Do you know someone who hides money under a bed? Deb and I know of a man who walled up cash in a cupboard. Before escaping to Australia, he lived under a repressive government that stole his wealth. He never again trusted governments or financial institutions. He feared losing his money if he didn’t keep it close.
Our parable today turns on another fear-filled man. A servant to an incredibly rich master who entrusts him and two other servants with gold while he goes on a journey. The first and second servants double the gold entrusted to them. The third servant digs a hole and buries his one bag of gold so that he can safely return it to his master.
On returning, the master says to the first two servants:
“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
To the third servant, however, he is not so beneficent. The third servant says to his master:
“I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So, I was afraid and hid your gold in the ground.”
The master tells the servant he is wicked and lazy, and that if he knew he was a hard man why didn’t he, at least, leave the gold with bankers so that it earned interest? He orders that the bag of gold be taken from the servant and that the worthless man be thrown outside, “Into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.
Jesus tells the disciples that the Kingdom of Heaven is just like this incredibly wealthy man. I will suggest that the story paradoxically emphasizes the need for a loving heart toward God. The importance of putting our faith and trust in Christ until the Kingdom of God fully bursts into our world.
However, before explaining the parallel, let’s look at the context. As Erna puts it, we are always sitting at the back of the crowd listening to Jesus; distant, in time and place. In the case of this parable, we listen on the other side of the door to what Jesus is saying to the disciples. We must consider the historical context into which Jesus spoke, as well as the place in the gospel and the Bible where our passages are situated.
Up to this point in Matthew’s gospel, the disciples have heard Jesus say, amongst many things: the meek, the merciful, and the peacemakers will be blessed; they should turn the other cheek in the face of an evil person; and they should love their enemies and persecutors, not only God and neighbours.
As Ruth has emphasized over the last few weeks, Jesus is giving a message about God’s love and how our love for others flows from this.
The disciples have also heard Jesus say people should not store up wealth on earth, but in heaven; where their wealth is, their heart will be. And, he has told them that rather than worry about their lives, first seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. Moreover, Jesus tells the disciples “We are going to Jerusalem.”, where he will be mocked, flogged, crucified, and will rise from the dead. In addition, he tells them that the temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the disciples, who had thought Jesus was going to overthrow the Romans, asked him when all this would happen, and what signs would point to the end of the age. They likely did this with some befuddlement and trepidation. I know I’d be a tad anxious if I were in their sandals; I’d probably nervously reach for my iPad, hoping that I could block out some possible dates.
Jesus’ reply is enigmatic and evocative. He speaks of signs, including that the disciples will be handed over to tribulation, hated, and killed because of his name; hardly something calculated to quell fears. But he also says whoever endures to the end will be saved.
Jesus then speaks again in parables, including the one Ruth looked at last week, and the one we are looking at today – often called the Parable of the Talents. It is called the Parable of the Talents because in some Bible translations ‘gold’ is not mentioned. Rather, a measure of weight called a ‘talent of silver’ is referred to. Evidently, in the 1st century, a single talent of silver was equivalent to around 6,000 days of labour or 20 years of work for the average labourer.
Regardless of names and translations, the parallel drawn in this parable is perplexing.
Jesus has emphasized the importance of meekness, mercy, peacemaking, not storing up wealth, and above all loving God and others. But he now likens the Kingdom of God to an immensely wealthy and hard master who throws a servant into the darkness just because the servant didn’t increase his wealth while the master was galivanting around, somewhere. The perplexity grows, given that being thrown into the darkness, weeping, and gnashing teeth are Matthean references to hell! And, put the parable back in its historical context where burying gold and silver was common practice, and where making a profit through interest was frowned upon. Is it possible that the disciples may have even been more confused than us?
However, it’s important to understand that Jesus’ parables are rarely straightforward. They are stories of everyday life used to symbolically illuminate deep spiritual truths. They challenge and are often paradoxical because Jesus wants his audience to meditate, pray, and talk about these truths in ways that strike home, deeply. They are meant to change people’s hearts rather than lodge, shallowly, in their brains, like textbook learning. Thus, Jesus likely wanted his disciples to ponder and discuss what he was saying through and after the events of the days that followed, including his crucifixion, resurrection, and Pentecost.
I have meditated on and prayed about this parable for weeks. I have also spent way too much time rummaging through academic papers on parables. However, my conclusions so far are that the spiritual truth in the Parable of the Talents is, likely, not that the Kingdom of God is for Tory investment bankers – though it has relevance to them. Nor, I suggest, is it primarily Jesus’s socio-political critique of first-century power structures – though it is in part. And, nor is it about people using their skills to work their way into heaven, as some commentators have reasoned, though of course using God’s gifts to build the Kingdom is a task we Christians have been given.
Rather, what resonates strongly for me is the notion that the parable is about people’s heart condition. That is, the place the Lord has in a person’s being, their orientation to or away from self or God. Do they fear and hate God or love Him? Do they turn to him and store up their treasures in heaven, or flee from him after burying all their gold in the earth? Most importantly, do they put their faith and trust in Christ alone, regardless of the earthly risks and costs?
Jesus is saying that those who make the leap of faith in Christ will, like the good, faithful servants, share in their master’s, that is God’s, happiness. The Kingdom is for those who love God, rather than those who, like the third servant, crouch down in fear because they do not trust how deep their master’s, our Father’s, love is for them.
The third servant is like Christians who have fallen away and turned their hate and judgment on others, as well as on God. It is their fear and hatred, not God’s love, that leaves them weeping and gnashing. It is fear that leads to hatred and eventually disbelief in God that leads to darkness. And, I suggest this brings God to tears, not to wrath and anger.
So, what does this all mean for us today, amidst a world on fire, a world crumbling under the weight of violence, selfish ambition, and greed? How does the spiritual truth apply to our world where meekness, mercy, peacemaking, and even love, are still often seen as signs of weakness?
For me, Jesus’ parable remains loud enough for us to hear on the other side of what has become a very old door. When we ask, “When will all this misery end?” Jesus is saying:
“Don’t worry about tomorrow, have courage and put your faith in me. I am a God who loves you beyond weight and measure – come share my happiness now and in the future Kingdom.”
And before you ask anxiously, “But, what if I don’t have enough faith?” let me say, that I don’t think Jesus means that those of us who still harbour small doubts and uncertainties have nothing but darkness to look forward to. We are all to some degree children of post-modernity; scepticism and uncertainty are in the very air we breathe. Indeed, in a world full of scammers and abuse we must have an over-abundance of prudence. Rather, I think Jesus is saying:
“Have courage, be brave, let go of the railing you have been clinging to, leap over the abyss towards me. Your faith may be as small as a mustard seed, but in the hands of a loving God, it can move mountains.”
Jesus is then saying, with this assurance taking root in your heart, go forth and love your neighbours, your enemies, your persecutors, and especially people who are hungry, thirsty, lost, sick, and homeless. And, do this knowing that while faith without works is dead, our works do not make us holy; it is we who make our works holy through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and with the grace of God.
In conclusion, my meditation on this parable continues. I am not qualified to make final pronouncements. But I invite you as a sister or brother in Christ to teach me what you see and to join me in wrestling patiently with the deep words of God.
I close in prayer.
Lord, take my life – all my moments and my days – and let them be consecrated to thee.
Take my hands and feet; let them move only to your instigation and sovereignty.
Take my mind – my thoughts and identity – make them yours and fully conformed to thee
Take my heart and make it yours and help me love all my neighbours not for just today but eternally.
Take my fears, – my doubts and uncertainty – and help me hand them over to thee.
Lord, take my life, so I will ever be, always in awe of your majesty.