Parable of the Talents

Jobs—Whom do we really work for? We are all working for God. God wants us to learn and learning is fun. The jobs God wants us to do include, learning, praying, singing and loving one another. Today in Matthew we hear the parable of the talents. Matthew 25:14-30 to be exact. It is the third slave that really stands out in this parable. Rather than replying as the other two did with this what you gave me and this is what I did—identifying God through action, the third slave gives his prepared answer to what God is. “I knew you were a harsh man” With this statement the slave blames his master, he is saying it is your fault. He goes on, “I was afraid, you reap where you don’t sow.” If the master had not returned the first two slaves would have had nothing for themselves, because they invested the talent, whereas, the third slave would have kept his talent because he buried it and it was his to keep. Perhaps the third slave responded as he did because his master returned and ruined his scheme. The Rabbinical rule of the day was that a trust of money was to be buried to keep it safe. The third slave represents the Priestly traditions that Jesus argued against. The argument becomes for us then “do we identify God by His actions or by what we believe Him to be? We put labels on God, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient should we be thinking of God in these terms or in terms of what he is doing? He loves us, cares for us, is present with us, and knows us. The slave made a judgmental statement concerning his master. The first two made a \statements of action, you gave me talents and here are more. Is God a reaper? In the parable of the sower much earlier in Matthew’s Gospel it is clear that God sows everywhere with no direct method, He takes off and scatters seed everywhere, on the road, the high rocky ground, among the weeds, and then among the fields. Mark 4:1-20 Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. 2He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3‘listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 7Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ 9And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ God is a God of abundance. There are Mosquitoes are over 3,000 known species of mosquitoes exist worldwide. More than 160 species have been documented in North America. There are probably more than 100 billion (1011) galaxies in the observable universe. There are a lot more varieties and amounts of life and energy in the universe than is necessary. God shows us abundance throughout of all creation. None of us are important to the function of the universe, yet here we are. Nothing is here because it’s necessary. Everything that is exists is a miracle. The first two servants took a risk; the third servant played it safe and obeyed the Priestly understanding that God is harsh. Near the end of the book of Job God talks about large frightening creatures and mountains that He cares for. God is generous and sows His love everywhere far beyond the our ablity to reap. God is not harsh but generous. He treats the third servant at the servant’s prejudice dictates. Are we ready to be joyful, or are we going to be scared or harsh? Being joyful with what God has given us lays open our hearts and minds. God is the joyful master. There is an understanding that is parable promotes capitalism. There are many types of capitalism, industrial capitalism and laissez-faire capitalism, finance capitalism and state monopoly capitalism, rony capitalism, and liberal Captialism. In this parable, all the profit goes to God. What shall we call this then, divine captalism, perhaps? Warren Buffet is a good example of how this works. He lives modestly in Omaha, Nebraska and gives away most of his money. He strives for excellence but does not do it for greed. We have a living example of this parable in Warren Buffet. We are here because God made us out His abundance. We are here because God called us to be here, despite how unnecessary we are to the universe.Therefore, let us be joyful and reap what God has generously sown.