a book called Thanks be to God, that there are three kinds of giving:
Grudge giving, Duty giving and Thanks giving.
Grudge giving says, “I have to,”
Duty giving says, “I ought to,”
Thanks giving says, “I want to.”
The first comes from constraint, the second comes from a sense of obligation, and the third comes from a full heart.
Nothing much is conveyed in grudge giving, but something more happens with duty giving, although there is no song, there is no joy in it.
Thanks giving is an open gate into the love of God, it is giving with the music of joy in your heart. (4)
That is the kind of giving that we are called to do. When we make a pledge, a promise, a commitment to God’s work going on through this church, we are called to do so with a song in our heart, giving boldly and without fear, so God can bring about a new creation here in Rochester.
Once upon a time, a church held a finance meeting. A very wealthy man rose to share his faith with the church.
“I am a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute everything to the rich blessings God has given me. I remember the turning point of my faith. I had just earned my first dollar and I went to a church meeting and the speaker that night was a missionary, who spoke about his work. I was so moved that I knew I must contribute to this work. I only had a dollar in my pocket, but I knew I had to give it – all or nothing. It was at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar – everything I had – to God. I believe God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a wealthy man today.”
As he sat down in the pew, you could hear the ooh’s and ahh’s of the stunned crowd. What faith!
Just then, a little old lady sitting behind him, leaned forward and said – “I dare you to do it again!” (5)
As we gather today, my friends, that challenge is still on the table. The challenge to give boldly and without fear to support the work that God is doing through this congregation. As you consider your pledge, know that God has confidence in you. God trusts you with the resources you have been given. And God wants you to give with thanks for being able to a part of what God is doing here in Rochester.
May God be praised. Amen.
Homileticsonline, retrieved 11/2/26
Daniel J. Ott, Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, Vol. 2, Westminster John Knox Press, 2013, p 262.
Robert M. McClellan, Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, Vol. 2, Westminster John Knox Press, 2013, p 262.
William R. Phillippe, A Stewardship Scrapbook, Geneva Press, 1999, p 116.
Ibid… p 116.
