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Week 8: A Man Distributing Talents

“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou has not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 25:14-30

My Summary & Reflection

In this parable, the kingdom of heaven is compared to a man who, prior to travelling away for a long journey, left three servants with the responsibility of handling his affairs while he was to be away. A talent was a unit of value, like money, during this time. He had assessed his servants’ abilities and gave them talents in accordance with the abilities each had to be responsible for them. To one servant, the most able, he provided five talents; to another servant two; and to the last servant he provided one talent. He then left on his journey.

The most able servant, after receiving the five talents put them to work and received from his investments an additional five talents. Likewise, the servant who had received two talents also was able to generate an additional two talents by using the resources entrusted to him. However, the servant who had received the one talent hid it by burying it underground.

After being gone for a long while, the homeowner returned from his trip and requested an accounting of his affairs from his three servants. The most able servant told the homeowner how he had doubled the talents entrusted to him and provided those ten talents to the homeowner. Similarly, the servant who had received the two talents had doubled them, he also provided the now four talents to the homeowner. The servant who had received the one talent began to tell the homeowner how much feared him and as a result had hidden the talent that had been entrusted to him. He returned only the one talent to the homeowner.

To the two most able servants, who had doubled what had been entrusted to them, the homeowner expressed his appreciation for all that they had done. Because they had shown themselves to be good stewards of his resources, they both were made rulers of many things. To the fearful servant, who had hidden the talent and returned it to the homeowner, he called him lazy and evil. He took the one talent that had been returned, and gave it to the most able servant, leaving the fearful servant with nothing.

How do we use the gifts that have been entrusted to us? This parable seems to tell us that God expects us to use what we have been given and to be productive stewards. We all aren’t given the same gifts or the same number of gifts, but no matter how much or how little we are given He doesn’t want us to squander those gifts in idleness. A big component of the issue with the servant provided the one talent is fearfulness. Fearfulness can prevent us from achieving all that God sees for us. Fearfulness caused the servant to hide the homeowner’s talent away, lest he should lose it or it be taken away from him. In the same way, fearfulness can cause us to not use the gifts that have been entrusted to us. Whether the fear surrounds losing the gift, or not being accepted by others, or not being as good as we hoped, it’s all fear and can lead to allowing our gifts to be taken away from us because we refuse to use them.

In the story, the talents do not belong to the servants, but to the homeowner. In the same way, this story may be letting us know that the gifts that we have here are not ours, but belong to God. A day will come when we have to make an accounting for how we used those gifts, whether they be physical, mental, tangible, or intangible. What became of them, did we grow them or did we bury them?

Your Reflection

What gifts (physical, mental, tangible, or intangible) have been entrusted to you?
What fears prevent you from using those gifts?
What are you growing those gifts into?

Week 7: A Householder Hiring Workers

“For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them; Go yea also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning with the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many may be called, but few chosen.” Matthew 20:1 -16

Prior to giving this parable, Jesus says to Peter:

… “Verily, I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” Matthew 19:28-30

My Summary & Reflection

In this parable, the kingdom of heaven is compared to a man who owns house with a vineyard. He goes out early in the morning to hire day labourers to work in his vineyard. He arranges with the labourers that he will pay them one flat fee for their work for the day. They agree to the rate and go to work. A couple of hours later, he goes out and finds additional workers to work alongside those he’d hired that morning. The vineyard owner went out again a couple of hours later and hires more workers. Lastly, the owner finds and hires even more workers a couple of hours later.

At the end of the day, the workers lined up, in order from those hired last to those hired first, in order to claim their pay. The vineyard owner paid the same flat daily amount to the workers hired at the end of the day as he had promised and gave to the workers who began work first in the morning. Those who had arrived earliest began to complain. They argued that they should be paid more than the workers who had arrived later in the day. But the vineyard owner reminded the workers that he paid them exactly what they had agreed to earlier in the day. Just because he was generous and paid the later workers the same amount, should be no concern of theirs. He questioned whether they were complaining about his generosity toward others, more that their belief that they had been cheated.

Jesus provides this parable, after responding to a question from his apostle Peter. Peter asks, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” Matthew 19:27 For the early Christians, becoming a part of a new religion meant rejecting the teachings of their youth, rejecting the beliefs of their parents, their spouses, their children and the community in which they lived. Their new beliefs were considered blasphemous by those that they knew and loved. Peter’s question is what do we get for all of the hardships we’ve had to endure for this new religion Christianity?

Jesus’ answer in this parable, is that everyone will receive the eternal life that has been promised. That means for us, in our contemporary society, even though many of us were born into a Christian family, attend a Christian church, and are surrounded by others who believe as we do and who encourage us in our faith, we still receive the same eternal life promised to Peter and the apostles. It also means that those who are not born into Christian households, or who come to the faith later in in life, will still receive the same eternal life promised to Peter and the apostles and available to us all.

We tend to think of rewards as finite resources, like the money paid to the workers in the vineyard. In this parable, Jesus shows us that the kingdom of heaven is an infinite resource. Like love, it doesn’t reduce, just because someone else gets some. We don’t love our second or third child less than the first or reduce the love given to the first in order to give it to the second. The kingdom of heaven is infinite and available to all, regardless of when we come to it.

Your Reflection

Do you feel jealous of the good fortune of others?
How can you change your perspective about resources to banish those covetous desires?
How can you learn to appreciate your own good fortune, without comparisons with what someone else has?

Week 6: A Net Cast into the Sea

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.” Matthew 13:47-48

Jesus’ Explanation of this parable is:

“So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:49-50

My Summary & Reflection

In this parable, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a net used by a fisherman. In his net, the fisherman catches the fish he is searching for as well as debris and other things that he was not searching for. Similarly, in Jesus’ explanation, at the end of the world everyone and everything will be caught in the net. As the fisherman separates the good fish from the trash, so will the angels separate that which is to remain in the kingdom, from that which will be cast away into the furnace of fire.

As in the parable of Separating Tares from the Wheat, this story speaks of the separation of good from bad, the wanted from the unwanted, wheat from the tares, the fish from the trash that will occur at the end of the world. When I read this, I am reminded that imperfections on this side are just a part of life and are integrated into our lives. Like the good fish alongside the bad, the wheat alongside the tares, there are the “bad” that are intermixed with the “good” wherever we may be, whether we realize it or not. In our families, in our neighborhoods, at our jobs, at our places of worship, among our friends, everywhere where there are people gathered, there are interspersed among the good, some that are bad. With this parable, Jesus informs us that at the world’s end, a filter will be applied that allows only the good to pass into the kingdom.

Your Reflection

What can you do to separate yourself from evil deeds, evil words, and evil intentions?
What can you do to perpetuate in yourself that which is good?