Matthew
25:14-30
14 "For it is as if a man, going on a
journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15 to one he
gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his
ability. Then he went away. 16 The one who had received the five talents went
off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17 In the same
way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18 But the one who
had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his
master's money. 19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and
settled accounts with them. 20 Then the one who had received the five talents
came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, "Master, you handed over
to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.' 21 His master said to
him, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in
a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of
your master.' 22 And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying,
"Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more
talents.' 23 His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy
slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of
many things; enter into the joy of your master.' 24 Then the one who had
received the one talent also came forward, saying, "Master, I knew that
you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you
did not scatter seed; 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the
ground. Here you have what is yours.' 26 But his master replied, "You
wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and
gather where I did not scatter? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with
the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with
interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten
talents. 29 For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have
an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be
taken away. 30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Well done, good and trustworthy slave…
…enter into the joy of your master
· All this talk of weeping and gnashing of teeth does not seem like
good news, which is what the Gospel is supposed to be. Yet there may still be
some good news here once we unpack some things.
· Talents are not what we might think they are. We know we all have
talents – things like cooking, sewing, knitting, baking, cutting hair, growing
plants and flowers, athletics, singing, making faces, building snowmen, or keeping
track of the game while napping.
· However, these are not the talents being given out in today’s
Gospel reading. A “talent” is a measure of weight, roughly 60 to 75 pounds in
Jesus’ time and place. When used in an economic way, a talent was could be 20
years wages for a farm worker, so the slave given five talents received a sum somewhere
around 100 years’ pay for a farmhand. The “slaves” who were given stewardship
of the money were not field slaves as we might think of slaves. In that time,
slaves were often given responsibilities in households and businesses and were
often trusted to raise, care for, and educate the master’s children. They could
have their own money and some even owned slaves themselves. Slavery was rather
different then, but it still meant that a person was owned by another and it’s
still quite distasteful to us.
· Enough of a history lesson. The master leaves and puts his three
top slaves in charge of sums of money with the expectation that they will
manage it properly, which means turn a profit.
· Two do just that and are complimented, while the third simply
returns the coins after digging them up from where he hid them. We all know
what happens then.
· This parable is one of return and preparation again. The
characters in the parable are not all that pleasant. The master is a
harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not
scatter seed and the third slave was fearful and maybe rightfully
so. The first two slaves make all kinds of money… for their master. We don’t
know how they made that money. Honest or shady? Just or exploitive? Who knows?
That’s focusing on the stage dressing rather than the play. The parable asks
this: what place does God’s grace have in your life?
· First off, let’s remember that we are saved by grace as a free
gift from God. This isn’t something earnable, buyable, or sellable. It always
remains a free gift. This is reflected in the charge given to the three
servants when the master goes on a journey. The first two do something with
what they’ve received and are complimented and told to enter into the joy of your
master. The third is not complimented and is tossed out on his ear.
· Worse than that, he is thrown into the outer darkness, where there will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is not unemployment and
poverty; this is an apocalyptic removal to the outer darkness, a
rejection put in vast, cosmic terms.
· Although the parable is pointing to the return of Christ and the
judgement of all creation, there is a point of good news for us today. Why was
the third man tossed out? Because he didn’t make use of the gift he was given. Is
this an acknowledgement of the person’s refusal to respond to the gift of grace
in how he lives? That is one possible explanation. To refuse to live a graced
life because of fear of the giver of grace could be called a rejection of
grace. To figuratively dig a hole and hide the grace a person has been given is
a shame and a rejection of the gift.
· The first two used what they were given and were not only
complimented but told to enter into the joy of your master.
This goes far beyond any reward for faithfulness or success. It sounds like an
invitation to family, to become part of the household of the master, in a place
far beyond that usually held be a slave. This is a level of acceptance equal to
that of the rejection of the third man in the outer darkness.
· The third man fearfully acted to preserve the gift he’d been
given, without a thought of anything more. He preserved what he had and didn’t
use it or to use what the narrative gives us, invest it.
· For us, grace goes far beyond our daily lives and our great or
meagre talents for doing things. Whether one, two, or five talents, we have all
received a share that has been given freely. Grace is our salvation and our
hope. Grace is our motivation and our energy. Grace is our intimate connection
with our God, our invitation and route to God’s own life. Simply put, grace
isn’t a little prayer you say before a meal, but a way of life.
Well done, good and trustworthy
slave… …enter into the joy of your master
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