What We Have to Work With . . .
Matthew 25:14-30, NIV - “Again, it will be like a
man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to
them. To one he gave five bags of gold,
to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability.
Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at
once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained
two more. But the man who had received
one bag 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 five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said,
‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. 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 two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he
said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; 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 one bag of gold 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 gold
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.
“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one
who has ten bags. For whoever has will
be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even
what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into
the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
It is
my opinion that biblical scholars sometimes have the tendency to
over-complicate things. I say that as
something of a minor biblical scholar. I
have studiously examined the Bible for more than three decades now. So my opinion about the over-complication of
biblical texts includes myself. My guess
is that if you have read many of these reflections, you already know this about
me. I say all that to confess that there
is a real temptation to over-complicate the parable above. I going to resist that temptation and keep it
simple today.
Three
servants are entrusted with differing amounts of wealth, although it’s
important to mention that the servant with the smallest amount has still been
given a small fortune. Two of the
servants get busy and in whatever time they were given, they doubled the
amount. With the best hedge fund
managers these days averaging about 15% a year,
this return is quite impressive.
However, the third servant does nothing.
And I do mean nothing. He doesn’t
even earn measly interest in a 6-month Certificate of Deposit. What this means in all likelihood is that
upon the Master’s return, his wealth has actually depreciated (with adjustment
for inflation). I’m thinking the Master
would have even preferred the servant attempted to increase the amount and lost
it than to have done absolutely nothing.
I’m thinking that especially because Jesus is telling us that this story
is like the Kingdom of God.
Obviously,
I was being a little facetious with allusions to hedge funds and CD’s, but I
think you get the point. The expectation
was that some kind of attempt would be made to use what was given. The expectation is the point of this
story. Building on the warning against
complacency in previous story, Jesus begins the story with, “the [Kingdom of Heaven]
is like a man.” What it does NOT say is
that God is like this man. It is the
highlighted nature of this man that is the nature of the Kingdom. And what Jesus highlights about the nature of
this man is his expectation that what he entrusts, he expects to be multiplied. This is the expectation of the Kingdom. Multiplication is the nature of the kingdom. Whether there is a little or a lot, it is to
be multiplied.
I’m
going to let you draw your own conclusions about what that means for us, the
citizens of this Kingdom.
Questions: What does
the expectation of multiplication mean for you, your family, and the church?
Prayer: God, we
confess that we sometimes are content to simply “sit on” what we have been
given. Help us take the beauty of Kingdom multiplication to heart. Show us how
we may increase and build upon what we have been given. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for people who are looking for work right now.
Song: Faith and
Faithfulness – New Wine Worship
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