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"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 two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid 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 to him, '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 his 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
In our current readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and it is the Passion Week. He has made His Triumphal Entry, cleansed the temple, and been questioned by the various groups of the leadership. Outside the temple, He began to speak to His disciples of the time to come: the war that is coming to Jerusalem (and the destruction of the great temple) and also the end of the age, and His eventual return. In Tuesday's reading, He taught that only the Father knows the day and hour of His return, but that His disciples must be ready, because "the Son of Man will return at an hour you do not expect." On Wednesday, He taught of the faithful and wise servant, master of the household, who kept good order in preparation for the master's return. Yesterday, He taught the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 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." My study bible says, "This parable illustrates the use of gifts given by God. A talent was a great sum of money and came to designate a special gift or endowment." I think it's important that we see from the illustration in this parable that each person is given their own "amount" to handle, according to ability. There is a kind of equality in the inequality here, if you will: each is judged by the master according to the merit of ability or capacity. There is no comparison here except that. Again, as in so many of the recent examples Jesus is giving, He illustrates the concept of stewardship as we await His return.
"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 two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid 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 to him, '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 his 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." Here, my study bible tells us: "The Lord came after a long time but exacted full accountability. The wicked and lazy servant could not evade responsibility for ignoring his talent. We are stewards of every gift, using each for our own and our neighbor's salvation. Idleness is a renunciation of God's grace, as well as a lack of love for God and humanity. Since people are managers, or stewards, of God's gifts, each of us will give account of how we used the abundance of gifts given to us."
The sense in which we look at today's reading really depends on how we understand the word "talent," in some sense. What is a talent? What do you consider to be a talent? I think it's important that we understand that as good stewards we're put in charge of some kind of goods that don't really belong to us. They are gifts. We serve a master who is the true owner of the talents, whose household we're "managing." In that sense the "talents" require good stewardship, with a consciousness of the owner who has entrusted them to us. So, how do you think of talents? What are they for, how do we use them? It seems to me that the profitability of talents, in this sense, is something that must be measured on terms the master will be pleased with. How we use those talents depends on who and what we're trying to please. If we compare these "talents" (originally meaning a sum of money) to the "oil" in the lamps of the virgins of yesterday's parable, then we are more likely to be onto something not evident by using our current meaning of the word "talent" (as evolved from this literature). Oil in the lamps was likened to mercy and grace; and here, talents given by this Master really would seem to indicate a spiritual capability, a kind of potential in our lives for more than merely some kind of self-aggrandizement through accomplishments that look good to others, the kind of success we equate with use of talent in a purely material sense. If we look at the talents in this different way, then we come to a completely different picture than we usually associate with the word "talent." We then have to start to think about what our spiritual capacities are for understanding where God would lead us in our lives, what our Master would choose for us to do with the good gifts He has given us. In that context, the best use of our talents isn't necessarily winning a contest in which somehow we're measured against others, but rather how far we go in using all that is at our disposal (talents, resources, energy, opportunities) to create a life well-lived, one that reflects the glory of God in those lamps that are planted within each of us, in which we are like the salt and light of discipleship that was spoken about in the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus taught to "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven." Over the course of the past several readings, we've spoken a lot about memory, and how important and essential the concept of memory is to our understanding of faith. Here, the example is clear: the "good and faithful" steward is someone who keeps alive the memory of the master, even when He is delayed. This is a memory of trust, with an attitude that is willing to have the courage to try. Again, there's a clue here that this use of talents isn't about a contest: rather, it's about faith -- and material success or failure isn't really the point, but perhaps the courage to take the risk of faith. The one who fails is the one who, out of fear rather than faith (or trust), "played it safe." Let's take it a step further and open up our thinking about faith and talent. Where does God call us? How does God draw you out of your "safe shell" or hiding place and into the light you may be asked to shine? That is the risk worth taking, the good steward's use of the talents with which we've been entrusted.
