|
Are
you burying your talent?
By
Elder Douglas Hatten
Consider
this parable from Mat 25:14-29
Quote:
For
the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his
own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five
talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his
several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the
five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had
received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.After a long
time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that
had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord,
thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five
talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant:
thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many
things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two
talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I
have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done,
good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will
make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he
which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art
an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not
strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there
thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and
slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I
have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the
exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but
from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
I was seeing something new about this parable that I had never really considered
before, when I heard this parable read out loud in a sermon recently. I have
read this parable a million times, and it always seemed kind of harsh... I felt
bad for the man who buried his talent, not wanting to lose it... what was the
big deal?
Now - I think I have a better understanding of this parable, and its meaning is
essential for us in these last days, while their is yet light and we can still
work.
Notice the slothful servant's reason for burying the talent given to him: "Lord,
I knew thee that thou art an hard man" and "I
was afraid".
First thing that hit me is that he was fearful of the Lord. His view of God was
that he was harsh, ready to strike down any who make a mistake. This sort of
view can and will paralyze us. My belief is that God would rather have us try
and fail, than to never try at all, and this is bore record of in the parable
itself, for the Lord said:
"Thou
oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers"
My belief about taking money to the exchangers is that it might be a little like
playing the stock market, it involved some risk... this man was afraid of losing
what the Lord had given him, but I ask you, is there anything worth anything in
this world that does not involve some risk in order to accomplish it?
What was this man's sin?
”he
that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.”
His sin was that he did no work. He did not sow or reap for the Kingdom of God
after having received the gift and promise of salvation from the Lord, therefore
he lost his reward for God expects us to do more than just seek to be saved
ourselves, but we are to "love one another" and “love God with all
our hearts.” We must minister to others and help the Lord with whatever task
he needs done, "on earth as it is in heaven."
That was his sin: He received from the Lord and did nothing with it. The
motivation for this sin was his fear of making a mistake, of possibly risking
losing the talent he had received.
Many in the Restoration tradition are this way - so afraid that they will make a
mistake, or their investment might fail, that they end up doing nothing at all,
and Zion is not. We may not be willing to risk giving up, or losing, that which
we have now in favor of what we might have if we were to truly risk something
for the cause of Zion. If we make a mistake, can we not repent, and confess that
sin, and is not God faithful to forgive us? Zion is not, and this may be because
we are lazy, or love worldly pleasures more than God, or it may simply be
because we have the wrong view of God as being harsh, and we are too afraid to
make a mistake.
Return
to HopeofZion
|
|
