Matthew 25:19-30 (NIV) “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “’Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
As he had promised, the master in this parable does return after a long absence. But he does not return and immediately shower gifts on all of his servants. His first action is to settle accounts with them, to receive an accounting of how they have used the riches which he left with them. The rewards that they receive will be based on how they have fulfilled their potential.
The first two servants, who received five talents and two talents respectively, each come confidently into the master’s presence. They do not fear the settling of accounts, because each of them has been diligently about the master’s business, and have a significant return on what he left with them. And each in turn receives a hearty, “well done, good and faithful servant,” an invitation to share in the master’s happiness, and an expanded role in the master’s business.
The one-talent servant, though, is nervous. Even though he has dug up the talent from where he had buried it, and found that it was all still there intact (though soiled), he has watched the other servants be lavishly praised for the increase they have garnered, and he has no increase to show. When it is his turn to give an account, he immediately goes on the offense: he did not invest the resources of the master, has not put them to work at all, but it is the master’s own fault. His standards are too high; his expectations are unreasonable; his judgment on those who fail him is too draconian. So the servant, terrified of what would happen if he failed, hid away the talent just so he would not risk losing any of it and disappointing the master.
These arguments might sound reasonable to an outsider listening in, but they are flawed from their very basis. To begin with, this servant has entirely mischaracterized the master. The master is not a tyrant, but one whom the other servants love, and who was willing to entrust his riches to his servants in his absence. He does not harvest where he has not sown, but sows everywhere so that both he and his servants can always have an abundant harvest. The other error in this argument is that these riches were left with the servants not as a test to see if someone would fail, but as a trust, with the sincere hope that all would succeed. And each was only entrusted with an amount commensurate with his own abilities, so that their chances of success were great, if they would only do the work.
The master’s judgment in this situation was exactly right. The problem lay not with the master, but with the servant, whose wicked heart and lazy spirit talked him out of even trying to increase the master’s riches. His punishment was exactly what he deserved: to lose the riches with which he had been entrusted, and to be cast out of the master’s presence into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Again, Jesus’ meaning is clear. The people of the kingdom have been left with the riches of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ absence, not for their own benefit or pleasure, but as a sacred trust, so that they will use those riches to grow and expand God’s kingdom. And when Jesus returns, there will be an accounting of how each person has used and expanded the riches of the kingdom. Some are diligent in growing the kingdom, constantly about the work of the Master, and will joyfully present the fruits of their labors to Jesus when He returns, and will receive His blessings. Others, though, whether through laziness or fear, believe that merely holding onto what they have received will be enough for them to receive Jesus’ blessing and an invitation to eternal life. They will be sadly and tragically disappointed.
Father, to some this may seem harsh. But in this parable, and in several more with the same theme, Jesus is clearly telling us, His followers, what is expected of us, as well as what reward awaits those who obey, and what penalties await the disobedient. So on the day of judgment, all will be without excuse. Lord, help me to live today to grow Your kingdom. Help me to clearly see the opportunities around me, those places where the fields are white for harvest, and set a fire in my heart that can only be quenched as I invest myself and Your riches in expanding Your kingdom. Amen.