Rev. Betsey Moe
July 2024
Mathew 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. At once 16 the one who had received the five talents went off 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, 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.’
What are you doing with your life?
This is the question I ask myself whenever I read this parable. What am I doing with my life? Am I doing enough? Is what I’m doing the best thing I could be doing with my time, with my particular gifts? Because apparently, if I don’t do enough with my life and bury my talents, I risk being thrown into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
What is this parable about? I know Jesus said the way is narrow, but whatever happened to grace through faith and not works? If this story is gospel, why do I feel so anxious when reading it?
There are a few clues in this parable that invite us to consider that it may not be as straightforward a moral tale as it seems at first glance.
First, the whole premise of leaving these huge sums of money in the hands of servants, expecting them to invest, sounds a lot like the corrupt dealings of the wealthy in the Roman empire. In Exodus, God’s people were told not to take part in activities in which interest was charged, most likely because it involved taking advantage of desperate people who needed loans. “You shall not exact interest when lending my people money” (Ex. 22:25). The investing of money was considered “dirty,” which is the likely reason this master gave that investment responsibility to these three servants. What’s more, the master is known as a “harsh man who reaps where he does not sow.” It’s difficult to imagine God or Jesus as a master like this – a harsh man who passes on his dirty work to his servants.
The second detail that seems a little off in this parable as straight allegory is that the third servant is the failure, the one we are NOT supposed to be like. And that’s strange because in story-telling of the time, if there is a series of examples given, the last example is the one we are supposed to imitate. The Sower, for instance, sows seed that first lands on hard ground – not good, then on rocky ground – not good, then among thorns – not good. But then, it lands on good soil. Ahh! A man is attacked by robbers. First, a priest passes by – not good. Then, a Levite passes by – not good. But then, a Samaritan comes and stops and takes care of the man. Ahh! So maybe we should pay more attention to this third servant and to his actions, even though he is punished in the story, because we should expect him to be the hero.
The other detail that calls a “traditional” reading of the parable into question is the moral of the story given by the master: “To all who have, more will be given, and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” This lesson sounds like a saying describing the empire, not a truism about the kingdom of God. Jesus has said in his sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (5:3-5).
It seems to me that this parable, which, by the way, does not make any claims to be describing the kingdom of heaven, is a description of the corrupt ways of the empire, where the poor have to do the dirty work of the wealthy, where the rich get richer and the poor are cheated out of what little they have. It seems to me that the third servant is the hero here, refusing to participate in the corrupt investment system of the empire, even though it meant risking his own well-being. He buried his talent as a form of resistance.
The parable of the talents is not a warning to us that we better do something worthy with our lives or be rejected by God. No, God’s love isn’t like that. It’s bigger than that. God loves the world so much God has determined to defeat the powers of evil and to partner with us, meek and fearful as we may be, to do so. The parable describes how living in partnership with Jesus Christ often means going against the flow, NOT signing over your life to the frantic, corrupt, consumer-based systems of this world, and that resisting the system is not going to be easy. Really, Jesus is repeating in story form what he just told them outright in chapter 24 about the consequences of being a disciple in this empire: “Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death” (v. 9).
Acting faithfully in a corrupt context is so hard because we are a part of the system! Resisting requires more courage and determination and self-sacrifice than any one of us has on our own. But here is the good news of the gospel; this is how much God loves us and the whole world: Jesus Christ himself was this third servant. He refused to participate in a system that preyed on the poor and the vulnerable. And for the sake of this corrupt, upside-down, hurting world, he was thrown into the outer darkness, and what little he had was taken away from him.
But that was not the end of Jesus’ story. He rose out of the darkness, having defeated the powers of death. And he came and appeared to his disciples. At the Great Commission at the end of Matthew, he wrapped his disciples up in his mission of redeeming this corrupt world of which they were a part, promising that he would be with them “to the end of the age.”
Brothers and sisters, we now have the Spirit of Christ with us and are invited to join our lives with the third servant, refusing to collude with the powers of this world – knowing that they will not win in the end.
What are you doing with your life? If someone asks you that, if you ask yourself that, may you respond with, “I’m joining my life to One who has the power to redeem.” Amen.