Today we read the parable of The Thee Servants. Some translations of the Bible may refer to this as the parable of The Talents. That can be a bit misleading as the word talent connotes something to do skills and abilities. In Jesus’ time the word translated talent was a unit of measure of money; roughly the amount a laborer could earn in fifteen years. Understanding that changes the meaning of this parable for me. The three servants are not being judged by their master for how they used their particular abilities to care for his property. What then is the master expecting when he returns?
If we stand back and look at the whole of Matthew’s Gospel that we have read so far, we can see continuity in Jesus’ invitation to come and live under the reign of God. Specifically, for me, I am again hearing echoes of the Sermon on the Mount: “But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.” Matthew 7:26
I hear Jesus saying that ultimately the only important thing in life is how I perceive God. If I perceive God as generous, gracious, loving and faithful I will then embrace the Gospel as truly Good News and joyfully enter into the Kingdom of God. If, however, I have believed God is an evil task master, tough and uncaring, then my destiny will be to live out my life in fear.
The editor of the New York Times wrote an article recently that reveals how the servant with one talent thinks in today’s culture. He noted that of the Republican presidential candidates, one is a Mormon, two are evangelical Christians and one is a conservative Catholic. He wrote that this “raises concerns about their respect for the separation of church and state, not to mention separation of fact and fiction.” (Emphasis mine) (Bill Keller in the New York Times Magazine, August 28, 2011) Mr. Keller has a very dim view of people who believe human life is more than billions of years of evolution and survival of the fittest.
Jesus is saying I get to choose my future. He has also been saying that if I choose to live under the reign of God, my mission is to live my life in such a way that Mr. Keller and all the others for whom the love of God is still a stranger will find in me a generous friend.
What does today’s reading reveal to you
about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do
or remember about this passage.
Does God want you to change anything in your life?
17-Sep-11 Matthew 25:31-26:5
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