A Kingdom Where We Don't Play It Safe

The gospel lesson in the Revised Common Lectionary this week is Matthew 25.14-30, which is known as the parable of the talents. As usual, the parable takes an image from everyday experience from a non religious context, at least one actor in the parable does not comply with peoples' expectations and social mores of behavior, and Jesus uses this anomaly to reveal something about God's Kingdom.

In this case we have a wealthy master who lends money to three servants. The amount of money the master lends is astronomical. The amount of money is measured in talents. In the ancient world, a talent was the equivalent of about sixty five pounds of coin. In ancient Israel, it was very likely that a talent would have been measured in silver. Sixty five pounds of silver was the equivalent of about denariius, or about 15 years of an average wage. The master gives the first servant five talents, the second servant two talents, and the third servant one talent.

The master then leaves the country. Remember that there is no e mail, phones, or faxes, so the master has no way of quickly reaching the servants. The servants who are entrusted with five talents and two talents trade with the money, and obtain a one hundred percent return from their investment. The servant who is given one talent buries his talent in the ground, and when the master returns, the servant gives back the one talent. The master is pleased with the servants who obtained a return on his investment. The master is displeased with the servant who buried the money.

Ironically, the only actor in this parable who behaves in a reasonable and socially acceptable manner is the servant who buries the treasure in the ground. The master, first of all, is the most unreasonable. There is no indication that the servants of the master have any experience in investing money or are otherwise experienced in handling large sums of money. Furthermore, trading was considered off color and profane for the wealthy, and so the means of obtaining the profit by the servants given the five and two talents would have brought disrespect upon the master among the master's wealthy friends and acquaintances.

In contrast, burying money in the ground was considered the prudent and socially acceptable way of maintaining funds that were safeguarded for a master. There were no banks, and so burying money was the best way to ensure that money was not lost.

What are we to take from this parable? First of all, we are entrusted with a gift of extraordinary value--our life. We are given this gift without having earned it, and often without any clue what to do with it. We didn't even ask for it, but are literally thrown into this world and given consciousness, free will, and an infinite number of choices.

God also wants us to use our gift creatively, and to take risks with our gift in order to bring about God's purposes. God does not want us to be bound by what is considered reasonable by our surrounding culture or socially acceptable, but instead to only be bound by what is going to be good and pleasing to God, as our master. God does not want us to play it safe.

As always, God's Spirit is with us to guide us and direct us. But the final decision about what we are going to do with this marvelous gift called life are up to us.