Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-july-16-2024
Matthew 25:14-30
The Parable of the Talents
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘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!’
22 “The man with two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘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!’
24 “Then the man who had received 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 scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
It seems to me that those of us who follow Jesus should make it a habit – or maybe a discipline is a better word – to stop once in a while and think about the fact that our master chose to do so much of his teaching in the form of parables. It’s one form of teaching that has different meanings to different people. And for that matter, a given parable can have different meanings to us at different points in our walk of faith. It’s also interesting to me that Jesus chose to do so much of his teaching in a form that compels us to think in order to get at the lessons he has for us. It’s not just a matter of writing down his instructions and following them like a recipe.
And it should also be said that parables give us very useful tools for passing along his teaching to others. It’s much easier to tell the story of the Good Samaritan than to deliver a lecture on the nature of agape love.
Today’s reading relates the Parable of the Talents. You probably remember the broad strokes of the story. A rich man is getting ready to go on a journey, and he entrusts substantial sums of money to three of his servants to take care of it before he leaves.
These substantial sums of money are expressed in “talents,” which were measures of precious metals. According to the historians, in the ancient Near East a talent of gold generally amounted to between 50 and 75 pounds. One servant is entrusted with five talents, one with two talents, and one with a single talent. According to the conversion tables on the internet recently, an ounce of gold is going for $2,415. So 50 pounds of gold would cost in the ballpark of $1,932,000. So these three servants really were entrusted with “substantial sums of money.” Millions, in our money.
When the rich man gets back, he finds that the servant entrusted with five talents has earned five more. The servant entrusted with two talents has earned two more. But the servant who received only one talent has buried it in the ground, earning nothing.
In the parable, the unproductive servant says he was too afraid of his boss to risk the money. According to some New Testament scholars, the way the lazy servant describes his boss in this story – as “a hard man, harvesting where you had not sown and gathering where you had not scattered seed,” – that was something people said about criminal kingpins. So it seems that the unproductive servant was saying that his failure to get a return on the master’s money was actually the master’s fault for being such a hard and intimidating man.
That, by the way, has always seemed to me like a sketchy excuse. If you really were working for a criminal thug, would you really use that excuse for not being productive? (‘Sorry, Boss, but I know you’re a dangerous thug, so I didn’t want to take any chances.’) And the boss sees right through the flimsy excuse. He sees that it was laziness, and not fear, that kept the servant from at least carrying the money to the bank to earn some interest. So the master has the unproductive servant thrown into the outer darkness. I’m not exactly sure where the outer darkness is, but it sounds like somewhere you wouldn’t want to get thrown.
It’s important to stop and remember that this parable is the origin of our use of the term ‘talent’ to describe our God-given abilities. It seems like what Jesus has in mind is that each of us has been entrusted with talents to be used specifically for the building of the kingdom – for helping God to bring that kingdom to fulfillment “on earth, as it is in heaven.”
The apostle Paul uses the phrase “spiritual gifts,” and says that all followers of Jesus are given these gifts to be used in God’s service. One of the most basic tasks of following Jesus is to discern our spiritual gifts — the “talents” God has entrusted to us — and to figure out how they can be invested in the service of God’s kingdom. One way to discern your spiritual talents is to ask yourself when in your life you’ve felt most productive for the kingdom. When have you felt like you were doing some real good and your efforts were being blessed? That might provide a clue to what your spiritual gifts really are.
The other point that seems really interesting here is that the rich man uses exactly the same words to praise the servant who earned two talents that he used to praise the servant who earned five talents. Each is greeted warmly, rewarded and invited to share in the happiness of their master. That doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me – it seems to say that God is just as pleased with the contributions of those of us with modest talents as he is with the best-known superstars of the faith. It seems that we don’t have to be spiritual superstars – we’re just expected to put our gifts to work and accomplish what we can for the kingdom.
So if I get Jesus’ meaning from this parable, our challenge is to figure out what our spiritual gifts are, and then put them to work to get something done for the kingdom while we wait for our the master to come back.
Let’s pray. Lord, you know that we tend to feel that our talents are small. Thank you for the assurance that as long as we put them to work for your kingdom, you will receive with joy whatever we can produce. By your Spirit, keep us always at work, putting our talents to work for you. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
Recent Comments