Great Expectations

If you left someone in charge while you were gone, what would you expect of them?

“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. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 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.' 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.' 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.' 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.' 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 seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' 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? 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. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 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. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' - Matt. 25:14-30

We usually view this parable from the perspective of the slaves, but what if we consider it from the perspective of the one entrusting his property?

If you were that guy, what would you expect the slaves to do?

If I consider this situation as a business problem, I would expect they would run the business and make money for me.

When we think of the man as representing God, we don't think that way.  Instead, we expect God to be compassionate and forgiving, not demanding.

God entrusts us with his Creation but doesn't expect us to do anything with it, right?

Does that make sense?

Shouldn't God expect us to use what He created to make this world better for all?

You see, when we take the perspective of the owner, rather than the slave, we change our expectations.  We can understand why the owner gets angry with the lazy slave who feared him and did nothing.

Why would the owner entrust his business with them and not want them to run it?

Too often, this parable is used to justify wealth-making.  We have money, so we make more money and God is happy.

But what if that isn't the message at all?  What if the message is about finding ways to use what we are given to further the business at hand?

We can follow God's plan by loving one another.  How do we do that?  We use what He has given us to make life better for those we encounter.

Today, though, too many want to do what the third slave did and bury what was given so nothing gets done.

More to come...