Last Sunday, we heard the
call from Jesus to “keep awake,” where he talks a bit about his second coming
into the world and how unexpected it will be. I spoke about how I believe
keeping awake is not about guessing at the when and the how of Jesus’ return, but
rather that we be about the tasks that he has given to
us to do. Vigilance is diligence. We are called to proclaim justice, peace,
grace, and mercy, to tell the Gospel in word and deed to all
the world.
Jesus continues with this
idea in the Gospel by Matthew by moving immediately from the parable of the ten
bridesmaids to the parable of the talents. The transition is smooth, because
these parables are largely about the same thing. If keeping awake is keeping
busy at the tasks God has called us to do, then the message of this parable
fits nicely with the previous.
The interpretation of the
parable is fairly straightforward. The master gives to each servant a portion
of money, ten, five, or a single talent, and then commends them to take care of
that property until he returns. The first two servants use the money to make
more money. The third, afraid of risk, buries his in a field and does nothing
with it. The first two are rewarded for their diligence, but the third, even
though he cost the master nothing, is punished. Message: We are to use the
gifts that God gives to us to further his kingdom. In other words, we are to
proclaim justice, peace, grace, mercy, and to tell the Gospel in word and deed
to all the world.
The struggle I think we most
often have surrounds the word “talent.” We get a little confused I think when
we start talking about the gifts that God gives to us because of this word.
Modern English has taken this word for a monetary sum and defined it as an
exceptional and remarkable inborn ability. When we think of someone who is
talented, we think of Mozart playing a piano concerto at age 4 or Einstein
developing the theory of relativity or a famous and proficient actor or
something else. We look at ourselves, and often times don’t find anything that
even remotely comes close to these abilities.
But I wonder if that isn’t a
part of this parable too. I’m curious as to what went through the head of that
third servant, seeing his peers be given ten and five talents each, and then
himself only one. Did he question his value because he was entrusted with only
a single talent? Did he wonder “what can I do with so little compared to them?”
Do we wonder that same question when we regard ourselves against a savant of
some manner?
If so, then we like the
third servant are very foolish. Compared to ten talents, one might seem a small
sum, but in truth, even a single talent is a
tremendous sum of money in Jesus’ day. A talent is roughly a measure of gold
coin equal to the weight of an average human male. Two
hundred pounds of gold. $750 per ounce of gold current market rate and
talent is equal to roughly 2.4 million US dollars.
Single talent doesn’t look
so small anymore, now does it?
But it’s that word talent
that throws us off. I don’t believe that in this parable,
that Jesus is talking only about our inborn gifts. He’s talking about
all the things we’ve been given throughout our lives. If we think about it that
way, then we, like that third servant, have a lot more to work with than we
thought.
And what have we been given?
Skills. Some of us here are very good at building or
fixing things. How can we use that to proclaim the Gospel? You could help build
a home for a homeless person. You could fix a stove so a poor family can cook
their own food.
What else? Knowledge. Some of us are more bookish by nature. (Like yours truly). An architect could design that house for
the homeless person. Or we could teach people skills in parenting, or job
training, stuff that we know that others might not but desperately need.
What else? Friends, we all
have friends. Some of them probably don’t know Jesus. There’s a mission field.
I always think about my friend John, my best man at my wedding. I’ve been
working on him for 20+ years and I am still hopeful that he will come to know
Christ one day.
What else? A job. Your coworkers could be another mission field. Also,
try to think about how your job serves others, serves the community. Your job
could be a ministry just in that alone. If you’re retired, how are the ways you
spend your time volunteering a ministry? If you’re a student, how can that be a
ministry?
I could go on and on with
this, but I hope you get the idea. Each one of us has a great wealth of
opportunity to proclaim the Gospel. And proclaiming that
Gospel need not always be the in-your-face “do you know Jesus?” sort of thing.
It’s about doing kindness, living a life of grace and mercy towards others,
because that is what we ourselves have received.
Think about it. Jesus
himself is a great model of this very sort of evangelism. He doesn’t just talk
about faith and then demand instant belief. He heals, he teaches, he explains,
he speaks in parables, and then ultimately gives up his very life for our sake
and for the sake of the world. Ever tool given to him becomes a means to spread
his message of salvation. We do not have the same gifts as Jesus does, but we
do have the same opportunities.