The Parable of the Talents

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Recently, I’ve been mulling over the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25. I encourage you to take a moment and read it for yourself. In this story, we are told a master is leaving and entrusting three different servants with three different amounts of money – one talent, two talents, and five talents. For reference, a talent refers to 20 years’ worth of a laborers wages. Can you imagine!? If you are making federal minimum wage in the United States working full time, a single talent would mean being entrusted with over $300,000.

The servants who have two talents and five talents both make wise financial choices, resulting in the doubling of what they were first given. So when the master returns, both of them proudly share their accomplishments. The master responds to both of them, “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” (vs. 21 & 23, ESV).

And if you are familiar with the story (or if you just read it), you know the servant who received a single talent went and buried it, because he was worried about anything happening to the money and receiving repercussions upon the master’s return. But the servant quickly finds out the master is incredibly disappointed in him. The master explains that he could have at least invested the money and earned interest on it – he didn’t have to double it like the others. The master responded by  “…cast[ing] the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” (vs. 30, ESV). Ouch.

Boy am I glad that I’m never like that servant!

Just kidding.

I spent roughly a decade thinking I was not entrusted with any talents, even going so far as to question my own salvation. I am about as mundane of a person that you can find. There is always someone more than me in the room – more intelligent, more beautiful, more articulate, more humorous, more spiritual. More valuable. More worthy.

I spent a decade waiting to be entrusted with something. Anything. I thought maybe I’d feel redeemed when I became a wife. Nope. Maybe when I had kids? Nada. In fact having kids made me feel worse, because I felt like I was entrusted with two precious little boys, only to end up absolutely failing every. single. day. Maybe when our family finally make it on the mission field? That would be a continent of Africa sized no.

Only God knows the amount of tears I cried, wondering why I wasn’t worthy enough. And then one day it dawned on me – I had it all wrong. It wasn’t that I wasn’t entrusted with anything, but rather that I was well on my way to being the “wicked and slothful” servant who had not done anything with what they had been given. I had found a great pit for my pity party and had wallowed in it for years, dragging my talents down in the pit with me, preventing them from being wisely invested anywhere.

Let’s not forget that this parable comes to us in the midst of a teaching prompted by four disciples of Jesus (Peter, James, John, and Andrew) asking about Jesus’s Second Coming. Jesus responds to their inquiries with a teaching known as the Olivet Discourse comprised of several parables found in Matthew 24 and 25 (as well as Mark 13 and Luke 21). In the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary on Matthew, David L. Turner writes:

“The preceding parables have been about alertness [to the Second Coming], and this one is particularly about the faithful stewardship which alertness produces…Alertness requires effort and active participation in the work of the Kingdom.”

We must faithfully and actively serve while our King is away with eternity in mind. Friends, this is the natural response to the One who died on the cross, taking the punishment for our sins, and rose again three days later. God gave us life, then graciously offered us eternal salvation that we do not deserve! That is more precious than a lifetime’s worth of wages!

I want to be able to say I was faithful with what I was given. That means taking a small step of faith. Then another. And another. It means embracing forward momentum. Even if it’s awkward or embarrassing. Even if I fail by human standards. These small steps will open other doors to faithfully serve God.

I encourage you to take time to prayerfully consider the following:

• Have you been thinking of your talents with eternity in mind?
• What talents, my friend, if any, have you set aside or buried?
• Are you willing to pick these up, hold them with open hands, and ask the Lord what your next steps are with these talents?
• Do you need to confess your lack of faith with what you have been entrusted with? If this is you, friend, as it was me, remember that, because of Jesus Christ, we can with “…confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” (Hebrews 4:16, ESV). Yes and amen!

To further your study on this topic, read Matthew 25:14-30 (if you haven’t already) and Romans 12. Consider identifying one talent you can use in God’s Kingdom, and what your next step of faith is. Write it down, put it in a place you’ll see it, and ask someone to hold you accountable to this step (and subsequent faithful steps).

And feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!

Faithfully,