I have always been fascinated by the character of Jesus as portrayed by the gospels. Especially the stories that he chose to tell! I think each of them deserve a book.They are cute, clever, deep and memorable all wrapped up in one. Although the parable of the talents is among the few common ones, I still think its given a raw deal. Whenever the story is dredged up, often the emphasis is put on the fact that this guy did not make use of his talent and the admonition is that we should do better, like the other two servants in the story did. But in reading the story, I always felt like there was more to it because how does a servant just make all these accusations to the master out of nowhere? That made me suspect there was more to this story than meets the eye.I think you will find this refreshing.
Reference - Matthew 25:14-30
My interest is drawn to the the servant with the one talent,odd one out, and his relationship with the master. Reason being the story does not come with much of a backstory for the characters but the requisite information is provided to be able to make informed decisions and learn the appropriate lessons. These are some of the questions I ask when I read the story:
1. Why did the 3rd servant chose course of action and feel justified?
2. How do I ensure I am not the one who buries the investment received
3. What does this investment look like? Starting with the first, contrary to popular belief,the one talent guy is not rejected because he was lazy or evil, his problem was what he believed about his master. A closer look at his response gives us a clear picture his state of mind.
‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man,'Sir, I knew that you are a hard person to please.
You harvest where you haven't planted and gather where you haven't scattered any seeds.
I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’’
Mt 25:24-25
a. He saw the master as hard to please He uses the words, 'harsh man/hard to please/hard man,' to describe his master. For some reason, most probably because of what he had heard, he was convinced that the master was hard to please. This implies that from where he was standing, he felt it was impossible to win.There is something in the psyche of a person, especially men, where if they do not see how they can win, the won't even try. So this servant's perception of his master created that obstacle for him and so he did not even try to impress. Later on in the story, it becomes abundantly clear that his perception was false because it turns out even the banks were an option and it would have been easier to bank the money than to dig the ground and hide it for a long time.
'why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank?
At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
Mt 25:26-27
Looking at the context of church culture, this is so commonplace that it is surprising. The picture has been painted of a heavenly father who is almost impossible to please. Zero tolerance to mistakes, also called sin. This has the effect that it makes many who find themselves scrutinizing every action, every thought, every word against the perception of holiness that has been painted by the religious elite. They often feel it is impossible to win and therefore why try. This has led so many to stay away from the 'church'.
The truth however is very different. The Father is "slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" (Ps 103:8) and "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end" (Lam 3:22-23)
b. He saw the master as selfish
This is another one of his audacious claims. He saw the master as selfish and as exploitative, he only uses people for his own gain while he himself is not pitching in. Now as the audience to this story, we know this is simply not true. Yet it is easy to adopt this posture in life. When we lose a posture of gratitude for what we do not have and constantly complain about what is not working, we easily adopt the complaining and toxic attitude where we feel we are being exploited by an omnipotent God who sits in heaven twiddling his thumbs instead of helping us carry the load. We all have taken this stance at one point or the other. The antidote is gratitude. We have to create a culture of gratitude. It helps to every so often take a break and count our blessings because that helps us be more grateful. Remember, this servant had been given an investment that he did not deserve and it matched his capacity. It was more than fair a deal.(Mt 20:15)
c. He saw the master as scary
Fear is a motivator but a bad one. Most environments where people get things done because of fear experience temporary success but usually very little room for innovation.
We learn more from mistakes than we learn in success is a common adage that contains a lot of truth.
Any environment that does not allow for mistakes, is stifling and very soon becomes unbearable. . Religion creates this picture of God to us. So that when we think about God we see a being that entertains zero room for error. You make a wrong move you pay with your life. This cannot be further from the truth. There are numerous stories in the bible that show a God who is patient with our mistakes, forgiving a multitude of sins and going on to even make something beautiful out of the mistakes of his chosen people. The Bible does not shy away from showing us the flaws of the patriarchs because God has chosen not to impute our sin on us but has provided a lamb to the punishment of our sin (past, present and future).The the father is not scrutinizing us to see where we are falling short, but he scrutinized the perfect lamb on our behalf and dealt with that. Right now, the father is on our side, working in us to bring us to the place where we desire and do what pleases him
(Ps 32:2, Rom 4:8). His yoke is easy and his burden is light!
But so many Christians are leading fruitless lives because they are paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake and losing their redemption. It turns out that maybe the foolish servant is not far out there in the land of stupid but he may be much closer to home or even sitting in your seat right now. How do you see the father? Is he an impossible to please master, scrutinizing your every move looking for mistakes, no prayers are good enough. Do you see him as a master who demands more than you have, tithes, offerings, time,taking care of the sick and poor, all the rules and does not even lift a finger to help?
Our productivity in life is connected to our perspective of the father.
"No one can please God without faith. Whoever goes to God must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him." (Heb 11:6)
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