Talent

For years I have puzzled over Jesus’ parable of the talents found in Matthew 25. In the parable, the master of the house is leaving on a trip. He calls his three slaves and entrusts each with a portion of his wealth. Each receives a portion based on his ability: the first receives five talents, the second two and the third only one. The first two invest their talents and double their investment while the master is gone. The third hides his talent and receives no gain. When the master returns, the first two are rewarded with the pleasure of their master; the third receives his condemnation which is to be cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and grinding of teeth. His talent is removed from him and given to the one with the most talents. First, a clarification: Talents in this context are not abilities. A talent, in scripture is a specific weight of a metal, particularly of precious metals like gold, silver and brass. The English word “talent” was translated from the Greek and eventually came to mean ability or skill as in “She has a wonderful talent for playing the violin. ”I have heard many a sermon preached on the development of talents, particularly when the church needed people to fill in positions of leadership or drudgery. It was often tied to the phrase from Jesus’ sermon on the mountain “Men do not hide their candle under a basket, do they?” The inference, not very subtle, was that, if you don’t use your talents, your gifts, for the church, then you will be condemned by Jesus. Deciding to read it again, this morning, I read past the end of the parable and ran into the famous “sheep and goats” narrative. The two passages are tied together with a “But when” which begins the sheep/goats story, which indicates that the two stories are part and parcel of one another. In this second part of the lesson, Jesus says that the righteous will, unknowingly care for Him in the person of those who are needy. The unrighteous will not care for Him in the person of the same group; they will not recognize Him in their fellow man; they will not give what they have been given. Following the logic of the two stories, then, the talent given is the ability to recognize, in our fellow human travelers, Jesus Himself and the “putting out to lending” of the King James version is nothing less than giving away what has been given us to benefit those around us. In the poor, naked, imprisoned the righteous see their Lord Himself and act toward them as they would toward Him. The unrighteous, do not give away their gift, but hide it, hoard it, keep it against the day of their master’s return. With this in mind, the parable of the talents becomes clear: We are given the ability to see our Lord in others’ needs. Responding to this, we are doing or not doing to Him in the person of the needy ones. As is often the case, though, we think only in concrete terms: money, possessions, time, actions. But Jesus usually spoke on both the literal and figurative planes at the same time. No doubt He meant to share what we have with others in the physical realm, but also to share the wealth of our knowledge and relationship with Him as well. As a side note, it is interesting that neither those who give nor those who withhold recognize Jesus in the poor. They consciously see only humankind, but treat them in very different ways. This raises the issue of even writing this essay. If our doing the “right” thing is unconscious, raising consciousness is not His aim. Perhaps He is not saying “Do this,” but “This is what you will do.” In the book of John, Jesus says, “He who believes on Me, out of his inmost being will flow rivers of living water.” (7:32) Those around us will be blessed by our very presence, for He flows from within us and we unknowingly spread Him wherever we go; a divine pollination, a spiritual sprinkler system blessing all around us. We then give without thinking, share without logic, bless without forethought. May it be so. 9/28/13