The lectionary gospel today
is part of a series of parables in Matthew seeking to illustrate what the realm
of heaven is like. I understand the realm of heaven not as some future event
but as a way of life for now. These stories in the gospel often expose selfish
and uncaring ways. They become pointers towards a better way of living; directions
for a good life. Realistically, the goal, the desired outcome, will never be
reached, humanness is far from perfect. It is something to be strived towards.
Today’s story is about a rich
man (Matthew 25:14-30). He was going to undertake a journey so entrusted his
money to his slaves. He gave them five, two and one talent respectively. When
he returned, the two slaves with the larger amounts had both doubled their
money and received praise. The third had kept the money safe but received scorn.
I have often heard it interpreted
that God gives talents and it is the responsibility of the recipient to
increase those talents. However, today I am rejecting that interpretation and
subverting the parable. I read it as a critique of practices of the day, with
lessons to be learned for contemporary society.
I want to start by saying,
and I have said it many times before, that it is a mistake to assign roles for
the characters in a parable. In this parable to read God as the rich landowner
leads to problems. The character of the landowner is not how one would want to
envisage in a divine being.
Firstly, the landowner was
absent —he was going away and leaving his people. Secondly, the landowner is
described as a harsh man. Thirdly, the man gets rich through the work of
others, “I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter” (26). Therefore,
if it is assumed that the landowner equates to God, it can also be assumed that
these attributes belong to God. I find it much better to see the parable simply
as a story told to illustrate a point.
In the time this story was written
a talent was a unit of money. It is not about whether one can sing or is a good
artist. That is a contemporary usage of the word talent. This is not a parable
about using one’s gifts but about money-making.
The value of money was
equivalent to its weight. One talent was worth 3,000 shekels. It is estimated
that it was equivalent to about twenty-years wages for an ordinary worker. Therefore,
it was an enormous amount of money the landowner entrusted to the slaves. Together
the eight talents would equate to approximately one hundred and sixty years of
wages.
Money-makers were not held in
high esteem. It was often the case that the rich, the person who owned
property, got richer through the work of the poor. Often the workers toiled
long hours to enable them to eat and feed their families.
The third slave in this
story kept the money safe. He wasn’t dishonest with it. He or she followed the common
practice of the time, to bury one’s money to keep it safe. When the landowner discovered
what had been done he was angry. He told the slave that he should at least have
taken it to the bankers to invest it, thus making some extra money on it as it
was lent out. Interestingly, this was a practice that was considered dishonest.
It was discouraged and held in disdain particularly as the money was often lent
to the poor (Ex. 22:25, Lev. 25:37, Neh. 5:10-11).
In this parable, I am not
seeing God reflected in the harsh landowner who sought to get richer. I am not
seeing God in the two slaves who made more money to receive praise from the
landowner. I find God in the slave who kept safe that entrusted to them. I find
God in the one who refused to allow the money to be used to exhort from others.
I find God in the one who was rejected and thrown out.
This parable was told by
Matthew as a prelude to the crucifixion story. A reflection of a God who, in
human form, spoke against those who harmed others and was ultimately abandoned
and rejected.
(Photo: Casowaco Retreat Centre, June 2017)
