TODAY, in 2023, when we hear the word ‘talent’ we understand it to mean someone’s particular skills and abilities. We all have different talents which compliment each other. Some folk have musical abilities, others are good with numbers, or have a talent for baking or flower-arranging. We all have our individual God-given talents. However, in the Roman Empire, when Jesus told the parable in today’s Gospel, a ‘talent’ was a unit of measurement. A single talent weighed approximately 30kg. This means that in today’s money a talent of gold would be worth approximately £1.5 million. That’s a lot of money! Much more than Jesus’ listeners would ever earn. By using such large sums of money in His parable, Jesus is being deliberately shocking in order to give His words a stronger impact 

The Parable of the Talents isn’t actually about money. It appears to be so, on the surface, but instead it draws together strands from Jesus’ teaching throughout the Gospel to make some important points.

“The kingdom of Heaven is like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.” (Mt 25:14)

This is a parable about the Kingdom, about how to live a Christian life here and now. It is also about what will happen at the end of time, when Christ will return, and there will be the Last Judgement. This is why today’s readings include a passage from Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians which states:

“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1Thess 5:2)

To paraphrase Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ well-known phrase: ‘No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition!’, ‘No-one expects the Second Coming!’ Except of course we do, because Jesus has told us all about it, and has warned us to be ready, like the Virgins with spare oil for their lamps in another of Jesus’ parables. 

In today’s parable, before the master goes away, he divides up his property between his servants:

“To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability” (Mt 25:15)

The division of resources is not equal, but rather each is given an amount appropriate to his own abilities. The servants who have been given five and two talents each double their money. However, the person who was given one talent (still a huge amount of money), simply buries it in the ground. In the parable the servants have not earned the money they are given, but they have been given it. In the parable of the Sower, Jesus indicated that those called to the kingdom would produce different yields. These variances in our own talents should not be the basis for envy and jealousy, because our differences are gifts given in service to one another — so are the talents given to the servants of a man going on a journey. It is not unfair that they were given different amounts. Rather what is crucial is how they regarded what they had been given, and how they used their talents. 

It is clear that the servant who received one talent feared the giver. This was because he assumed that gifts could only be lost or used up. In other words, the servant with one talent assumed that they were part of a zero-sum game, meaning that  if someone wins, someone else must lose. The servant who feared losing what he had, turned his gift into a possession — it was a thing, and it was his thing. But by contrast, the first two servants recognised that trying to secure the gifts that they had been given means that they would be lost — so they put the gifts to use for the glory of God. In the same way we are all called to use our talents to glorify God, not simply for our own gain.

The servants who receive either five or two talents are both thankful and generous, but the servant who received one is only interested in power and control. At one level this servant stands for the Scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus has been criticising and castigating for their negative approach to God, using religion to control others, rather than building a society based on love and generosity. 

The parable represents God’s desire for a society in which humanity can flourish, freed from fear and greed, filled with joy and sharing the Good News. The point of wealth is not for it to be acquired for its own sake, but so that it may be a blessing to others. God wants humanity to thrive by being loving and generous to each other. This theme runs through all our readings this morning.

The servants who are assigned five and two talents are both praised for being ‘good and faithful’. They have acted morally and have demonstrated their faith. In return, they will be rewarded. The problem is with the servant who was given just one talent and hid it in the ground. He explains his actions, saying:

‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ (Mt 25:24-25)

This servant does not love his master, he fears him. He does not take care of what has been entrusted to him, because he simply sees it as a possession, a thing. This person neither loves his master nor cares for what was entrusted to him. By hiding the wealth in the ground, he squanders the opportunity his master has given him. The servant is is jealous and resentful, he controls the situation and is unable and unwilling to respond with generosity.

In contrast to this, God generously gives His own Son to die and rise again for us. He does this out of love. None of us fully deserve the gift of God’s love and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. It is not something that we have earned. It is not a reward. Rather it is a transformative gift from a loving God, which we are called to receive. The God who will come to judge us, and all humanity at the Second Coming, is a God of love and mercy, whose hands bear the mark of nails, wounded for love of us. Judgement and mercy go hand in hand. If we love God, and if we love our neighbour, then we are living the life of the Kingdom, here and now, free from fear.

So let us flourish in our life together, encouraging one another, so that we may all be built up in faith, hope, and love. Together let us share in the joy of the Kingdom by living generously. Acknowledging our individual talents let us sing the praises of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.