Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

There once was a woman who was a noted pianist.

She had just built a new parlor on her house and wanted to show it off.

So she decided to give a fancy recital.

She got out her best china, crystal and silverware, hired the best catering service in town and sent out invitations to the most prominent members of the community.

And then there was her new grand piano.

She called the company where she bought the piano an said, “I need to have my new piano tuned, but don’t want just anyone doing it.

I want the best!”

The store owner said, “Well, without a doubt, that would Operknockative.

He’s the best there is.”

So he had Operknockative come out the morning of the recital.

She contacted the music store asking for the best piano tuner she could get.

The owner said, “Well, that would be Operknockative, the Piano Tuner.

He is very expensive.”

She didn’t care, so the owner said he would contact him.

Well, the morning of the recital, Operknockative showed up at the lady’s home.

She lead him to the piano in the parlor and he began to work.

He didn’t use a tuning fork or special instruments.

He used his keen ear for music.

Finding middle C, he took a special wrench from his back pocket and tune it to perfection.

Then began the meticulous process of tuning each key to the rest.

Operknockative was a very eccentric fellow.

He didn’t use tuning forks, or special instruments to tune a piano.

He used his keen sense of music.

That made the lady a bit nervous, but she put her trust in him.

He found middle C on the piano and tuned it by ear, and then began a meticulous process of tuning each key to the rest.

It was a long process, and by 4:30 had only eight keys left to tune.

But the lady became impatient.

She said she wouldn’t be using those last eight keys anyway and he must leave for the caters were coming.

She paid him and he thanked her and left.

The recital was have been a great success.

The food was perfect, the guest were thrilled.

But the lady had forgotten that the last piece she played did in fact use some of those last eight un-tuned keys.

And the sound was horrible!

The next morning she contacted Operknockative and said, “You really must come back and finish tuning my piano.”

But Operknockative replied, “I’m sorry mam, but Operknockative only tunes once.”

Well, I thought it was funny.

You may wonder what that story has to do with the parable of the talents.

It should become clear by the time I finish.

What’s a Talent

Money

So, in this parable, what is a talent?

In Jesus’ day, a talent was a large sum of money, depending upon who you read worth as much as 15 years wages.

So basically, this man’s property consisted of his whole life savings or estate.

He gave his most trusted servant 5 talents, his second most trusted servant 2 talents, and his least trusted servant one.

He didn’t give them any instructions, but it is assumed by their actions they were supposed to invest his money so that when he returned, he would receive a profit.

And so as the story goes, the first and the second servant were wise investors and doubled the owners money.

The third servant, who evidently was afraid of losing this master’s money, buried the money so that he wouldn’t lose any.

The moral of the story is that we are to be wise steward of what God gives us.

After all, all that we have, whether money, property, or any other possession belongs to the Lord and we are to use it wisely to bring about an increase.

Gifts and Abilities

By the time this story was translated into English in the Middle Ages, the term talent came to refer not to money but to talents or abilities, or often gifts of the Spirit.

The application of this parable came to be that God has given us all gifts and abilities that we should use to bring glory to him.

If you use your gifts to serve others or to his will, God will be pleased with you and on the day he returns you will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!

Come and share in your master’s happiness!”

Opportunities

Opportunities

But I want you to consider another application of this parable.

And that is that whether you see the talent as money or as gifts and abilities given by God, they all constitute the opportunities God gives us to serve him and serve others.

God is a God of opportunities.

You have heard it said, where God closes one door, he always opens another.

Its true.

The opportunity might be to use your wealth to help another in need out.

It might be an opportunity to use your talents and abilities to fulfill a need.

But whatever the need is, God always opens doors of opportunity for his people to serve.

Opportunities

As God’s people, we need to become more aware of the opportunities God puts before us.

There will always be the poor and hungry in our presence.

There will always be those in need of help.

Each need in our community, in our world is an opportunity to show the world we love them, that God loves them.

And unfortunately, every need that goes unnoticed is a missed opportunity to share the love of God and to glorify him.

Opportunity only knocks once!

During Thanksgiving, it easy to give thanks to God for the bounty we have been given; our families, our prosperity, our freedom in this world.

We truly have been blessed by God with many blessings.

But can we give thank to God for the opportunities he puts before us each day; the opportunity to help the less fortunate, the opportunity to encourage those around us, the opportunity to share God’s forgiveness and what Jesus has done for us and for others.

Those are not obligations we must fulfill.

Those are opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus to others, the opportunity to bear the name of Jesus before the world in which we live.

gives us so many opportunities to serve him and to serve others.

For every door we feel he closes, he always opens another one.

Our task as children of God is to become aware of those opportunities in our lives and when we see them, use the resources we have been given to fulfill those opportunities.

It easy to give thanks to God for the bounty we have been given; our families, our prosperity, our freedom in this world.

We truly have been blessed by God with many blessings.

But can we give thank to God for the opportunities he puts before us each day; the opportunity to help the less fortunate, the opportunity to encourage those around us, the opportunity to share what Jesus has done for us and for others.

Those are not obligations we must fulfill.

Those are opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus to others, the opportunity to bear the name of Jesus before the world in which we live.

The Blessings of Opportunities

God opens doors and closes doors

We must listen and look for those opportunities