According to Matthew 25:14-30 [NLTse]
14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.15 He gave five bags of silver[b] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.
16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more.18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’
21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together![c]’
22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’
23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’
26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The owner had divided his wealth amongst his slaves to manage for him while he was away. A talent was a coin used in Old and New Testament times. The New Nave’s Topical Bible says that someone with five talents would have been considered a multimillionaire in their day. Two of the slaves invested and managed well what had been entrusted to them, but the third did not. He accused the owner of being hard and seeking to benefit from the work of others without having to work himself. The slave was afraid of making a mistake and losing his master’s money so he hid the money in a safe place and gave the full, original amount back to his master when the master returned. In v. 26 the master replies “you know I’m someone who harvests crops I didn’t plant and gathers crops I didn’t cultivate.” So the master acknowledges that he does indeed seek to benefit from the work of others, and yet the owner calls the third slave “wicked” and “lazy”, saying that he at least could have put the money in a bank to receive a little interest. And then the master punished him.
What is Jesus seeking to teach us here?
The context of the parable comes in the midst of several other teachings of Jesus. He preaches “seven woes” against the religious leaders of His day in Chapter 23 contrasting the scribes’ and Pharisees’ attitudes and behaviors with that which Jesus is calling His followers to; He describes End Times events in the beginning of Chapter 24; at the end of 24 He makes absolutely clear that no one would be able to predict or even anticipate His return, so that Christians should always be “ready”; and the Ten Virgins parable at the beginning of Chapter 25 illustrates that: Always being ready. Then He shares this Talents’ parable. And Chapter 25 ends with the parable-picture of Judgment Day and the rewards and punishments given according to believers’ deeds. So Jesus is focusing His followers on the End Times in these passages, clearly wanting those who love Him to get His message: “Be ready;” “be about My Father’s business,” “keep actively using the gifts I’ve given you to win people to faith until I return,” “there will be distractions;” “there will be rewards;” “be ready!”
So with the end of all things and His imminent return in mind, what is Jesus saying to us today? Let’s look back at the parable.
In the giving out of the talents Jesus seems to be referring to Himself as He gets ready to go away – going to the cross and then ascending into Heaven. He is giving all that He has – the riches of Heaven, our inheritance, the power of God available to us for the work of sharing the gospel and spreading Jesus’ Kingdom. So the “talents” He distributes are God’s spiritual gifts and graces given to His servants – believers – but the talents may also include our natural and learned abilities, the money and possessions we have and gain, our personal influence, including the influence we have through the influence of others we influence.
In the parable we see two Christians of differing abilities using all they have and all they are to grow Jesus’ Kingdom, and we see them rewarded because they worked with what they were given. Notice that although the one was given more and so produced more that the two were rewarded the same, that is, the master said to both: “‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’”
So the rewards Jesus has for us are not based upon how gifted we are (that might affect what we’re able to do for the Lord). No, our rewards will be based on our faithfulness: Did we use the gifts and talents and abilities we’ve been given for the Lord or not? And we see a third so-called Christian who, for some reason looked upon Jesus as harsh and scary, and upon God as unfairly working through people and benefiting from our work. His refusal to put his gifts and talents and abilities to work for the Lord seemed to show that his faith was not true (whether he called himself a Christian or not) and we see him cast out from the Lord into the picture Jesus often gives of Hell: Outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Maybe the third Christian was jealous of those around him or her that were more gifted or wealthy or famous than they. Perhaps that Christian represents believers who feel judged and belittled and worthless as they compare themselves with other Christians around them? Regardless of why, Jesus makes clear in v. 15 that the master gave to each one “according to their abilities”, so we know that regardless of the slave’s feelings, and regardless of our own feelings, that the Holy Spirit divvies out gifts and abilities and wealth and influence according to who we are and what we’re capable of.
The Lord calls us to trust Him, and that includes trusting Him in what we have and have been given as well as with what we don’t have and have not been given, He has equipped each of us differently and set us in different homes and communities and schools and workplaces so that we would do good for God and do good for those around us in whatever great or small ways we can. And like a parent who sees their children not living up to their potential, God clearly gets mad at us when we think less of ourselves than He’s revealed to us we are and so produce less for Him and for others than He’s set us in the world to do.
So how does all this hit you? Jesus is telling us that He is coming back when we least expect it. The signs of the End Times have been fulfilled almost since Jesus first ascended and went on His “journey” to the Father. Even so, we’ve been able to see other fulfillments, even recently. He could come at any moment: No warning; no way to expect it. Are we ready? Are you using the gifts and talents and abilities God has entrusted to you to love God and those around you and to help those around you come to trust in Christ?
We don’t have time to get ourselves into the spiritual condition we believe we should be in first, or to get our families in the spiritual condition we believe they should be in first, or whatever other excuses we might be giving for our delay. Jesus is clearly calling us to invest ourselves now, today! Are you loving others and drawing them to Christ? Are you serving and helping and blessing others and drawing them to Christ?
Of course, Jesus makes clear that we dare not judge ourselves unfit or unworthy either. We don’t fit ourselves for ministry nor are we worthy because of anything we have done, so if we judge ourselves unfit or unworthy in reality we are condemning God and telling Him that His work on the cross, His gifts to us of His Spirit, and His overall work on us altogether is just not good enough! Don’t believe it. Don’t believe it about yourself. Don’t believe it about Him.
This Thanksgiving thank God our Father the way He wants you to thank Him: Invest yourself in a Sunday School class or Bible Study to grow in Him (and start a Study yourself if He’s given you an abundance of gifts and talents); and invest yourself in a ministry (though again, plug into several if He’s given you an abundance).
?
He’s not looking at how we used to be invested and all that we did with and for Him “in the day”. He’s looking at us now. On our dying day, or when He returns, don’t we all want to see Him approaching with His arms wide and a great big ear-to-ear grin saying, Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling these relatively small things. Now I will give you so much more. Let’s celebrate together!”