Parable of the Talents

If you have been a Christian for a while, you know that over time scripture begins to feel really familiar. It can especially be this way if you were raised in church and have been hearing the same passages through childhood and into adulthood preached over and over. It can easily lose its new and exciting feel. With that familiarity comes comfort. Isn’t it so comforting to read a passage you’ve heard often and know well? I’m also frequently reminded of the times I have seen certain passages come to life and their truths played out in my personal experiences with God. But sometimes familiarity leads to complacency. The spirit of religion just loves when we get complacent with scripture. This is why the Holy Spirit is the most vital partner to have as you read scripture. We can easily become blinded by what we think we already know and miss what the Lord is doing right now without Holy Spirit’s help! Without His help in reading our Bibles, the discipline of doing it will just lead us to complacency instead of connection with the living and breathing Word of God!

I had this experience recently as I was reading through a very familiar passage of scripture. It’s a passage I have been exposed to since my childhood and have heard countless messages on in adulthood. But as I read it again recently, the Holy Spirit brought it to life for me, and I began to see it in a way I never had before. My mind was flooded with fresh revelation and a new passion birthed inside of me for what this revelation meant! Check out this passage from Matthew 25:14-29…

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, 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.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

I have heard plenty of messages through my life discussing these passages. For the most part the focus of those messages was stewardship. And while that is certainly an important point in this passage, what stuck out to me as I read it this time was the “how” of the stewardship. The Holy Spirit magnified in my eyes that the 2 servants that stewarded what they were given well did it by TRADING with their talents. A literal exchange happened in order for them to increase what they were given. It required them to take a risk. It required them to bring other people into the process. It required them to see the value in what others had in order to make wise decisions in the trading process. 

 As I discuss my revelation with you, just know that I use the word talent in a broad way. I am not limiting it to just represent the finances.  I am meaning time, resources, and actual talents as I believe that this principle applies to all that God has entrusted to us in this life.  So often, when I have pondered this passage, my thoughts would go to how I personally use my talents. I would try to measure if I was doing well with stewardship based on these things: Am I saying yes to opportunities to lead worship? I am a worship leader and have been gifted with talents to sing and play instruments. Am I tithing and giving above the tithe generously when opportunities to give present themselves? Am I using my time to pour into Kingdom activities? Or am I wasting a lot of my time on selfish leisure? What I realized is that my assessment never included questions like, am I investing what I have in others? Am I exchanging what I have with what THEY have? But I also realized something really BIG: I was really zoomed in on this passage, only looking for personal application; I never once thought about what this looked like on a grander scale… like how does this apply to the church at large? How does this apply to my local church body, but also, how does this apply to the interconnected, unified, ONE bride of Christ?

And then it hit me. This is what On the Journey is all about—It is a market place, a community of people from many local churches coming together to share what they have been given by God who all recognize that God has entrusted them with much (And their local church with much). And along with that comes a responsibility. This isn’t just a community for encouragement (of course that is a part of it); more than that, it’s a place to come and bring the talents God has entrusted us with and to be willing to offer it up with open hands to others in the community. And then also, with arms wide open, a willingness to receive what others in the community are bringing to the table. It’s like a potluck dinner where we each bring what we have and exchange with others at the table. And in this exchange we walk away with more than we brought to the table. We go back to our churches and communities having learned things that otherwise we wouldn’t have if we isolated ourselves to just our local body. The risk of this exchange doesn’t come in the form of losing what we bring. That can’t happen. The risk comes at coming to the table but not actually engaging with the meal. It comes at not sharing what we have. It comes by being a silent bystander. That is like being the 3rd servant who buries what they were given to protect it. 

So here is the invitation: Your talents are of great value; God has entrusted you with a lot and bringing those talents to our community is an opportunity for you to multiply what you have. We want to hear your voice. We want to hear about the ways God is using you personally in your community and in your church. We want to hear about how your local church body is affecting your community. We want you to share your stories of how the Kingdom is breaking in through you. We want to learn from you. We want to be resourced by you. We want to see you share what you have. And we want you to walk away with more than you brought with you. We want that for every single person here. We want that for every church that is represented. We want that for the Kingdom. So come and feast. But also, bring a dish to pass!

Cassie Shaffer

The Vineyard Church

Urbana IL