Talents to Be Multiplied – Matthew 25

A text – Matthew 25:14-30

25:14 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them;
25:15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
25:16 The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents.
25:17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents.
25:18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
25:19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
25:20 Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’
25:21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
25:22 And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’
25:23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
25:24 Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed;
25:25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’
25:26 But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter?
25:27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.
25:28 So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents.
25:29 For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.
25:30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”

A reflection:

Many commentaries on this parable equate the “talents” with something other than money.

A talent was a lot of money – 20 years’ wages for the average person. So let’s say, just for the heck of it, a million dollars. One slave gets $5 million, the next gets $2 million, and the last gets $1 million. They get to live with all that abundance for a long time, an indefinite period, finding ways to multiply the money for the master’s return.

But now, let’s say the “talents” the slaves were given weren’t monetary talents. Suppose they were actual talents or spiritual gifts or practical abilities. Since this parable is written in the section of Matthew where Jesus is preparing his disciples for his leaving them, suppose these “talents” were the habits and practices Jesus had been instilling into the disciples for almost three years. When Jesus was gone from them, how would the disciples use (or bury) their gifts of healing, of providing for the poor, of spiritual practices, of prayer and reliance on God in order to multiply the community of believers?

And what about us? Have you been given five talents? Or two? Or even one? How are you and I using the gifts we have been given to enrich the kingdom of God on earth while we wait for the Lord to return? What will be in the ledger next to our name? What gift that you have received from God is getting used, day after day, to multiply joy and trust and safety and goodness, a gift that others see you use and perhaps imitate your actions so that joy and trust and safety and goodness get multiplied over and over again?

Looking at this parable in that way makes me want to share my gifts more widely on my daily walk through the world.  Even the gift of your smile can multiply joy. The gift of a kind word to a child can make an afternoon better. The gift of music or art or a phone call all contribute to the work of co-creating with God a trustworthy world. How shall we use our abundant gifts today?

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving us gifts to be used in the service of others, to co-create with you a trustworthy world. Help us to see opportunities and then jump in to use these talents you have given us instead of burying them.   Amen.