Talent Show...

 

Talent Show…

 

Matthew 25:14-30
25:14 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them;
25:15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away
25:16 The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents.
25:17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents.
25:18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
25:19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
25:20 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.
25:21 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.’
25:22 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.’
25:23 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.’
25:24 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 seed;
25:25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’
25:26 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?
25:27 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.
25:28 So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents.
25:29 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.
25:30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

 

The ”Parable of the Talents” may be one of the best known parables in the Bible, outside of the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan. In its surface, it seems relatively easy to interpret. Two guys use their financial/entrepreneurial gifts to parlay the master’s money into bigger gains, while the third—who lives in fear of the master—buries his “talent” in the ground, so it will not be stolen. It’s easy to use this as a kind of “clobber” parable, highlighting the two who invest the money to make MORE money for the master, while denigrating the fearful one who just seems to be trying to stay out of trouble with him. But we may not have it right with this interpretation.

 

The FIRST thing the commentators tell us is that this is NOT a parable about entrepreneurial proficiency! It’s one of Matthew’s “kingdom” parables, and offers a few lessons about how God’s people use their gifts in service to God’s kingdom. It’s a very hard paragraph to allegorize, as some have written, in that the Master is described as a “harsh man,” and gets angry at the infamous “third servant” who buries the talent, as he could have at least “invested it with the bankers” to earn interest. If we try to allegorize the parable as the “kingdom of God,” the Master doesn’t work as an analogue for God, in that he is “harsh” and his suggestion of “earning interest” was against Jewish rules. If the Master is God, God doesn’t come off well, at all. We should resist the temptation to fully allegorize this.

 

That said, it STILL is a good story about how the servants are each entrusted an amount of wealth, “each according to his ability.” There is nothing WRONG with the idea that some people have abilities that are “endorsed” more by society than others. We ALL are gifted, and ALL of our gifts are needed in the church and in the world. That some do better with large sums of money than others is not a sinful thing, nor is it a sign of inequity. Since this parable is using money as its subject, it stands to reason that the “Master” doles out his wealth according to the demonstrated ability of his servants to handle it. Actually, the story DOES suggest some “risk-taking” by the Master, in that he gave a full “talent” (which was a huge amount of money in that day) to the untested servant. He doesn’t do well with it, but at least the Master took a chance. God does that with us, when our gifts may be either underdeveloped or underutilized.

 

Here's a modern parable that I think kind of parallels this. During my first year in seminary, I served as a student assistant pastor in a large Presbyterian church that had excellent pastoral and staff leadership, and was growing in leaps and bounds. The senior pastor was a real mentor to me, believe me. That church had an annual and HUGELY popular Strawberry Festival to raise a considerable amount of money for missions. The long-time volunteer coordinator of the festival had recently “retired,” and a “young mom” stepped up to volunteer. On Wednesdays after class, I would go to the church to lead the junior high youth group in the evenings, but first I met for an hour or so with the senior pastor. On this particular Wednesday, he informed me that the young mom was coming in to start to go over plans. The senior pastor showed me a 20 or 30 page “instruction manual” as to the steps necessary for a successful Strawberry Festival. (This festival was essential to the church’s mission budget, and HAD to be successful!) As the senior pastor was walking me through this “manual” he had typed up, I kept thinking that it might be over-bearing for this new volunteer coordinator to have such a daunting thing “dropped” on her, but he was the senior pastor. He tucked the manual into the side drawer of his desk, and the young mom joined us in his office. After introductions, we all sat down. After a prayer together, the senior pastor asked her how her planning for the event was coming along? (I kept thinking of the manual in the drawer.) The young mom opened a large, three-ring binder she brought with her, and began to go, systematically, through her thorough, and in some ways quite innovative arrangements she and “her committee” had been planning. The senior pastor asked an occasional question, but at the conclusion of her presentation, thanked her for her great work and closed our meeting with prayer. Then, he turned to me and said, 

 

“Do you see what we did there? Had our new coordinator come in and seemed like she was just spinning her wheels, I would have pulled one page of that manual out of the drawer and handed it to her. We would go over it together, and if she was still looking stumped, I would have pulled out the second page. My guess is that we wouldn’t have gotten much beyond the third page before the lights would have gone on for her. She never would have seen the rest of the pages, unless she specifically asked for more help. However, she was obviously well organized, and even had some wonderful, new ideas, so all that was left to do was send her forth with a blessing!” 

 

I never forgot this lesson. In the parable from Matthew, we can affirm EVERY gift of our people, with the caveat that God wants us to USE our gifts and not hide them or bury them in the sand. Only the servant who did so was criticized. And while not all of our gifts are needed in the church, rest assured they ARE needed somewhere in the community. I have stated several times that one of the most disappointing things I have witnessed in my many years in ministry was the conflict and even chaotic disruption often occurring in families over an inheritance, and most typically a small one! However, the SECOND most disappointing thing I have witnessed has been the personal denigrating and discounting of one’s spiritual gifts by folk in the pews. This was most evident when church leadership intentionally tried to offer various classes and “tests” to help members ascertain WHAT their spirituals gifts were, and then sought to use these often latent gifts to choose candidates in the annual “nominations” process. We so often heard, “Oh no, I could never do that—I don’t have any experience.” It’s amazing how many folk have a low opinion of their gifts and abilities, even when they are identified. And as to experience, why not “begin” by serving God and your church with your gifts? On the plus-side of this story, I have actually had a few church members who DID this, and began to develop their gifts so fruitfully that they even found employment in the secular community, thanks to their new-found talents! And a few others expanded their sphere of discipleship activities to District or Conference level positions, as they grew to be “noted experts” in their field of church service.

 

It's important to note that some folk pooh-pooh their own gifts because of negative experiences in the past, when they tried to utilize their giftedness. Comments from overly-critical parishioners (maybe even PASTORS, in some cases?) or spouses have the power to suppress motivation! Some develop the “third servant” syndrome with “help” from others, who even provide the shovel and the dirt. 

 

So let’s recap. The parable is mostly trying to tell us that ALL of us have been gifted with “talents” by God, who best knows us and knows what our personalities, history, and desires best suit us for in the gifts market. No matter which “servant” we are in the story, we have an important gift, and are challenged to take the necessary “risks” to use it (or them) to the fullest, NOT “burying” them by letting them sit idle on the shelves of our life inventory. Taking the parable in this manner, we receive a positive, motivating “push” to get to work with what we have as our tools. Note Matthew’s version of the parable ends with one very positive verse—that those who USE their gifts and MULTIPLY their usefulness in ministry will be given even more tools, wisdom, and opportunity to advance the kingdom, bless their faith community, and glorify “the master,” GOD. Then, Matthew does his famous “false dichotomy” thing and suggests that those who “bury” their talent(s) will be subject to “the outer darkness.” I see little inspiration, let alone motivation, in this indictment, which is most certainly tied to the author’s anger and disappointment in his fellow Jews.

 

As for us, let’s leave the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” alone. If you do what you do only because you fear retribution, what you do will have little love beneath its wings, and its only “reward” will be relief that the lights are still on and you aren’t grinding your jaw. As one of my mentors would say, your view of the nature of God will color your spiritual journey. If your God is one who threatens the “outer darkness,” you will run from that, but not necessarily toward any light, and you most certainly will struggle with receiving any love from that God. Amen.