November 13, 2011
Talents and Bullies
- Matthew 25:14-30
- Dr. Teri Thomas
This is one of those parables- the parable of the talents- that we have heard so many times,
certainly we must understand it by now.
The Master- who usually represents God- goes on a journey.
Before he goes he gives a bunch of money (a talent would be about 15 years of income,
so we are talking immense gifts here) to three of his servants. The master has determined ahead of time how much each slave is capable of handling. So he gives to each of them according to their ability. In the end, the two who invest and multiply their money get praise from the master. The one who takes the safe route gets thrown into the outer darkness.
The moral of the story- use what God gives you. Don’t bury your talents.
We could explain this parable with another parable,
such as…
A man—let’s call him Jesus—was going on a journey. He called his slaves—let’s call them followers—to him, and entrusted the gospel to them. To one, he gave stories; to another, he gave compassion; to a third, he gave the bread of life and the cup of salvation. There were other disciples who got other things, but we’ll concentrate on these three. Then Jesus went away.
The disciple who got the stories went out and told them, and soon there were five other disciples telling those stories. The disciple who received compassion went out and offered to someone else, and that person became a disciple, too, and she went on to give that compassion to others as well.
But the disciple who had been given the bread of life and the cup of salvation dug a hole in the ground and buried them.
After a long time Jesus returned, and he asked his followers to come and tell him what they had done with what he had given to them.
The first two disciples told him about the stories and the compassion, and they introduced the new disciples, and those disciples introduced still other disciples that they had made. Jesus was very pleased. "Well done, good and trustworthy disciples, you have been trustworthy in a few thing, and now I will trust you with many things. Enter into my joy!"
Then it was the third disciple’s turn. The third disciple told Jesus, "Master, I knew you were a harsh man. I knew you reaped where you didn’t sow and gathered where you didn’t scatter seed. I was afraid—of messing up, of not getting the theology right, afraid of what you’d do to me if I did—so I went and hid the bread of life and the cup of salvation in the ground. Here, you can have it back."
But Jesus replied, "You wicked and lazy disciple! You knew, did you, that ‘I reap where I do not sow and gather where I do not scatter’? Well, if you were sure of that, you at least should have taken the bread of life and the cup of salvation to the church, and let them figure out what to do with it!
Then when I came back, at least we would have some broken bread and those baskets full of leftovers!"
Jesus continued, "Take the bread and the cup away from this disciple and give it to the one of the others. For all those who have the good news, even more will be given to them. But from those who have nothing—because they have buried my gospel in the ground!—even what they have will be taken away.
As for this worthless disciple, throw him into the outer darkness, then, bring him back to church next Sunday and we’ll start again."
(based on article by Anna Carter Florence)
I have also heard this parable explained by another parable, such as…
There was a very rich man who wanted to go on a trip. “I need someone to take care of my money,” he said. So he called his servants. “Here,” he said to the first servant. “Here are five bags of money. Take care of them until I get back home.”
Then the rich man called the second servant. “Here are two bags of money,” he said. “Take care of them till I get back home.”
The rich man still had some money left over, so he called another servant. “Here is one bag of money. Take care of it till I get back home.”
And so the rich man went on his trip.
A very long time later, the rich man came back home. He called his three servants. He said. “Tell me what you have done with my money.” The first servant came up and gave the rich man ten bags of money. “I bought sub-prime mortgages, bundled them and then sold them for a huge profit. Now you have ten bags of money.”
“That’s great!” said the rich man. “Because you did so well with the five bags of money, I am going to give you a huge bonus.”
Then the second servant came and gave the rich man four bags of money. “I took your two bags of money and I invested in a college football program. We hired great coaches, recruited excellent players and we hid all the dirty little secrets that could have hurt us. With ticket sales, TV rights, and generous alums I more than doubled your money.” “That’s great!” said the rich man. “Because you did so well with the two bags of money, I am going to give you more money and a promotion.”
Then the rich man asked the third servant, “I gave you one bag of money. What did you do with it?” The third servant looked up at the rich man. “I knew that you are the kind of man who takes things that don’t belong to him. So I took your money and I buried it in the ground. Here is your bag of money.”
“What?” yelled the rich man. “Why didn’t you do something with it so I would have more money?” The third servant was very afraid. “But I did what you asked me to do.” “Get out of here!” the rich man yelled. “…Give me my money and just get out of here!”
And now the moral of the story is... The rich people get richer, and the poor people get poorer.
Living faithfully means naming the reality of abusive power. It means identifying illegal gain and greed for what they are. The faithful one talent steward pays the price for being a whistle blower and exposing corruption.
(Based on An Upside-Down Story by Ralph Milton)
In either way of reading the parable is about accountability. Both are about squandering talent.
In one the disciple’s fear results in the talents being wasted. In the other, the master’s abuse of power results in the talents being wasted.
Whichever way you choose to read this parable, it says the Kingdom of God is where fear does not control us and power is not abusive. In our trust of Jesus as Lord we can find the strength to over come our fear and the courage to confront the abusive powers in our lives. Either way we read the parable Jesus calls us to a life filled with abundance and asks us to serve him faithfully.
Only you know what talents you have been given.
Only you know what God expects in return.
Amen.