Today’s scripture: Matthew 25:14–30 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Keith Phillips):
Let’s start off by making it clear that, no matter what your Sunday school teachers said or what your pastors preached, this parable was not, to those to whom Jesus was speaking in the first century, about skills and aptitudes and losing them if you don’t use them. “Talent” back then meant only one thing: cold, hard cash; and in this case lots of it. Jesus’ listeners would have been awed that the master gave five talents to the first slave, the equivalent of a common laborer’s wages for 30,000 days, or at minimum wage today of about $1.5 million.
What else in this parable would have awed Jesus’ listeners? Probably not that the slave who’d been entrusted with $1,500,000 doubled the money, or even that the slave who’d been entrusted with $600,000 doubled his money. After all, they were given that much because of their abilities, and the parable states that “right off, [they] went to work and doubled [their] master’s investment” (v. 16, The Message). It takes money to make money, and they had plenty of it to make more with! I do like the way The Message paraphrases the master’s praise of these two: “Good work! You did well. From now on be my partner[s]” (v. 21), which I hope would include freedom.
One other thing that would have made Jesus’ listeners sit up and take notice was the master’s comment to the slave who buried his $300,000 in the ground. (It must have been a very big hole!) “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest” (vv. 26, 27).
We think nothing of it, but first century listeners knew that loaning money to gain interest is usury and forbidden by the Mosaic Law. The master was saying that doing something that broke the law was better than doing nothing! The master demanded that his slaves take the risk to do the hard thing. “Since it costs a lot to win and even more to lose…” (Deal by Robert Hunter).
Which brings us to the way in which the master was seen by the third slave. The money-burier perceived the master as harsh and unfair and therefore to be feared. How the third slave perceived the master is how he related to the master, to his own detriment. Because he was afraid, he would not take the risk to do the hard thing.
Perception is everything! I’ve noticed again in my life how God is so easily put in a box. They say, “Since God is love, God must…” Or, “Since God is just, God cannot…” I personally believe that’s dangerous. God is sovereign and so much more than I can know or understand, and God’s love is beyond my comprehension. Although the Easter resurrection provides vindication, I do not get how Jesus’ cruel crucifixion on Good Friday equals unconditional love. And what does it mean that God the Son died? But, I’m not about to say what God can and cannot do. As far as I’m concerned, God can do whatever God wants to do, even without explanations to me. My task, like the master’s slaves, is to trust God and take the risk to do whatever hard thing God asks of me, just like Jesus did.
Thought for the day: I heard on NPR about a new book is entitled, Living with a Wild God. I love that! A god who is predictable is a god whom I control and not God at all.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.