I have always appreciated the succession of gospel lessons in the last three weeks of Year A of the lectionary. Each section from Matthew 25 provides insight into how disciples are to live faithfully and well in the time between Christ’s first and second advents. Each parable provides a different focus on what it takes to persevere in faith.
The second parable, the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), is obviously about how we are stewards of God’s gifts. Both the servant given five talents and the servant given two talents leverage their assets in a way that brings a return. However, the servant given one talent buries that gift and brings no return on investment to the owner. The owner praises the first two servants and condemns the third. The obvious moral for followers of Jesus is that we are to take the abundance of gifts with which God has endowed us and invest in God’s kingdom.
While the stewardship of God’s good gifts certainly is true and needs to be underscored, I find the reasoning behind the 1-talent servant’s reluctance to invest his resources to be instructive. According to this servant, he perceived the owner to be “a harsh man… I was afraid… and I hid your talent.” His reticence to risk was based on his understanding of the character of his master.
This is important. Our perception of God shapes our understanding of how we steward God’s gifts. If God is a harsh taskmaster, then we should be wary of any missteps we might make, lest God’s wrath be poured upon us. If, however, God is perceived as a loving parent, then we are free to experiment with new ways to invest ourselves without fear of reproach. If God is a rigid accountant with a balance sheet of deeds, just waiting for our lives to be overdrawn on God’s grace, then we dare not risk much. However, if God is a benevolent creator who celebrates our lives and eagerly awaits our growth, then we can try new things without fear of failure.
Part of Jesus’s mission was to reveal God’s true nature and that nature is love. Jesus reveals the heart of our Creator, and that heart is filled with mercy. Jesus reveals that God is ready to forgive and offer new beginnings. Jesus invites us to live beyond fear by living in God’s love, receiving God’s forgiveness, and accepting our acceptance.
Here’s a hypothetical situation. What if either the 5-talent servant or the 2-talent servant risked the treasure and lost it all? I realize that Jesus didn’t tell the story this way, but just suppose that one of the “successful” servants wasn’t successful. What do you think the master would have said? Given the God revealed by Jesus, my guess is that he would have responded something like this, “Good try! I appreciate the effort! I’m glad you used the opportunity. What have you learned? What would you do differently next time?”
How we perceive God makes all the difference in how we live our lives. God is a God of love; we need not fear. God is openhanded and benevolent; we can be generous. God will take care of us; we can live out of concern for others. God is forgiving; we need not be anxious about failure.
Whether it is in our personal lives or in our corporate lives as a congregation, hear the invitation of this parable: Invest freely and fully, but do not fear. Try something different in your devotional or missional life, but do not fear. You have been given great gifts; use them wisely, but do not fear.
May God bless you, and in that blessing, may you be a fruitful agent for God’s kingdom. 