Wise Investment Policies—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 25A/Proper 28A (Matthew 25)

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

¹⁴ “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; ¹⁵ to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. At once ¹⁶ the one who had received the five talents went off and traded with them and made five more talents. ¹⁷ In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. ¹⁸ But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹ After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ ²² And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

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                It’s still Monday of Holy Week. Jesus has been holding court for some time. The theme is at times apocalyptic, looking forward to the day of judgment. In the parables that Jesus shares, there is an emphasis on wisdom. The previous parable explored the prior week, spoke of ten virgins (young unmarried women/bridesmaids), five of whom were wise enough to bring extra oil just in case the groom was delayed (he was delayed until well into the evening). Thus, the foolish five were locked out of the wedding banquet, with the wedding banquet being symbolic of the coming realm (Mt. 25:1-13). There is another parable here in Matthew 25 that speaks of God’s judgment on the nations (sheep and goats). That parable will bring the liturgical calendar to a close. In between these two parables stands one that deals with investment policies. This is the time of year when many congregations hold their annual stewardship drives. This is also the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

                Many of us have some form of investment. It might be stock holdings or simply a bank account. We may have developed a personal investment policy that is designed to plan for retirement, buying a house, paying for college, or some other prospective need. It’s helpful to know what you’re doing. You may choose to decide on investments on your own or turn to a professional. One thing I learned early on is that investing has an element of risk involved. The least risky form of investment is a savings account. When I was much younger a typical passbook account earned five percent interest (in recent years that passbook might earn you something like .01 % interest, making that 5% look awfully good). That was basic. If you wanted to earn more you might turn to a CD, which tended to earn more interest, but it was usually tied up for an extended period. If you were more risk-tolerant you might turn to stocks, which could go up or down. The younger you are the more risk-tolerant you can be. So, how risk-tolerant are you? Oh, and burying your money in the backyard is not being risk-averse. It’s actually quite risky! 

                The parable Jesus offers us here speaks of investment policies. Embedded in this parable is a conversation about scarcity and abundance. Thus, it is a parable that speaks to our worldviews. Do we believe that resources are abundant at our disposal, including spiritual resources? Or do we believe there is scarcity? If we believe there is abundance, we are more likely to be generous. If scarcity defines our belief system, we’re more likely to hoard. We see these conflicting world views on display in the political sphere. It affects a lot of different areas of concern from immigration policy to climate policy. It influences foreign policy and domestic policy. It can reveal itself in nationalism, such that we decide there’s only enough to take care of our own, and therefore we’ll do whatever is necessary to protect our own. The problem here is that we live in a global network. “America First” doesn’t work very well because our economies are so integrated.

                While abundance and scarcity are concepts present in this parable, so are wisdom and foolishness. When it comes to the investing of “talents,” with talents here being a monetary unit, the question is what is a wise investment, especially when the person doing the investing has been entrusted with funds by another? In other words, the one who is doing the investing is using someone else’s money. So you want to provide a solid return on the investment.

                There is another element present in this discussion. That element is fear. Fear gets in the way of living open and expectant lives. While we hear about fearing God, we also hear words that tell us not to be afraid. So, which is it? Do you live in fear or hope? Let us remember that fear gets in the way of loving our neighbors. It gets in the way of dreaming dreams. It gets in the way of investing our lives in the things of God. Thus, fear and scarcity go together. 

                The context within the text is Holy Week, with Jesus’ earthly life near its end. Matthew’s community, the folks that are reading or hearing this Gospel, are waiting for the coming of God’s realm in its fullness. These parables have strong eschatological elements to them. The parable of the ten virgins speaks to being properly prepared for the arrival of the groom. In this parable, three different people are entrusted with money to invest by a man who is going on a trip. When he returns, he hopes to receive back what he is giving these figures to invest. The question is, what will the man find when he returns? The larger eschatological question concerns how the people of God are using the resources Jesus gives the church in the time between his departure and his return. The man gives to each of the three servants money to invest that is fitting with their abilities. That is what is entrusted to the person is based on how this servant has handled previous responsibilities.  

                This parable involves a property owner or person of means who calls for his slaves/servants together and entrusts property to three of them, each according to their abilities. One gets five talents, one gets two talents, and the third gets one talent. To get a sense of what we’re talking about—one talent is equivalent to twenty years of wages for a typical worker. So, we’re talking about a lot of money, no matter whether it’s the one who gets five or the one who gets just one to use. We need to remember that slavery in the ancient world was very different from the chattel slavery of antebellum America. One could be a manager of an estate and a slave at the same time. We need to remember as well that the way we use the word talent to speak of skill or ability is not what Jesus has in mind here. He’s speaking of money and for our purposes, we probably should stick with that meaning.

                Again, let us remember that this parable, like the ones that surround it, has eschatological implications. According to Jesus the man who entrusted the money to his slaves/servants returned from his trip and asked them to give an accounting of the resources entrusted to their care. So, each of the three stands before the man and gives an accounting of what they had done with this money. The first two let the man know they had doubled the investment. The master of these slaves was pleased and commended them for their efforts. Since they had proven themselves trustworthy in a few things, they would be entrusted with more things. In fact, Jesus tells us they entered the joy of their master.

                While the master was very pleased with the work of the first two slaves, how might he feel about the third slave who was seemingly risk-averse and opted for what he perceived to be safety (putting the money in a hole in the backyard)? As you might imagine, the master was not happy. Yes, he got his money back, but unlike the first two, this third slave lived in fear of losing the money entrusted to him. He figured that it was better not to lose the money than be penalized for not earning anything for his master, whom he thought was a harsh man who reaped where he didn’t sow and gathered what he didn’t invest. While we needn’t envision the master serving as a stand-in for God, a lot of people think of God in this way. They approach God as if God is harsh and unfeeling, unwilling to move even. It also reveals a theology of scarcity versus abundance. The first two looked at life through the lens of abundance, while he embraced a theology of scarcity.

                Now comes the question of how God might respond. God commended the first two slaves for their investment strategy. He’s not happy with that of the third slave. Things go very badly for this third slave who gets cast into utter darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. As we’ll see in the following parable, something similar is the fate of the goats who face eternal punishment (Mt. 25:46). This message of judgment that we’ve noticed in previous parables and in the one to come can cause us a bit of disquiet. Nevertheless, these eschatological parables speak of accountability and judgment.    

                When it comes to judgment, we all face it. It won’t be St. Peter; it will be Jesus. According to the parable, it will be Jesus who will ask us to give an account of how we have invested God’s abundant resources. Will we be like the first two and increase the investment? If so, it appears we will be blessed. If we act like the third slave and fail to invest the resources, believing that the master is harsh and capricious, what one has will be taken away. As we read the master’s response, we must not use this as a cudgel to suggest the poor get what they deserve, and the rich get blessings. This is not an expression of retribution dogma. Jesus didn’t believe that riches were a sign of godliness. Remember that he suggested that riches could impede entering the realm of God (Matthew 19:23-26). 

As we ponder this parable, that speaks of judgment, the more immediate focus is what we do with the time between the first and second advent. Although, as the previous parable reminds us, the second advent is delayed, the question for us here is whether we will be faithful in our usage of God’s resources. Will we bury them out of fear, or will we invest them, believing that this is our calling? As noted, the lens through which we look at this question is one of abundance rather than scarcity.

As we await the coming of God’s realm in its fullness, we are not called upon to sit back and twiddle our thumbs.  We are called to be at work, sharing in the work of God in the world.  An abundance of resources has been provided to us.  We needn’t live in fear if the investments don’t pan out as we might like, but some effort to use one’s gifts is expected. Thus, we have in rather graphic terms a word about accountability. Kate Ott might be on to something when she writes:

If the talents are God’s grace, it is given to be multiplied. Paradoxically, sharing grace with those around us yields more. Grace multiplies to the recipient, for others, and with God’s abundance. The burying of grace results in a diminution of it; concealing it results in rejection. Whether or not one’s theology can be reconciled with various levels of distribution of God’s grace, all receive something and are called to build on what they have. Fear and inaction will be met with harsh judgment, as we hear from the master in the passage. [Connections: ALectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (p. 1087). Kindle Edition].

If I might build on this, Ott’s suggestion that talents here might be understood as expressions of God’s grace can lead us to Paul’s word about spiritual gifts. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, to each of one is “given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” It is the Spirit who gives to each as the Spirit chooses. The expectation is that we will make use of these gifts (1 Cor. 12:4-11). With this reference to spiritual gifts in mind, I will point the readers to my book: Unfettered Spirit: Spiritual Gifts for the New Great Awakening, 2^nd Edition.  

The good news is, as Ott suggests, sharing these expressions of God’s grace with others yields more grace. Of course, burying it leads to a diminution of God’s grace. So, as we live in the interregnum between the two advents, let us invest God’s grace, for God will hold us accountable. It might not involve being cast into utter darkness, but we will need to give account.

  Image Attribution: Fortt, Annette Gandy. Parable of the Talents, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56021 [retrieved November 11, 2023]. Original source: annettefortt.com.