The Parable of the Talents

[jimkenney12]

I am preaching on November 19 and found the psalm reading, epistle reading, and gospel reading had interesting stuff in them. I usually use only one scripture reading in worship to make it easier to focus but I will use all three readings in the service in one way or another.

I use the parable in my opening story focusing on the master deciding how much wealth to trust to each servant/slave and how do we choose to trust others with particular tasks.

The psalm will be read responsively and I describe how often we can feel scorned by others.
The Epistle reading has lots in it but vore is to be awake, to live in the light.
I will post information for the parable tomorrow, the psalm on November 5, and the epistle on November 12.

 

[Luce NDs]

Talents are funny things sometimes golden ... and sometimes even stranger wealth ... fleecing?

 

[jimkenney12]

The Parable of the Talents pokes or pinches almost everyone in one way or another. It is the gospel reading for November 19, 2023. I see that Sunday as emblematic of being in the middle of time. The previous Sunday recognizes the terrible price paid by many people for wars we have fought. The next Sunday is Reign of Christ or Christ the King Sunday looking forward to when there will be no more wars. We are in the middle of time between a time when the slaughter of a whole people did not bother most people and a time when we will be part of a universal family of humanity, and possibly even a family of all living things.

Here is Matthew 25:14-30:

The Parable of the Bags of Gold​

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 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. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 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.’

21 “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!’

22 “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.’

23 “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!’

24 “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. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “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? 27 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.

28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 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. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

 

[jimkenney12]

The Parable of the Talents pokes or pinches almost everyone in one way or another. It is the gospel reading for November 19, 2023. I see that Sunday as emblematic of being in the middle of time. The previous Sunday recognizes the terrible price paid by many people for wars we have fought. The next Sunday is Reign of Christ or Christ the King Sunday looking forward to when there will be no more wars. We are in the middle of time between a time when the slaughter of a whole people did not bother most people and a time when we will be part of a universal family of humanity, and possibly even a family of all living things.

Here is Matthew 25:14-30:

The Parable of the Bags of Gold​

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 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. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 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.’

21 “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!’

22 “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.’

23 “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!’

24 “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. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “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? 27 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.

28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 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. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

There are many angles to use in looking at this passage. There is the reality that the extremely wealthy could afford to leave more than a life time's income for labourers with their slaves and expect them to growth this wealth. We can wonder how a slave could double a master's wealth in that time. There is the demand to make good use of the opportunities we have been given. My choice, right now, is to look at the prudence of the master in the choices made in entrusting the wealth including offering the untrustworthy slave the opportunity to actually do something worthwhile with some money. I kept thinking of a twist on the Ghostbusters theme, "Who are you going to trust?"

 

[Luce NDs]

There are many angles to use in looking at this passage. There is the reality that the extremely wealthy could afford to leave more than a life time's income for labourers with their slaves and expect them to growth this wealth. We can wonder how a slave could double a master's wealth in that time. There is the demand to make good use of the opportunities we have been given. My choice, right now, is to look at the prudence of the master in the choices made in entrusting the wealth including offering the untrustworthy slave the opportunity to actually do something worthwhile with some money. I kept thinking of a twist on the Ghostbusters theme, "Who are you going to trust?"

Then to at least leave it with the bankers. What does this say about the avarice of the bankers and reaping where nothing was sown ... causing great diminishment?

Albi*ET I've been told by many theologians that I'm a bit off track from success! I was even asked on the earlier WC if I was real .... perhaps as unreal as greedy gods that think most of the booty theirs. Very diabolical of me to not conform ... right? Geez I need some dark lass to assist me thro' the night ... given the passage thro' nothing (and dropping the ugh). Did you ever read that book by Gail Sheehy (Passages)? Most of us get a chance at sacred passages ... but averted by monarchal laws about free love ... thus love is often compartmentalized like well packaged Christians in their Boite!

One has to be careful about speaking of 100 acre Magi Forests ... these may be complex rather than simple X ...

This morning at church the speaker related to her father's demented comment about wondering where the undertaker was ... given the delving into that below the visible horizon! Demented is a common event given how many people would rather not know ... so it departs ... a qui? Others respond "sew what?" Thus the rags and wealth ... "Patches? Oh what can I say ..." even if you've departed because of populace intent ...

We have nothing left to work with except a few howls ... those up there are deaf, blind and mute ... incomprehensibly so! Thus it all goes down ...

 

[BetteTheRed]

My initial 'feeling' in response to this parable is to take the place of the third servant, given one bag of gold. I have felt much of my life that I have been given much, and largely squandered it. It may be part of the root of my general sense of hopelessness.

I'll have other ideas as we 'talk'; I have almost embedded the lectio divina process in my own reading of passages, and the first question asks what word, phrase or feeling comes to the mind/heart/spirit of the participant. I see that you are using the NIV. Not my fav translation, generally, but in this case, the use of "bags of gold" avoids the emotional problems associated with the use of the word in older translation, "talents", maybe? Except that I still remember the passage with "talents" in it, so it doesn't really help me, personally. Checking my two fav translations that are unavailable on line, The Five Gospels and The Inclusive Bible, I see that they both translate the original talents into amounts of money.

 

[paradox3]

This a parable I remember from Sunday School days. I recall learning that that "talent" was a unit of money. I always thought the lesson could apply equally to our finances and our abilities.

Reading the passage again now, it strikes me that all of these assets are given to us as opportunities to glorify God. They are not gifts bestowed upon us with "no strings attached" As a child, I probably missed the nuance that the story is about God's Kingdom.

The third servant was dismissed as lazy and worthless. Do we see him that way? At least he didn't squander the gold. But I guess the point is that no one benefits from treasure that is hidden away.

 

[jimkenney12]

I thought I was using the NRSVUE because that was what I put in BIng search and did not read the top line before copying and pasting. I have the NRSVUE translations for the next two passages.
A talent was 6000 days wages or a bit over 16 years.

Bette the Red, when I read about all you do, it seems you are more than doubling what has been given to you.

I value the insights his parables give us into his society. Did it seem strange to his listeners that the master gave so much wealth in trust to his slaves to manage? The reply of the third servant provides clues about what wealthy masters could be like. Did the first two servants manage the money well because of their respect for their master or out of fear? What clues do we have?

I am still puzzled by the question of how did the first two servants double the money? There was no stock market in those days, or stocks for that matter.

Was the failure of the third slave his fear of his master?

Did the servants validate his estimation of how much trust he could have in them?

 

[Waterfall]

So the 3rd servant knows that the master is a "hard man" and that he harvests where he hasn't sown and gathers where he hasn't scattered seeds.
What does this mean? The master makes his money by taking from fields that aren't his?
The servant then plants one bag of his money in the ground and gives back only what belongs to him...one bag. Perhaps he felt that's all the master deserves for doing nothing?

Who is the master supposed to be in this story?

 

[paradox3]

The master is God I think. Does God harvest where God hasn't sown? Gather where God has not planted seeds?

This could speak to God's mercy. Or God's willingness to use whatever God finds.

 

[Mendalla]

Here's the NRSVUE translation:

Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 25:14-30 - New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Parable of the Talents - “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. At once the one who had received the five talents...

www.biblegateway.com

When I am searching for a passage, I usually include NRSV or NRSVUE (or whatever translation you are after) as a search term. That way you're more likely to get that translation.

I am still puzzled by the question of how did the first two servants double the money? There was no stock market in those days, or stocks for that matter.

I'd need to delve into some ancient economics but one wonders if Jesus really cared about how realistic it was on that front. Maybe he was trying to make a point and did not really think about the economics. After all, parables are pretty much by definition fiction. If this was presented as a real incident, then the economics might be more important. But, yeah, even today you almost have to pull a scam to make that kind of coin quickly. Though it just says "after a long time" so who knows how long they had? Maybe it was months or years so they had time to use it as seed money for some kind of business transaction. It's not like there was no commerce in those days, just no big corporations. It was pretty much all individual merchants or maybe small groups with slaves or hired workers to do the grunt work.

Who is the master supposed to be in this story?

Well, the man was going on a journey and people, with rare exceptions, did not tend to travel just to see the sights like we do today. And he seems to be well off. So I'm betting he was one of those merchants I just talked about. Alternatively, a well-heeled landowner seeking markets for produce from his land. The reference to reaping and sowing might support the latter but might also be metaphorical language on the part of the servant.

he harvests where he hasn't sown and gathers where he hasn't scattered seeds.
What does this mean? The master makes his money by taking from fields that aren't his?

If this the reaping and sowing is metaphorical, then maybe a merchant or similar with a history of shady dealings. Hard to say. Again, I wonder if Jesus really thought this all through in detail or just tossed it off to make a point.

The master is God I think. Does God harvest where God hasn't sown? Gather where God has not planted seeds?

OTOH, you could argue that all seeds and all fields are God's and that any field and anything sown is God's. But I generally think your ideas are where Jesus might be going here. Perhaps the servant perceives the master this way, just as some people have very harsh perceptions of God? So maybe this is about more than just using what God gives you wisely, but also about trusting God (which I think someone suggested upthread).

 

[paradox3]

This parable reminds me of the parables of the prodigal son and the workers in the vineyard. God's grace has little to do with what we perceive to be fair.

 

[Waterfall]

The master is God I think. Does God harvest where God hasn't sown? Gather where God has not planted seeds?

This could speak to God's mercy. Or God's willingness to use whatever God finds.

Is it mercy when God throws you into the darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth?
Or could a servant be God making a tyrant accountable?

 

[paradox3]

It could be that the worthless slave is being given the opportunity to repent.

 

[Delightful Life]

What if one looks at the Talents in terms of Innate Affinities or Skills as opposed to Currency?

So, the people who used their God Given Talents were praised by God

The one who hid their God Given Talents was chatized by God-- Talents are meant to be used?

 

[jimkenney12]

Some people look at others and feel less than them, leading them to hide the gifts they have. Maybe we are not to let fear or shame block us from letting our gifts shine.

 

[Delightful Life]

I'm also thinking of the scripture where it says that God will help you, no limit, if you Glory Him or something like that?

So things like Care for the Poor, loving your neighbour, etc = Glorifying God?

Thus using Talents are also Glorifying God?

I dunno

That cracking sound might be the analogy breaking lol

 

[paradox3]

Maybe the third servant felt less than the other two The talents, after all, were assigned according to each servant's ability.

This is an intriguing story.

 

[Waterfall]

Interesting we all have different reasonings....I was thinking of Luke
explaining that God is among you as one who serves even as we serve God....but I suppose that could work for the master serving others in this parable.....
What's the general teaching by the church on this or are we allowed to take it all over the place?

 

[Luce NDs]

Is there a common thread between the 3 carriers of talent?

First, second and third person of the myth if broken down to see what comes forth? Mortal understand little of the characters in such constructs ...

Thus it must be of strange essence ... the material of the other ... its them that's at fault ... the us them theme continues in the plot ... a type of conspiracy poorly undertaken in etude! Literary ker fluff elle? That's Karen ... a bother ... for those unconcerned as stressed over gathering excesses ...

A process that separates gods from demons ... or even democracies ... the gods are great circle builders with the use of fear, anger and such stresses ... while modern medicine overlooks stress and minimal enigma! Thus minimalism evolves and all blows to wee pieces in the end ... abysmal gas laws ... flaming failures of utopia ... Skye Follies?