The Risk of the Talent

Matthew 25:14-30
14"For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' 21His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 22And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' 23His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 24He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' 26But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no seed? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

It had to be a group of frightened and confused disciples when Jesus was telling them this parable. He had been at the Temple in Jerusalem and severely scolded the scribes and Pharisees for abusing the powers and authority they were given and then lamenting over Jerusalem for what they were about to go through largely because of the leadership of the scribes and Pharisees. The city was to be destroyed along with all its beauty and history, all of its glorious tradition, it all would be destroyed, and the people of Jerusalem would not fair much better. The disciples were shaken up and as they were leaving they asked for clarification and that’s when Jesus told them the Temple would be completely destroyed, every stone that sat upon another would be knocked down. The symbol of that glorious city and of Jewish culture, leveled. They then went to the Mount of Olives where the disciples asked when these things were going to happen. He wouldn’t give any exact time, but I am sure that they understood that it would be soon and that they would be going through the roughest time of their lives. Jesus told them to be strong and steadfast, unwavering in their understanding that there was only ever going to be one Christ and He was with them there, but would not be there for long. He stressed that they would not know when the time would be and that they had to be ready for it.
Then came the warnings. They came indirectly, but the disciples were being warned nonetheless.
1. The Master of the house would be leaving, but he would be leaving the responsibility for feeding his household to a servant who will be blessed with much more if he is carrying out the responsibility when the master returns. If the servant is caught just hanging out, doing anything else than feeding the household, or, worse, taking advantage of his position and abusing those whom he is given charge over, he will be cut into pieces, thrown in with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
2. The kingdom of heaven will be like a group of virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive so the celebration can start. Half of them understood that it wasn’t known for sure when the bridegroom would come, that it could be soon, or not. They decided to be prepared for any delays. The other half did not. They thought they would have enough oil. They didn’t. They thought they had enough time to go get some more. They didn’t. Had they stayed anyway, would they have been let in to the wedding celebration? We can only speculate. They might be embarrassed if they were let in with darkened lamps, but they would still be in. But they decided to go, at the last moment, I imagine in a panic, to get more oil. I guess they got the oil, but it was too late, they were left out in the cold. The warning, make sure you are prepared, if you aren’t, don’t hesitate to correct the situation, the longer you wait, the greater the risk of getting left in the cold. Good intentions will not get you in the door.
3. Then the third. The master, again, has to go away and he leaves his servants in charge. Three servants blessed with varying levels of responsibility. Each servant was given an amount of responsibility equal to their ability to take care of it. This was their chance to shine. The servant who was given 5 talents invested it and turned it into 10. The servant who was given 2 talents turned into 4. The servant who was given 1 talent buried it. Jesus praised the two who grew their talents, but to the one who buried it he cast out into darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. He was called a “worthless” servant. We think, “shame on that ‘worthless’ servant.” “How irresponsible of that servant to not invest it and make that one talent grow.” “No wonder he was only given one talent!” I don’t like to think that he was intentionally being lazy and evil. Look at the other two. They invested the talents they were given charge over. I do not know how long the master was gone, but it was long enough for the talents to be doubled. Maybe these investments were sure things, guaranteed not to fail, but I doubt it. They traded to make the talents grow. Was there a chance that things could go wrong? Was it risky? Yes and yes. The “worthless” servant did not want to risk losing it. He decided its better to be safe than sorry. He was cautious. He thought that what he was given to take care of was too important to risk losing. Maybe he wasn’t confident in his abilities and his training. There are many reasons that could be made. So many justifications for burying it and keeping it safe. He gave many of them to the master. But the master didn’t accept it. He threw out the servant, well intentioned as he may have been. He was called wicked and slothful. He was called worthless. “But…but…i was afraid. I don’t understand, I didn’t lose it. What did I do wrong? Did you want me to risk it, to risk losing what you gave me to take care of? You didn’t tell me to invest it or to do anything with it. This isn’t fair, you just told me to take care of it and that is what I did.” I wonder what he thought of the other two servants when they were risking the talents? Was there some discussion? Whatever the reasons for his lack of action, it cost him everything. Why was it that the other two servants knew what the master wanted? They knew the master and that when he means take care of it, it means “do what I would do.” How did they know how to take care of it and make it grow? They watched the master, learned from him. They knew exactly what to do, because they were taught. Was there a chance that it would backfire? Could they have lost the money? I do not know. Do you think there was some fear that it wouldn’t work out? That is very likely. The social misfit/writer Ambrose Redmoon once said “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” (Make sure not to discard truth because of the source. Truth remains truth regardless of the mouth it comes from, a good thing for sinners like us trying to tell others of the love of God.) I think that they valued two things more than the fear of losing it: the praise of their master and the desire to make the master’s treasure grow. I may have hit the nail on the head or there maybe more. Whatever it was, they were not going to let fear control them. They knew that they were given a responsibility and that responsibility was not to protect what was entrusted to them but to take those talents and make them grow. Growth was the desire. If you don’t make the talents you are given charge of grow, if you just bury it and protect it, keeping it safe and secure, you will be cast out.
Now not many people will look at that story and think that it is really money that Jesus is talking about, although it could include it. Some say that it is actual talents that we have, like singing, serving, or anything, although it could include that, I doubt it is that exclusively. It could be that it is anything that we are given charge of, that we have a responsibility to “take care of it” or make it grow. In the context, though, I believe that it is speaking to those who are given charge over those possessions of the master that He values, those He purchased with His own blood. We, the blood bought, are God’s cherished possession, He created us so that we would be with Him. He desires that all of His creation be with Him forever. His Kingdom is not full of His creation because so much of it has rebelled or strayed. His concern is that as many as possible come into His Kingdom. The Master has left for an undetermined amount of time and He has seen fit to place servants in charge of His Kingdom, each servant is given a certain level of responsibility, each according to their ability. If the servant thinks that their chief concern is to protect that which has been entrusted to them, and they bury it, or put a wall around it, you risk being cast out. God’s desire is not that we stay small (in thought or in number), rather it is that we grow. As individuals he created us to have an incredible life. He created us to fly. His creation as a whole was created to exist with Him and He desires more and more of His creation to walk with Him so they, too, could have that incredible life. These two desires, to grow in spirit and grow numerically, will not be realized if leaders fearfully trying to protect the little bit they have been given charge of bury their charge in the ground. I realize that there is an amount of fear that drives this, similar to the fear expressed by the “worthless” servant who said, “'Master, I knew you to be a hard man . . . so I was afraid.” I wonder if this was said in an effort to impress or show respect for the master. For what ever reason, it didn’t work and the servant got to find out just how hard of a man the master was. The servant’s fear of the master ruled him and caused him to manage wrongly the talents. That fear of the master was the very thing that brought about the wrath of the master.
In the Kingdom of God, the servants are the pastor-teachers, the shepherds, those who are blessed with the responsibility of managing the flock while the Master is away. The talents are the people of the Kingdom. If the servants help the talents to grow, he will be greatly blessed. If the servant buries the talents, he will be cast out into darkness. If you teach people about the freedom that is in Christ, about true grace, if you teach them that they can fly, sure there is a risk involved because you don’t know where they will fly to, if they will be safe or not, but you will have done your part. Once they are taught to fly, it is up to them what to do from there. They will be like the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegrooms to return, half will make it and half will not, but it will be solely their responsibility, not of those who trained them. Parents will not be held responsible for wrong decisions of their children once their children have grown up, unless the children have not been adequately trained and informed about life outside. The parents will be responsible if their children have been misinformed of not only the dangers outside, but of what wonderful things the children will be capable of experiencing and doing once they are grown. How often have children been taught only how to survive in this world instead of how to thrive in it? How often has it been passed on from generation to generation? How sad it is. The same thing is true for the shepherds of the flock. Those pastor-teachers are to be preparing the church for the abundant and full life that God desires and requires of His people. Preparing them and training them rightly involves giving them the whole truth about life and freedom in Christ. They are to do this knowing that there are dangers out there in the world and you don’t know for sure what will become of them after you train and inform the children of God. For the shepherds in the Kingdom, they have to realize that the sheep are not theirs, they do not own the flock, they have simply been given the great responsibility of taking care of the flock. The Master has desires for the flock, that they are stronger, healthier, and that there are more of them when He returns. When He comes and sees that the few He left the shepherd with are still there, but it is only the few that the shepherd was left with and they are still in the same condition as before, the Master will not be happy with the shepherd. God wants His shepherds to treat the flock like He did while here. The servants are to manage what the Master owns and have given the servants charge of in the way the Master would. This is His choice to make, His desire to be fulfilled by those He saw fit to place in charge. He knows the risk. He has faith in His flock and faith that they will be guided rightly by those He placed in charge. This is a big responsibility, and one that should not be taken lightly. It is understandable that there be a lot of fear, it is, after all, the eternal souls that we are dealing with. There is, though, a gift that has been given the servants, the Holy Spirit – God Himself, dwelling within us and enabling those He has called to carry out the awesome responsibility of being His servant. Richard Parker rightly said, “God doesn't call people who are qualified. He calls people who are willing, and then He qualifies them.” Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who is working in you, [enabling you] both to will and to act for His good purpose.” (HCSB) He has given those who are called the will and desire to carry out His objectives, more than that He has given those who are called the ability. He makes them able to be good servants and good shepherds. He will guide, if He is allowed. He just needs His servants to courageous with their charge, who see the growth of the Kingdom and the praise of the Master as being more important than the fear of failing.

May i grow to be such a servant and may i be led by faithful servants until that time comes.
raymond, a child of the King