By Kristin Berkey-Abbott
Matthew 25:14-30
Today’s Gospel comes directly after last week’s reading, and both are part of what scholars call the _______ -- yes, the eschatological discourse. Jesus is giving instructions about the end of time. But just like last week’s Gospel, the parable has implications for how we live as we’re waiting for the end time.
This parable has similarities to last week’s parable of wise and foolish women, some of whom are prepared for the coming of the bridegroom and some of whom aren’t. In today’s Gospel, we have slaves who are given the job of taking care of the master’s wealth.
And what wealth it is! We might hear the word “talent” and think about an ability that goes beyond normal, maybe an artistic or athletic ability. But in today’s Gospel, a talent is a measure of wealth—incredible wealth. New Testament scholar Dr. Carla Works says, “A talent is equal to about 6,000 denarii. Since one denarius is a common laborer’s daily wage, a talent would be roughly equivalent to 20 years wages for the average worker. Five talents, the largest amount entrusted to any of the servants, is comparable to one hundred years worth of labor, an astronomical amount of money.”
So, to put this in our east Tennessee context, where the average single person income is $39,437.00 a year, a talent would be worth just over 900,000 dollars and five talents would be worth just over 4 and a half million dollars. Imagine getting that all that money at once and being told to manage it. We talk about what we would do if we won the lottery, but that’s an easier task—it would be our money. What if we had to take care of that money until the boss comes back at some unannounced later day? We might be tempted to bury it in the yard too.
The master has big expectations, and 2 of the slaves do not disappoint. When we get to the 3rd slave, we see the deep corruption of the master. The agricultural metaphor may not be immediately obvious to us: the master reaps where he does not sow and gathers where he has not scattered seed. In other words, he steals, taking the profits where others have done the work—like many a robber baron of the 19th and 20th century, like many a venture capitalist today.
And wait, it’s worse. He rebukes the third slave for not investing with bankers, where at least he would get interest. It’s a practice forbidden from very ancient times, forbidden in the Torah, specifically in Exodus 22:25 and Leviticus 25:35-38.
In light of this information, clearly we’re not supposed to equate the master with God, who is just and fair, or with Jesus.
The most interesting approach to our Gospel reading that I’ve read this week encourages us not to focus on who the master is in the story; one Gospel commentary said that the master might not be as bad as we think, which is a stretch, I know. But consider this angle: the master understands the skills of each slave and gives them a task that he knows they can accomplish. His fury at the 3rd slave comes because the 3rd slave doesn’t even try to improve what he has been given.
How does the parable change if we don’t consider it as a parable that gives us an economic lesson about investing money? Some people approach the Gospel by using a more modern interpretation of the word “talent,” which results in a parable about not hiding our light under a bushel, to use the metaphor of a different parable. In some ways, it’s a parable about stewardship, of both money and other resources.
But either traditional approach misses a key point. Let’s return to the master and the fact that he is willing to give his slaves—slaves!—so much responsibility. If we return the focus to the master, we might conclude that the parable is not about investment, but invitation. It’s not an invitation to a wedding feast, but an even larger invitation, to be part of the very work of the master’s enterprise. Those who participate, share in the joy. Those who don’t, like the 3rd slave, lose out in so many ways.
In a Bible commentary on this parable, Dirk G. Lange says, “The third servant has not only hidden the talent, he has buried himself. The third servant is not so much condemned as he condemns himself to a place—a life—that knows not joy, that knows only darkness and wailing and grinding of teeth. This place, as such a life, is self-created.”
We know that Jesus comes to tell us that the Kingdom of God is inbreaking, coming to our neighborhood right now. But it’s not complete, not done. It’s both richly created now and ____________ (not yet). Much of Matthew’s Gospel teaches first century believers how to behave in the in between time. Jesus has come, done his ministry, and departed this earth, not just once, but twice. He’s expected back, but it’s becoming clear that it might be longer than those first disciples believed. What now?
We continue with the work at hand. We’ve been given enormous resources, resources similar to a lifetime’s accumulation, a fully fulfilled life from the start. Even if we see ourselves as less gifted than others in our community, remember that the 3rd slave still receives 1 talent, an amount worth 20 years of wages.
Last week’s Gospel gave us the urgent message that we need to stay awake. Today’s Gospel tells us what we’re to do while we’re awake. We are to be faithful. We are to expand on what Jesus has already done. Jesus has spent his ministry caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, healing the wounded and the sick, and including those who have never been welcome—we’re to take that beginning and to multiply those efforts and those talents.
Those people who heard and believed the Gospel of Matthew clearly did just that. We are here in a Christian church, roughly 6300 miles away from the birthplace of the faith, two thousand years later. The investment of those first century Christians has resulted in impressive returns.
We are invited to participate in this party begun so long ago. We might be feeling like the 3rd slave, overwhelmed at the size of the task. But we can rest assured that our loving and just God understands our capacity far more than we do. We are given an enormous amount of wealth relatively speaking. Let us not hide it in the ground. Let us be trustworthy in all things, so that we, too, can enter fully into a life of joy, God’s joy.
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