Lesser Abilities

Imagine that you are in a position to entrust your wealth to someone and go on a journey.  What would you expect them to do with it?

“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

The common interpretation of this parable is that God gives us gifts according to our abilities and expects us to use them to expand the kingdom.

The phrase that jumps out at me is "according to our abilities".

I believe when GHod gives us a challenge, he raises the bar and goes beyond our abilities.  Unlike the master in the parable, God gives us stretch goals and he gives us more guidance.

The parable, for me, talks about how we humans try to be like God, how we emulate Him in order to be godlike.

But the master failed to address the fear of the slave who buried the talent, and I think that is where the master misses the point.

Would God do what he does, banishing the slave to darkness for failing to use the talent to make more talents?

Would God punish us for failing to use the gifts He has given us?

I don't think so.  Sure, He may be disappointed, but Jesus came to bring us home to God, so I think God would want us to rediscover God's love and grace.

Jesus used parables to force his disciples to think and ask questions.  We should use them the same way.

We shouldn't expect these stories to present us with a clear picture of what we should do, but instead, we should use them to think and discover what lies inside us.

The key to this story, I think, is the fact that the slave who failed the test was the one who was originally identified as having less ability.

So, what do we learn from this?

Maybe those with less ability to use what theyy are entrusted with need a little more help from us.

More to come...