Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them…
Have you given prayerful thought to how you will invest your life for Christ?
This question is one that every follower of Jesus should ask. Jesus’ searching parable of the talents (or bags of gold) in Matthew 25:14-30 pictures a rich man going away and leaving three of his servants to invest what in today’s money would be several million pounds. After a while, he comes back and asks them for an account.
The first two have taken their responsibility seriously and doubled their master’s money. They understand that as servants, they must do as their master requires, and have got on with the work. As a result, they hear his wonderful commendation, “Well done, good and faithful servant”, are given more responsibility, and invited to share in their master’s happiness. The third servant, however, has done nothing, and reveals an attitude of resentment against his master, not trusting his good intentions. He’s been lazy and fearful (the two often go together). He hasn’t even bothered to put the money on deposit. He seems not really to know his master at all.
The story is so famous that the biblical word “talent” has entered the English language – though I’m not sure how many competitors in Britain’s Got Talent know its origins! Our use of the word can make us think the parable is just about making use of the “talents” we have and being true to our gifting.
In fact, in the story, the talents in the story are more accurately described as our Master’s assets, which he makes us responsible for. It is part of a block of teaching Jesus gave about waiting for his return, and challenges everyone who calls themselves a Christian to ask how they will use their lives and all their opportunities to bring the Lord a return. In context, that must be in line with His own great saving purpose of making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20).
So then, what will you do with your million? One day, each of us will appear before Him, and He will ask how we’ve invested the riches he entrusted us with to improve His assets. For not only does Christ save us, but he gives us the dignity of putting us to work for Him. Don’t you want to be like one of the first two servants in the story, to whom the master said, “Well done, good and faithful servant”?
The parable is about much more than careers – about which, for Jesus’ original hearers, there may not have been much choice. It’s about the whole way we orientate our lives, so as to use every opportunity God has given us to maximise our Master’s assets. Nor is it just about becoming a pastor or missionary: we may conclude that with the particular situation God has put us in, we may be more productive for Him in some other walk of life. This could be in the context of a regular job, through which we’re able to support and serve in a local church, or in overseas mission work, or other areas.
This Sunday is our Mission Sunday and we’ll be hearing wonderful, exciting news of Jesus’ work all over the world.
(Edited extract from the book A Noble Task)
