Lesson: Matthew 25:14-30

A man entrusts his money to three of his slaves before he leaves on a long journey. Two of them put the money to work and double their master’s money. The third slave takes the one talent given to him and buries it. Depending on what’s going on with Wall Street, we might decide this third slave is the real financial genius. He didn’t lose a penny. But that isn’t how this parable goes. The slaves who took risks with their master’s money are heroes, and the slave who played it safe is in big trouble.

It’s a tough parable. Parables are not simply stories told to reinforce our moral or religious values. As someone observed, no one would have bothered to crucify someone who went around telling stories that encouraged proper moral behavior. Today’s parable is about the kingdom of God, and kingdom parables call us to a new way of life, a way of life in which God is the ruler of our hearts and minds.

A while back, many churches were snapping up boxfuls of a book called The Kingdom Assignment, the story of Denny Bellesi, a pastor who doled out $10,000 in $100 increments to church members one Sunday, with three requirements: 1) The $100 belongs to God; 2) you must invest it in God’s work; 3) report your results in 90 days. The reports were startling: people made money hand over fist to contribute to the church, creative ministries were hatched, lives were transformed, people wept for joy – and it was all covered on TV news. That is NOT what this parable is about. The point of this parable is not, “Invest wisely and you’ll double your money.” The point isn’t even that you’re supposed to use what you have, the gifts God has given you, to do God’s work. That’s important, but it points to one of the problems with Pastor Bellesi’s story: giving someone $100 and saying, “This belongs to God,” implies that the other half million in your investment portfolio does not. But that isn’t the point of this parable, either. One of the commentaries on this passage cautions preachers that if you use this parable during stewardship season, don’t make the mistake of telling the congregation that what Jesus really wants is a four and a half percent increase in their pledge. Something much bigger is at stake here.

Our first clue that this is about something really big is the talent itself. One talent was the equivalent of what a day laborer would make in 15 or even 20 years. If we say, conservatively, that the average day laborer today makes $20,000 per year, one talent would be 15 times that or $300,000; maybe more. The servant entrusted with 5 talents was given, then, one and a half million dollars; the one with two talents was given $600,000. In other words, a talent was a huge sum. Few people would have a clue about how to invest this much money, so burying it really does make sense. But our second clue to the meaning of this parable is that preserving it is not enough. Being careful is not being faithful. Somehow, risk is important here.

I wish there were a fourth slave in this story – a slave who is given one or more talents, who takes the risk of investing the money, but then loses it. That way we’d find out what’s really important: Is it the fact that the first two slaves doubled the master’s money, or that fact that they took the risk? But maybe there’s a reason there’s no fourth slave who risked and then lost. Maybe, whatever this is that we’re to invest, whatever it is we risk, there’s no way to lose.

When you put these clues together – the astonishing value, the fact that you’re supposed to take the risk of investment but maybe there’s no way to lose – it all adds up to life in the kingdom of God – risking to live as God wants us to live, risking to put the life of Christ that is in the midst of us to work so that his life shows in us, so that his life is increased through us.

What does that look like right now? As Christians, we’re commanded to live with our neighbor in love, to pray for our enemies, and to bless those that persecute us. At the same time, a mere, “Why can’t we just be friends?” approach to politics doesn’t change policies and practices that fall short of love of neighbor; it doesn’t heal the systems and patterns that privilege some and exploit others. Yet we know we have to repair the breach in our society; we have to mend what’s broken, or we will continue down this polarized path, with little good being accomplished that isn’t undone when the next party comes into power. Somehow, we’ve got to come back together, undo the chaos, and pay attention to what we’ve learned about justice, compassion, equality, moral responsibility, and freedom.

Somehow. There’s no easy answer, and that means a risky investment on our part; it means striving to do what’s faithful even though we don’t know exactly what that might be, or how things may or may not work out. Fred Craddock said, “The major themes of Christian faith – caring, giving, witnessing, trusting, loving, hoping – cannot be understood or lived without risk.” So when we feel afraid, which we will, and when we are tempted to shrink back, maybe we can remind each other who told this parable. Jesus certainly could have played it safe, burying his mission in a hole in the ground, looking out only for himself. But he did not. Jesus stepped right out there, standing up for all who had no voice. He fed the hungry, befriended the outcast, and healed the sick. He called all people to repentance and new life. Let’s not kid ourselves: taking those risks led Jesus straight to the cross. Jesus was not in life for survival or self-preservation. He was in it for the kingdom, to live the fullness of God’s reign until all people can share it together. Which is worth the risk.

© Joanne Whitt 2023 all rights reserved.

Resources:

Richard J. Henderson, Parables: Stories for Life in God’s World – Resource Book (Pittsburgh, PA: The Kerygma Program, 1998).