Parables of the Talents, Pt. 3
This Week's Bible Reading: Matthew 25:14-30 (focus on verse 18)
Supporting Passage: Matthew 25:13-16
Last week, we considered how we can use our ordinary talents for God's kingdom. When we invest these talents, we are like the first two servants in Jesus' parable. Today, I want to explore what might prevent us from doing this.
Jesus says the third servant "went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money" (Matthew 25:18, ESV). This might seem like a silly thing to do. Only pirates would bury their gold, right? But in the ancient world, hiding money in the ground was a common way to protect it.
If the servant's job were to keep the money safe, he would have gotten an A+ from the master! But the master had bigger goals in mind. He wanted the servant to do something with what he'd been given.
As Christians, one of the sweetest promises we have is that we'll experience heaven someday. But it is also one of the biggest obstacles we face when it comes to using our talents. This may sound strange, but sometimes, heaven can become a convenient excuse for us not to take action. How often do we say phrases like, "This world is not my home" or "I'm just passing through"?
I understand the heart behind these phrases and have uttered them, too. The heartache of this world is too much to bear sometimes. Between the pain we see on a global scale and our own personal struggles, life can feel hopeless. We can't help but anticipate the day when "[God] will wipe every tear from [our] eyes" (Revelation 21:4). And it is right to look forward to our future hope. But as we do, we can't forget about using our talents in the present.
The third servant made the mistake of safeguarding his talent instead of investing it. It's easy for us to make this same error. If we don't have a bigger vision of God's kingdom, we risk reducing the gospel message to "Jesus will be back soon. Until then, just stay out of trouble." This is a surefire recipe to turn ourselves inward. We withdraw from the world to stay clean. Our focus becomes obeying a list of rules. We bury our talents and wait to go to heaven someday.
But Jesus wants us to shine our light! In the sermon on the mount, he says these beautiful words:
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14–16, NIV)
A light hidden under a bowl isn't much use to anyone. Sure, maybe the bowl will keep the light safe. But it will also prevent the light from doing what it was created to do. When we shine the light, we point people to God's kingdom.
When I think about people who used their talents for God's kingdom, I am reminded of Father Bob. I grew up attending Catholic mass, and Father Bob was the lead pastor of our parish. He was also one of the first people to teach me about the deep love of God.
After mass, everyone went on the church patio to enjoy coffee and donuts. As an 8-year-old, this was my favorite part of going to church. As soon as mass ended, my sister and I ran outside to dig into the donut boxes! But we also loved saying hello to Father Bob. He would greet us with a warm smile and hug.
At the time, I was still in speech therapy. My speech was difficult to understand if you didn't know me well. I'm sure there were times when I rambled on, and Father Bob had no idea what I was saying. But he listened with patience and ended every conversation with, "God loves you, Mike!"
A few weeks ago, my mom sent me a news story about Father Bob. I was shocked to learn he and his sister Sally were tragically killed in a shooting at their home. Father Bob knew the man who shot him. He was going through a rough patch, and Father Bob was trying to help him through it. By this time, Father Bob was retired. But he was still using his talent of compassion to point others to God.
You can look at this story and think, "What a waste! If that's what using your talent gets you, why not bury it instead? It's safer." And it's true—Father Bob and his sister weren't supposed to die this way. It's another piece of evidence that we live in a broken world. But I don't think Father Bob would see it as a waste.
A few months before he died, Father Bob celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest. This is what he said:
I've had a glorious ride. I'm proud to serve and do wonderful things for wonderful people. I've spent 50 years doing absolutely incredible things, and I am thankful to God for it.
Father Bob didn't wait around for heaven. He didn't bury his talent. He didn't hide his light.
He leaned into a messy, broken world and showed it a glimmer of God's kingdom.
I pray that by the grace of God, I can do the same.
Questions to Ponder:
Why is it sometimes tempting to want to withdraw from the world and "wait around for heaven?" How can you look forward to heaven while remaining focused on bringing God's kingdom to others in the present?
What similarities do you see between the parable of the Talents and Jesus' words in Matthew 5:13–16?
Who in your life shines their light instead of hiding it? What can you learn from them?
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Ordinary Talents
Parables of the Talents, Pt. 2
This Week's Bible Reading: Matthew 25:14-30 (focus on verses 14-18)
At first glance, we may think Jesus is using the parable of the Talents to teach us a lesson in economics. But, as with several of his parables, Jesus uses the topic of money to talk indirectly about something else. In this case, it's about the responsibilities that come with being part of God's kingdom.
In the story, the man gives each of his servants a different number of talents. When I imagine a talent, I picture something like a shiny coin. (Okay, I'll be honest—I picture one of those delicious chocolate gold coins!) But a talent was more like a big block of gold or silver weighing about 60 pounds.
Why did the servants get a different number of talents? The man gave "to each according to his ability" (v. 15). This might seem unfair, but I find comfort in it. I am only responsible for the things God has given me. I won't be judged for what I do with somebody else's talents.
And the third servant wasn't given chump change, either! A talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer's wage.
For fun, I looked up what the average day laborer makes in my home state of Florida. It is about $13 an hour (we rank dead last in nationwide day laborer salaries if you're curious...). Based on a 40-hour work week, one talent would be the modern equivalent of $540,800. (And this would be at the low end of the spectrum.) Imagine if someone handed you a slab of gold worth that much!
Any way you look at it, the master trusted all three servants with an enormous amount of money. And while the first two servants used what they were given to earn more, the third servant buried his talent in the ground.
But what does a talent represent for us? And what does it look like to use them wisely?
In our language, a talent is not a monetary unit but "a special natural ability or aptitude." Because of this definition, it's easy to assume a talent is a special ability God gave us to use for his kingdom. This is partly true, but we miss something if we only think of it this way.
I believe God gives us all unique abilities. But so often, we have a narrow view of what a talent is. We think of the "big ones," like preaching an amazing sermon or composing a beautiful hymn on a piano (a talent I wish I had!). When we don't have an obvious ability that wows the world, it's easy to wonder if we are serving God in a significant way.
But the kingdom of God is built on small acts. A talent is any opportunity we have to extend God's kingdom to a broken world. Yes, it might be playing a grand piano to a crowd of thousands. But most of the time, it is simpler than that. Dare I say, it is more ordinary than that.
On most mornings, I'm awakened by my three-year-old son calling "Mommy!" As I open my bleary eyes, I have two choices. I can pretend I didn't hear it and let Diana go get him (he did, after all, call for her!). Or I can get up and give her a few more moments of precious sleep. This is a small act indeed, but it is one way to love my wife.
When I hear that voice cry out at 6 a.m., it’s like God dropped a talent in my lap. Will I do something with this talent or will I bury it in the ground? (Honest assessment: I'm about 50/50 on this one...)
We face hundreds of small moments like this every day. They may not be as exciting as the "big talents" that put us in the spotlight. But the ordinary talents matter to God just as much.
When you spend an hour talking to a lonely friend over coffee, you are investing in God's kingdom. And it matters.
When you stock shelves in the back corner of a food bank, you are investing in God's kingdom. And it matters.
When you take a pause out of your busy day to pray for the person who popped into your mind, you are investing in God's kingdom. And it matters.
When you encourage your pastor with a kind word, you're investing in God's kingdom. And it matters. (They may appear confident, but I promise you, they have their insecurities, too.)
And if you have a talent that the world deems extraordinary, invest that, too! We need musicians, artists, speakers, and leaders. But using those talents doesn't exempt us from using our ordinary talents as well. The megachurch pastor who gave an inspiring sermon still has to go home and decide how he will treat his family.
As I said earlier, all three servants were given an abundance of resources to use. But if we're not careful, we can become envious of other people's talents. This is something I struggle with as a writer. It's easy to look at another person with a bigger audience and say, "If only I had their platform, then I could do something big for God."
How do we avoid this comparison trap? By focusing on the talents we were entrusted with. God doesn't need me to do something "big" for him. He wants me to be faithful with each opportunity he gives me. This means waking up every morning and saying, "Thank you, God, for the gift of today. Please show me how to use what you've given me to extend your beautiful kingdom to others.”
And most of the time, this is done through simple, ordinary acts of love and self-sacrifice.
Questions to Ponder:
How would you define a "talent" in the context of God's kingdom?
Have you ever wished you had different (perhaps more significant, as the world defines it) talents? How can you stay focused on the talents God has entrusted you with?
What opportunities has God given you this week to extend his kingdom to a broken world?
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While We Wait...
Parable of the Talents, Pt 1.
Today's Bible Reading: Matthew 25:14-30
Supporting Passage: Matthew 24
The great thing about writing is you get to decide what content to put in and what to leave out. In this series, the choice of which parables to include is entirely up to me. I can write about all my favorites and leave out the ones that make me squirm.
And let me tell you, I really want to leave this next parable out. I don't like it at all. It's scary and makes me uncomfortable. But that is why I am choosing to write about it. I'd rather wrestle with it than avoid it. And I don't want to do it alone, so I'm taking you along for the ride!
The parable in question is the Talents. It's about a master who entrusts his servants with three different amounts of money.
When he returns from a journey, he finds that two of his servants have been working hard. They doubled the amount of money they were given. The master is pleased and rewards them.
But the third servant takes a different approach. He was afraid of the master, so he buried his money in the ground for safekeeping. When the master finds out, he is furious. He berates the servant and throws him "into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 25:30, NLT).
Whoa!
This parable seems straightforward, but even scholars struggle to interpret it. In my research, I've come across many different views and opinions. As I add my own into the mix, I want humility to guide me. I don't have all the answers.
As always, it's important to know the context of this parable before diving into it.
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives five long speeches called "discourses." He begins his final speech in Matthew 24, right before the events of his arrest and crucifixion. It is sometimes called the eschatological (or "end times") discourse because Jesus talks about the future.
When you hear the phrase "end times," what images pop into your mind? Our imaginations on this topic have been so shaped by pop culture that it is hard to separate fact from fiction. This is one of the places where humility is needed. People way smarter than me disagree about whether the events described in Matthew 24 have already happened or will happen in the future. But I believe that at least part of this speech is Jesus looking forward to the great day when God's kingdom comes fully to earth—the day when heaven and earth become one.
The disciples are anxious to know when this day will come (24:3). But Jesus is adamant that no one knows (24:36). So while we wait, it is not our job to make charts and graphs or speculate how tragedies might connect to end times.
I understand the temptation to want to make predictions. We see how broken and messed up the world is, and we long for the day when Jesus will set it right. And so, like the disciples, we can't help but ask, "When, God? When??"
But instead of focusing on the "when," Jesus has something else for us to do while we wait. He wants us to extend his kingdom to all the broken places in this world. What we do here and now matters. And so at the end of his speech, Jesus tells a series of parables about being ready for his return. One of these parables is the Talents.
Part of what makes this parable scary is the fate of the third servant. We immediately think the third servant is doomed to hell. And even worse, he is sent there because he hasn't worked "hard enough."
Over the next few weeks, we will explore what this parable has to say about our responsibility to use the gifts God has given us. But as we do, it is important to keep two things in mind.
First, while judgment is a real thing, the parables are not meant to give a literal description of hell. Jesus told stories with twist endings to shock his audience into a new way of thinking. And this story is quite a shocker!
Second, parables are never told in isolation. They are part of the larger story of Jesus' whole life. He entered into a messy world to save sinners because he knew we couldn't do it by ourselves. Jesus came to love us, not shame us.
The parable of the Talents is about the wonderful opportunity Jesus gives us to build God's kingdom today. But he knows we won't always get it right. As Jesus told this tale, he was hours away from facing the cross so that nothing could ever separate us from God. As NT Wright puts it:
When Jesus speaks of someone being thrown outside, where people weep and grind their teeth, we must never forget that he was himself on the way into the darkness, where even he would sense himself abandoned by God (Matthew 27:45–46).
Jesus journeyed into the darkness because he didn’t want anyone left out.
Questions to Ponder:
Take some time to read the parable of the Talents and write down any initial thoughts you have.
Why do you think Christians sometimes get caught up in trying to predict when the "end times" will occur? How do you think Jesus wants us to spend our time instead?
What parts of this parable scare you or make you uncomfortable? As we wrestle with it this week, how can you remember to keep Jesus' love and mercy at the forefront?
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If you enjoyed this devotional and would like to support my writing, you can buy me a sweet tea to keep me caffeinated. It would be much appreciated!