Each week, I'm inviting the people of the congregation I serve as pastor--and anybody else who's interested--in considering, questioning, and discussing the Bible passages around which our Sunday worship is built. This Sunday, we'll be looking at Matthew 25:14-30.
Below are quotes and ideas taken from The New Interpreter's Bible commentary, along with some of my own thoughts sparked by it.
1. Because of this very story or parable, told by Jesus, the word "'talent' came into the English language in the Middle Ages as a term for God-given abilities, 'gifts and graces.' The talents in this story refer to money..." If I had known that, I had forgotten it.
2. Jesus tells a parable similar to this one in Luke 19:11-27. As Matthew presents this parable, it is "an allegory of the parousia..." (The parousia, a word that can mean variously, appearing or coming, refers to when the risen Jesus comes back to the world and judges "the living and the dead.") The parable deals with the reality that as Christians, we await the return of Christ to our world. In a sense, our only task in life is to figure out how to do that.
3. To be good and faithful slaves of Jesus, the call of His followers, "is not mere theological correctness, passive waiting, or strict obedience to clear instructions, but active responsibility that takes initiatives and risks..." We're to be, as I've been saying so far this week in considering this passage, confident and bold.
In his recent interview with Rolling Stone, U-2's Bono was asked what he thought of the evangelical movement. He said that he was wary of people whose faith was a lot of talk, but not much in the way of walk. (He went on to say that whenever he's challenged evangelical Christians to take action on AIDS and African debt relief, it has responded positively and with action.)
Jesus' earthly brother, James, said that "faith without works" is dead. It isn't our works that earn us a place in God's kingdom. That is a gift from God for all who turn from sin and trust in Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross. But faith that fails to respond to Christ's love, that fails to live in relationships of active love for God and neighbor, is a dead thing. Faith gives one the confidence to love and act. Faith gets us off our backsides and into the risky business of living.
4. An interesting observation made by the NIB commentary is that the master gives no specific instructions to his slaves. "Each servant," it notes, "must decide how to use his time during the master's absence."
God gives followers of Jesus Christ an awesome--and maybe, an awful--freedom. While we await Jesus' return (or the ends of our own lives), we can choose to be "theologically correct" but far away from God's intentions for us: attending church, making our offerings, stopping at red lights. Or, we can dare to take the life that God has given to us and give ourselves, our time, and our money to the passionate love of God and others.
I am still very intimidated by Jesus' words in this parable! And yet they exhilarate me too. They seem dangerous and wild, compelling and energizing.
[A First Pass at Matthew 25:14-30
A Second Pass at Matthew 25:14-30]
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