The Parable of the Talents - Matthew 25 14-30
14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[a] and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents,[b] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.[c] You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no 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 answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Several years ago, I worked at the GM Proving Grounds in Milford. In the mornings, to get to my office I would walk through an underground, pedestrian passageway which led from the parking lot to the building. In the mornings, I would often pass a man leaving and I would say good morning to him. He would usually not reply, just stare at the floor, and walk by. One day as I was coming in, I saw him coming towards me and thought to myself, “you know, he never responds when I say good morning so today, I'm not going to.” We passed one another and I heard him shout out, “Hey wait a minute, you didn't tell me good morning!” I guess that little greeting in the morning meant more to him than I realized.
In Matthew’s gospel (Mt 25:14-30), we hear a story that shows us just how generous God is. In Jesus’ time a talent was around 75 pounds of silver or about 20 years wages. Like the generous master in the story, who gave his servants abundant talents, God gives each of us, his servants, infinite talents.
The talents God gives us are not silver or wealth but something even more precious. Our talents are the never-ending love that he pours into our hearts. That love creates a longing and a desire within us, that drives us to seek Him and love Him back. Along with this love and desire, he gives us the ability and power to choose if and how we’ll respond. God entrusts his heart to us and gives us the freedom to choose how we, like the servants, respond by investing what he has given us.
Sometimes we can find ourselves responding like the servant who received only one talent. Instead of investing it, we spend our time burying it. When we find ourselves overwhelmed in constant, daily busyness, just going through motions; rushing from one activity to the next, (some important, many not); we feel like we have no time for church; cannot find time to pray; don't have time to attend to needs of others, we are burying our talents. We become distracted by many things and life can become burdensome. Finally, in our misery we find ourselves saying, there must be more to life than this. And there it is, that's the longing for the love of God that He has placed in our heart, our talent. Now it's up to us to respond to that longing by digging up what we might have buried and investing it.
We invest our talents by following the wisdom of the parable of the mustard seed, we start small. We invest by doing small things with love. We invest by setting aside our cell phones when we’re in the presence of someone, so we can pay attention to them. We invest when we notice and acknowledge someone, like the man that I used to walk past every day on my way into work. We invest when we reach out to those we know with a card or telephone call. We invest when we do something simple at home without being asked. We invest when we pause instead of reacting when someone upsets us, giving them the benefit of the doubt, not knowing what they might be going through. We invest our talents, the love that God has given us, by treating each other lovingly.
Like the mustard seed, our investments will grow. As we daily do these small, loving things for one another, we will desire to do even more. As we desire and do more, we deepen our love for one another and for God. With the deepening desire for this love, the things in our life that prevented us from going to church, praying, caring for others, and sharing in the love of God are naturally removed.
The fruit of this love, the return on our investment, is joy. We will experience joy at home, at school, at work, while we’re driving, or even while shopping. We will experience joy where we haven’t before. All areas of our life can be transformed by this joy. The bottom line, the talents God gives us is his love, the more we invest what he has given us, the more our love grows, the greater our joy will be.
If you’re looking for a good investment, our generous God has an excellent deal for you.
Blessings,
Deacon Ken