"For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" [Matthew 25:14-30, ESV]How often have you heard this parable? I've probably heard it more times than almost any other parable. In fact, until recently, the story bored me. The conclusion is always the same: God has given you talents. Use them or lose them. The person with more talents is blessed more than the person with only one talent. If you only have one talent, you aren't going to be wise with it and you'll end up losing it and then cast into a very unhappy place. Pray that you get more talents. Work hard for more. You don't have enough with just one.
But this bitter look at this parable is based on a workaholic philosophy. We are told throughout our lives that since we are so good at so many things we need to find a job that uses them all. Sometimes this motivates someone to greatness, but it can also paralyze someone. How is it humanly possible to use all our talents in one occupation? And what if we aren't as good at something as people think? What if, in reality, we are just good at making ourselves appear good at everything?
All of this stems from the idea that one talent is worth very little and that we give worth to a talent by using it in conjunction with all our other talents. To put it bluntly, this is a lie. In Jesus' time, a talent is worth approximately 75 pounds and is usually used in reference to gold. As soon as I read this in the footnotes of my Bible I realized that something was missing from the interpretation of this talent parable. 75 pounds of gold is a big deal! If someone gave you 75 pounds of gold today, you would have $1,892,010.36 worth of gold in your possession! And this isn't even considering inflation. One talent is worth almost 2 million dollars. Think of what you could do with this money!
You could buy:
- 8 brand new Ferrari 458 Italia (with money left over)
- 7 brand new Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Performante 2-door Spyder Convertible (with money left over)
- 1,261 of the most expensive Jimmy Choo shoes (with money left over)
This puts an entirely new spin on what the master says to the servant with 1 talent. Had the servant put all the money into a bank, he could have yielded $227,041.24. Sure, he wouldn't have doubled it like the other two servants, but that's still a pretty good pay for just leaving the money alone in a bank.
But this servant put more effort into hiding the money than he would have if he did nothing with it.
Think of all the worry that would plague this servant any time someone went near the place the 75 pounds of gold was buried. He would have to keep watch over that specific spot every day to make sure no one accidentally became $1,892,010.36 richer. I can imagine him barely sleeping and then jumping up as soon as the sun peaks over the horizon to check the spot. Running to the spot every time he had a break from his servant duties. Spending every ounce of free time guarding this spot. And Jesus tells us that the master was gone for a long time (verse 19). We can't know how long, but we can assume it was more than a couple years. This servant put so much effort into keeping the talent "safe" that he probably became a complete mess, probably even unable to perform his normal duties as a servant.
So what should this new understanding do with our interpretation of the story? First of all we need to understand that whatever talent we have (even if it's looking like we can do something when we really can't) is of high value. Any talent of gold is worth more than the average person makes in a year. Your talent is at least worth your acknowledgement. And, trust me when I say this, you will have to work extremely hard to hide your talent. Are you willing to put your energy into hiding something of such great worth? Or are you willing to acknowledge your talent and receive the fruits of God's blessing?
The second thing we need understand is that what you do with your talents--no matter how many you have--is what matters. Once you make over $1 million and have made the proper investments, it doesn't matter how much you have. A billionaire can invest their money in the wrong thing and then lose everything they have. If you put your energy and talents into the wrong activity, you will eventually burn out and may lose your talent for something. Burn out happens to everyone who doesn't consider the entirety of an activity or doesn't listen to or seek the advice of those wiser than them. I have spoken with many talented people who speak of the days they "used to be able" to do something, but now no longer have the talent because they got burned. Mr. 5-Talent in the parable could have invested in the wrong things and lost a couple talents rather than gained 5 more. But he didn't let his fear control and was wise with his trading.
Once again we are confronted with the normal question placed at the end of a sermon on this parable, but this time we understand that we are blessed beyond belief with our one talent (or more). So, what are you going to do with your talent?
