Matthew 25: 14-30 Invest in What Matters

It makes sense for us to see something of ourselves in the actions of each character in this story. Doing so allows us some honest self-assessment, and leaves ultimate judgment in the hands of God.

[Jesus said:] "For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 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.' 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.' 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.' 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.'

"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; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' 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? 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. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 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. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

Once more this week, we prayerfully wonder together: Who are you, God? The kingdom of heaven is like a man who entrusts all his possessions to his servants. L. Susan Bond notes, "The word used for 'possessions' here in the Greek (hyparxonta) includes not only material goods but one's entire substance and life." So already we begin to see this story is about God and God’s intention for us: live our lives to the fullest! We receive all we have from divine love that exists within us, and are asked to think about what we do with it- cultivating and nurturing our spirits in a world that so desperately needs us to be centered and alive.

Let’s look at how the servants respond to the gifts they are given. Each receives an enormous amount of their Master’s money. How much? ONE talent is equal to the wages of a day laborer for 15 years! So 10, 5 or even 1 talent is a weighty amount to be responsible for! It seems the first two knew exactly what to do- they invested it, they put it to use, they made something of it. The third servant, however, hid it away. He let the resource become stagnant and unused.

So let me ask you, in this parable today, is it saving or investing that becomes the virtue of a trustworthy servant? Investing, right? The way we use the resources at our disposal is a reflection of how we think about God. There's something unique about the third servant in this parable. He began justifying hiding the money by blaming his Master's personality. He says, "I knew that you were a harsh man." The other two servants said nothing at all like this. How we think about God affects how generous we become. If I believe that God is harsh and exacting and cautious- then I might, like the third servant, be harsh and exacting and cautious with the resources God has given me. But if I believe that God is wise and trusting and generous, then I might too become wise and trusting and generous with my resources. I might also be willing to take risks.

The first two servants saw their Master as someone who invited risk for the sake of a fuller life. They would not have invested that much money without faith that no matter what happened, their efforts would be accepted. You know as well as I do, that investing in something is a risk-taking venture. Being generous—with our time, our finances, ourselves—can be risky. We don’t always know the outcome. We don’t have the assurance of what’s to come before we take the leap of faith.

But we take that leap anyway- hoping and trusting and believing that generosity is worth it. Of all weeks, I’m reminded deeply that life is unpredictable. We can take no breath for granted. And Jesus, who lived a full life for a mere 33 years on earth, calls us to double-down on what actually matters- like faith, family, and community. Expanding love as best we are able.

John A. Shedd, 20th century "A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.". Generosity requires an investment of faith, risk and all. This is the difference between saving our faith and investing in faith. One will get us nowhere fast, and the other will bring us into a generous--even if unknown-- future.

You know there’s risk, right? We might give our heart to another, only to be denied love. We might pour countless hours and energy into a program only to watch it die for lack of interest. We might give financial gifts to an organization only to hear of embezzlement and fraud. We might lend public support to people who are marginalized only to be marginalized by our friends. One of the riskiest parts of our investment into God’s Kingdom is this- we may not see the fruits of our labor in this lifetime.

So what do we do? We invest anyway, trusting that Jesus will be true to his word. “Well done, good and faithful servants, enter into the joy of your Master.”  There’s one final promise in this story I'd like to share: living generously is a gift to God and to others, of course, but it’s also a gift to ourselves. The more loosely my heart holds onto my material possessions, the more risk I accept in generosity, the more freedom of spirit I have. It’s the life-giving power of letting go of control, trusting that God is at work in the release.

Erma Bombeck, author of a humorous newspaper column for over three decades said, "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me." May we all enter into the joy of our Master as we learn to invest our whole selves in generosity and faith!