The true setting for this story and whom its characters represent are not difficult to figure out.  Matthew places this story from Jesus in a section of his gospel that deals with Jesus’ teachings about his return at the end of earthly history; his return as our judge.  The master who went away for a long time and then returned is Jesus.  His servants are simply you and I.  Jesus WILL hold us accountable for how we have spent our lives.  No question about it.

Although this is a cautionary story about how we are held accountable, it is also a story of God’s incredible bounty.  Modern readers miss that point because of the illustration Jesus used and because our minds automatically jump to the modern meaning of the word “talent.”  A talent was not a natural ability, but a monetary unit.  Even one talent was an enormous sum of money equal to an amount a person might earn in more than thirty eight years of full time labor. 

Why so much?  The talents represent the extraordinary gifts God gives to each one of us.  We are given everything that we need to carry out God's work on earth and to be a blessing to ourselves and others.  We are to use what God has given to us and proceed to do that work in trust, not in fear.  The very worst thing we can do is sit in the corner, have a “pity party,” and let all that God has given us go to waste like the one who buried the talent in the ground.

A writer on this passage puts it this way:  “We cannot live pitiful little lives of fear with the excuse that we are helpless, for already our Lord has endowed us with enormous grace.  And as Christ entrusts us with what is his, he commissions us to pursue the responsible use, the multiplication, of his grace.  Grace employed abounds, but grace buried does nothing.”

What are you doing with the riches of grace, talent (this time in the modern sense), and material possessions God has entrusted to you?  When it is time to account, will you have to say that you wasted God's gifts out of fear and timidity or selfishness, or will you be able to point to lives transformed because you have shared God’s grace with others.  Will Jesus be able to say to you “well done, good and faithful servant”?

revclay

    _______________________________

[Jesus said] “again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.  To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability.  Then he went on his journey. 

“The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.  So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.  But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.  The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents.  See, I have gained five more.'  His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 

"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'  His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 

"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.  See, here is what belongs to you.'  His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant!  So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 

“Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.  For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.  Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

  [NRSV]