Burying the Gift Part 2
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. [15] To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. [16] He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. [17] So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. [18] But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. [19] Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. [20] And 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.’ [21] His 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.’ [22] And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ [23] His 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.’ [24] He 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, [25] so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ [26] But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? [27] Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. [28] So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. [29] For 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. [30] And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The ways that this parable can be misunderstood are great. In fact, I looked down at the page this week when I was reading this story and said out loud, “Give me a break”.
Christian, if you ever pick up your Bible and leave confused or realising that you need a lot more time and help to sort through what seems like a very few words…you are not alone.
So let’s clear all the junk out of our minds so that we can think fresh. This is not actually a parable about money even though there is a whole lot of cash involved. This is also not a parable about giving to the church. This is not a story about, “you better serve correctly or else”. This is not a lesson about Jesus judging the results of our faith.
There are other ways that people misunderstand this passage and I am certain that there are many pastors misusing this passage to strengthen the bank account and guilt some “faithfulness” from their people.
Let’s start with a true statement. God gifts you faith and he produces in you the fruit (or results) of that faith. The faith is gift. The results of that faith are gift. Good? Good. Now this parable is not asking the question of what you can produce with your faith. It is also not giving you an untrustworthy side-eye and telling you that you have not produced enough with the faith that you have been given.
So a master goes on a journey. In this case, the master is Jesus and he goes away for a while. As he goes he trusts others to take care of what he gives to them. What does he give to them. “Talents”. No this does not mean that these three people would have done great on SA’s Got Talent. This is not the kind of talent we are talking about. It is actually a heavy weight of precious metal. So that we do not have to do a lot of math let us just say that Jesus is giving each of these people a whole lot of money. If you want to take out talent and say big bag of gold. That would be just fine.
So the master gives five big bags of gold one servant. Two bags to another. And one bag to the third. The first strange and perhaps stress-causing part of this passage is that the master gave to each according to their ability. The master gives what he knows someone can handle. He does not give in such a way that someone should fail.
Then the Master goes away. The idea is that he is going to return because it is just a journey. Now notice that the Master does does not say, “double my money”. He does not say what to do except leave them with the idea that they are to do business in the name of their master.
So the first servant goes out and invests and works with the money. The second does the same. And the third buries it in the ground. After a long time the Master came back. In this parable the return of the Master is the return on Jesus on that day of judgement.
The first servant doubles the masters gift. And let’s make that clear. The servant did not earn five bags of gold, it was trusted to him. It was gifted to him to work with. There is a hint when he hands it back even that he is surprised that it doubled. This is the first of many little hints that should lead us to think that it was the quality of the gift that was given which made it double. Not the victorious hard work of the servant.
The second does the same with the same kind of surprise related to the doubling of the already huge amount of money. And again we begin to think that there was something about the “talent“ which was given that made it double.
What does Jesus say to both of these men. “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.”
Now we have to pay close attention to the language. Who made all things and called them good? God. Who alone is good according to Jesus? God. This use of the word “good“ is the same in all three passages. This servant is not good because of the work he has done. He is good because of who he belongs to. And what about faithful? The fancy greek word used is Pistos. This is the word we use when talking about saving faith. Once again the servant is not faithful because of the work he has done but because of the master who he trusts in and knew had given him what he needed.
These first two servants show to us faith-in-action. A living, moving, and breathing faith that comes from Jesus.
And what about entering his joy? Joy is closely related to the word Grace. So this joy is not a dumb-faced happiness. This is a joy that a Christian should have based on the full knowledge and understanding that everything they possess is our of God’s graciousness. Brother/Sister in Christ, this is the joy you have now and will have forever in the Master’s presence.
And what about the third servant?
He buried it. Once again, this is not about money management. Back then burying your money was the safest thing to do with it (if you remembered where the hole was). This servant was gifted goodness and faithfulness and what did he do with it. He buried it. He did not even sit around and consider the wealth given by his master. He put it in the ground like a dead body just in case the master came back.
And what does Jesus call this guy? Wicked and useless. Not good. Not what you want to hear from the lips of Jesus.
Was the Master mad that this guy did not make any money? No. God can do math really well. He created the whole universe. However when it comes to salvation, God does not use math. You can be thankful for that. Jesus is not a bookkeeper marking up all or debits and credits. There is evidence for this in the text. He takes the cash from the useless servant and what does he do with it? Does he try to make the world a more equal place and give more to the second servant who does not have a much as the first servant? No.
He gives more to the guy who is already loaded. Why? For absolutely no good reason other that Jesus is in the business of blessing not matter what. There is no counting with him. There is not reasoning with the grace of God. Jesus bleed and died for you. God himself, for you. That math does not add up. You and I do not seem worth it. But God thought us completely worthwhile.
So the first two servants understand this and they take hold of what they are given with two hands and recklessly put out what has been given to them.
The third guy take that faith given to him and buries it. He does not value it. He does not think that God’s gift to him is worth anything.
And what does Jesus say happens to him? Hell. That is a heavy price to pay for thinking that you do not need the good gifts being given to you by your good God.
Robert Farrar Capon, one of my favourite theologians talks about this passage in this way…
The only reason that judgment comes into it at all is the sad fact that there will always be dummies who refuse to trust a good thing when it's handed to them on a platter. That is indeed a grim prospect. And it is grim because, cause, if we have any knowledge of our own intractable stupidity, we know that those dummies could just as well be ourselves. But for all that, it is still about joy rather than fear. The final balance it strikes is the balance of Advent once again: without shame or fear we rejoice to behold his appearing because we have decided to believe him when he says he wills us nothing but the best.
If you think that Jesus cares about the bookkeeping you are inevitably walking down the wrong path. You are walking down the path of law which says you can do it on your own. You are walking down the path of unfaith. You are walking away from your master. You are taking the gift given and choosing to flush it down the loo.
Let God the Holy Spirit continue to grow you in the faith. Let God produce in and through you the good fruit and “double” what he has already given to you. If you are resting in and relying upon Jesus only. If you place your fear, love, trust, and hopes in Him and his return, you will hear from his lips those beautiful words, “Well done, Good and Faithful servant, enter my joy“.