And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and had his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' His lord said, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

- Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus has been teaching His disciples about what is to come in Jerusalem (including the destruction of the temple) and also about His Second Coming and the end of the age. This discourse began with a question from His disciples: see Take heed that no one deceives you. In yesterday's reading, Jesus elaborated on His teachings about leadership, specifically leadership in the time when He is away, the time we are in today, as we await His return. He has been teaching in parables, and in the reading from yesterday, He gave another: Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of these were wise, and five were foolish. The wise virgins prepared oil for their lamps. The foolish did not. But then the bridegroom was delayed! So they all rested and slept. At midnight, the bridegroom was coming. The foolish asked the wise for some oil for their own lamps. But the wise said they must buy their own, otherwise there may not be enough for both. Those with oil went into the wedding, and the door was shut. Jesus said, "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey." In this parable, we have a story of a master who invests in His servants. Talents were a very large sum of money. Our modern understanding of the term "talent" actually derives its meaning from this parable in the Bible. Each is given a sum of money, in effect, "according to his own ability."

"Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and had his lord's money." It's an interesting comparison here: two servants do something with this money, they trade with it. They make shrewd investments that give a yield. But the third hides the talent. I think we can compare this again to something from yesterday's commentary. In yesterday's parable, Jesus' story of the wise and foolish virgins with their lamps "reflected" upon an earlier teaching to His disciples: "You are the light of the world." Earlier in Matthew's gospel, He taught: "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." But here, we have the opposite in this servant given the one talent. He hides what he is given. It does not show before men, and he does nothing with it. If we can compare analogies between the talents and the light from the lamp, we can see a common idea in that the third servant hides what he is given, he buries it. There is no yield, nothing "shines forth."

"After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' His lord said, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' " Here we have a picture of a harmonious relationship and order in a household. Even when the master is away, the servants are "good and faithful." They have done what was expected of them. Surely, they were prepared beforehand to serve properly, and they understood their master before he left. They are rewarded with yet more investment in them, more trust, and more responsibility. Let us remember the conversations with His disciples before coming to Jerusalem: repeatedly, the disciples asked for positions of greatness in the kingdom, and Jesus' response was that leadership in His kingdom must be a form of servanthood. He who would be greatest among them must be servant of all.

"Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' " Here, we have a completely changed and different relationship in the household with this particular servant. Unlike the first two, this one understands his master in a completely different sense than do the first two. It is a very "worldly" sense. There is just fear here, not trust. This servant knows his master as a "hard man." Moreover, he sees the yield produced by the other servants as a form of hardness on the part of the master: in this servant's point of view, the master simply reaps where he hasn't sown, and gathers where he scattered no seed. These words are a part of another teaching found in John's gospel. Jesus taught: "For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors." He was speaking of the harvest for the kingdom, for which He sends out His apostles. But the perspective of this servant is a narrow, limited point of view on the running of this household, and a narrow and frightened point of view on the power and persona of the master. It is one without capacity for faith, for trust. It is a kind of fear that is without the awe implied in the "fear of God," and rather denoted by cynicism -- servility rather than servanthood. When Jesus told His first parable in Matthew's gospel, it was about the Sower -- and here we have echoes of the Sower, yet seen in a false light. In the words of the false servant here, his master "reaps where He hasn't sown, and gathers where he hasn't scattered seed." This is a limited "worldly" understanding, confusing the disciples with the master, from whom all things come to begin with: seed and sowing.

"But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.'" Here the lord turns the tables on the servant, using the servant's own words to characterize the master. Even by the standards the servant believes to be true of the master, the servant has failed. He has done nothing with what was entrusted to him, invested in him. At the very least, he could have given it to others who would invest for him and produce a yield. He has failed even by his own set of standards; his behavior is characterized by neglect. Neither is there a sense of brotherhood with his fellow servants, upon whom he could have called for counsel.

"'Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" The ending to this parable is similar to an earlier one, which we read about in Wednesday's reading. It was also a parable about servants. Jesus said then of the one who misbehaved, abusing his fellow servants, that the returning master would "appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." In Matthew 13, after Jesus gives the crowds the parable of the Sower, He explained to His disciples why He spoke in parables. He said, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

So, from my perspective, the parable we read today gives us a picture of relatedness, relationship in faith that Christ seeks with His disciples. It is one of love and trust. When we confuse the "fear of God" with one that lacks the ability to trust, then we do not enter into the kind of discipleship He seeks. Jesus seeks an expansion of the kingdom, an expansiveness in us that becomes "profitable." The Spirit will teach us to use our talents, whatever has been invested in us, in the ways that the Lord desires. In this way, the kingdom is like the tiny mustard seed, that sprouts into a sturdy shrub that even holds the birds of the air. But without love and trust, how does such expansion succeed? In a cynical, servile, and untrusting relationship, how do we go forward as Christ asks us to? We can see echoes of this lack of capacity for real faith in the earliest stories of the bible, in Cain's response to the favor of his brother's sacrifice -- and his fear that God's response to murder is meant to simply destroy him (Genesis 4:1-15). Today's teaching is not only about what we do with our lives and the things God has given us, but also the kind of relationship God seeks with us, in order that we may be able to fulfill these expectations, to produce fruits worthy of the harvest, to be the people He calls us to become.