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      Jesus and the Kingdom of God E-Mail Bible Study
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                    Matthew 25:14-30
        REFLECTIONS ON THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS
                  by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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The Parable of the Talents would be a strange illustration
for a Galilean carpenter to use. It deals with money and
privilege, with house slaves and entrepreneurism, with power
and judgment. More the reflections of a king than a
carpenter.

Once the word "talent" (Gk. talenton) meant a measure of
precious metal, but this parable brought into the English
language a new word which meant ability with which one is
gifted. Every time I read the parable it speaks to me at
several levels.

RESPONSIBILITY

First, there's an expectation of responsibility. The wealthy
master entrusts each of these servants with thousands of
dollars -- with a considerable sum of money for a slave.
Theirs is an active task. To take they money and put it to
work, to "do business with it" until the master returns. Not
long term passive investment, but short term active
management, entrepreneurism, risk-taking to advance the
master's fortune.

Nor is it any accident that the recipients are slaves,
servants, not freemen. They are given a good measure of
freedom for how they put the money to use, but full
responsibility for the outcome. The talents are clearly the
master's, not the servants' due nor their own private
treasure. They are not so much "gifts" as a "trust."
Ownership is never transferred, nor are they to use the
money to enhance their own personal situation. The talents
are, and always will be, the master's. There is gratitude,
and reward, and a welcome into closer fellowship with the
master upon his return, but no question about whose money
this is.

Our "talents," our abilities must be perceived the same way.
They are not ours. They are not for personal advancement.
They belong solely to the King. WE belong solely to the
King, and our stewardship of our lives and talents are to be
for His advancement and glory, not our own. We are stewards
of another's property, and we will give an account. I am a
steward of what God has given me. You are a steward of what
God has given you, and we all will give an account when He
returns.

DIFFERING ABILITIES

Second, I see a keen discernment into differences of
ability. In this parable, the talents were distributed
unequally. No doubt the slave entrusted with the five
talents was the person of greatest experience and ability.
And so we see tremendously gifted individuals around us. We
see special, finely-tuned aptitudes.

Sometimes we see multi-skilled individuals, and look on with
a mixture of admiration and envy. "What I could do if I had
that!" we mutter vainly. "If only..." we pine. We are not
responsible for another's level of ability, but we are
clearly responsible for our own, to fully use what ability
we have been given in advancement of the master's estate.

We see a troubling, but true-to-life principle displayed
here in vs. 28-29:

  "Take the talent from him and give it to the one who
  has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be
  given more...."

The master isn't egalitarian but pragmatic. If you use your
talents well, you'll receive yet more to manage. If you bury
or squander your talents, they'll be taken away but you will
be severely judged.  This isn't about fairness, but about
advancing the Kingdom. Some have committed their lives to
serving the Kingdom with all their energies. Others have
committed only words and kind thoughts, but failed to use
the resources God has given them to advance the Kingdom.
Harsh punishment awaits.

A CHARMING PRINCESS AND A TINY NUN

Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, and the next day I
saw Diana, Princess of Wales, laid to rest amidst national
mourning and all the pomp and circumstance England could
muster. A compelling contrast: a tiny nun who wore a $1 sari
to meet the President of the United States a few months ago,
and a stylish princess beloved by her people. Which will
receive the most lavish entrance into heaven?

In a sense, both took what they were given and built upon
it, and built upon it again, in order to turn the attention
of the world to the plight of the oppressed and poor. "If
only I were a princess...."  "If only I were a nun...."

But you are YOU. You are what God made you to be, with all
your hidden strengths -- and your painful weaknesses. And
God entrusted some of His precious gifts into your hands,
for you to further his Kingdom. He doesn't expect miracles 
-- or does he? But what he has every right to expect of me
and of you is diligence, faithfulness, strategic
thoughtfulness, and life priority. He fully expects this of
his slaves, and will call each of us to account.

Finally, I see a fearful judgment on laziness, where the
Kingdom of God is concerned. On the one hand, the "good and
faithful" servants are congratulated and promoted. On the
other, the man who buried his investment capital is
excoriated as a "wicked and lazy servant." In his life dwelt
a competing loyalty. He loved his own future far more than
he loved his master's. His self-centeredness damned him to
being stripped of his trust and excluded from the household
as "worthless."

This parable speaks to me personally. I'm one of those
people who have been gifted in a number of ways by the
Master. Sometimes I have viewed them as mine, and with more
than a tinge of pride, looked down at others less gifted. I
have been wrong. My talents are gifts from my Master given
to serve him, not my just due, but his.

How can I keep my own interests and ambitions from
displacing my Master's interests and goals for me? How can I
keep from being so busy in my own pursuits using these same
talents, that I just don't have time to serve my Master with
that which belongs to him?

Jesus meant this parable to discomfort us. To bring us up
short. To teach us what the Kingdom of God is really like.
It's a simple parable of a master "who called his servants
and entrusted his property to them." It's a story about
trust and about faithfulness. And sadly, about passivity and
laziness.

Master, help me to invest my "talents" most wisely and
diligently so you will be pleased when you return. Amen.

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Copyright 1997, Ralph F. Wilson, all rights reserved.
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