May the words of
my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O God, my rock
and my redeemer. Amen.
Jesus
teaches us that faithful Christian discipleship expresses itself through active
and ready engagement. Let’s see how he gives us that lesson through the parable
of the Ten Talents.
A
man who is going away on a journey leaves his servants with a certain amount of
money, each according to his ability. To
the first he gave 5 talents, to the second, 2 talents and to the third servant,
1 talent." The servants are
entrusted with something special, and they each need to decide what to do with
what they have been given.
The
first servant takes his talent, his portion, or his gift, and invests it; and
through smart management, sees the talent start to grow. In fact, he is able to double the master’s
original amount. The second servant does the same thing. He takes his two talents and is able to
double what he has been given. Now the interesting thing about both of these
servants, is that they were able to take what the master had given them, and
they were able to recognize that what they had been given by the master was
meant to be used. Only in that conscious
decision to risk using what they had been entrusted with, were they able to
multiply that gift. For both of these servants, it was a leap of faith, to risk
perhaps losing the money, or if we are talking about a real talent, or
spiritual gift, to risk making some mistakes.
But they did it, and because of that ability to take real chances, to
step out in faith, they were able to do mighty things and to give a wonderful
report to the master when he returned.
The
third servant, however, wasn’t able to take the same risk. He took his portion of the money, and he
buried it in the ground. On some level,
one could say that maybe he was protecting the master’s money. Maybe he was keeping it safe. But this servant wasn’t able to take that
leap of faith to try to use what he had been given. He was afraid of being
punished.
Sometimes
we find ourselves in similar situations – where we are given opportunities to
use our talents, our time, our energy, our spiritual gifts – we see an
opportunity, but are afraid that we might mess up, or we might use them in the
wrong way. We might see a chance to do something special, something that we
know we have the ability to do, and we have the resources, but we lack the
courage to step out in faith and use what God has given us.
If
we are like the third servant, and we see God as an angry harsh God, waiting to
hit us over the head with a lightning bolt when we mess up, then there is no
way we can risk anything – there’s no way we will ever be able to step out in
faith to use what God has given us. If we are afraid of consequences, if we are
motivated by fear, then we’ll never be able to do great things, and our gifts
will never grow. But can we truly think of God as a bully? Would God punish us
if we don’t use our gifts to our fullest extent?
I
don’t think that’s the case at all. But sometimes we get in our head, we
struggle to cast aside our fear and feel fully blessed. Sometimes we feel God’s
distance. There are even times God may feel like the enemy. We enjoy times of
intimacy as grace-filled moments. But we fail to realize that even in times of
distance and estrangement God offers us God’s life. God demands much from us.
But God gave everything in return, the very life of God’s only Son. We serve a
God who has blessed us with gifts beyond our wildest imagination and the only
risk involved is in not using those gifts at all.
Over
and over, Jesus emphasizes that faithful Christian discipleship expresses
itself through active and ready engagement. As disciples of Christ, we possess
an influence that makes us capable of ensuring the well-being of the meek, the
merciful, the peacemakers, and those who long to experience the refreshment of
a full dose of righteousness.
The
parable of the talents – whether money or actual talents – tells us that the
stakes are high and our involvement is essential. It’s up to each of us to
recognize the specific occasions we have to shape communities in accordance
with the good news. The parable urges us to regard our work and the witness of
the whole church as nothing less than rising to the moment when
good-news-centered leadership is absolutely needed. All of this is hard work,
especially when we are tired, burdened, and lonely. Fortunately, none of us
labors alone. None of us influences others all on our own.
It
is our talent to announce and embody a society brought together in Jesus
Christ. It is our talent to hold leaders accountable for just policies and to
advocate for those who have been silenced. It is our talent to fight for
doctors, nurses, and teachers who are struggling in broken healthcare and
educational systems and are on the edge of burn-out. It is our talent to stand
up for those who can’t stand up for themselves, speak for those who have lost
their voice. When we act out of fear, we hide away and are reluctant to risk
anything. Following Christ, doing Kingdom work, takes some risk. It means
taking some chances and not hiding away the gifts we have.
As
disciples of Christ, knowing that God’s faith, trust, and love for us will
never waver whether or not we use our talents, knowing that all we have to do
is take that first step, that the only risk is to sit idly by and do nothing …what
have you got to lose?
Amen.
