15 Nov the Parable of the Talents – 11/15/2020
Do you have any talents? I’ll bet you do. Maybe you were born with a musical talent – in that case, I’m envious. Languages. I know some folks who just seem to be adept at picking up languages – not something I can do. So appreciate whatever gift or talent the Lord has given you!
Our gospel this week is the Parable of the Talents, a whole different sort of talent than you might have. The talent in Jesus’ time was a measure of weight, and it became a measure of weight of silver, a fantastic sum of money. When Jesus told this parable, in Holy Week in Jerusalem, his audience must have gasped in disbelief. Was there that much money in all of Israel? Maybe not. But then, Jesus was not talking about money, was He?
In the parable the Master – Jesus, right? – has entrusted three slaves with a vast sum, each, as He said, according to their ability. Two of them trusted the Master, the third was afraid. Two were rewarded by the Master, the untrusting one thrown out into the darkness.
His disciples had no money. They survived by what they were given by people who also trusted that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. They must have known the parable is not about money, it is about faith and trust. The world is a crazy place, striving daily to strip away our faith and trust in God’s plan for our lives. If we let that happen, if we do not nurture our faith, share our faith, trust our God, the parable shows when the end of time comes, we will be the ones in the dark, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We have loss; we have sadness; we have concerns and worries; we are sinful and fallen. And in all of that, we have been given the greatest gift of all: the promise of a life in eternity with Jesus and all those who have gone on in faith before us. No amount of money can buy that. No worth can be assigned to that – there just isn’t enough money in all the world to equal the gift of faith and trust we have received from our Lord.
May God richly bless you always!
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.