Parable of the Talents

In the adult Sunday school class that I teach we’ve been going over the parables of Jesus. Most recently we’ve taken a look at the parables in Matthew 24 and 25 which have to do with the question, ‘What does it mean to be ready for Jesus’ coming?’ Two Sundays ago we looked at the parable of the talents, Matthew 25.14ff. One of the things that we looked at was Jesus’ description of what the servants were to do with their talents. They were to ‘trade’ them (verse 16). I suggested that, if Jesus were talking today, He would mean using something like a stock market. How else to you start with five talents and end up with ten? At this point, one of the members of the class pointed out that this would involve taking risks. This was key to our getting a good handle on what this parable is about and how it speaks to us.

From this came several thoughts.

For one thing, it helped us understand the third servant who buried his talent. His problem was that he was afraid to take a risk. The reason for his fear was that he misunderstood his master, thinking him a harsh taskmaster. But the master’s response makes clear that his fear of risk was no excuse. In fact, as another member of the class pointed out, it would not have taken much to please the master. Taking the relatively small risk of placing the money in a bank would have resulted in the master accepting the servant. Though Jesus really does have expectations of us, He is not a harsh taskmaster.

And that means that being faithful to Jesus, the Master, means that we are to take risks for the sake of the kingdom. That’s the point of the parable, and it’s backed up by the examples of too many of the saints in and out of the Scriptures. But that is a problem for many of us. We have been taught not to take risks. People like me have been taught to play it safe, to keep as much of a buffer as you can between yourself and any potential danger. And that speaks to many things: how we view our money, our children, our sense of worth and more. Because risk is a four-lettered word for many of us, there are opportunities for the kingdom that we don’t even consider because we are afraid of the risk. This becomes more pointed when you consider that the third servant, because of his refusal to take risks, ended up in ‘the outer darkness’ (verse 30). He ended up in hell. Not taking risks for the kingdom turns out to be rather risky.

If the kingdom is going to make an impact on our world, we who follow Jesus will need to take risks. We will need to do things that our neighbors (and maybe even our church friends) will think foolish and even laughable. Far too many of us are so much like the rest of the world. The key question is too often, ‘Will there be any danger? Is this risky?’ How foolish! Following Jesus faithfully is filled with risk. We don’t see that because being a faithful disciple has, too often, been domesticated into merely being a faithful churchgoer. And this is one reason why so many churches are ineffectual, making no dent in the culture for Jesus’ sake.

And yet, can there really be serious risk for us? Even if we goof big-time, won’t Jesus still take care of us? Or was that third servant right about Jesus being a harsh taskmaster? I suspect that one reason that so many of us are playing it way too safe these days is that we are not quite convinced that Jesus loves us, that He will love us even when we do something really stupid and get ourselves into trouble. But where is the grace of the Gospel in that kind of thinking? That assumes that Jesus only loves the people who deserve it. Were we really so loveable – deserving – when He first made the decision to love us? What will make Him change His mind now? Where can we go that is beyond the reach of His love? It is the love of Jesus for sinners like us that frees us up to risk anything for His sake.