The other day I reread the parable of the talents. You know the one where in preparation for a trip a man gives three of his workers some money to manage. Remember what happens? Basically there were two responses to being entrusted with responsibility. Two employees invested their boss’ talents, receiving his approval and entered into his joy. The other buried with what was given to him, received a verbal beat down and was thrown into outer darkness, with weeping and gnashing of teeth. A lovely sounding place.
We’ve heard or read this story a hundred times. What piqued my attention this time was
the wicked servant’s motivation.
He confessed that he knew what kind of man his master was yet he acted
in a way completely contrary to what was expected of him. Why? Fear! He took
what was given to him and buried it because he was AFRAID!
What am I doing, or more accurately “not doing,” because of
fear? Are there things that God
has entrusted me with that I am ignoring or forsaking because I’m scared?
What about you?
What about the Church?
It’s pretty clear that God has given us the gift, talents and resources
to do what He’s directing us to do.
Are there things the Church is called to do that we’re not doing?
Among the messages and emails we’ve gotten lately, questions
about safety and reaction are the predominant threads. “How do you respond to what’s going on?” Big-hearted, well-meaning friends and
family, people who love God and want to love their neighbor, are asking, “In
light of terrorist attacks, what should we do about the people that want to
come here?” I won’t answer those
questions here. Okay, maybe I will
but you’ll have to forgive me for the cliché, cheesy, Lifeway Christian stores
answer. It’s this: WWJD. Yikes! How’s that for a 20th century flashback? Seriously though. What would He do? How did He live while He walked on this
earth? Did He play it safe? Did He hide His talents? The answer is a difficult one. Yep, it’s difficult for us too.
I get it. We live in a different culture so it’s easy for us
to advocate for engaging refugees.
The pilot says, “AllahAkbar” before we take off. The barber sings the adnan (call to
prayer) while cutting my hair.
We’re the ones that stick out here. But, that doesn’t make it any easier. We are crippled by
fear sometimes too.
Back to the parable, I wonder how the master would have
responded if one his investing employees had bet on the wrong horse? I mean what if they’d bought Enron
stock or put money into Zeek Rewards?
Ever thought about that?
Maybe the reason Scripture doesn’t tell us is because an investment in
the Kingdom is never a dog. You
can’t lose on this one. The only
failure in this situation is a failure to act, to give into fear and hide our
talents. May we never forget the
simple fact that we are called to love our neighbors…even the scary ones.
