Pentecost XXIV
'The parable of the talents' is what we read in Matthew's Gospel tomorrow morning. Here is the kicker from Jesus -- the Aesop's Fables moral of the story -- and, it's a strange one for us to hear, as it seems to be counter to the word of grace we often look to Jesus to speak: "For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away."
Yikes.
So, what is going on here? As I mentioned last week, while these parables are all about what the kingdom of God 'is like', and what the 'Day of the Lord' might appear as, and when it might come among us, ...they are not meant to be economic directives or ethical teachings. Jesus gives plenty of ethical teaching, and plenty of ideas of what the ethics of the kingdom might be, but that's not what's going on when he is talking about the 'when', and he gives plenty of thought about economics-and-justice-for-the-poor, but that's not what's going on in the Parable of the Talents.
It is a story about how we are to act, to live, in the grand meanwhile while we wait for this ever-fuller revealing of the kingdom of the Lord among and within us...
The Master is going away, and will return. Meanwhile, certain emblems of wealth, certain gifts and, well, talents (an ancient coin, actually, but we hear it in a different way) are distributed among the servants to keep in trust for the Master. Some of them do stuff with the 'things' (undefined, really) with which they have been entrusted. And, they seem to do so trusting that their ultimate relationship with this absent source of the talents will survive whatever they do with their talents. But, then there's that person who - out of fear of a punitive response from 'the Master' - buries their stuff/things/'talents' in hopes of preserving at least what they think they possess.
But, really, it never has belonged to them anyway. Whatever it was. As we say before celebrating the Holy Eucharist: "All things come of Thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given Thee."
When Jesus says that everything will be taken away from those who have nothing, he is naming a difficult aspect of an 'economy of spirituality'. You need to have something to grow. Don't neglect it. Give thanks to God for that strength that is in you. For, it is in you. Whatever it is. Always begin with what you have. And, it is a gift for the life of the world -- to be offered in praise and thanksgiving, and in confidence. Whatever it is...
And, the word on the street is that everyone has something. In fact, it might be that when I think I may be at my lowest point - possessing only one talent and tempted to go bury it deep within myself, deep in the ground in fear that even this little bit might degrade or be insufficient - it might be that I actually possess more than I perceive.
We all possess the essential grace of being made in the image and likeness of God. As Paul writes elsewhere: this grace is more than sufficient for us, on any given day. Or, as he writes elsewhere: risk everything for the Gospel. For truth, for growth, for fullness-of-being.
Perhaps where we see ourselves in this parable might shift over time, or on different readings. Many of us might fear that we are that poor, faithless, fearful one. And, I know I am from time to time. But we are also the one who has been entrusted with much. And, sometimes we act in the role of the Master, entrusting and encouraging the growth of others.
Wendell Berry - a favorite writer of mine - writes in a poem that, "...what we need is here." And it is.
Enter into the joy of the one who made you and holds you and brings you to fullness of being.
--
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here.