“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i]
Introduction
Sometimes we get things really, really, really wrong. And before we know that things have gone askew, we’ve built thought and structural systems around these things we’ve gotten really, really, really wrong. This happens with scripture and doctrines that come out of poorly translated and interpreted scriptures. Our gospel passage being one of them. The abuse this parable has been forced to endure is astounding. English speaking people get really tripped up over the word “talent” here; allegory run amok. Even with knowledge (from the parable itself) that talent can’t mean “the thing we’re good at” we’ve still allowed it to inform things like how we do our job, how well we accept the role we’ve been given, and (even) being a warning against loving anything material too much or God will take it! In some stricter evangelical settings, women who are moms have been taught in insidious ways not to love their children so much or God will take them while (rein)forcing that they must love their husbands above all else ignoring the obvious logical fallacy. Taking the financial aspect of the parable seriously, preachers fold this parable into their aggressive pledge drive pleas…pastor needs a new jet! Don’t bury your money, give it to me…errr the church!
But what if we’ve gotten it wrong? What if it’s not about our material existence (strictly) and about bigger, spiritual matters? What if this is an exhortation to good discipleship that has more to do with the God’s love and the neighbor than anything we own/have materially?
Matthew 25:14-30
Still on the Mount of Olives talking to his disciples, Jesus offers another lesson to help the disciples navigate existence once he’s gone. So, he tells the story of a Master who portions out monies to three servants… to one he gave five sums of money and to one two sums of money, and to one one sum of money, to each according to their own ability. Then, he went on a journey (v15). Like the other parables Jesus has been telling, nothing here is out of place; it all makes sense. Surely, a master of the had the liberty to commit the things that belonged to him to his trustworthy slaves (v14). Jesus continues,
At once, the one who received five sums of money went off and traded with them and he gained another five. In like manner, the one who received two sums of money gained another two. But the one who received one sum of money went off and dug in the earth and hid the silver pieces of his Lord (vv16-18).
Still, for those listening, nothing seems off; it was possible to invest the money, and it was common to hid money in the ground so it wasn’t burgled.[ii] One talent is worth (about) 15 years of wages for a laborer;[iii] burying it so it wasn’t stolen makes sense. Why not try to preserve the sum he had?
Then Jesus continues,
After a long time, the Lord of those servants comes and settles the account with them. And the one who had five sums of money approached and presented another five sums of money saying, “Lord, you handed over to me five sums of money; behold!, I gained another five sums of money!” His Lord declared to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you were faithful about little, I will appoint you over much. Enter the delight of your Lord (vv19-21).
And so it goes with the one who received the two sums of money. Then we get to the servant who had one sum of money,
Now, the one who has received one sum of money approached and said, “Lord, I knew you, you are a financially severe person, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter. And, being afraid, I went and hid the sum of money you gave me in the ground. Behold! you have that which is yours! And his Lord answer him and said, “Evil and timid servant! You perceived that I reap where I did not sow and I gather from where I did not scatter? Therefore, it was necessary to put my pieces of silver with the bankers, and after coming I would have carried away that which is mine with interest. Therefore, take away from him the sum of money and give it to the one who has ten sums of money. For to the one who has more will be given and it will be abundant. But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw out the useless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (vv26-30).
Again, if Jesus is trying to sooth the anxiety of his disciples, he’s not doing a great job. To quote one of the peasants of Solentiname talking with Ernesto Cardenal, “‘That’s a lousy parable.’”[iv] It really is. The disciples’ understanding of the coming reign of heaven is filled with imagery of people—doing their best!!!—being refused entry and now being thrown out. While the story makes practical sense in the kingdom of humanity, how is this—any of it—like the reign of God and of heaven? These two confront each other; therefore, the literal understand cannot be the understanding of the reign of heaven. Also, this is a parable, so it’s not translated literally. The emphasis falls on the distinction between the two servants who invested and doubled their monies and the one who dug a whole and buried it; some gifts have been given and those who received did what they could with their own gift.[v] Those who operated liberally, not holding on to the gift were the ones who not only took risks but were the ones who doubled their gifts; they, essentially, made good use of their gifts.[vi] And this “making good use” is where the emphasis is falling and not (necessarily) on the Master or the disturbing details of the end. The “good and trustworthy” servant is the one who can, acting as the Master, do what the Master would want;[vii] they are good representatives of their Master—who, in this story, likes to make money without having to actually make it. The good and trustworthy ones do as their Master would do.[viii]
The one servant who hides the money in the ground is not a “good and trustworthy servant;” they are, in fact, the opposite, “evil and timid.” This one knew what his master would do and chose the opposite. They are not trustworthy as a representative of their Master. Fear drives the servant to miser the money, to bury it, to hoard it rather than to distribute it freely allowing it to make more money[ix] and provide a doubled return.[x] He didn’t do wrong, he did nothing; where the other two servants were busy investing and—because of the length of time the Master was away—reinvesting the money, the servant who buried his gift wasted all that time doing nothing.[xi] The ones who were at work and busy—as the Master would have been at work and busy as the Master would have been busy—were the one’s considered “good and trustworthy servants”; the one who acted out of fear and hid the money, is stripped of the meager gift they had and cast out.[xii]
For Jesus, the reign of God and heaven is not for the weak-stomached but the bold; it’s not for the timid but the brave; it’s for the ones who know the will of the Master and do it. For Jesus, to follow him means that one cannot be more concerned with just not doing anything wrong; one must be willing to flub up completely while trying to do something as Christ.[xiii] The disciple of Jesus, the one who operates in and from the reign of God and heaven, must be willing to participate in God’s mission of the divine revolution of love, life, and liberation, which demands being brave, stepping outside of one’s comfort zone, and risking being wrong. The disciple cannot play it safe; trying to play it safe pits faith against action. And, as we know, faith is eager to manifest in loving, life-giving, liberative deeds for the neighbor to the glory of God.[xiv]
Conclusion
Therefore, we can now make a simple conclusion that aligns well what has transpired thus far in chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew: it’s all about love.[xv] The one who loves the Master will be the one who is busy while the Master is away, representing and doing as the Master would do. Not fear. It’s not about scaring people into believing in Jesus; it’s an address to existing Christians to consider how they spend their time waiting for Jesus to return. It’s not about our money or about the things we’re good at doing. It’s literally about how well we’re out there loving like Jesus loved, liberating like Jesus liberated, living as Jesus lived. Ernesto Cardenal says, “‘As the miser is relentless in demanding his money, God is relentless with love.’”[xvi]
Beloved, we have been so wildly and radically loved by God in Christ—as we are and where we are. It is our responsibility as liberated disciples of Christ to share that wild and radical “just as” “always and forever” love; it’s not for us to keep as our own as if our own personal salvation is the only thing to care about. It’s about spreading love like a wildfire spreads in the middle of summer. Our faith may be between us and God through Christ and the Holy Spirit, but it never stays there. By faith we are yoked to a God who is on the move and inspired by a Spirit who is swift, eager to spread God’s love, life, and liberation, and desiring to change the world rather than play it safe and uphold the status quo.[xvii] Beloved we carry talents of treasure in earthen vessels; may we be eager to share this treasure like Masters who love making money without having to work.
[i] LW 54:157-158; Table Talk 1590.
[ii] Anna Case-Winters, Matthew Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible Eds Amy Plantinga Pauw and William C. Placher (Louisville: WJK, 2015), 277. “…it was very customary to bury money to hide it from thieves…”
[iii] Case-Winters, Matthew, 277. “The sums given are significant; even one talent is about fifteen years of wages for a laborer.”
[iv] Ernesto Cardenal, The Gospel in Solentiname, translated by Donald D. Walsh (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2010), 479.
[v] Case-Winters, Matthew, 277. “…the parable of the talents seems to focus on those who have been entrusted with particular gifts.”
[vi] Case-Winters, Matthew, 277. “The parable urges diligence in making good use of whatever has been entrusted.”
[vii] R. T. France The Gospel of Matthew The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Gen. Ed Joel B. Green (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 950. “…there is more specific focus on their commercial responsibility in their master’s absence.”
[viii] Cardenal, Solentiname, 482. “I: ‘See, Oscar, here Christ gives the example of an exploiter, and his employees were exploiters too; and he wants them to multiply his money. And Christ says that’s the way God acts with us.’”
[ix] Cardenal, Solentiname, 481. “I: ‘And it’s a condemnation of this system. He says that’s the way the kingdom of heaven is, only the opposite: the rich man that devotes himself just to multiply his money is like the man that buried the talent he’d been given and didn’t make it produce. Because money is to be given, it’s not to put away; nor is it to be multiplied, because that’s not doing anything with it.’”
[x] Case-Winters, Matthew, 277. “When called to give an account, the servant’s rationale is ‘I was afraid.’ This fearful, protective, cautious disposition that proves so unproductive is not the disposition of a ‘good and faithful servant…’ This serves as yet another negative example conveying what those who wait should not be like.”
[xi] France, Matthew, 951. “It was not that he did something wrong—he simply did nothing. This is, then, apparently, a parable about maximizing opportunities, not wasting them. To be ‘ready’ for the master’s return means to use the intervening time to maximum profit; it is again about continuing life and work rather than about calculating the date and being alert for his actual arrival.”
[xii] France, Matthew, 952. “What matters is that, however precisely the ‘talents’ are interpreted, each disciple should live and work in such a boldly enterprising way that the returning master will say, ‘Well done, you good, trustworthy slave.’”
[xiii] France, Matthew, 956. Schweizer quoted in. “But risk is at the heart of discipleship…by playing safe the cautious slave has achieved nothing, and it is his timidity and lack of enterprise…which is condemned… ‘a religion concerned only with not doing anything wrong.’”
[xiv] France, Matthew, 956-957. “What ultimately condemned this disciple, and made him unready to meet his Lord at the parousia, was the fact that he had proved to be useless for the kingdom of heaven. Like the man ejected from the wedding feast in 22:14, his performance had not matched his profession and it is only those who ‘do the will of my father who is in heaven’ (23:50) who ultimately belong to his kingdom.”
[xv] Cardenal, Solentiname, 483. “I: ‘Christ says that just as exploiters multiply money, so we revolutionaries must multiply love.’”
[xvi] Cardenal, Solentiname, 483.
[xvii] Cardenal, Solentiname, 485-486. “I: ‘And God doesn’t want us to give him back nature just as we’ve received it; we must give it back to him recreated and transformed. And finally we see that anyone who won’t take risks in order to change the world is condemned to solitude, is separated from humanity.’”
